After the successful extinction of your son's whining for a toy while you are shopping, you go shopping several weeks later and he begins to whine for a toy as if he is "just checking to see if the rules have changed back." This situation illustrates
A) shaping.
B) spontaneous recovery.
C) stimulus generalization.
D) stimulus discrimination.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The situation described is an example of spontaneous recovery, which is the reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response after a period of rest or in a new environment. The child's behavior had been successfully extinguished in the past, but he is now displaying the same behavior again after a period of time has passed. This indicates that the behavior was not permanently eliminated and can resurface under certain conditions. Choice A (shaping) involves reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior, which does not apply in this situation. Choice C (stimulus generalization) involves responding to stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus, which does not describe the situation because the child is responding to the same stimulus as before (a toy). Choice D (stimulus discrimination) involves differentiating between stimuli that signal different outcomes, which does not apply here because the child is displaying the same behavior in the presence of the same stimulus.

After the Successful Extinction of Your Son's Whining for a Toy