After a dog had been conditioned to salivate at the sight of meat powder, the meat powder was presented to the dog every three minutes and held just out of the dog's reach. Over the course of several trials, the amount of saliva secreted by the dog decreased to zero, indicating that _____ had occurred.
A)negative reinforcement
B)biological preparedness
C)extinction
D)spontaneous recovery

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This phenomenon is known as extinction, which occurs when the conditioned response weakens and eventually disappears after the conditioned stimulus (meat powder) is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus (food). The dog's lack of salivation to the meat powder indicates extinction of the conditioned response. Negative reinforcement involves removing an aversive stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior, and biological preparedness is the idea that certain associations are easier to learn due to evolutionary factors. Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response after a period of time without any further conditioning.

After a Dog Had Been Conditioned to Salivate at the Sight