A dog, taught to salivate to the sound of a whistle, is now going through many trials in which the whistle sound is not followed by food. The dog will probably ________.
A) salivate to the sound at a steady but lower level than initially achieved
B) gradually stop salivating to the presentation of food
C) begin to salivate to other sounds it hears in the environment
D) gradually stop salivating to the sound of the whistle

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This scenario describes the process of extinction in classical conditioning, where the conditioned response (salivation to the whistle) gradually diminishes if the conditioned stimulus (the whistle sound) is consistently presented without the unconditioned stimulus (food). Therefore, the most likely outcome is that the dog will gradually stop salivating to the sound of the whistle.

A Dog, Taught to Salivate to the Sound of a Whistle