A dog, taught to salivate to the sound of a buzzer, learned that the buzzer was no longer followed by food and stopped salivating to the buzzer. If the buzzer was again paired with food after a few weeks, the dog would probably ________.
A) not salivate
B) salivate
C) require only one trial pairing of the buzzer and the food to reestablish the association and begin salivating to the buzzer again
D) salivate only if the buzzer was dissimilar to the one on which it was conditioned

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is an example of classical conditioning, where the dog has learned to associate the sound of the buzzer with food. When the association between the buzzer and food is broken, the dog stops salivating to the buzzer. However, if the buzzer is paired with food again after a few weeks, the dog will likely salivate again, as it has already learned the association between the two stimuli. This is known as spontaneous recovery, where a previously extinguished response re-emerges after a period of rest. Therefore, the correct answer is B - the dog would salivate if the buzzer is paired with food again.

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