You decide that you are going to condition your dog to salivate to the sound of a bell. You sound the bell and then several minutes later you give the dog a biscuit. You do this several times but no conditioning seems to occur. This is probably because __________
A) the bell was not a distinctive sound.
B) the bell should have been sounded after the animal ate the biscuit.
C) you should have had an even longer interval between the bell and the biscuit.
D) the biscuit was given too long after the sound of the bell.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

For classical conditioning to occur effectively, the conditioned stimulus (in this case, the sound of the bell) needs to be presented shortly before the unconditioned stimulus (the biscuit). A long delay between the two, as described, would make it difficult for the dog to associate the bell with the upcoming reward, thus hindering the conditioning process.

You Decide That You Are Going to Condition Your Dog