Little Tammy is frightened by thunder and cries when she hears it. During a season of frequent electrical storms, thunder is always preceded by lightning. Now Tammy cries as soon as she sees lightning, before the thunder can be heard. In this example, the conditioned stimulus is
A) lightning.
B) crying at the sight of lightning.
C) thunder.
D) crying at the sound of thunder.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The conditioned stimulus is the one that triggers a response due to association with the unconditioned stimulus. In this case, lightning is the conditioned stimulus because it was not originally the cause of Tammy's crying, but now triggers it due to association with the unconditioned stimulus (thunder).

Little Tammy Is Frightened by Thunder and Cries When She