Refer to the following description of a dog training procedure to answer the questions that follow.
Clicker training, which involves pairing a metallic clicking sound with a food treat, is used in training animals. Initially, the click is meaningless, but as the number of click-food treat pairings increases, the animal (e.g., a dog) appears to develop an expectation that a click signals a food treat. Thus the dog approaches, looks at the handler, and appears excited (e.g., wagging tail, drooling, etc.).
-If the animal later encounters the food treat somewhere else, and it makes the animal sick, how will the animal respond to the click afterward?
A) It will salivate, demonstrating S-S learning.
B) It will withdraw from the clicker, demonstrating S-R learning.
C) It will approach, demonstrating S-R learning.
D) It will withdraw from the clicker, demonstrating S-S learning.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The correct answer is D because the dog's withdrawal from the clicker after getting sick from the food demonstrates stimulus-stimulus (S-S) learning. In this case, the dog has learned to associate the click (first stimulus) with the food treat (second stimulus), and after a negative experience with the food, the dog's response to the click changes, indicating a learned association between the two stimuli.

Refer to the Following Description of a Dog Training Procedure