The blocking phenomenon is said to occur when
A) a preexposed stimulus develops into a strong excitatory CS during training.
B) a conditioned inhibitor is easily converted into a strong excitatory CS during training.
C) nothing is learned about a novel stimulus despite compound training with an established excitatory CS.
D) pairing a novel stimulus with an established excitatory CS prevents learning anything about the compound.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The blocking phenomenon occurs when a novel stimulus is presented alongside an already established conditioned stimulus (CS), but the novel stimulus does not become a CS itself because the presence of the established CS "blocks" any association between the novel stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus (US). This means that the animal or subject does not learn anything new about the novel stimulus during the compound training.

The Blocking Phenomenon Is Said to Occur When