After Pavlov had conditioned his dogs to salivate to the bell, he repeatedly presented the bell without presenting the food.As a result, _____ occurred.
A)stimulus generalization
B)stimulus discrimination
C)a spontaneous recovery
D)extinction

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Extinction occurs when the conditioned response is weakened or disappears when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus (food in this case). Therefore, the best choice is D. Stimulus generalization is the tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus, which is not applicable in this scenario. Stimulus discrimination is the ability to differentiate between similar stimuli, which is not relevant here. A spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of the conditioned response after a rest period, which also does not apply to this scenario.

After Pavlov Had Conditioned His Dogs to Salivate to the Bell