Snickers,your cocker spaniel,barked at squirrels.After successfully removing this behavior,you find she has started barking again.This is an example of
A) stimulus generalization.
B) response generalization.
C) spontaneous recovery.
D) superstitious behavior.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is an example of spontaneous recovery, which occurs when a previously extinct behavior re-emerges after a period of time has passed. In this case, Snickers had stopped barking at squirrels due to training, but the behavior has spontaneously returned despite not being reinforced. Stimulus generalization refers to the tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus, response generalization is the tendency to make similar responses to similar stimuli, and superstitious behavior is behavior that is reinforced coincidentally rather than by a contingency. None of these apply to the scenario described.

Snickers,your Cocker Spaniel,barked at Squirrels