Prior to conditioning, a dog will salivate in response to food placed in its mouth. Using classical conditioning terms, the food would be labeled the _____, while the dog salivating would be labeled the _____.
A)conditioned stimulus; unconditioned stimulus
B)conditioned stimulus; conditioned response
C)unconditioned response; unconditioned stimulus
D)unconditioned stimulus; unconditioned response

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In this scenario, the dog's natural response of salivating when food is placed in its mouth is the unconditioned response (UR), while the food itself is the unconditioned stimulus (US). After conditioning, if a neutral stimulus such as a bell is repeatedly associated with the food, the dog will start to salivate in response to the bell alone, which is now the conditioned stimulus (CS). Therefore, option D is the correct answer as it correctly identifies the food as the US and the dog salivating as the UR.

Prior to Conditioning, a Dog Will Salivate in Response to Food