After a dog had been conditioned to salivate to the sight of a triangle, the triangle alone was presented to the dog every three minutes. Over the course of several trials, the amount of saliva secreted by the dog in response to the triangle decreased to zero. At that point, the dog was put back in his cage for the night. What happened the next morning when the triangle was presented to the dog again?
A)Because of latent learning, the dog did not salivate.
B)Spontaneous recovery likely occurred, and the dog salivated in response to the triangle.
C)Learned helplessness developed, and the dog did not respond in any way.
D)Because the triangle was no longer a discriminative stimulus, the dog did not salivate.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Spontaneous recovery is the temporary reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response. In this case, the dog had been conditioned to salivate in response to the triangle, but after repeated presentations of the triangle without the associated stimulus, the salivary response became extinct. However, when the triangle was presented again the next morning after extinction, the dog likely experienced spontaneous recovery and salivated in response to the triangle again, albeit to a lesser extent than before extinction.

After a Dog Had Been Conditioned to Salivate to the Sight