In an experiment, a dog undergoes 20 trials in which he hears a tone and gets meat powder in various combinations. On 18 of the trials, he gets a tone and meat powder; on one trial, he gets a tone and no meat powder; and on one trial, he gets meat powder and no tone. What is true of this situation?
A) There is a contingency between the sound of tone and meat powder.
B) There is a contingency between the CS and the UR.
C) There is a negative contingency.
D) There is no contingency.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The fact that the dog receives meat powder on most of the trials where he hears the tone suggests that there is a contingency between the two stimuli. In other words, the sound of the tone is associated with the delivery of meat powder, which is likely to lead to the development of a conditioned response in the dog. The fact that there are some trials where only one stimulus is presented (i.e., the tone or the meat powder) does not necessarily negate this contingency.

In an Experiment, a Dog Undergoes 20 Trials in Which