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

Before conditioning, the dog's salivation is the unconditioned response (UR) to the presentation of the unconditioned stimulus (US), which in this case is the food. Conditioning begins when a neutral stimulus (such as a bell) is presented before the presentation of the food. After repeated pairing of the bell with the food, the bell becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS), which will then elicit a conditioned response (CR) of salivation from the dog, even in the absence of the food. Therefore, the correct answer is D - food is the US and dog salivating is the UR.

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