If you own a dog that tends to salivate and get excited when you shake a box of dog biscuits, you may have noticed that your dog also drools when you shake a bag of cat food. If so, this would be an example of:
A) stimulus generalization.
B) spontaneous recovery.
C) stimulus discrimination.
D) higher order conditioning.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Stimulus generalization refers to the tendency to respond to a stimulus that is similar to a conditioned stimulus. In this case, the dog has learned to associate the sound of shaking a box of dog biscuits with receiving a treat, and has generalized this response to the sound of shaking a bag of cat food. Therefore, the best choice is A.

If You Own a Dog That Tends to Salivate and Get