A dog is trained to associate his master's car with the arrival of his master and gets excited when this happens. At the same time, the mail carrier has started to come to the house just seconds before his master comes home. If the dog gets excited when the mail truck arrives it is called _____________.
A) first-order conditioning
B) second-order conditioning
C) spontaneous recovery
D) transfer of learning

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The scenario describes second-order conditioning because the original conditioned stimulus (the car) is associated with a new stimulus (the mail truck) through repeated pairing. The dog now also becomes excited when the new stimulus (mail truck) arrives, even before the original stimulus (the car) arrives with the master. First-order conditioning is when the conditioned response is linked directly to the conditioned stimulus without any other associated stimuli. Spontaneous recovery refers to the sudden reappearance of a conditioned response after a period of dormancy. Transfer of learning involves the application of previously learned information to new situations.

A Dog Is Trained to Associate His Master's Car with the Arrival