Martha trains her cat Whiskers to salivate to the sound of a bell. She rings the bell every fifteen minutes and doesn't follow it with food for Whiskers. It salivates less and less and finally stops salivating at the sound of the ringing bell. A week later, she finds Whiskers salivating to the sound of a ringing bell. Which of the following terms explains this response?
A) counterconditioning
B) instinctive drift
C) spontaneous recovery
D) stimulus discrimination

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of a conditioned response after a period of extinction. In this case, Whiskers had stopped salivating to the sound of the bell after Martha repeatedly rang it without providing food. However, a week later, Whiskers began salivating again to the sound of the bell, indicating spontaneous recovery.

Martha Trains Her Cat Whiskers to Salivate to the Sound