An animal is conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell, using Pavlovian procedures. After the conditioning is established, the animal is then put through an extinction procedure and the conditioned salivation disappears. Then the animal is removed from the test situation for several days. When returned to the test situation, which of the following would be evidence of spontaneous recovery?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Spontaneous recovery refers to the re-emergence of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a period of time. Therefore, the best choice is C, as it indicates that the animal has started salivating again in response to the sound of the bell after a break, even though the response had been previously extinguished. A, B, and D are all incorrect choices as they do not point towards spontaneous recovery.

An Animal Is Conditioned to Salivate to the Sound of a Bell