Andrea's mother always puts special napkins on the table when she serves fried chicken, Andrea's favourite food. Now Andrea begins to salivate as soon as she sees the special napkins on the table. The conditioned stimulus in this situation is
A) the special napkins.
B) the fried chicken.
C) Andrea's mother.
D) salivation.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The conditioned stimulus in this situation is the special napkins because Andrea has learned to associate them with her favourite food, fried chicken, and as a result, her salivation response has become conditioned to the presence of the napkins. The fried chicken is the unconditioned stimulus that initially elicited the salivation response, but now the napkins have become a signal or cue that predicts the arrival of the chicken. Andrea's mother and salivation are not conditioned stimuli in this scenario.

Andrea's Mother Always Puts Special Napkins on the Table When