After a dog had been conditioned to salivate at the sight ofmeat powder, the meat powder was presented to the dog every three minutes and held just out of the dog's reach. Over the course of several trials, the amount of saliva secreted by the dog decreased to zero, indicating that _____ had occurred.

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The dog's conditioned response (salivating at the sight of meat powder) decreased to zero when the meat powder was presented repeatedly but without being followed by the unconditioned stimulus (food). This is an example of extinction, which is the gradual weakening and eventual disappearance of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus. Negative reinforcement involves the removal of an aversive stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior, whereas biological preparedness refers to the innate readiness of certain associations to be learned more readily than others. Spontaneous recovery refers to the reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response after a period of time has passed.

After a Dog Had Been Conditioned to Salivate at the Sight