Bryn adopted her cat, Minnie, from the local shelter. She feeds Minnie dry food, but the previous owner fed her only canned food. Every time Bryn opens her refrigerator, her new cat comes running. Bryn never gives Minnie food after she opens the refrigerator, however, so eventually the cat stops showing up. Once in a while, though, Minnie will come running when Bryn opens the refrigerator, as if food is forthcoming. This reappearance of Minnie's old behaviour is called
A)generalization.
B)extinction.
C)habituation.
D)spontaneous recovery.
E)reemergent learning.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This behavior is an example of spontaneous recovery, where a previously extinguished response reappears after a period of no exposure to the conditioned stimulus. In this case, Minnie's running to the refrigerator is the response that reappears, even though the association between the refrigerator opening and receiving food had previously been extinguished.

Bryn Adopted Her Cat, Minnie, from the Local Shelter