After not seeing a light that signaled food for a month, a rat now shows substantial fear to the light. What might have happened?
A) The rat forgot the light‒food association.
B) Prospective coding made the rat anticipate that something new was going to occur.
C) Another stimulus such as a tone was paired with a shock, and the rat showed peak shift.
D) Another stimulus that also predicted food became a predictor of something fearful during the interval, and acquired equivalence led the rat to also fear the light.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The rat likely experienced a phenomenon known as acquired equivalence, where after learning that two stimuli predict the same outcome (in this case, food), if one of those stimuli later becomes associated with something negative (like a shock or a fearful event), the rat may also develop a fear response to the other originally neutral or positive stimulus (the light). This is because the rat has learned to equate the two stimuli due to their initial similar outcomes, leading to a transfer of the fear response from the newly negative stimulus to the originally positive one.

After Not Seeing a Light That Signaled Food for a Month