A researcher studying rats uses a tone to signal that food is available in the hopper. After a number of tone‒food pairings, the researcher pairs an illuminated light with just the tone. The rat paws, licks, and chews on the illuminated light when the tone is sounded, even though no food is provided in this training stage. This conditioning procedure illustrates the phenomenon of
A) sensory preconditioning.
B) conditioned emotional responding.
C) stimulus generalization.
D) higher order conditioning.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This scenario is an example of higher order conditioning, where a conditioned stimulus (the tone, which was initially paired with food) is used to condition a response to a new stimulus (the light). The rat responds to the light in the same way it does to the tone because the light has been associated with the tone, which is already associated with food.

A Researcher Studying Rats Uses a Tone to Signal That