Using cats, a researcher presents a tone to signal that foot shock will occur. After a number of tone‒foot shock pairings, the researcher pairs a flashing light with just the tone. To test if higher order conditioning has occurred, the researcher would present only the _______ and expect it to produce fear and a withdrawal response.
A) tone
B) flashing light
C) flashing light‒tone combination
D) flashing light‒foot shock combination

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Higher order conditioning occurs when a conditioned stimulus (CS) is used to condition a neutral stimulus, turning it into a new CS. In this scenario, the tone initially conditioned to predict a foot shock becomes the CS for the flashing light. Thus, presenting the flashing light alone should produce a fear and withdrawal response if higher order conditioning has occurred.

Using Cats, a Researcher Presents a Tone to Signal That