You conduct an experiment in which you expose a rat repeatedly to a 440 Hz tone and an electric shock. After a few trials, the rat begins to show signs of fear in response to the tone. In this paradigm, the electric shock is the ________, while the tone is the ________.
A)conditioned stimulus; unconditioned stimulus
B)unconditioned stimulus; conditioned stimulus
C)conditioned response; unconditioned response
D)unconditioned response; conditioned response

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In classical conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus triggers an unconditioned response without any prior learning. When the unconditioned stimulus (electric shock) is paired with a neutral stimulus (440 Hz tone), the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that eventually elicits a conditioned response (fear). Therefore, the electric shock is the unconditioned stimulus (not learned) and the tone is the conditioned stimulus (learned).

You Conduct an Experiment in Which You Expose a Rat