You train your dog Milo to salivate to the sound of a bell. Then you ring the bell every five minutes and don't follow the ringing with food for Milo. He salivates less and less and finally stops salivating at all when the bell rings. But the next morning, when you ring the bell, Milo salivates! What term is used to explain the reappearance of this response?
A) stimulus discrimination
B) spontaneous recovery
C) instinctive drift
D) counterconditioning

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Spontaneous recovery refers to the reappearance of a previously extinguished response after a period of time has passed. In this case, Milo's salivation in response to the bell ringing had been extinguished through repeated exposure without food reinforcement. However, after a night's rest, Milo's response had spontaneously recovered and he salivated again in response to the bell ringing.

You Train Your Dog Milo to Salivate to the Sound