After Little Albert acquired a conditioned fear of rats, Watson wanted to see how he would react to a white rabbit, cotton wool, and a Santa Claus mask. He was studying whether or not ________ had occurred.
A) behavior modification
B) stimulus discrimination
C) extinction
D) stimulus generalization

Question

After Little Albert acquired a conditioned fear of rats, Watson wanted to see how he would react to a white rabbit, cotton wool, and a Santa Claus mask. He was studying whether or not ________ had occurred.
A) behavior modification 
B) stimulus discrimination
C) extinction
D) stimulus generalization

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Watson was studying whether or not Little Albert's fear response had generalized to other stimuli like the white rabbit, cotton wool, and Santa Claus mask. This is an example of stimulus generalization. Behavior modification refers to changing behavior through reinforcement or punishment, stimulus discrimination refers to the ability to differentiate between similar stimuli, and extinction refers to the gradual decrease in a behavior when it is no longer reinforced.

After Little Albert Acquired a Conditioned Fear of Rats, Watson