An animal is conditioned to salivate to a metronome using Pavlovian procedures. After the conditioning is established, the animal is then put through an extinction procedure and the conditioned salivation disappears. Then the animal is removed from the test situation for several days. When returned to the test situation, the conditioned response is seen again. The effect is known as ________.
A) spontaneous recovery
B) higher-order conditioning
C) extinction
D) stimulus generalization

Question

An animal is conditioned to salivate to a metronome using Pavlovian procedures. After the conditioning is established, the animal is then put through an extinction procedure and the conditioned salivation disappears. Then the animal is removed from the test situation for several days. When returned to the test situation, the conditioned response is seen again. The effect is known as ________.
A) spontaneous recovery 
B) higher-order conditioning 
C) extinction
D) stimulus generalization

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Spontaneous recovery refers to the reappearance of a conditioned response after it has been extinguished, and there has been a delay before the animal is returned to the test situation. This is the best choice based on the given scenario. Higher-order conditioning involves using a previously conditioned stimulus to condition a new stimulus, which is not mentioned in the scenario. Extinction refers to the gradual decrease in a conditioned response as a result of repeated presentations of the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus, which is mentioned in the scenario but is not the best choice. Stimulus generalization refers to the tendency of a conditioned response to occur to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus, which is not mentioned in the scenario.

An Animal Is Conditioned to Salivate to a Metronome Using