George failed to pay his Visa bill, and as a result he receives frequent phone calls from a bill collector. George comes to associate the sound of a ringing telephone with a feeling of dread. After he pays his Visa bill, the threatening telephone calls stop, and George no longer reacts with dread to the sound of a ringing telephone. What does this exemplify?
A) extinction
B) second-order conditioning
C) reconditioning
D) discrimination

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This exemplifies extinction, which is the process of weakening a learned association by discontinuing the reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior. In this case, the fear response to the ringing telephone was weakened and eventually disappeared with the discontinuation of the threatening phone calls.

George Failed to Pay His Visa Bill, and as a Result