Accustomed to the sound of the old can opener, a cat still rushes to her food dish even when she hears the sound of the new can opener for the first time. This demonstrates:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The cat's response to the new can opener demonstrates the concept of generalization, where the cat responds to similar stimuli (in this case, a similar sound) as it would to the original stimulus. This shows that the cat has generalized its response to the sound of the old can opener to other similar sounds, indicating a lack of discrimination. Second-order conditioning involves pairing a neutral stimulus with a conditioned stimulus to create a new conditioned response, which is not demonstrated in this scenario. Spontaneous recovery refers to the reappearance of a conditioned response after it has been extinguished, which is also not relevant here.

Accustomed to the Sound of the Old Can Opener, a Cat