Classical Conditioning Concept Check Expanded

In classical conditioning, an organism develops an association between the

• Conditioned stimulus and the conditioned response

• Neutral stimulus and the conditioned stimulus

• Neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus

• Neutral stimulus and the unconditioned response

Answer explanation

In classical conditioning, an organism develops an association between the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus.

Mary's cat runs to the back door when the microwave bell sounds, as this usually signals that her dinner is about to be served. The cat also runs to the back door when Mary's doorbell rings. Mary's cat is demonstrating an example of

• stimulus discrimination

• stimulus generalisation

• spontaneous recovery

• extinction

Answer explanation

Mary's cat running to the back door when the microwave bell sounds and when the doorbell rings shows stimulus generalisation, where the cat responds to similar stimuli in the same way.

In Pavlov’s experiment on salivation in dogs, the neutral stimulus was ____________ and the conditioned stimulus was ______________.

• the bell; the bell

• the bell; salivation

• the meat powder; the bell

• the meat powder; salivation

Answer explanation

In Pavlov’s experiment, the neutral stimulus was the bell and the conditioned stimulus was also the bell, as the bell became associated with salivation through repeated pairings with the meat powder.

In classical conditioning, nature provides the __________________ connection and conditioning provides the _____________ connection.

• UCS-CS; UCR-CR

• UCR-CR; UCS-CS

• CS-CR; UCS-UCR

• UCS-UCR; CS-CR

Answer explanation

In classical conditioning, nature provides the UCS-UCR connection, and conditioning provides the CS-CR connection. Therefore, the correct choice is UCS-UCR; CS-CR.

A bell rings, then a puff of air into the eye causes a reflexive blink. After this happens on several occasions, the bell ringing alone causes a conditioned reflexive blink. The UCS is _________________ and the CS is _____________________.

• Puff of air; blinking

• Bell; blinking

• Puff of air; bell

• Bell; puff of air

Answer explanation

The UCS is puff of air because it naturally causes the reflexive blink, while the CS is the bell because it becomes associated with the reflexive blink through conditioning.

Six weeks ago, Jacob ate a chicken sandwich that was contaminated with bacteria. It gave him food poisoning, and he was very ill for several days afterwards. Yesterday, someone offered Jacob a chicken sandwich at a party, and when he saw it, he felt ill again. The illness that Jacob felt yesterday was

• An unconditioned response

• A conditioned response

• A conditioned stimulus

• An unconditioned stimulus

Answer explanation

Jacob feeling ill upon seeing the chicken sandwich at the party is a conditioned response, as it was a learned response from associating the sandwich with his previous food poisoning experience.

Six weeks ago, Jacob ate a chicken sandwich that was contaminated with bacteria. It gave him food poisoning, and he was very ill for several days afterwards. The illness that Jacob suffered six weeks ago when he ate the contaminated chicken sandwich was

• An unconditioned response

• A conditioned response

• A conditioned stimulus

• An unconditioned stimulus

Answer explanation

The illness that Jacob suffered six weeks ago when he ate the contaminated chicken sandwich was an unconditioned response.

Six weeks ago, Jacob ate a chicken sandwich that was contaminated with bacteria. It gave him food poisoning, and he was very ill for several days afterwards. The thought of a chicken sandwich when someone offered Jacob one yesterday was

• An unconditioned response

• A conditioned response

• A conditioned stimulus

• An unconditioned stimulus

Answer explanation

The correct choice is a conditioned stimulus because Jacob's association of the chicken sandwich with food poisoning caused a negative response, making the sandwich a conditioned stimulus triggering a conditioned response.

Six weeks ago, Jacob ate a chicken sandwich that was contaminated with bacteria. It gave him food poisoning, and he was very ill for several days afterwards. The contaminated chicken sandwich that Jacob ate six weeks ago and that made him feel sick was

• An unconditioned response

• A conditioned response

• A conditioned stimulus

• An unconditioned stimulus

Answer explanation

The contaminated chicken sandwich that made Jacob sick is an unconditioned stimulus because it naturally triggers a response (food poisoning) without any prior conditioning.

A researcher conditions a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell. This is then followed by food. After some time, the sound of the bell alone (that is, without food), no longer leads to salivation.

• spontaneous recovery

• extinction

• acquisition

• stimulus generalisation

Answer explanation

The correct choice is extinction because the conditioned response (salivation) decreases when the conditioned stimulus (bell) is no longer followed by the unconditioned stimulus (food).