After a conditioned response has been extinguished, it reappears following a rest period. This is called:
AStimulus generalization
BHigher-order conditioning
CHabituation to the stimulus
DSpontaneous recovery
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. Spontaneous recovery
1. Extinction weakens the conditioned response but does not erase the original learning.
2. Spontaneous recovery is the return of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a rest period.
3. Pavlov demonstrated it: after extinction training, a couple of hours of rest was enough for the dogs to salivate to the bell again.
4. Crucially no new pairings are needed, only the passage of time, which is what separates it from fresh acquisition.
_Source: OpenStax Psychology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 6 "Learning", §6.2 Classical Conditioning_
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