When Ashon comes home from work every day, he opens the garage door and pulls his car into the garage. His dog, Spot, hears the noise of the garage and the car entering the garage before Ashon comes through the garage door. Now, when Spot hears the garage door open, Spot runs to the garage to greet Ashon. This is an example of:
A) Observational learning
B) Generalization
C) Operant conditioning
D) Classical conditioning
Answer (2)
The scenario described in the question is an example of Classical Conditioning .
Classical Conditioning is a learning process first described by Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, in the early 20th century. It involves learning through association, where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus and acquires the ability to elicit a similar response.
In this case, here’s how classical conditioning works:
Unconditioned Stimulus (US) : Ashon entering the house and Spot having a positive reaction to seeing him.
Unconditioned Response (UR) : Spot runs to greet Ashon when he sees him. This is a natural response to seeing Ashon, as they are presumably bonded.
Conditioned Stimulus (CS) : The sound of the garage door opening. Initially, Spot does not consider this sound significant.
Conditioned Response (CR) : Over time, when Spot repeatedly hears the garage door opening (CS) followed by Ashon entering (US), Spot begins to associate the sound of the garage with Ashon coming home. Now, Spot runs to the garage as soon as he hears the sound (this was the conditioned response he learned).
Therefore, the correct answer is D) Classical Conditioning . This process illustrates how Spot has learned to associate the sound of the garage door with the arrival of Ashon, leading to his eager behavior of running to greet him when he hears the sound.
The answer to the question is D) Classical Conditioning . In this scenario, Spot learns to associate the sound of the garage door opening with Ashon's arrival, leading to his conditioned response of running to greet him. This process illustrates how living beings can learn through associations between stimuli and responses.
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