Question

"In order to assess the hearing abilities of nonverbal adults, a researcher conducted the following test:

First, the researcher repeatedly paired a neutral tone with a small puff of air into the subject's eye; the puff of air elicited an eye blink. Next, the researcher played the tone without the puff of air. If the tone independently elicited an eye blink, then the tone had become a(n) _________.
a. Conditioned stimulus
b. Neutral stimulus
c. Conditioned response
d. Unconditioned response"

Answer 1

The tone that initially was a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus when it elicits an eye blink after being paired with a puff of air, which was the unconditioned stimulus.

Step-by-step explanation:

In order to assess the hearing abilities of nonverbal adults, a researcher used a classic conditioning technique by pairing a tone with a puff of air. Initially, the tone is a neutral stimulus; it does not elicit any response on its own. Through repeated pairings with the puff of air that naturally causes an eye blink (the unconditioned response to the unconditioned stimulus), the tone becomes associated with the act of blinking. Finally, when the tone alone elicits an eye blink, the tone has become a conditioned stimulus (CS), and the eye blink in response to the tone is the conditioned response (CR).