Question

Irinia's dog loves to go for walks, and she always puts a leash on him when they go out. The dog used to wag his tail as soon as they got outside, but now he wags his tail when she picks up the leash. In this case, what is the unconditioned stimulus?

a) The leash
b) Going for walks
c) Wagging the tail
d) Getting outside

Answer 1

The unconditioned stimulus is b) Going for walks, as it elicits the dog's natural tail-wagging response. Extinction, or the breaking of the connection between a conditioned stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus, occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus over time. Option b is correct.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the scenario described, Irinia's dog began to wag its tail not only when going for walks but also when the leash is picked up, indicating a form of classical conditioning. The unconditioned stimulus (UCS) in this context is b) Going for walks, as this is the stimulus that naturally elicits the dog's tail-wagging response without prior learning or conditioning.

The process of breaking the connection between a conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus is known as extinction. In Pavlov's experiments, this was achieved by presenting the conditioned stimulus (e.g., the sound of a bell) without the unconditioned stimulus (e.g., meat powder) repeatedly, leading to a decrease and eventual disappearance of the conditioned response.