Question

Every other day, Tabetha's cat gets wet cat food. Tabetha uses the electric can opener to open the can of food. The cat gets so excited because she loves wet cat food. One morning, Tabetha's mother is visiting and she gets a can of tuna to make tuna salad sandwiches. As she opens the tuna can with an electric can opener and the cat is constantly rubbing on her leg and purring and meowing. In this example the UCS is:

Answer 1

The UCS (Unconditioned Stimulus) in this example is the wet cat food that the cat gets every other day. The cat is naturally excited and stimulated by the smell and taste of the wet cat food, which is an unconditioned response. The electric can opener is a neutral stimulus that has become associated with the presentation of the wet cat food and has become a conditioned stimulus that elicits the conditioned response of excitement and anticipation in the cat. In the case of Tabetha's mother opening a can of tuna, the cat is still responding to the sound of the electric can opener as a conditioned stimulus that has become associated with the unconditioned stimulus of wet cat food.