What would likely happen when a dog salivates in response to a bell?

Disable ads (and more) with a membership for a one time $4.99 payment

Get ready for the UCF PSY2012 General Psychology Exam. Practice with hints and explanations to improve your understanding. Master your exam preparation today!

When a dog salivates in response to a bell, this phenomenon is identified as a conditioned response. In classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus (in this case, the bell) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (such as food) that naturally evokes a response (like salivation). Over time, the dog learns to associate the bell with the food, so that the sound of the bell alone can trigger the salivation, even in the absence of food.

This process demonstrates the principles of classical conditioning, where the learning occurs through the association between the two stimuli. The dog’s salivating to the bell is not an instinctive or reflex action to the sound itself, but rather a learned behavior that develops through repeated conditioning. This tells us that the dog has formed an associative link between the bell and the anticipation of food, illustrating how behaviors can be acquired through experience.

Overall, identifying the dog's salivation in this context as a conditioned response is crucial in understanding how learning and behavior modification occur in animals and humans alike.