Question

The physiologist Ivan Pavlov conducted an experiment on dogs, in which a bell was sounded every time food was provided. In this experiment, dogs eventually showed the salivary reflex (a response to food) when the bell was sounded, even if food was not provided. This is an example of ________.

• A. conditioning
• B. imprinting
• C. instinct
• D. eavesdropping

Hint:

The dogs learned a new response by repeatedly pairing a neutral cue with a reflex-triggering stimulus.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Break down what happened in the experiment.
At first, food alone made the dogs salivate; this is a natural, unlearned reflex. Pavlov then paired a neutral stimulus, the bell, with food over repeated trials. Eventually the dogs salivated at the sound of the bell alone, even with no food present.

Step 2: Name this kind of learning.
This is the classic description of classical conditioning: an animal learns to associate a neutral stimulus (the bell) with a stimulus that naturally triggers a response (food), so that the neutral stimulus alone comes to trigger the same response. This whole process is described by the general term "conditioning".

Step 3: Rule out the other options.
Imprinting is a rapid, time-limited form of learning seen early in life, such as a duckling following the first moving object it sees; it does not involve pairing two stimuli over repeated trials.
Instinct is a fixed, unlearned behavior pattern that an animal performs correctly without any prior learning; Pavlov's dogs had to learn the bell-food link, so this is not instinct.
Eavesdropping in behavioral ecology refers to an individual picking up and using information from signals exchanged between other individuals, which has nothing to do with this experiment.

Final Answer:
The dogs learned to link a previously neutral cue with a reflex response through repeated pairing, which is conditioning.
\[ \boxed{\text{Conditioning}} \]