Which dog is demonstrating stimulus discrimination in the following scenarios?

• A. Dog B salivates whenever it hears any bell tone, regardless of whether it was paired with food.
• B. Dog C salivates when it sees its owner, even though the owner was never paired with food.
• C. Dog D does not salivate to any bell tone, even the one that was paired with food.
• D. Dog A salivates only when it hears a specific bell tone that was paired with food, but does not salivate to other bell tones.

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the concept of stimulus discrimination, which occurs when an organism responds only to a specific conditioned stimulus and not to other similar stimuli.
2. Step 2: Identify the behavior of each dog in relation to the bell tones and food pairing: Dog B responds to all bell tones, Dog C responds to the owner (not related to the bell), Dog D does not respond to any bell tone.
3. Step 3: Recognize that stimulus discrimination is demonstrated when the dog salivates only to the specific bell tone that was paired with food, ignoring other similar tones.
4. Step 4: Compare each dog's behavior to the definition of stimulus discrimination to determine which dog fits the criteria.
5. Step 5: Conclude that the dog which salivates only to the specific bell tone paired with food, and not to other bell tones, is demonstrating stimulus discrimination.