Which of the following illustrates stimulus discrimination in classical conditioning?

• A. A dog salivates to both a bell and a buzzer after being conditioned with a bell.
• B. A dog salivates only when it hears a specific bell tone, but not when it hears other similar tones.
• C. A dog salivates when it sees its owner, even though the owner was never paired with food.
• D. A dog stops salivating after the bell is repeatedly presented without food.

Answer: (B)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the concept of stimulus discrimination in classical conditioning. Stimulus discrimination occurs when an organism learns to respond only to a specific conditioned stimulus (CS) and not to other similar stimuli.
2. Step 2: Identify the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (US) in the example. Here, the bell tone is the CS, and the food is the US that naturally elicits salivation.
3. Step 3: Recognize that stimulus generalization happens when the organism responds to stimuli similar to the CS (e.g., salivating to both a bell and a buzzer), whereas stimulus discrimination means responding only to the specific CS (e.g., a specific bell tone) and not to other similar tones.
4. Step 4: Analyze each option to see which one shows the dog responding only to the specific bell tone and not to other similar sounds, indicating stimulus discrimination.
5. Step 5: Conclude that the correct illustration of stimulus discrimination is when the dog salivates only to the specific bell tone and not to other similar tones, demonstrating the ability to distinguish between stimuli.