A respondent conditioning procedure in which the CS is presented a few seconds before the US occurs.

A respondent conditioning procedure in which the CS is presented a few seconds before the US occurs.

• A. Elicited
• B. Backward Conditioning
• C. Delayed Conditioning
• D. Habituation

Answer: (C)

Timing of the conditioned stimulus relative to the unconditioned stimulus in classical conditioning is the key idea here. When the conditioned stimulus starts first and remains on as the unconditioned stimulus occurs a short time later, the CS becomes a reliable predictor of the US. This overlap where the CS precedes the US and is still present when the US happens is called delayed conditioning. The organism learns to respond to the CS in anticipation of the US. By contrast, presenting the US first and then the CS is backward conditioning and typically produces weak learning. Habituation is a non-associative change—responding decreases with repeated exposure to the same stimulus—and isn’t about pairing CS and US. Elicited describes reflexive responses to stimuli, not a conditioning procedure.

Timing of the conditioned stimulus relative to the unconditioned stimulus in classical conditioning is the key idea here. When the conditioned stimulus starts first and remains on as the unconditioned stimulus occurs a short time later, the CS becomes a reliable predictor of the US. This overlap where the CS precedes the US and is still present when the US happens is called delayed conditioning. The organism learns to respond to the CS in anticipation of the US. By contrast, presenting the US first and then the CS is backward conditioning and typically produces weak learning. Habituation is a non-associative change—responding decreases with repeated exposure to the same stimulus—and isn’t about pairing CS and US. Elicited describes reflexive responses to stimuli, not a conditioning procedure.