Which description captures the relationship where an unconditioned stimulus elicits an unlearned response?

Which description captures the relationship where an unconditioned stimulus elicits an unlearned response?

• A. US -> UR
• B. Functional Analysis
• C. Extinction
• D. Shaping

Answer: (A)

The main idea is that some stimuli naturally elicit certain responses without any learning—these are unconditioned, reflexive connections. An unconditioned stimulus automatically triggering an unlearned response is described by the direct US → UR relationship. This captures the idea that the response is not learned; it’s an automatic reflex to the stimulus, like food (US) causing salivation (UR) in a hungry animal. That’s why this option fits best: it expresses a simple, inherently tied cause-and-effect without any conditioning process. The other terms refer to different concepts: Functional Analysis is about identifying what events maintain a behavior, Extinction is about stopping reinforcement to reduce a behavior, and Shaping is about reinforcing successive approximations to a desired behavior.

The main idea is that some stimuli naturally elicit certain responses without any learning—these are unconditioned, reflexive connections. An unconditioned stimulus automatically triggering an unlearned response is described by the direct US → UR relationship. This captures the idea that the response is not learned; it’s an automatic reflex to the stimulus, like food (US) causing salivation (UR) in a hungry animal.

That’s why this option fits best: it expresses a simple, inherently tied cause-and-effect without any conditioning process. The other terms refer to different concepts: Functional Analysis is about identifying what events maintain a behavior, Extinction is about stopping reinforcement to reduce a behavior, and Shaping is about reinforcing successive approximations to a desired behavior.