Which phenomenon describes the return of an extinguished CR after time has passed?

Which phenomenon describes the return of an extinguished CR after time has passed?

• A. Trace Conditioning
• B. Respondent Discrimination
• C. Phylogenetic
• D. Spontaneous Recovery

Answer: (D)

Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a period of time without the conditioned stimulus. After extinction, the organism has learned an inhibitory association that suppresses the original response. But that inhibition can fade with time, and when the conditioned stimulus is presented again, the original excitatory association can briefly dominate, causing the response to return—though usually not as strong as it was before extinction. This shows that extinction isn’t erasing the original CS–US memory; it’s creating new learning that suppresses it, which can wane with time. Trace conditioning involves a temporal gap between the CS and the US, not the return of a response after a rest period. Respondent discrimination is about distinguishing between stimuli that predict different outcomes, rather than a return of an extinguished response. Phylogenetic refers to innate, evolutionarily inherited responses, not the recovery of a learned one.

Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a period of time without the conditioned stimulus. After extinction, the organism has learned an inhibitory association that suppresses the original response. But that inhibition can fade with time, and when the conditioned stimulus is presented again, the original excitatory association can briefly dominate, causing the response to return—though usually not as strong as it was before extinction. This shows that extinction isn’t erasing the original CS–US memory; it’s creating new learning that suppresses it, which can wane with time.

Trace conditioning involves a temporal gap between the CS and the US, not the return of a response after a rest period. Respondent discrimination is about distinguishing between stimuli that predict different outcomes, rather than a return of an extinguished response. Phylogenetic refers to innate, evolutionarily inherited responses, not the recovery of a learned one.