OCR General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Biology Practice Exam

At what stage does the dog begin to salivate in response to the bell alone?

1. Stage 1

2. Stage 2

3. Stage 3

4. Stage 4

The correct answer is: Stage 4

The stage at which the dog begins to salivate in response to the bell alone is known as the final stage of classical conditioning. During this stage, the dog has learned to associate the sound of the bell with the presentation of food. The salivation is an unconditioned response to the unconditioned stimulus (food), and once the bell has been consistently paired with the food, it becomes a conditioned stimulus that elicits the conditioned response (salivation) without the need for the food to be present. This demonstrates the principles of classical conditioning as established by Ivan Pavlov, where a neutral stimulus (the bell) becomes conditioned through association with an unconditioned stimulus (the food). The response, in this case salivation, occurs reliably in reaction to the bell alone after sufficient conditioning has taken place, hence why this stage is crucial for understanding the learning process in this scenario.