In 1942, a researcher named Liddell trained a sheep to lift its leg off a shock pad to avoid getting shocked when it heard a tone. He was curious to see whether the sheep made a stimulus-response association or a stimulus-stimulus association. To test which association the sheep made, he turned the sheep upside down and rather than its leg on the shock pad, he placed the sheep’s head on the shock pad. When he presented a tone, the sheep lifted its head! What type of association did the sheep make?
A. Stimulus-Response Association
B. Stimulus-Stimulus Response Association
Please help I am confused.
Stimulus-Stimulus Response Association
The sheep learned that the tone stimulus predicts another stimulus, which is the shock! If the sheep made a stimulus-response association, it would have lifted its leg in response to the tone.
Based on the information provided, it appears that the sheep made a stimulus-response association. When the sheep heard the tone (stimulus), it lifted its leg (response) off the shock pad to avoid getting shocked. This suggests that the sheep connected the stimulus (tone) with the appropriate response (lifting its leg). Therefore, the correct answer is A. Stimulus-Response Association.
To determine whether the sheep made a stimulus-response association or a stimulus-stimulus association, let's break down what each association means:
Stimulus-Response Association:
In a stimulus-response association, an organism learns to respond in a specific way to a particular stimulus. The response is directly linked to the stimulus, meaning that the organism connects the two.
Stimulus-Stimulus Association:
In a stimulus-stimulus association, an organism learns to associate one stimulus with another stimulus. This means that the organism connects the two stimuli and expects a certain outcome or response based on that association.
Now, let's analyze the scenario:
In the original experiment, the sheep was trained to lift its leg when it heard a tone to avoid getting shocked on a pad. This suggests that the sheep associated the tone stimulus (the bell sound) with the response stimulus (lifting its leg) to avoid the shock stimulus (the pad). This indicates a stimulus-response association, as the sheep learned to respond to the specific tone stimulus with a particular action.
However, to further test this, the researcher turned the sheep upside down and substituted the shock pad with the sheep's head. Despite the change in the stimulus, when the tone was presented, the sheep still lifted its head. This suggests that the sheep linked the tone stimulus to the head stimulus, which in turn triggered the response of lifting its head to avoid the shock.
Based on this information, it is evident that the sheep made a stimulus-stimulus association. The sheep associated the tone stimulus with the head stimulus, resulting in the behavior of lifting its head.
Therefore, the correct answer is: B. Stimulus-Stimulus Response Association.