Spontaneous Retivation And Extinction

Register to read the introduction… He questioned what would happen if after conditioning, the bell (CS) occurred repeatedly without the food(US)? Would the dog still salivate(CR)? It seemed that the dog salivated less and less as time went on without the food(US). This reaction is known as Extinction. Gradually the dog stopped salivating to the sound of the bell and became extinct. Extinction weakens the CR while Acquisition strengthens it.

However, when the bell was again paired with the food (US) he started to salivate again (CR). Even with the delay the response is once again stimulated by the bell. This it is known as a Spontaneous Recovery, the extinction was only suppressing the CR not eliminating it. Spontaneous Recovery shows that things we learn aren't forgotten but