In a study, researchers paired a neutral tone with a puff of air to a participant's eye over repeated trials. Initially, the tone produced no eyeblink, while the air puff reliably elicited one. After many pairings, the tone alone began to produce a reliable eyeblink response. Researchers then presented the tone repeatedly without the air puff and observed gradual weakening of the eyeblink response.
In Pavlovian terms, the air puff functioned as the
- Acheck_circle
Unconditioned stimulus (US)
- B
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
- C
Conditioned response (CR)
- D
Neutral stimulus throughout
Explanation
The air puff naturally elicits the eyeblink without learning, making it the unconditioned stimulus. The eyeblink to the air puff is the unconditioned response.