Imagine that you try to condition someone so that a particular sound elicits a literal “knee-jerk response.” Which of the following is accurate?

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

In classical conditioning, we distinguish between the stimuli and responses involved. 
Option A states 'The anticipation of being struck in the knee is the CSR.' This is inaccurate for two reasons: the term should be CR (not CSR), and the anticipation of the knee strike is the conditioned response, not the stimulus.
Option B claims 'The initial knee-jerk response is the CR.' While the knee-jerk reflex is indeed a knee-jerk response, it is the unconditioned response (UR) to the unconditioned stimulus (the actual strike), before any conditioning occurs. Therefore this option mislabels the reflex as the conditioned response.
Option C says 'The initial strike to the knee is the CS.' Here the initial strike is the unconditioned stimulus (US), which naturally elicits the reflex. The conditioned stimulus is something neutral that, after pairing, comes to evoke the response. This option confuses the US with the CS.
Option D states 'The sound is the CS.' This aligns with the classical conditioning model: a neutral stimulus (the sound) is paired with the unconditioned stimulus (the knee strike) so that the sound becomes a conditioned stimulus that elicits the conditioned response (knee-jerk) on its own after learning.
Therefore, among the choices, the statement describing the sound as the conditioned stimulus correctly identifies the roles of CS, US, CR, and UR within this conditioning scenario.

SMC 2025 Wnt - PSYCH 1 (1464) - General Psychology (O) Quiz #3

Imagine that you try to condition someone so that a particular sound elicits a literal “knee-jerk response.” Which of the following is accurate?

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