What term describes a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second conditioned stimulus?

• A. Latent learning
• B. Higher order conditioning
• C. General intelligence
• D. Savant syndrome

Answer: (B)

Higher-order conditioning is a progression in Pavlovian learning where a previously conditioned stimulus is paired with a new neutral stimulus, turning that new stimulus into a second conditioned stimulus. Start with a neutral stimulus that becomes a conditioned stimulus by pairing it with an unconditioned or conditioned stimulus. Then take that established conditioned stimulus and pair it with another neutral stimulus. After enough pairings, the new neutral stimulus elicits the same conditioned response on its own, even though it was never directly paired with the unconditioned stimulus. For example, if a bell becomes a conditioned stimulus that makes a dog salivate, you can pair a light with that bell; eventually the light alone will trigger salivation. This is why the term is higher-order conditioning (also called second-order conditioning). Other choices don’t describe this chain of conditioning: latent learning involves knowledge not immediately shown, general intelligence refers to overall cognitive ability, and savant syndrome describes a condition with extraordinary skills in specific areas.