Which term describes the rapid recovery of a conditioned response to a CS-UCS pairing following extinction?

• A. Spontaneous recovery
• B. Extinction
• C. Reconditioning
• D. Stimulus generalization

Answer: (C)

Reconditioning describes the rapid re-learning of the CS-UCS link after extinction because the original association isn’t erased; it’s just weakened. After extinction, the memory of the pairing is still there, so when the CS and UCS are paired again, the organism relearns the connection more quickly than during the initial conditioning. For example, a dog that learned to salivate to a bell, then had the bell presented without food (extinction), will relearn the salivation response faster on retraining because the prior association remains latent.

Spontaneous recovery would be the CR reappearing after some time with the CS alone, not after re-pairing, so it’s a different phenomenon. Extinction is the weakening of the conditioned response, not its recovery. Stimulus generalization involves responding to stimuli similar to the CS, not the recovery process after extinction.