Question

After the first extinction trial, when you gave Sniffy a "time out", what happened to Sniffy's behavior when he was returned to the operant chamber? What is this called?

Answer 1

Sniffy pressed the bar multiple times and quite quickly because he was expecting to be rewarded with food after pressing the bar. Although he was away from the environment for a period of time, he was able to remember when he needed to do in order to receive food.

This is called spontaneous recovery.

Explanation:

Spontaneous recovery is defined as the reappearance of behavior after giving a time out instruction. The recovery can occur after specific period time after stopping exposure to the conditioned stimulus.

Sniffy was engaged in bar pressing activity. He was pressing the bar so that he will be rewarded with the food. Suddenly sniffy pressed the bar for multiple times when the time out instruction was given. He does it with the intention to get the free food. Spontaneous recovery made him to think about the activity even he returned back to his chamber.