in an instance of what recovery a conditioned response that has be extinguished reappears when a person is exposed to a related stimulus
spontaneous recovery
Automatic
The scenario you are referring to is called spontaneous recovery. Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response (CR) after a period of time has passed since the extinction phase.
To understand how spontaneous recovery occurs, we need to first understand the processes of classical conditioning and extinction. In classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus (NS) is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US), leading to the development of a conditioned response (CR) to the NS. However, if the NS is repeatedly presented without the US during the process of extinction, the conditioned response weakens and eventually disappears.
In spontaneous recovery, after a period of time has passed following the extinction phase, the presentation of the conditioned stimulus (CS) alone can once again elicit the conditioned response (CR), even though it had previously been extinguished. This reappearance of the CR is typically weaker and short-lived compared to the original conditioned response.
The exact mechanisms behind spontaneous recovery are not fully understood, but there are a few theories to explain this phenomenon. One possibility is that during extinction, the learned association between the CS and the absence of the US is not completely erased but rather suppressed. Over time, this suppression weakens, allowing the conditioned response to resurface when the CS is presented again.
To study spontaneous recovery in a laboratory setting, researchers typically perform classical conditioning trials, followed by extinction trials where the CS is presented without the US. After a rest period (usually without any exposure to the CS), the CS is presented again to observe if spontaneous recovery occurs.
In summary, spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response after a period of time has passed. It highlights that even though extinction weakens the association between the CS and the CR, the learned association is not completely erased, and the response can reemerge when the CS is reintroduced.