What is spontaneous recovery in habituation?

What is Spontaneous Recovery
Examples In Classical Conditioning

Examples In Operant Conditioning
How it Works

Spontaneous recovery refers to the sudden reappearance of a previously extinct conditioned response after the unconditioned stimulus has been removed for some time.

Table of Contents Show

Table of Contents
Spontaneous Recovery Examples – Classical Conditioning
Spontaneous Recovery Examples – Operant Conditioning

This phenomenon can occur after these two types of conditioning have taken place.

Classical conditioning – involuntary learning process through the association of neutral stimulus with a biologically potent stimulus that produces an unconditioned response.

Operant conditioning – voluntary learning through the use of reinforcement and punishment.

Spontaneous Recovery Examples – Classical Conditioning

In classical conditioning, also known as pavlovian conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus (NS) becomes conditioned when it is repeatedly paired with the unconditioned stimulus (US). This now conditioned stimulus (CS) can produce its own conditioned response (CR), which is usually very similar to the unconditioned response (UR).

However, some conditioned responses are vulnerable to extinction. If the conditioned stimulus continues to appear in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned response becomes weaker and weaker until it disappears, which is called the extinction procedure.

A famous example is Pavlov’s dogs. Ivan Pavlov, who coined the term pavlovian conditioning, experimented by sounding a bell repeatedly when he fed the dogs. Over time, they learned to associate the sound with food and salivated (a learned behavior) when they heard the sound. Then Pavlov started ringing the bell without giving food. Eventually, the dogs stopped salivating to the sound of the bell.

However, Pavlov noticed that even after a substantial amount of time had passed, the conditioned response would easily recover if the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus were paired again one day. Even though the dogs stopped salivating to the sound of the bell, their salivation recovered spontaneously after a “rest period.”1

Another example is that a child gets excited every day when they hear the ice cream truck music because their mother always buys them ice cream. When their mother stops buying, the child gradually learns to not associate the ice cream truck music with eating ice cream. After the truck stops coming for a few days and then returns, the child gets excited again when they hear the truck music.

Spontaneous Recovery Examples – Operant Conditioning

A trainer teaches a dog to sit by associating the command “Sit” with food. So the dog learns to sit whenever the trainer says the word. But after the trainer stops giving it food, the dog gradually stops responding to the command. Days later, the trainer tries again, and the dog sits again.

Here is another example. A child runs to the door to greet Dad because he always brings home a new toy. After Dad stops bringing home toys, the child stops running to the door to greet him. After a few days, the child suddenly resumes to greeting their Dad at the door.

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Extinction involves inhibition.

The fact that conditioned response can suddenly recover suggests that extinction doesn’t erase the learned association. Instead, extinction inhibits the conditioned response. It appears that extinction forms new learning separate from the original conditioned learning2.

This new learning “extinguish” the conditioned response by inhibiting its expression instead of erasing or unlearning it. The conditioned response has not been forgotten or eliminated. Since the initial conditioned response never disappears, it eventually returns.

For example, studies show that, with sufficient time, sudden recovery of the fear response after extinction occurs 100% in situations such as fear conditioning3.

Recovery increases over time.

Over time, the inhibition from extinction fades and the spontaneous recovery gradually increases with time.

During the recovery, memory from the extinction process competes with the reactivated memory from initial conditioning but fails5.

Since new learning does not replace old ones, spontaneous recovery does not replace the extinction learning either. The recovery simply exists in the presence of extinction learning4.

Spontaneous recovery is incomplete

The strength of the recovered learning is usually smaller than the original learning. If extinction is applied again, the subsequent recovery will become weaker and weaker.

References

1.
2.
Rescorla RA. Spontaneous Recovery. Learning & Memory. September 2004:501-509. doi:10.1101/lm.77504
3.
Quirk GJ. Memory for Extinction of Conditioned Fear Is Long-lasting and Persists Following Spontaneous Recovery. Learning & Memory. November 2002:402-407. doi:10.1101/lm.49602
4.
Bouton ME. Context, ambiguity, and unlearning: sources of relapse after behavioral extinction. Biological Psychiatry. November 2002:976-986. doi:10.1016/s0006-3223(02)01546-9
5.

Laborda MA, Miller RR. Reactivated memories compete for expression after Pavlovian extinction. Behavioural Processes. May 2012:20-27. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2012.01.012

Spontaneous recovery is the reemergence of a response that had been previously conditioned using classical or operant conditioning. Find some spontaneous recovery examples seen in everyday life.

example of spontaneous recovery dog lay down

Spontaneous recovery is a theory of learning and memory associated with two types of conditioning: classical and operant.

classical conditioning - This is the most well known of the two types since it was the type of conditioning Pavlov explored in his famous experiment regarding dogs' salivation when food and a bell were associated. It includes either positive or negative conditioning.

operant conditioning - This is highly complex conditioning that includes both positive and negative conditioning.

Explore spontaneous recovery examples seen in the world every day.

A rat is taught to push a lever when a light is flashed. Later, he is taught to push the lever when the bell is rung. He stops pushing the lever when the light is flashed. Months later, when the light is flashed he begins to push the lever again.
A child is taught to go to sleep when the light is turned off. However, for many months the child no longer falls asleep when the light is turned off. Then, the child begins to fall asleep when the light is turned off again.
A dog responds to the command "lay down." One day, he stops listening when told to lay down. Days later, he begins to lay down again.
A cat stops eating a plant when sprayed with water until one instance when the cat is sprayed and she continues to eat the plant. Eventually, weeks later, the cat once again responds to being sprayed with water and stops eating the plant.
A parrot is taught to repeat after its owner when a tapping noise is made and does so. However, the parrot stops responding to the tapping, but one day begins to talk again after hearing the tapping.
A baby learns to stop crying when her mother comes into the room. Then, even when her mother does come into the room, she continues to cry. Eventually, the original response of stopping the crying when the mother enters the room returns.
A neighborhood cat automatically runs when a door to a house is opened. Then, the cat stops running and remains where it is. Spontaneous recovery occurs when the cat begins to run again when the door opens.
A student immediately stops talking during instruction when his teacher purses her lips and shakes her head. However, the student changes this behavior by not responding to the teacher's expression. Then, he begins to once again respond.
A dog immediately runs to the food bowl after taking her morning walk. One day she starts to just go back to her dog bed. Then, weeks later, she begins to resume her normal response of running to the food bowl.
A cat meows when hearing a bell because she associates that bell with food. However, the cat stops meowing when the bell is rung without the presence of food. After a few weeks, a bell is rung and the cat meows.
Pepperoni makes a child sick every time they eat it. That child grows up and moves past their food allergy. However, at a pizza restaurant, the smell of pepperoni suddenly make that person feel nauseous.
When a child hears the music of the ice cream truck, they run to the door because their parent usually buys them ice cream. After a few weeks of not getting ice cream, the child stops running to the door. A month later, they hear the ice cream truck jingle and run to the door.
Every day a dog is fed, his food bowl bangs against the ground. The bang makes the dog excited about food. For several weeks, the food bowl is banged against the ground with no food. The dog stops getting excited to be fed. A few weeks later when a food bowl is banged on the ground, the dog gets excited.

Now you can see different examples of spontaneous recovery. This will help you to better understand how this type of behavior is exhibited. With spontaneous recovery under your belt, you can check out examples of positive punishment.

Staff Writer

Operant Conditioning Examples
Operant conditioning is a learning process whereby deliberate behaviors are reinforced through consequences. It differs from classical conditioning, also called respondent or Pavlovian conditioning, in which involuntary behaviors are triggered by external stimuli.
10 Classical Conditioning Examples in Everyday Life
Have you heard of Pavlov’s dogs? That’s the experiment conducted by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov wherein his dogs started to salivate when he rang a bell. This is the best-known example of classical conditioning, when a neutral stimulus is paired with a conditioned response. Did you know there are many classical conditioning examples in everyday life, too? Let’s explore 10 of them.