Which procedure involves presenting two stimuli together, often causing one to acquire the function of the other?

• A. Stimulus-stimulus pairing
• B. Time sampling
• C. Temporal extent
• D. Stimulus control

Answer: (A)

Stimulus-stimulus pairing is the idea that presenting two stimuli together causes one to take on the function of the other through association. When a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with a stimulus that already has a known effect, the neutral one becomes capable of evoking the same response, effectively turning into a conditioned stimulus. A classic example is pairing a neutral bell with food; after several pairings, the bell alone can elicit salivation or a conditioned response without the food being present. The other terms don’t describe this process: time sampling is a data collection method, temporal extent refers to how long a behavior lasts, and stimulus control concerns how a behavior is more likely to occur in the presence of certain stimuli due to reinforcement history, not the direct pairing of two stimuli to transfer function.