What term refers to the return of a conditioned response after a period of non-exposure to the conditioned stimulus?

The term that refers to the return of a conditioned response after a period of non-exposure to the conditioned stimulus is spontaneous recovery. This phenomenon occurs in classical conditioning, where after a certain time has elapsed without the presence of the conditioned stimulus, the conditioned response can re-emerge. For example, if a dog has been conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell and then, after some time with no bell sound, the bell is rung again, the dog may still salivate. This indicates that the learned association was not entirely lost but temporarily suppressed.

In contrast, acquisition refers to the initial learning phase in which a conditioned response is established when the conditioned stimulus is paired with the unconditioned stimulus. Extinction involves the gradual weakening of the conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus consistently over time. Generalization occurs when a conditioned response is triggered by stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus, rather than just the conditioned stimulus itself.