An experimenter plans to condition a dog to salivate to a light by pairing the light with food.The dog will learn to salivate to the light most quickly if the experimenter presents the light

A) five seconds before the food.
B) half a second before the food.
C) at precisely the same time as the food.
D) a half-second after the food.

The most effective way to condition a dog to salivate to a light is through classical conditioning, which involves pairing the light (conditioned stimulus) with the presentation of food (unconditioned stimulus). The closer in time the conditioned stimulus is presented to the unconditioned stimulus, the more effective this pairing will be in eliciting the desired response. Research in classical conditioning has shown that the optimal timing for presenting the conditioned stimulus is around half a second before the unconditioned stimulus. This is known as the "delayed conditioning" procedure and has been found to be the most effective way to condition a dog to salivate to a light.