In watson and rayner's experiment with little albert, they paired a loud noise with a white rat. although albert had not initially been afraid of the rat, after only seven pairings of the loud noise with the white rat, albert began to fear the rat, even when the loud noise was no longer sounded. in this experiment, the loud noise is an example of a(n)

The correct answer is: unconditioned stimulus

Explanation:

An unconditioned stimulus (UCS) generates or triggers an unlearned, automatic, naturally response to it. Such a response to an unconditioned stimulus is known as unconditioned response.

Example: In the given experiment, loud noise paired with the white rat, triggered an unconditioned response in Albert. Therefore, the loud noise in this experiment is an unconditioned stimulus.