A dog didn't mind the sound of the rain. But now that he has experienced a thunderstorm, he starts hiding under the bed as soon as it starts to rain. In detail, what occurred to change his behaviour?

In your answer, include information from each of the following:

1)brain/nervous system

2)sensation and perception

3)learning

The change in the behavior of the dog occurred as a result of learning. Learning refers to an enduring change in behavior potentiality in an organism. Rain acted as the neutral stimulus hence the dog did not mind about it. This is referred to as unconditioned response but the presence of thunderstorm was paired with rain and it inflicted sense of fear in the dog hence its hiding behavior during rain. During the process of this behavior change, lightning that precedes thunder is detected by the eye (light sense organ) and the information is transmitted to the brain through the nervous system by the aid of neurotransmitters. Thunder is also also detected by the ear. The loud sound is then converted and transmitted to the brain for processing. Brain synthesizes the information to elucidate appropriate response. This activates the dog to respond automatically. The response of the dog to thunderstorm is as a result of feeling and perception that such a loud sound might be dangerous to its health. The action of the dog hiding under the bed is called conditioned response as it helps the dog avoid danger and comes as a result of learning from the conditioned stimulus or rather thunderstorm. Therefore as soon as the rain starts raining, the dog runs hides as it has associated the presence of rain with thunderstorm. This phenomenon is known as generalization. We can therefore  conclude that learning has taken place because the dog is able to pair rain with thunderstorm and and has developed an appropriate mechanism of responding appropriately by hiding under the bed.

Step-by-step explanation

REFERENCES.

1. Mackintosh, N. J. (1974). The psychology of animal learning. Academic Press.
2. Pearce, J. M., & Hall, G. (1980). A model for Pavlovian learning: variations in the effectiveness of conditioned but not of unconditioned stimuli. Psychological review, 87(6), 532.