Question

If you have a “frightening experience” immediately after hearing a strange sound, your fear may be aroused when you hear that sound again. This best illustrates
a.generalization.
b.spontaneous recovery.
c.classical conditioning.
d.the law of effect.

Answer 1

C. Classical Conditioning

This is learning process stimulated when something happens for the first time eliciting a specific reaction, and then if it happens again the reaction is given again because the behavior has already been learned. That is what classical conditioning is, or sometimes known as Pavlovian Conditioning, first sought and taught by Pavlov, a Russian Psychologist. You see, there are three stages to this:

1. Before Conditioning

This is where the behavior has not been learned yet, so a new behavior is able to be learned.

2. During Conditioning

This is where the behavior is being learned. The general response is stimulated by something to make it learned behavior when you see/hear/smell/etc again. This is making it your first reaction, a learned reaction from the first time

3. After Conditioning

This is where the brain is processing how to stimulate the same response again. It has now made it a learned behavior.

This matches with your stimulation, saying that you had a frightening experience, saying that you heard something and if it was done again, the response would be the same. Again...making it a already learned behavior, all of this naming the three stages of Classical Conditioning. This can be and often may seem as The law of Effect, founded by Edwar Thorndike. A behavior that cannot be predicted easily due to variety. Hope this answered your question :)