Question

As a young child, Hermes suffered from severe allergies and required weekly visits to a clinic in order to receive injections. As an adult, Hermes avoids annual exams and panics at the thought of going to a doctor's office.
Hermes's behavior is likely explained through __________.

A. classical conditioning
B. information-processing
C. age-graded influences
D. None

Answer 1

Answer:

A. Classical conditioning

Explanation:

In psychology, classical conditioning is a method of learning by pairing stimuli. Usually, one stimulus causes a natural answer (the unconditioned stimulus causes an unconditioned answer), then this unconditioned stimulus is paired with another stimulus that doesn't cause an answer by itself but after some repetitions, the new stimulus (conditioned stimulus) causes the same answer and it becomes the conditioned answer.

In this example, Hermes had allergies and went to the clinic to receive injections. The visit to the clinic was paired with the injections and the pain they created (unconditioned answer), now, any doctor's office (unconditioned stimulus) would provoke feelings of panic and avoidance (conditioned response). Therefore, Hermes's behavior is likely explained through classical conditioning.