Question

As a child, Blaine was attacked by a goose and subsequently developed a severe fear of geese. As he got older, the fear gradually faded until it was all but forgotten. Blaine recently went strolling through a park by the river where he saw a flock of geese. The geese stared at him and he suddenly felt afraid again. The re-occurrence of Blaine's fear of geese is an example of _______________.

Answer 1

Answer:

The answer is spontaneous recovery.

Explanation:

Regarding theories of learning and conditioning, spontenous recovery is a term used to describe the sudden reappearance of a reponse that was believed to be extinct. It may occur even after a long time without any exposure to the stimulus (the geese in this example).

Spontaneous recovery demonstrates that an extinct response is not the same as an unlearned response. In other words, some behaviours may never be fully eliminated.