Answer: A) Pruning
Explanation: Pruning in the view of neuroscientist is a process that occur through out a person's life span but more active between childhood and adulthood and slows down afterwards; it involves the reduction of synapses and neurons in the brain. It is a way of eliminating neural pathways in the brain that are no longer in use. As a child learn new things, the brain develops and become more mature, some neural connections develop and become more useful while others are no longer useful, pruning helps in removing these pathways that are no longer in use.
The answer is: conditioned stimulus (CS)
Conditioned stimulus refers to the neutral stimulus that trigger a specific response after being associated for a prolonged period of time with unconditioned stimulus.
In the case above:
- the toilet flush is previously a neutral stimulus that does not trigger any response.
- The toilet flush later on paired with unconditioned stimulus (hot water) that make jeff scream in pain
- Because of this, the toilet flush become a conditioned stimulus. This make jeff associate the toilet flush with hot water and make him twitch whenever he hear toilet flush while bathing.
