Question

Leonard is addicted to heroin, but is very careful about overdosing. He always uses a specific amount and takes it only at his apartment. This Friday, he got desperate for the drug while visiting a friend. This was the first time he used heroin outside his own apartment. He injected his normal "safe" dose of heroin but almost died of an overdose. According to the principles of classical conditioning what led to Leonard's condition?
The effect of the heroin was increased because Leonard injected it in a strange environment and his body could not use the stimuli in his basement to prepare for it. T/F

Answer 1

Answer:

The final statement is true

Explanation:

What happened is that Leonard's organism was not "expecting" the drug. Leonard had most likely associated his apartment with the consumption of heroin., and had developed a tolerance from continued use. However, tolerance occurs because the apartment signals to the body that heroin consumption is coming, thus preparing the body for it. When using at a new place, Leonard didn't have the cues in his apartment to signal to his body he was about to use heroin. Thus, tolerance did not kick in and the "regular" dose became too high for his unprepared organism, almost causing him to fatally overdose.