At one time Jimmy was scared of dogs because he was bitten by one.With subsequent repeated exposure to tame dogs in safe settings,however,his fear of dogs has gradually faded.Jimmy's diminishing fear of dogs best illustrates

A) operant behavior.
B) spontaneous recovery.
C) extinction.
D) acquisition.

The gradual fading of Jimmy's fear of dogs suggests that he has undergone a process of extinction, in which the fear response is gradually weakened and eventually eliminated through repeated exposure to the fear-inducing stimulus (in this case, dogs). This is not an example of operant behavior, which involves the use of consequences to shape behavior, nor is it an example of spontaneous recovery, which refers to the sudden reappearance of an extinguished behavior. Acquisition, on the other hand, refers to the initial learning of a behavior, which is not applicable in this case since Jimmy already had the fear of dogs before undergoing extinction.