Asked by Khushreet Sandhu on Apr 30, 2024
Verified
Luke suffers from acrophobia,a fear of high places.His therapist suggests that his reaction to heights is a generalization of the fear triggered by a childhood playground accident in which he fell off a jungle gym.The therapist's suggestion indicates that he believes Luke's fear results from
A) conditioning.
B) genes.
C) epigenetics.
D) a biological predisposition.
Acrophobia
An intense fear of heights that can significantly avoid behavior and interfere with daily life.
Generalization
Generalization is the process of applying the conclusions drawn from specific instances to broader contexts or situations.
Conditioning
Conditioning is a process in psychology that involves learning associations between environmental stimuli and behavioral responses, foundational to behavioral psychology.
- Understand the role of conditioning in the development and generalization of fears and phobias.
Verified Answer
KD
Keisha DormilMay 04, 2024
Final Answer :
A
Explanation :
The therapist's suggestion that Luke's fear of heights is a generalization of the fear triggered by a childhood playground accident indicates that Luke's fear developed through a process of conditioning. Specifically, Luke likely developed a negative association between heights and the fear response due to his negative experience on the jungle gym. This association then generalized to other high places, resulting in Luke's acrophobia. This is an example of classical conditioning, in which a neutral stimulus (heights) becomes associated with a fear response due to its pairing with a negative experience (the playground accident).
Learning Objectives
- Understand the role of conditioning in the development and generalization of fears and phobias.