Instructions
For each scenario presented below, identify
the four major elements of classical conditioning. Specify for each example
the unconditioned stimulus (US), the unconditioned response (UR), the conditioned
stimulus (CS), and the conditioned response (CR).
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To discourage coyotes from attacking their
sheep, ranchers feed the coyotes small pieces of mutton tainted with poison
that, when ingested, cause the coyotes experience extreme dizziness and
nausea. Later, when the coyotes are placed in the pen with the sheep, the
mere smell of the sheep causes the coyotes to run frantically away from
their former prey.
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As part of a new and intriguing line of research
in behavioral medicine, researchers give mice saccharine-flavored water
(a sweet substance that mice love) and then follow it up with an injection
of a drug that weakens mice's immune systems. Later, when these mice drank
saccharine-flavored water, they showed signs of a weakened immune response.
Research is currently underway to see if the reverse is possible (i.e.,
if conditioning can be used to increase immune functioning), a discovery
which would surely have important implications for new medical treatments.
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A passenger on an airplane was feeling very
anxious about an important job interview the next morning, and as a result
he was uneasy and nervous throughout the flight. Back at home weeks later,
he is contemplating a holiday trip. Though he hadn't previously been afraid
to fly, he finds himself suddenly nervous about flying and decides to cancel
his plans to visit an out-of-state relative.
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It's no secret that people become unhappy
when bad weather strikes, but what is surprising is that weather forecasters
are consistently blamed for weather over which they obviously have no control.
Weather forecasters around the country have been wacked by old ladies with
umbrellas, pelted with snowballs, and even threatened with death (e.g.,
"You're the one that sent that tornado and tore up my house...I'm going
to take your head off!", or "If it snows over Christmas, you won't live
to see New Year's!") by people who mistakenly infer a causal relationship
between the forecaster with subsequent foul weather patterns.
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Why is it that automobile advertisements--especially
those for sports cars--often feature beautiful young women? Because smart
advertisers know (and research confirms) that new car ads that include
an attractive female are rated by men as faster, more appealing, better-designed,
and more desirable than similar ads that do not include an attractive female.
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