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​A man was trapped behind a refrigerator and nearly suffocated. Subsequently, he has a phobia of tight, enclosed spaces and is afraid to ride on small, crowded elevators. However, he has no fear of large, uncrowded elevator rides. The man's fear of small elevators is an example of ______, and his lack of fear toward large elevators is an example of _______.

a. ​stimulus discrimination; extinction
b. ​stimulus generalization; stimulus discrimination
c. ​stimulus generalization; extinction
d. ​reconditioning; extinction

User Kiva
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Final answer:

The man's phobia of tight enclosed spaces like small elevators represents stimulus generalization, while his comfort with large uncrowded elevators shows stimulus discrimination. These are learned responses where stimulus generalization occurs when similar stimuli to the original cause the same response, and stimulus discrimination occurs when only the original stimulus causes the response.

Step-by-step explanation:

The man's fear of small, crowded elevators is an example of stimulus generalization, and his lack of fear toward large, uncrowded elevators is an example of stimulus discrimination. This happens because the man has learned to associate the fear and anxiety with the specific conditions that are similar to his traumatic experience. Similarly, Little Albert in Watson and Rayner's experiments developed a conditioned emotional response to a white rat (CS) after it was paired with a loud noise (UCS), leading to fear (CR) when presented with the rat on its own. Later, Albert generalized this fear response to other furry white objects, demonstrating stimulus generalization. Albert was not specifically trained to fear these other objects, but they were similar enough to the original conditioned stimulus to evoke the same emotional reaction.

User BLaminack
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