Question

Three-year-old Juan was bitten by the neighbor’s dog yesterday. Juan now fears all small, four-legged animals. His fear demonstrates the process of:

A) Classical conditioning
B) Operant conditioning
C) Habituation
D) Sensitization

Answer 1

Juan's fear demonstrates stimulus generalization in classical conditioning.

Step-by-step explanation:

The fear demonstrated by Juan after being bitten by the neighbor's dog is an example of stimulus generalization and falls under the category of classical conditioning. In classical conditioning, a person or animal associates a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response. In Juan's case, the dog bite (unconditioned stimulus) caused fear (unconditioned response) and he generalized that fear to similar small, four-legged animals, even if they were not dangerous.