Question

Although Mabry has occasionally burned his mouth by eating a hot piece of food, he probably will not come to fear the sight of cooked food. This can best be explained by noting that:

a. there is no stimulus generalization with food.
b. CS-US interval was too long.
c. the NS-US pairing is too inconsistent.
d. backward conditioning was also taking place.

Answer 1

The fact that Mabry probably will not come to fear the sight of cooked food, despite occasionally burning his mouth, can best be explained by noting that backward conditioning was also taking place.

Step-by-step explanation:

The fact that Mabry probably will not come to fear the sight of cooked food, despite occasionally burning his mouth, can best be explained by noting that backward conditioning was also taking place. Backward conditioning occurs when the unconditioned stimulus (US) is presented before the conditioned stimulus (CS), which disrupts the normal acquisition and association process between the CS and US. In this case, the negative stimulus of burning his mouth occurred before the sight of cooked food, which may have interfered with the conditioning process and prevented Mabry from developing a fear response to the sight of cooked food.