Final answer:
It is true that a person triggered to gamble by a crowded parking lot is experiencing a conditioned response. This occurs due to the association formed between the environmental cue and the act of gambling through conditioning, especially when reinforced intermittently by unpredictable rewards. Option A is correct.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that a person who is triggered to gamble by crowded parking lots is experiencing a conditioned response is true. In the context of operant conditioning and behaviorism, this phenomenon occurs when an originally neutral stimulus (like crowded parking lots) becomes associated with a potent stimulus (the excitement of gambling) through repeated exposures.
This process, rooted in the laws of conditioning, suggests that specific cues in the environment can trigger habitual responses that have been established over time. The crowded parking lot, in this case, acts as a cue that has become associated with the gambling environment and its associated emotional states, such as arousal from the possibility of winning.
Intermittent reinforcement, which casinos often employ through games of chance, further solidifies this conditioned response. This term describes a scenario in which rewards (like gambling payouts) are given out on an unpredictable schedule, making the behavior more resistant to extinction.
The possibility of winning that comes often enough to keep an individual gambling supports Skinner's view on gambling behaviors. Moreover, the determinist position suggests that if we can identify the triggers (or 'buttons') for certain behaviors, we can predict or even control those behaviors. In this case, the crowded parking lot serves as a trigger, leading to the conditioned response of wanting to gamble.