Final answer:
Stacey's heightened fear response to noises in the park after watching a scary movie is an example of B) sensitization, not habituation.
Step-by-step explanation:
After having watched a scary movie, Stacey found herself jumping in fear to every little snap of a twig when she had to cut through the park to get home.
The phenomenon she is experiencing is sensitization, not habituation. Sensitization is when a response to a stimulus, such as fear, becomes more pronounced due to heightened arousal from a previous experience.
Habituation is a simple form of learning in which an animal, including humans, stops responding to a stimulus after repeated exposure without any negative or positive reinforcement.
For example, if Stacey repeatedly walked through the park without any scary experiences, over time she might stop responding with fear to the sounds of the park. This would be a case of habituation.
In contrast, sensitization occurs when an organism's reaction to a stimulus becomes amplified. Watching a scary movie heightened Stacey's nervous system, so now she reacts more strongly to unexpected noises which might normally go unnoticed.
This increased response to stimuli after an intense experience is characteristic of sensitization.