Question

Your grandmother's cure for your upset stomach is to rub vinegar on your ear lobes; it works much of the time, but has no real medical effect. Psychologists would probably say that this is an example of:

a. Classical conditioning
b. Placebo effect
c. Operant conditioning
d. Confirmation bias

Answer 1

The grandmother's remedy of rubbing vinegar on the earlobes to cure an upset stomach is an example of the placebo effect.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct answer to the question is b. Placebo effect.

The scenario described in the question, where rubbing vinegar on the earlobes is believed to cure an upset stomach, is an example of the placebo effect. The placebo effect refers to the psychologically based reaction to a treatment that occurs because the patient believes they are being treated, even if the treatment has no physiological effect. In this case, the belief in the healing properties of vinegar causes the person to feel relief from their upset stomach, despite the lack of any real medical effect.