Question

Based on the principles of classical conditioning from your "Learning and Conditioning" lecture, which of the following is the CONDITIONED STIMULUS in this scenario where the firefighter associates the smell of smoke with fear?

a) The smell of smoke from a barbeque.
b) The fear of entering a burning building.
c) The firefighter's heart racing.
d) Being on shift as a firefighter.

Answer 1

The conditioned stimulus in the given scenario where a firefighter associates the smell of smoke with fear is a) The smell of smoke from a barbeque, as it is a neutral stimulus that becomes associated with fear after repeated experiences of dangerous fire situations.

Step-by-step explanation:

In classical conditioning, a conditioned stimulus (CS) is a previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR). In the scenario where a firefighter associates the smell of smoke with fear, the conditioned stimulus is a) The smell of smoke from a barbeque. This is because the smell of smoke was originally a neutral stimulus that has become associated with the dangerous and fear-inducing situation of entering a burning building, which is the unconditioned stimulus that elicits the unconditioned response (fear and increased heart rate). Thus, when later exposed to the smell of smoke, even in a harmless context such as a barbeque, it triggers the conditioned response of fear that was learned through the repeated pairing of smoke (CS) with the dangerous situation (US).