Final answer:
Sophia's unexplained fear of spiders exemplifies Procedural memory, a type of implicit memory that processes skills and automatic responses such as emotional reactions to certain stimuli, unlike episodic memory which involves recalling specific personal events.
Step-by-step explanation:
When Sophia is unable to explain her fears about spiders, where they came from, or how she got them, this is an example of Procedural memory. Procedural memory is a type of implicit memory that holds memories of which we are not consciously aware.
This part of long-term memory consists of skills and routines that are performed automatically, without conscious recall, such as riding a bike or driving a car.
Sophia's fear could be a learned response that her memory system processes automatically, even though she cannot consciously recollect how the fear developed.
In contrast, episodic memory is a type of explicit memory that involves the recollection of personal experiences and specific events, including the context in which they occurred.
As such, Sophia's fear of spiders does not seem to relate to a specific episodic memory that she can recall or articulate.
Therefore, the procedural memory's role in emotional conditioning, as seen in fear responses, is more closely associated with her fear of spiders.