Question

Marlene's parents spank her with a paddle whenever she misbehaves. Because of this, Marlene is afraid whenever the paddle is in sight. Her parents move the paddle to a closet that squeaks. Marlene soon grows afraid of the squeak of the closet door because it predicts the appearance of the paddle, and the paddle predicts a spanking and pain. This is an example of __________ conditioning.

a.backward
b.higher-order
c.simultaneous
d.escape

Answer 1

Answer is B, higher order conditioning.

Step-by-step explanation:

Higher order conditioning is a situation or occurrence where a stimulus without effect,i.e a neutral stimulus, is connected or used together with a conditioned stimulus, in order to create the same output or result as the conditioned stimulus.

In the case of Marlene, the neutral stimulus is the closet door that squeak, initially, Marlene was not afraid of the squeaking of the closet door, but started getting afraid when she knew that the paddle was there. This is because she knew that the paddle was used for spanking her, which she feared a lot.