The queasiness that Rhonda feels at the thought of fish with tartar sauce is most likely due to taste aversion, a type of conditioning where a negative stimulus becomes associated with a particular food or flavor.
The queasiness that Rhonda feels at the thought of fish with tartar sauce is most likely due to taste aversion. Taste aversion is a type of conditioning where a negative stimulus, such as nausea or illness, becomes associated with a particular food or flavor. In this case, Rhonda became nauseated and sick after eating fish with tartar sauce one night, which conditioned her to feel queasy when thinking about or encountering that combination again.
Taste aversion is a unique type of conditioning because it can develop after just one negative experience and can have a long time lapse between the event and the negative stimulus. It is believed to be an evolutionary adaptation to help organisms quickly learn to avoid harmful foods. In Rhonda's case, her body is signaling to her that fish with tartar sauce may not be safe to consume based on her past experience of feeling sick.