A child is bitten by a snake. Whenever he sees a snake, he gets scared. Now, whenever he hears the word "snake," he gets scared. The last situation is called
A)higher-order conditioning.
B)reverse conditioning.
C)punishment.
D)partial reinforcement.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Higher-order conditioning occurs when a conditioned stimulus (CS) is paired with a neutral stimulus (NS), which results in the neutral stimulus becoming a conditioned stimulus. In this scenario, the child's fear response was originally conditioned to the snake itself (CS), but because the word "snake" (NS) was frequently associated with the snake, it has become a conditioned stimulus as well. As a result, the child now experiences fear when hearing the word "snake," even in the absence of an actual snake. This process is an example of higher-order conditioning.

A Child Is Bitten by a Snake