Researchers found that people easily acquire a conditioned fear response to pictures of snakes and spiders when the slides were paired with a mild electric shock. However, people did NOT easily acquire a conditioned fear response of pictures of flowers and mushrooms when these images were paired with a mild electric shock. According to the text discussion, this is an example of:
A)biological preparedness.
B)negative reinforcement.
C)higher order conditioning.
D)learned helplessness.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is an example of biological preparedness, which refers to the idea that humans and animals are biologically prepared to learn certain associations more easily than others due to evolutionary factors. In this case, humans may have evolved to quickly learn to fear snakes and spiders as they may have posed a threat to our ancestors, while flowers and mushrooms did not pose the same level of danger.

Researchers Found That People Easily Acquire a Conditioned Fear Response