Cancer patients experiencing nausea from chemotherapy often develop taste aversions to the foods they had eaten earlier.Based on the research of Garcia and colleagues,researchers developed a technique for minimizing this negative effect involving giving a patient unusual foods,such as coconut or root-beer flavored candy,at the end of their last meal before undergoing treatment.Such a procedure attempts to establish the taste of the candy as a(n):
A)unconditioned positive stimulus.
B)conditioned stimulus triggering a pleasant gustatory reaction to chemotherapy.
C)conditioned response to chemotherapy.
D)conditioned stimulus triggering nausea.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This procedure aims to make the unusual taste of the candy (coconut or root-beer flavored) a conditioned stimulus that triggers nausea due to chemotherapy, rather than the patient associating their regular food with nausea. This way, the aversion is limited to the unusual food, which the patient does not consume regularly, rather than their normal diet.

Cancer Patients Experiencing Nausea from Chemotherapy Often Develop Taste Aversions