Alonzo had long feared going into elevators but was told by his therapist to force himself to enter 20 elevators a day.The therapist most likely wanted to encourage the ________ of Alonzo's fear.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The therapist wanted to encourage the extinction of Alonzo's fear, which means the gradual reduction and eventual elimination of the fear by repeatedly exposing Alonzo to the feared stimulus (elevators). Generalization refers to the tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to the original fear-inducing stimulus, discrimination is the ability to differentiate between similar stimuli, and spontaneous recovery is the sudden reappearance of a previously extinguished fear. None of these apply to the situation described in the question.

Alonzo Had Long Feared Going into Elevators but Was Told