According to the behaviorist position,why don't classically conditioned phobias extinguish after the pairing is removed?
A)People expect that the feared object will continue to hurt them.
B)The fear and associated behaviors, such as running away from the feared object, are often reinforced.
C)The fear of the original object generalizes to additional objects.
D)The feared object has lost all of its reinforcement value.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

According to the behaviorist position, classically conditioned phobias do not extinguish after the pairing is removed because the fear and associated behaviors, such as running away from the feared object, are often reinforced. This reinforcement can occur through negative reinforcement, where the removal of the feared object results in a decrease in anxiety and serves as a reward for avoiding the feared object. As a result, the phobia persists and may even become stronger over time.

According to the Behaviorist Position,why Don't Classically Conditioned Phobias Extinguish