Some chemotherapy and radiation therapy patients can become sick minutes or hours before they receive their treatments. In this anticipatory nausea and vomiting response that can occur, initially neutral stimuli, such as needles, the hospital, or the treatment room, become _______ that trigger sickness.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is an example of classical conditioning, where initially neutral stimuli (like the hospital or treatment room) become conditioned stimuli that trigger a learned response (nausea and vomiting) after being associated with the unconditioned stimulus (the chemotherapy or radiation therapy that initially causes the nausea and vomiting).

Some Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy Patients Can Become Sick Minutes