Question 1

When people experience a traumatic event, they can sometimes develop classically conditioned associations with otherwise unrelated stimuli that were present in the environment at the time of the trauma. Imagine this happens to Fredrick with a song playing on the radio during a car accident. If Fredrick wanted to try to 'undo' this learned association, what kind of treatment could help with that goal?
A)hypnosis
B)cognitive-behavioural therapy
C)exposure therapy
D)aversion therapy
E)selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI)

Accepted Answer

Exposure therapy can help Fredrick by gradually and repeatedly exposing him to the song in a safe environment, which can help diminish the conditioned fear response associated with it.

Question 2

Clarence is a cat that is always fed in the same place, at the same time, every day. His food is taken out of the same cupboard before each meal, which has a particular sound when it opens that is loud enough to be noticeable. Something that makes Clarence sick somehow gets mixed in with his food bowl and he now refuses to eat any of that same brand of kibble. Even though it wasn't the kibble that made him sick, why is he acting as if it was?
A)insight
B)conditioned taste aversion
C)discrimination
D)foresight
E)instinctive drift

Accepted Answer

Clarence has developed a conditioned taste aversion, where he associates the sickness with the specific brand of kibble he ate, despite the sickness being caused by something else. This is a form of classical conditioning where an animal learns to avoid a food that previously made it ill, even if the food was not the actual cause of the illness.

Quiz 7: Learning and Adaptation: the Role of Experience