When Donovan was four years old, he was startled and began to cry when a car backfired just as he was walking past a fire hydrant. As an adult, Donovan is still fearful of fire hydrants and avoids walking near them. Based on principles of classical conditioning, for Donovan the fire hydrant is a(n)

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In classical conditioning, a conditioned stimulus is a previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response. In this scenario, the fire hydrant became a conditioned stimulus for Donovan because it was associated with the loud noise (the unconditioned stimulus) that made him cry (the unconditioned response), leading to his fear of fire hydrants (the conditioned response).

When Donovan Was Four Years Old, He Was Startled and Began