Melinda has been feeling sick for a while but her doctor can't figure out what's wrong with her. Every time Melinda goes to the doctor, the same Asian nurse is in charge of drawing her blood. After a few of these painful experiences, Melinda has started to become somewhat fearful of all Asians. This experience of Melinda provides an example of:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Melinda's fear of all Asians due to her painful experiences with the Asian nurse is an example of classical conditioning. She has come to associate the discomfort of having her blood drawn with the presence of the Asian nurse, and this association has generalized to a broader fear of all Asians. This is akin to Pavlov's experiments where a neutral stimulus (the nurse/Asians) becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus (the pain of blood being drawn) to elicit a conditioned response (fear).

Melinda Has Been Feeling Sick for a While but Her