A researcher asks participants to view pictures of houses, faces, animals, and snakes. One group is presented with houses and faces and a second group is presented with pictures of animals and snakes. Each person is given a mild shock when the target pictures are shown from an array of photographs. One week later, individuals continue to respond with anxiety only to the pictures of snakes and animals. The researcher concludes that he has provided support for the theory of

Question

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The theory of preparedness suggests that humans are more likely to develop fears or phobias towards certain stimuli that posed historical threats to survival, such as snakes or dangerous animals, compared to neutral objects like houses or faces. The study's findings, where participants showed lasting anxiety responses specifically to pictures of snakes and animals after being conditioned with a mild shock, support this theory by demonstrating that people are more readily conditioned to fear stimuli that have been evolutionarily significant threats.

A Researcher Asks Participants to View Pictures of Houses, Faces