Patient S.P., who had bilateral damage to the amygdala, participated in a study involving the pairing of a blue square with an electric shock. S.P.'s skin conductance response (SCR) and verbal report indicated that
A)she had an explicit expectation that the shock would occur after seeing the blue square and demonstrated an implicit fear-conditioning SCR response.
B)she had an explicit expectation that the shock would occur after seeing the blue square but did not demonstrate any implicit fear-conditioning SCR response.
C)she did not have any explicit expectation that the shock would occur after seeing the blue square but did demonstrate an implicit fear-conditioning SCR response.
D)she did not have an explicit expectation that the shock would occur after seeing the blue square, nor did she demonstrate any implicit fear-conditioning SCR response.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Patients with bilateral damage to the amygdala, like S.P., typically do not show the physiological responses (such as skin conductance response, SCR) associated with emotional reactions like fear, because the amygdala plays a crucial role in fear conditioning and emotional processing. However, these patients can still verbally report expectations based on memory and cognition, which are not solely dependent on the amygdala. Therefore, S.P. could verbally express the expectation of the shock after seeing the blue square without demonstrating the physiological fear-conditioning response.

Patient SP