Madison met her first serious boyfriend when she was working a summer job at a café on the beach at an oceanfront resort. Years later, when Madison smells the distinctive smell of saltwater and sand, she still feels a twinge of sadness, remembering the ending of their romance at the end of the summer when they both returned to their separate colleges. In this example, the conditioned stimulus is _____ and the conditioned response is _____.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In this scenario, the smell of saltwater and sand is the conditioned stimulus since it was associated with Madison's first serious boyfriend, and the response it triggers, which is sadness, is the conditioned response. This is an example of classical conditioning, where a conditioned stimulus triggers a response that is learned through association.

Madison Met Her First Serious Boyfriend When She Was Working