Katie loves strong coffee and cheerfully admits that she depends on caffeine to help her wake up every day. One morning, her husband serves her two cups of decaffeinated coffee without telling her. Nevertheless, she still feels more alert after drinking the decaffeinated coffee. Katie's alertness after drinking decaffeinated coffee is a(n):
A) example of higher order conditioning.
B) example of latent learning.
C) operantly conditioned response to the taste and smell of coffee and other discriminative stimuli.
D) classically conditioned response to the taste and smell of coffee and other associated stimuli.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Katie's alertness after drinking decaffeinated coffee is a classic example of classical conditioning. She has been conditioned to associate the taste and smell of coffee with increased alertness, regardless of whether or not it contains caffeine. This shows that her response is not due to the actual presence of caffeine, but rather the conditioning associated with the taste and smell of coffee.

Katie Loves Strong Coffee and Cheerfully Admits That She Depends