Two-year-old Philip was recently clawed by the neighbor's cat. Philip's newly developed tendency to fear all small animals demonstrates the process of

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Generalization is the process by which a conditioned response (in this case, fear) is elicited not only by the specific stimulus that was originally associated with the painful experience (the neighbor's cat), but also by similar stimuli (other small animals). In other words, Philip has generalized his fear response to all small animals, even though he was only injured by one cat. The other options (shaping, spontaneous recovery, and secondary reinforcement) do not apply to this scenario, as they involve different aspects of learning and behavior.

Two-Year-Old Philip Was Recently Clawed by the Neighbor's Cat