Classical Conditioning Practice Examples - Answers
1. Geraldine had an automobile accident at the corner of 32nd and Cherry Avenue. Whenever
she approaches the intersection now, she begins to feel uncomfortable; her heart begins to
beat faster, she gets butterflies in her stomach, and her palms become sweaty (she experiences
anxiety/fear). UCS = Automobile Accident; UCR = Anxiety (feel uncomfortable; heart
racing, etc) because of accident; CS = Intersection; CR = Anxiety about intersection
2. Calvin was chased and assaulted by an aggressive rooster when he was just barely three years
old. As an adult he still won’t go near or even be around a rooster and he even gets a little
anxious when he hears the word rooster. He also claims that all birds make him nervous. In
addition to identifying the UCS, etc, identify why even the word rooster causes him a little
anxiety and why he feels anxiety toward all birds. UCS = Assault; UCR = Fear of Assault;
CS = Rooster; CR = Fear of roosters; The word rooster has been associated with the
primary CS (rooster) and has become a secondary CS (higher-order conditioning). All
birds make Calvin a little nervous because of stimulus generalization.
3. Suzy goes outside to play in her tree house. A swarm of bees has nested near her house, and
she gets stung several times when she climbs up to the tree house. This happens 3 times in a
week. Suzy then becomes afraid to go near the tree and cries violently when her dad tries to
get her to climb up to the tree house. UCS = Getting stung; UCR = Pain (fear of getting
stung); CS = Tree house; CR = Fear of Tree House.
4. Jerry’s wife, Mary, gets a new nightgown and wears it whenever she is in the mood for sexual
relations. After a month, the sight of the nightgown alone is enough to excite Jerry. UCS =
Mary being in the mood for sex; UCR = Arousal because Mary is in the mood for sex;
CS = nightgown; CR = Arousal to nightgown.
5. A student survives a plane crash that occurred because of a thunderstorm. Now, whenever the
student hears thunder, he gets anxious. UCS = Plane Crash; UCS = Fear because of plane
crash; CS = thunder; CR = fear of thunder.
6. While caring for a friend’s dog, you notice that it displays a fear-like posture as you roll up a
newspaper. You try this several times more and become convinced that this dog is generally
afraid of rolled-up newspapers. You must infer on your own what happened to make this dog
afraid of rolled-up newspapers in order to identify the processes. Describe the situation and
then identify the processes. Your friend is hitting the dog with a rolled up newspaper.
UCS = Getting Hit; UCR = pain (fear) of getting hit; CS = rolled up newspaper; CR =
fear of rolled up newspaper.
7. Joan, an animal trainer, has been phobic about monkeys since an earlier attack. However,
because of the money, she has agreed to work with monkeys for a movie studio. At first, just
going anywhere near the cages makes Joan tense, sweaty and apprehensive. Lately, though,
things have changed. Working with such cuddly, affectionate, human-like creatures is
causing Joan to wonder why she ever felt such extreme distress. This is an example of
counterconditioning similar to the example of Peter and the Rabbit. You should be able to
infer what original UCS, UCR, CS, and CR were to make Joan afraid of the monkeys and
identify them. You should also be able to identify the processes from the counterconditoning
(what made her no longer afraid of monkeys). Original Conditioning: UCS = Attack; UCR
=Pain (fear of attack); CS = monkeys; CR = fear of monkeys. Counterconditioning:
UCS = Affection and Cuddling; UCR = good feeling because of affection and cuddling;
CS = monkeys; CR = good feeling toward monkeys.
