Responses to two peers

Re: Discussion Question—Answer after May 23, 2024

by Dalenia Rivero Arregui - Wednesday, August 6, 2025, 3:56 PM

For this forum debate I will use my own example because I am afraid of frogs and similar animals. When I was a little girl, a frog jumped on my chest and I got very scared because I wasn't expecting it. The fear was a natural response to the surprise and shock but it affected me to the point that I have been afraid of frogs ever since that day. Unconditioned Stimulus (US): A frog jumping on my chest Unconditioned Response (UR): Feeling very scared Neutral Stimulus (NS): The frog Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Frogs and similar animals (like salamanders) Conditioned Response (CR): Feeling afraid when I see frogs or similar animals The condition process is explained because before that moment, frogs were just normal animals to me, I even remember holding them in my hands when I was little and played with my brothers. But after that experience, I started feeling afraid every time I saw a frog. Over time, that fear also grew to include other animals that look similar, like salamanders and any other animal that is cold to tact, jumps or has that slimy skin. Now, just seeing a frog — or something that reminds me of a frog, even walking in a humid place at night, like a backyard grass— makes me feel afraid, even if nothing bad is happening or even if there is no frogs around. That’s classical conditioning: one scary experience caused me to connect fear with frogs and similar animals.

Re: Discussion Question—Answer after May 23, 2024

by Liliana Caceres Ferreiro - Wednesday, August 6, 2025, 12:13 AM

I experienced classical conditioning firsthand when I developed a fear of flying. According to Cooper, Heron, and Heward (2020), classical conditioning occurs when a previously neutral stimulus becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus, leading to a learned (conditioned) response.

Unconditioned Stimulus (US): Intense turbulence during a flight Unconditioned Response (UR): Fear, panic, and physical anxiety (e.g., rapid heartbeat, sweating) Neutral Stimulus (NS): The sight or sound of an airplane Conditioned Stimulus (CS): The sight or sound of an airplane Conditioned Response (CR): Fear and anxiety when seeing or hearing an airplane, even on the ground

Description of the Conditioning Process:

During a flight I took a few years ago, we experienced unexpected and severe turbulence (US), which caused me to feel extreme fear and physical symptoms of anxiety (UR). At the time, I was focused on the sounds of the engines and the view of the plane’s interior and exterior (NS). After that experience, whenever I saw an airplane at the airport or even heard the sound of a plane flying overhead (now the CS), I started to feel anxious and fearful (CR), even though I wasn’t in any danger. This fear developed through repeated associations between the sight and sound of planes and the panic I experienced during turbulence. This is an example of classical conditioning where a neutral stimulus became a conditioned stimulus that now elicits a fear response.

Reference:

Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2020). Applied behavior analysis (3rd ed.). Pearson.