- Define the following terms and provide an example of each:
aversion therapy conditioned emotional response conditioned taste aversion counterconditioning exposure therapy systematic desensitization virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET)
Aversion therapy: pairing unwanted behavior with unpleasant stimulus (e.g., nausea drug with alcohol).
Conditioned emotional response: learned emotional reaction to a stimulus (e.g., fear of dentist drill sound).
Conditioned taste aversion: avoidance of food after illness (e.g., vomiting after bad sushi).
Counterconditioning: replacing unwanted response with incompatible one (e.g., relaxation instead of fear).
Exposure therapy: repeated safe exposure to feared stimulus to reduce fear (e.g., handling a spider).
Systematic desensitization: gradual exposure plus relaxation training (e.g., fear hierarchy for flying).
Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET): simulated digital exposure (e.g., VR heights for acrophobia).
- Suppose your doctor advises you to eat liver, which you despise. How might you overcome your aversion to liver?
Use counterconditioning and gradual exposure: eat very small amounts prepared pleasantly, pair with flavors you like, and repeatedly consume without negative outcomes to weaken the aversion.
- Pavlovian learning usually requires CS–US intervals of no more than a few seconds. Taste aversion conditioning is an exception. Why does this exception exist?
Because spoiled food often causes illness hours later, evolution favored learning long-delay associations between taste and sickness for survival.
- How can you increase the likelihood that your child will share your devo- tion to jazz music?
Pair jazz with positive experiences (fun family time, rewards, pleasant environments) so positive emotions become conditioned responses to the music.
- You are in charge of rehabilitating criminals convicted of various hate crimes. Can Pavlovian conditioning help?
Yes. Counterconditioning can pair positive experiences with disliked groups and weaken conditioned fear/anger responses through positive exposure.
- What does the work of Staats and Staats lead you to predict about the backgrounds of Ku Klux Klan members?
They were likely raised in environments where negative emotions and messages were repeatedly paired with certain racial groups, conditioning prejudice.
- Invent a better term for the disorders known as psychosomatic illnesses.
Stress‑mediated physical disorders (or mind‑body disorders).
- Why are people more likely to develop aversions to foods they have not often eaten?
Novel foods lack prior safe associations, so illness is more easily attributed to them (latent inhibition effect).
- Many people hate groups of people with whom they have had no direct experience. How can Pavlovian conditioning account for these emotions?
Negative portrayals in media, culture, or authority messages can repeatedly pair certain groups with fear/anger, creating conditioned emotional responses without direct contact.
- How has reading this chapter altered your view of Pavlovian conditioning?
It shows conditioning shapes complex emotions, preferences, and social attitudes—not just simple reflexes—affecting many everyday behaviors.
