Question

Every time two-year-old Jodie heard the doorbell ring, she raced to open the front door. On Halloween night, Jodie answered the doorbell and encountered a scary monster with nine flashing eyes. Jodie screamed in fear and ran away. Now Jodie screams and hides whenever the doorbell rings.

Short answer

Jodie's initial behavior was racing to open the front door when the doorbell rang. However, after encountering a scary monster with nine flashing eyes on Halloween night, she became frightened. This incident led to a change in her behavior, causing her to now scream and hide whenever the doorbell rings, associating the doorbell with fear.

Step-by-step solution

Jodie used to race to open the front door every time she heard the doorbell ringing. #Step 2: Identify the triggering event#

On Halloween night, Jodie answered the doorbell and encountered a scary monster with nine flashing eyes which frightened her. #Step 3: Recognize the change in behavior#

After the Halloween incident, Jodie now screams and hides whenever the doorbell rings. #Step 4: Analyze the reason for the change in behavior#

The Halloween incident scared Jodie, associating the doorbell with fear and causing her to react differently to the doorbell ringing, now screaming and hiding.

Key concepts

Behavioral Response

When discussing the intricacies of classical conditioning, it is crucial to understand what is meant by a behavioral response. This term describes the actions or reactions of an organism in response to a stimulus.

For instance, in our example involving young Jodie, her initial behavioral response to the doorbell ringing was to race to the front door. This action shows a conditioned behavior based on a positive expectation—perhaps the excitement to greet a visitor. Understanding behavioral responses like this one is essential to discern how certain stimuli can eventually lead to a predictable reaction from an individual.

Triggering Event

The triggering event, or the stimulus that causes a notable change in behavior, is a pivotal concept in classical conditioning. It serves as the starting point for the formation of a new association.

In the scenario with Jodie, the triggering event was the appearance of the scary monster with nine flashing eyes when she answered the door on Halloween night. This frightening experience serves as a powerful stimulus that disrupts her former association with the doorbell and begins to forge a new one. Useful understanding of the triggering event helps us predict and perhaps mitigate undesired changes in behavior.

Association in Learning

Association in learning refers to the process by which two elements are mentally or behaviorally connected, often resulting in a conditioned response. This learning underpins classical conditioning, where an organism learns to associate a neutral stimulus with a significant event.

In the context of Jodie's experience, the association was between the previously neutral stimulus—the doorbell—and a negative experience, the scary monster. Such associations are at the core of how we learn from our environment and directly influence our future reactions to similar stimuli.

Change in Behavior

The change in behavior is the observable difference in an organism’s actions before and after the formation of a new association. Recognizing and understanding these changes are crucial for in-depth analysis of learning and conditioning.

For Jodie, the change in behavior is evident: before the incident, the doorbell prompted her to joyfully open the door; after the incident, the same stimulus causes her to scream and hide. This stark contrast epitomizes the change in behavior, demonstrating how powerful classical conditioning can be in altering our reactions.