Question

what is a real world example of higher order conditioning. Please indicate training/test phases, and components

Answer 1

An example of higher order conditioning can be how certain behaviours are acquired. For example, a girl shows her report card to her parents and receives harsh criticism. The report card itself is an unconditioned stimuli whereas the criticism is the conditioned stimuli. The girl’s response to the criticism is the feeling of self-loathing which is expressed through crying spells. The girl begins to cry every time she sees her report card and this becomes the conditioned response. Over time, the girl may develop aversion to examinations as well since the outcome of examinations are report cards. She would have learned to link exams to report cards to her parents’ criticisms, ultimately leading her to experience crying spells during examinations as well.