Question

Based on the textbook’s example of Carla and aftershave, does Carla show a higher intensity of anxiety when she smells her boyfriend’s aftershave than her dentist’s aftershave?

Answer 1

• Carla's conditioner may smell similar to dentist's aftershave and may make her feel anxious.This is an example of stimulus generalization but higher intensity of anxiety was when she smells her boyfriend's aftershave because of following situtation;
• In Carla's situation was the odor of the dentist's aftershave lotion, which she smelled while experiencing pain in the dentist's chair.
• The aftershave is a neutral stimulus because although it affected Carla (that is, she smelled it), it did not initially produce feelings of anxiety. In fact, initially Carla liked the smell.
• The unconditioned stimulus for Carla was one or more of several dental procedures, including injections, drillings, and fillings.These dental procedures are unconditioned stimuli (UCS) because they elicited the unconditioned response (UCR), feeling anxious and tense.
• The unconditioned response was Carla's feeling of anxiety, which is a combination of physiological reflexes, such as increased heart rate and blood pressure and rapid breathing, as well as negative emotional reactions.
• If Carla's boyfriend did not change his aftershave and she repeatedly smelled it, she would learn that it was never followed by painful dental procedures, and its smell would gradually stop making her feel anxious.