As a child, Blain was attacked by a goose and subsequently developed a severe fear of waterfowl. As he got older, the fear gradually faded until it was all but forgotten. Blaine is now in his early twenties and recently went strolling through a park by the river where he came across a flock of geese. The geese stared at him and he felt slightly fearful, though not as afraid as he had been as a child. Blaine’s fear response to the geese in the park is an example of _______.
Social Studies · High School · Thu Feb 04 2021
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Blaine's fear response to the geese in the park is an example of "spontaneous recovery." This is a term in psychology that describes the sudden reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a period of no exposure to the conditioned stimulus. In Blaine's case, the conditioned stimulus is the geese, and the conditioned response is the fear he feels when he sees them.