Classical vs. operant conditioning
A patient receives chemotherapy in the same clinic room each week. After several sessions, she becomes nauseated as soon as she walks into the room, before any drug is given. Which process best explains this?
Answer A: explanation for every choice
Correct. The room (a neutral stimulus) was repeatedly paired with chemotherapy (the unconditioned stimulus), which causes nausea (the unconditioned response). The room alone now triggers nausea as a conditioned response.
Operant conditioning shapes a voluntary behavior through its consequences. Nausea is an involuntary response, and no behavior of hers is being reinforced.
Observational learning requires watching a model perform a behavior. Nothing in the stem involves a model.
Habituation is a decreased response to a repeated stimulus. Here a new response appears.
Reviewed 2026-11-05 by a medical student. Spot an error? Report it with question ID ps4.