Bill visited a restaurant and ordered the chicken. Afterwards, he became extremely sick and nauseated. Ever since then he has been unable to even think about chicken without becoming nauseated.

1. Ate bad chicken
2. Sick and nauseated
3. Thinking about chicken
4. Feeling nausea

Which of the options above is the:

Conditioned stimulus
Conditioned response
Unconditioned stimulus
Unconditioned response

This question relates to the concept of classical conditioning, which is a type of learning where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus, eventually taking on the ability to elicit similar responses.
In this scenario:

Ate bad chicken - This is the Unconditioned Stimulus (US) . The bad chicken is naturally capable of making Bill feel sick; it requires no learning to cause this reaction.

Sick and nauseated - This is the Unconditioned Response (UR) . Bill's natural reaction to the bad chicken is feeling sick, which happens without any prior learning.

Thinking about chicken - This is the Conditioned Stimulus (CS) . After experiencing sickness from eating the bad chicken, thinking about chicken becomes associated with that sickness.

Feeling nausea - This is the Conditioned Response (CR) . Bill's learned response to thinking about chicken is feeling nauseated, even if he hasn't eaten it again. This reaction occurs because of the association between the chicken and his previous illness.


This example illustrates how past experiences and associations can influence our current responses and behaviors.

Answered by MasonWilliamTurner | 2025-07-07