Kendra recently left an abusive relationship. She and her son live with her mother. Her ex husband drank heavily and would unexpectedly appear at unusual hours at her home. She claims that he was physically abusive twice in their six year marriage, but there are reports that she was hospitalized with injuries consistent with abuse on at least eight occasions. She reports feeling terror when she hears the motor of a specific type of motorcycle the kind her ex husband rode.Kendra's fifteen year old son, Austin, reports that Kendra was abused daily by her husband. He claims to have found her unconscious on the floor of the kitchen, and that she had been cooking a meal. He reports strong taste and smell aversion to meatloaf, the dinner that had been in the oven at that time. He also demonstrates aggression when people around him drink or take drugs. At a party, he physically assaulted a boy who had been drinking heavily and who was "putting moves" on one of Austin's friends.
- Analyze the different psychological factors related to learning and memory at work in this case.
- How have Kendra and Austin been conditioned?
- What/who is the source of the conditioning?
- What is the source of Austin's smell aversion? use specific vocabulary words and explanations referencing the textbook.
- How do Kendra's memories differ from Austin's? Why?