Every time the HR representative comes to work dressed in a suit, layoff notices seem to be distributed. You and your colleagues start worrying whenever you see the HR representative dressed up for work.

The excerpt is an example of: Classical Conditioning Theory.

Explanation:

Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) conducted research studying the behavior of dogs to propose what is known as the Classical Conditioning Theory in which Pavlov explains learning is a process of associating responses to stimuli. The result would be a behavior. According to Pavlov, there are three steps in this learning process: before conditioning, during conditioning, after conditioning.

In the example, seeing a Human Resources (HR) representative in a suit is a neutral stimulus -does not generate a response. The employee lay-offs would represent an unconditioned stimulus -create a response. The two scenarios happen before conditioning. During conditioning, seeing HR representatives in suits and noticing lay-offs are associated. Finally, seeing only the HR representatives dressed-up represents a conditioned stimulus -naturally generates a response after conditioning.

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