A man with alcohol dependence is given an emetic drug before drinking alcohol so that repeated pairings of the drink with nausea produce an aversive reaction to the taste and smell of alcohol itself. Which learning principle underlies this behavioural technique?
- A Operant conditioning with negative reinforcement
- B Modelling through observational learning
- C Classical conditioning producing a conditioned aversive response ✓
- D Shaping by successive approximation
Correct answer: C. Classical conditioning producing a conditioned aversive response
Explanation
Aversion therapy pairs the unwanted behaviour or its cues with an unpleasant unconditioned stimulus such as chemically induced vomiting, so the alcohol-related stimuli acquire aversive properties through classical conditioning. Disulfiram works on a related principle pharmacologically. Operant conditioning requires consequences contingent on voluntary responses, modelling requires observation of others, and shaping reinforces gradual approximations of a target behaviour, none of which applies here.
Reference: Kaplan and Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry, 12th ed.
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