ABSTRACT
Three police cars screeched to a halt in the driveway, their flashing red lights creating an eerie Halloween effect. Sammy’s problem is common among children his age; it is often described as a darkness phobia. People with phobias often consult clinical psychologists. Traditionally, the people say that the term phobia refers to a long-lasting, intense, irrational fear. Young children who develop early illness and require a doctor’s attention cry or exhibit other emotional behaviors when the doctor approaches them. The respondent conditioning process caused the sound of Pavlov’s bell to elicit his dog’s conditioned salivation, because it had been paired with food. By the way, most psychologists think the people acquire emotional responses through respondent or Pavlovian conditioning. The consistent pairing of emotion-producing stimuli with neutral stimuli may bring about the conditioned fear responses to other stimuli.
