Question

number of stimulus presentations
research was conducted on the frequency of accidents involving construction workers being hit by construction vehicles in a work zone. the researchers measured the response of the pedestrians to the volume of warning sounds for each of the vehicles involved in the accidents. the data are depicted in the graph.
which of the following principles of learning is demonstrated by the results?
a counterconditioning
b higher-order conditioning
c habituation
d biological preparedness

Explanation:

The graph shows that as the number of warning sound presentations increases, the response (likely attention/startle) decreases. Habituation is the learning principle where a response to a repeated stimulus weakens over time. Counterconditioning involves replacing a response with a new one, higher-order conditioning uses a conditioned stimulus as an unconditioned one, and biological preparedness refers to innate predispositions to learn certain associations—none of these match the pattern of reduced response to repeated stimuli.

Answer:

C. Habituation