Samantha Recently Returned from a Grocery Store

question 116

Essay

Samantha recently returned from a grocery store. While at the store, she noticed a point-of-purchase display that was advertising three boxes of cookies on special, which she purchased. When Samantha arrived home, her husband Greg was extremely angry with her for buying cookies that they didn't need. He referred to her behaviour as being compulsive. Is he right?

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Definitions:

Law of Effect

A principle stating that behaviors followed by positive outcomes are likely to be repeated, whereas behaviors followed by negative outcomes are not.

Human Behavior

The range of actions and mannerisms exhibited by humans in conjunction with their environment, influenced by culture, attitudes, emotions, values, and genetics.

Conditioned Stimulus

A previously neutral stimulus that, after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus, elicits a conditioned response.

Unconditioned Stimulus

An unconditioned stimulus is a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without prior conditioning in the realm of behavioral psychology.