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Transcript: Fearing Yellow Sac Spider Generalized into being scared of all spiders Today I was getting some homework done and as I was taking a sip of my drink, I felt a sharp pain in my hand! I dropped the cup of water, spilling it all over myself, and looked down at my hand to see this yellow sac spider on it! Not only did I end up in pain from being bitten, but I also lost my cup of water causing both myself, and my homework to get all wet! I know the teachers don't go for the "my dog at my homework excuse", but hopefully she believes the "A spider got my homework wet" explanation. I hate spiders!! My whole perspective on spiders has changed. First I was fine with them, then I was scared of one of them, and now I just can't stand any of them! Their bulgy eyes that pop out of their head, their fangs that remind me of the bite I had gotten a while ago, their tiny, hairy, disgusting bodies that just crawl around in the most unwanted places.. I thought bathrooms were supposed to be a private place! I am absolutely petrified of these little monsters and I'm not proud of it, but I scream and run like hell whenever I see one. If you've never been bitten by one or you just aren't scared of them, do the rest of us a favor and squish them if you see them! I'd do it myself but I can't even get close to them without freaking out! Lions Tigers and bears aren't a big deal, but spiders.. oh my! Like and share this post if you too are afraid of spiders! The Breakdown Unconditioned Stimulus - Feeling Pain (Bitten) Unconditioned Response - Fear (Screaming) Neutral Stimulus - Yellow Sac Spider Conditioned Stimulus - Yellow Sac Spider Conditioned Response - Fear (Screaming) Severe fear of spiders Status Update I hate spiders!! They definitely deserve the name "Creepy Crawlies"!! Initially, the yellow sac spider was nothing more than an arachnid that didn't trigger any specific emotion or response; it was an neutral stimulus. Before the spider incident, I had an unconditioned response of fear when I experienced any sort of pain that acted as an unconditioned stimulus. In other words, it was natural to be scared and yelp when something caused me pain. However, when the neutral stimulus (yellow sac spider) was paired with the unconditioned stimulus of pain by biting me, it triggered the same response as the unconditioned stimulus. So, after the spider had bitten me and inflicted that pain, I had the same response of fear that I originally did with any feeling of pain. In doing so, the neutral stimulus (yellow sac spider) became a conditioned stimulus that caused fear (conditioned response) whenever I would see one. It was with learned stimuli and corresponding responses that a once simple, little spider, became a petrifying monster as my perspective on it changed through experience. Tyler Baird Where I am today with my fear of spiders... Works Cited - Pictures Basma. (n.d.). 1000 Life Hacks. Retrieved from Pinterest: https://fr.pinterest.com/explore/spider-identification/ Explore Arachnids, Anthropods and More. (n.d.). Retrieved from Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/459859811927139325/ Ppaszkowski. (n.d.). For Those Scared Of Spiders. Retrieved from Indulgy: http://indulgy.com/post/twpHM8MqT1/for-those-scared-of-spiders Ursula. (2006, May 24). Spider Myths. Retrieved from Ursula Williams Wordpress: https://ursulawilliams.wordpress.com/tag/spider/ Yellow Sac Spider Bite: Pictures, Symptoms & First Aids. (n.d.). Retrieved from Health Guidances: http://www.healthguidances.com/yellow-sac-spider-bite/ Generalization like comment share Yellow Sac Spider like comment share Status Update Works Cited - Information McLeod, S. (2014). Classical Conditioning. Retrieved from Simply Psychology. My Spider Experience After the yellow sac spider had bitten me, I had reason to be scared of it, specifically. However, my fear broadened into being scared of any kind of spider, not just the type of spider that bit me. The conditioned stimuli (yellow sac spider) caused a conditioned response (fear and screaming), but I went on to generalize my fear me treating similar stimuli in the same way. Rather than just being scared of the yellow sac spider, I became fearful of all arachnids because of the traumatic experience I had with the bite. The generalization went as far as being scared of spiders like daddy long legs that aren't very harmful. It's merely the similarities in the stimuli that cause me to be scared of them. Classical Conditioning is a learning process that occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired; a response that is at first elicited by the second stimulus is eventually elicited by the first stimulus alone. Classical conditioning is the relating of certain stimuli, that through experience, trigger the same responses that once differed. Sometimes, it is possible that a conditioned stimuli can lose the conditioned response that it has been paired with, but a lot of the time it stays with the person, which is what happened in my case.