In addition to the criticisms of the psychodynamic perspective on page 83, many professionals object to what they perceive as Freud's anti-female bias. For example, his theory that girls experience penis envy is often disputed, as is his idea that women cannot attain the same degree of moral development as men. Freud was a product of his culture and time, and his theories generally fail to consider cultural differences. The behaviorist perspective focuses only on observable, measurable behavior and on the role of learning. In classical conditioning a specific stimulus elicits a specific response.
Many human responses are also suitable for classical conditioning.
For example, many of us today carry pagers. In my case, the sound of the beeper has repeatedly been followed by emergency situations involving suicidal clients. As part of my physical response to an emergency, my heart rate increases. The increased heart rate now occurs following the sound of beeps, even if an emergency never occurs. Try to decide which are the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli and responses.