In a study, two groups of individuals are repeatedly shown a neutral image (a blue square) immediately followed by a loud, startling noise. Group A consists of individuals who have previously experienced severe trauma, while Group B has no such history. Researchers observe that Group A begins showing a strong fear response to the blue square alone after only a few pairings, whereas Group B takes many more pairings to show a similar response. In a later phase, when the blue square is shown repeat