Linda is afraid of cats because when she was a little girl a cat scared her by jumping out of her closet and onto her face. As a result of this experience, Linda learned to be afraid of cats. Which model of abnormality offers the best explanation of Linda's fear?

A) cognitive
B) learning perspective
C) sociocultural
D) psychoanalytic

The learning perspective suggests that behaviors and emotions develop through the processes of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. Linda's fear of cats developed as a result of a specific incident (classical conditioning) where the cat's jump was paired with fear and anxiety responses. Therefore, the learning perspective offers the best explanation for Linda's fear of cats.