AI-generated practice question — model-generated for extra practice, not a previous-year CBSE board question.
Answer: C
Assertion (A) is true — reflex actions occur without conscious thought. Reason (R) is false — in a reflex arc, the nerve signal travels from receptor → spinal cord → effector muscle, bypassing the brain for the response.
The key error in R is the claim that the signal travels to the brain before reaching the effector. The textbook clearly states that reflex arcs are formed in the spinal cord itself, allowing a quick response without waiting for the brain. Information does reach the brain, but only after (or simultaneously with) the reflex response — the brain is not in the reflex arc pathway. That is precisely why reflexes are fast and unconscious (A is true), but R gives the wrong mechanism, making it false.