copyright © 2011 pearson education, inc. all rights reserved. doing the right thing at the right...

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Doing the Right Thing at the Right Time and Place: Stimulus

Discrimination and Generalization

Chapter 8


Stimulus Discrimination Learning and Stimulus

Control• How do we learn to perform certain behaviors at certain times but not others?

• Always cues around when behavior is reinforced or extinguished

• Situations in which behaviors occur are analyzed in terms of:– Antecedent Stimuli – stimuli that exist just prior to behavior

– Behavior– Consequences


Stimulus Discrimination Learning and Stimulus

Control• Stimulus Control– Degree of correlation between a stimulus and subsequent response

– Good or effective stimulus control• High correlation

• Stimulus Discrimination– Process by which we learn to emit a specific behavior in the presence of some stimuli and not in the presence of other stimuli

• Stimulus Discrimination Training– Process of teaching stimulus discriminations

• Controlling Stimuli– Stimuli that control behavior due to reinforcement in their presence and extinction in their absence• Also called discriminative stimuli or SDs


Types of Controlling Stimuli

• SD – Discriminative Stimulus for Reinforcement– Response has been reinforced only in the presence of a particular stimulus

– Cue that a particular response will pay off

• S - Discriminative Stimulus for Extinction– Response has been extinguished only in the presence of a particular stimulus

– Cue that a particular response will not pay off

• A stimulus may be simultaneously an SD for one response and an S for another


Stimulus Generalization

• Responding the same way to a different stimuli than one in the presence of which is responding in that way was reinforced

• Opposite of stimulus discrimination• Unlearned stimulus generalization due to considerable physical similarity– Likely to perform a behavior in a new situation if that situation is similar to the situation when behavior was learned



• Learned stimulus generalization involving minimal physical similarity– Have to learn the stimulus class, or concept

– Common-element stimulus class•Set of stimuli, all of which have some physical characteristic in common

•Conceptual behavior – emitting appropriate behavior to all members of a common-element stimulus class, but not those that don’t belong to the class



• Learned stimulus generalization due to stimulus equivalence class– Stimulus equivalence class

•Set of completely dissimilar stimuli in which all members of the class control the same response


Ensuring Effectiveness of Stimulus Discrimination

Training• Choose distinct signals• Minimize opportunities for errors

• Maximize the number of trials– Need multiple trials to learn the behavior

• Make use of rules: Describe the contingencies– Rules can speed up learning


Pitfalls

• May inadvertently teach others to respond inappropriately to particular cues

• May inadvertently teach others not to respond appropriately to particular cues


Guidelines for Effective Stimulus Discrimination

Training• Choose distinct stimuli• Select an appropriate reinforcer• Develop the discrimination

– Arrange for several reinforced responses in the presence of the SD

– When the S is presented, make the change from the SD very obvious and follow the rules for extinction for the behavior of concern

• Wean the individual from the program – Plan natural reinforcers– Plan periodic assessments of behavior to make sure it is occasionally being reinforced and that the desired frequency of the behavior is being maintained in the presence of the SD

copyright © 2011 pearson education, inc. all rights reserved. doing the right thing at the right...

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