B.13 Identify examples of stimulus discrimination

Discrimination

Discrimination refers to the ability to respond differently to different stimuli or situations based on their unique properties or characteristics. It involves recognizing and responding to specific stimuli while withholding or refraining from responding to other similar stimuli.

Example: A child is taught to identify the color red. They are presented with various objects of different colors and are reinforced for correctly identifying the red objects. Eventually, the child learns to discriminate the color red from other colors and consistently identifies red objects correctly while ignoring objects of different colors.

Stimulus Discrimination

Stimulus discrimination refers to the ability to respond differently to different stimuli, even if they share similarities. It involves distinguishing between relevant and irrelevant stimuli to produce the desired behavior.

Example: A dog is trained to bark when the doorbell rings but remains quiet when other similar sounds, such as a phone ringing, occur. The dog has learned to discriminate between the specific sound of the doorbell (relevant stimulus) and other similar sounds (irrelevant stimuli).