1. List and describe the four types of generalization. How is the term used for this chapter in particular?
o Transfer of learning (generalization) can occur:
- across people
- across time (response maintenance)
- across behaviors (changes in one behavior spread to others, often in the same operant class)
- across stimuli
What is a generalization gradient both peaked or flat?
o Generalization gradient: data on stimulus generalization are plotted on a graph
- Flat gradient: little discrimination
- Broad: some discrimination
- Peaked gradient: considerable discrimination
Why can't generalization be taken for granted? How can generalization be increased? Why is generalization not always helpful?
o Generalization can and does occur naturally
- But sometimes desired and doesn't and sometimes undesired but it does (e.g. bear attacks, aggression from bobo to other kids)
o Generalization in treatment (e.g. social skills, problem solving, phobias often
What is discrimination and how are discrimination and generalization inversely related?
o Stimulus discrimination: tendency for behavior to occur in certain situations (presence of certain stimuli) but not in others. They are inversely related because the more discrimination the less generalization and the less discrimination the more genera
Define discriminative stimulus (SD) and S-delta
o Discriminative stimulus: any stimulus that signals that a behavior will be reinforced
o S-delta: any stimulus that signals that a behavior will not be reinforced
o Some instructors object the word signal so the term may also be defined as a stimulus tha
Provide 3 examples of situations when discrimination is desired
o Reading (verbal response under control of textual stimuli)
o Responding to nonverbal stimuli in social interactions (e.g., when to hug someone, when to "take a hint", etc.)
o Verbal interactions (e.g., responding to questions)
o Driving (e.g., road sign
Explain what is meant by the term stimulus control
o Stimulus control: tendency for a behavior to occur in the presence of an SDbut not in the presence of an S-delta
o Stimulus control can be strong (behavior under control of very specific stimuli) or weak (behavior under control of a range of stimuli)
How can the "mental rotation" phenomenon be understood in terms of stimulus control? Summarize the main point(s) being made in the section "Mental Rotation.
o Shepard (cooper & Shepard, 1873) asked people whether a letter (e.g. R, B) was presented backward. Recorded latency to respond (reaction time)
o Longer latencies (longer reaction time) the more rotated the letter
o Why? History of discrimination trainin
Explain what the term conceptusually refers to and what it means to say that an organism "understands" a concept. In other words, explain how understanding a concept involves both generalization and discrimination.
o What is a concept? It is not a thing we have. It is a way of behaving with respect to certain classes of a stimuli
o "Generalization within classes and discrimination between classes - this is the essence of concepts
Describe the stimulus control treatment for
o If no sleep within 10-20 min of being in bed then leave bed
- SD-->R-->SR
- Bed --> sleep --> rested
o If you read watch tv, ect then
- SD-->R-->SR
- Bed --> wakefulness --> activities
Explain with examples (especially about apes learning human language) how an organism's physical characteristics "limit" learning by that organism
o Chimpanzees are incapable of learning how to speak because of the nature of their vocal equipment which is why they were taught sign language instead.
Describe what a critical period is
o A period in development of an organism during which it is especially likely to learn a particular kind of behavior
What is preparedness?
o Tendency for animals to be biologically inclined (prepared) to learn, unprepared, or contraprepared to learn
Jostad et al. (2008)
o What was the purpose of the study
- It was the gun safety article
o How does it relate to generalization
- Across time
- Across people b/c they trained the peer & if the peer training transferred to the subjects
Sigurrdson et al, (2011)
o What was the purpose of the study
- It was the good posture at work
o How does it relate to generalization
- Stimuli generalization b/c it was testing if it transferred to different situations
Understand susceptibilities
- Susceptibilities are the sensitivities we have to reinforcement�sensitivities, in fact, that have
been passed down through natural selection.
- They are important because through natural selection, humans have adapted to the
environment. However, the en