Discrimination Training

Discrimination is demonstrated when a response is more likely to be emitted under specific stimulus conditions and less likely under others. That is, the probability that a student will emit a specific behavior is increased in the presence of a specific stimulus or stimulus class called a discriminative stimulus (SD). An SD signals that reinforcement is available for the behavior under its control. When a specific response occurs more frequently in the presence of an SD than in its absence, it is said to be under stimulus control. The process of training or teaching a student to respond in the presence of a specific stimulus is referred to as discrimination training. For example, when a person picks up a phone when it is ringing ...