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B.13: Identify examples of stimulus discrimination.

Free practice questions for this part of the BCBA, with an explanation for every option.

After differential reinforcement training, a toddler says "doggie" when she sees dogs but no longer says "doggie" for cats, horses, or cows. This change shows:
  1. A. Stimulus generalization
    Incorrect. Stimulus generalization would mean saying "doggie" to other four-legged animals, which is the opposite of what happened.
  2. B. Response generalization
    Incorrect. Response generalization concerns new untrained responses, not narrower control by stimuli.
  3. C. Stimulus discrimination
    Correct. Responding differently in the presence of different stimuli is stimulus discrimination.
  4. D. Stimulus overselectivity
    Incorrect. Overselectivity is control by a limited or irrelevant feature. Her responding is appropriately controlled by dogs.
A young client calls every adult woman he sees "Mom." Which procedure would most directly establish an appropriate discrimination?
  1. A. Deliver a reprimand every time he says "Mom" in any setting
    Incorrect. Punishing every instance would suppress "Mom" in all contexts, including the right one.
  2. B. Increase his deprivation of adult attention before sessions
    Incorrect. Manipulating an MO changes the value of attention but does not create differential stimulus control.
  3. C. Reinforce saying "Mom" in the presence of all adult women so the word is used more often
    Incorrect. Reinforcing the response to all women would strengthen the overgeneralization.
  4. D. Reinforce "Mom" only in the presence of his mother, withhold reinforcement for "Mom" with other women, and reinforce correct names for other women
    Correct. Discrimination training reinforces the response in the presence of the SD and puts it on extinction in the presence of SΔ stimuli.
A coffee-shop cashier is trained to say "Welcome back!" only to customers holding a loyalty card, and his manager praises him when he does. After training, he says "Welcome back!" to card holders but not to other customers. This pattern shows:
  1. A. Response generalization
    Response generalization means untrained responses occur that are similar to a trained one. Here, the cashier gives the same response, only in one stimulus condition.
  2. B. Stimulus generalization
    Stimulus generalization would show up as greeting all customers the same way. He responds differently depending on whether a card is present.
  3. C. A motivating operation
    A motivating operation changes the value of a reinforcer. The loyalty card signals that reinforcement is available; it does not change how valuable praise is.
  4. D. Stimulus discrimination
    Correct. After differential reinforcement, the cashier responds when the loyalty card (SD) is present and does not respond when it is absent (S-delta). Responding differently to different stimuli is stimulus discrimination.

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