What best describes stimulus control?

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Multiple Choice

What best describes stimulus control?

Stimulus control is when a behavior comes to occur, or be suppressed, primarily because a specific antecedent stimulus has signaled that reinforcement is available or not available in the past. Through discrimination training, that cue becomes a signal for the behavior to occur (discriminative stimulus) or not occur (contingent on the presence of a different cue or SΔ). As a result, the behavior reliably changes in the presence of that stimulus compared to in its absence. For example, a student may start raising their hand more often when the teacher is present and ready to reinforce raising hands, but not as often when the teacher is absent or not reinforcing. The teacher’s presence, through prior reinforcement history, has acquired control over the behavior. This is different from simply looking at how often a behavior happens overall, or how quickly it happens, or the schedule of reinforcement alone; stimulus control specifically describes how cues shape the likelihood of a response.

Stimulus control is when a behavior comes to occur, or be suppressed, primarily because a specific antecedent stimulus has signaled that reinforcement is available or not available in the past. Through discrimination training, that cue becomes a signal for the behavior to occur (discriminative stimulus) or not occur (contingent on the presence of a different cue or SΔ). As a result, the behavior reliably changes in the presence of that stimulus compared to in its absence.

For example, a student may start raising their hand more often when the teacher is present and ready to reinforce raising hands, but not as often when the teacher is absent or not reinforcing. The teacher’s presence, through prior reinforcement history, has acquired control over the behavior. This is different from simply looking at how often a behavior happens overall, or how quickly it happens, or the schedule of reinforcement alone; stimulus control specifically describes how cues shape the likelihood of a response.

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