Stimulus discrimination is the learned ability to respond differently to stimuli that are similar but not identical to one another, typically by responding to a stimulus that has been reinforced or conditioned while withholding that same response to other, resembling stimuli that have not been reinforced. It is established through discrimination training, in which one stimulus is consistently paired with reinforcement or an unconditioned stimulus while similar stimuli are presented without it, until the organism reliably tells them apart. Stimulus discrimination is treated as the functional counterpart of stimulus generalization, in which a learned response spreads to similar stimuli, and the balance between the two processes shapes how narrowly or broadly a learned response ends up being applied.
Facts
Classification
Type of Phenomenon Sources
1. Wikipedia: Classical conditioning
Lead sectionQuote, Lead section
Classical conditioning (also respondent conditioning and Pavlovian conditioning) is a behavioral procedure in which a biologically potent stimulus (e.g. food, a puff of air on the eye) is paired with a neutral stimulus (e.g. the sound of a musical triangle).
OpenStax: Psychology 2e: 6.2 Classical Conditioning
OpenStaxIn Group: Stimulus Generalization and Discrimination, Section: Stimulus generalization and discriminationQuote, In Group: Stimulus Generalization and Discrimination, Section: Stimulus generalization and discrimination
Two other learning processes-stimulus discrimination and stimulus generalization-are involved in determining which stimuli will trigger learned responses.
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