Generalization and Maintenance of Behavior

Generalization and Main" rel="nofollow">intenance of Behavior Order Description Generalization and discrimin" rel="nofollow">ination and stimulus control add tremendously to the survival value of learnin" rel="nofollow">ing because environments are always changin" rel="nofollow">ing. Generalization is the tendency for the effects of learnin" rel="nofollow">ing to spread. In a classic study, Baer, Wolf, and Risley (1968) identified termin" rel="nofollow">inology for the ways a behavior may show generality: 1.Across settin" rel="nofollow">ings and situations known as stimulus generalization, and occurs when responses that have been rein" rel="nofollow">inforced in" rel="nofollow">in the presence of a specific stimulus occur in" rel="nofollow">in the presence of different, but similar stimuli (also referred to as a stimulus class). An example: When your cell phone rin" rel="nofollow">ings (the stimuli) you have learned to answer the phone by sayin" rel="nofollow">ing “Hello.” At work, the phone on your desk has a different rin" rel="nofollow">ing tone and when it rin" rel="nofollow">ings you also pick up the receiver to answer and say “Hello.” The different types of rin" rel="nofollow">ing tones all belong to the same stimulus class. 2.Across behaviors known as response generalization, and occurs when a similar but different response generalizes and spreads across environments or behaviors. For example, you learn to play and navigate a video game with a joystick controller at an arcade. Later you learn to play the same game on your computer at home, but in" rel="nofollow">instead of usin" rel="nofollow">ing a joystick controller to navigate you use your computer keyboard and mouse. 3.Over time known as response main" rel="nofollow">intenance, which is the process of contin" rel="nofollow">inuin" rel="nofollow">ing to exhibit a behavior. This is essentially the opposite of forgettin" rel="nofollow">ing (the focus of Chapter 12). It is often mistakenly assumed that generalization is an automatic phenomenon, or that behavior will be learned vicariously from observin" rel="nofollow">ing other’s engagin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in behaviors. Parents, teachers, train" rel="nofollow">iners, and managers, for example, need to be aware of the importance of havin" rel="nofollow">ing people perform a skill a number of times in" rel="nofollow">in a number of different situations. For example, a child who has learned to stop and look both ways before crossin" rel="nofollow">ing a street may nevertheless run in" rel="nofollow">into the street after a ball. The idea is that rein" rel="nofollow">inforcement strengthens a response class, and not just a specific response. When the response class becomes too large it can result in" rel="nofollow">in stimulus overgeneralization. This occurs when similar, but distin" rel="nofollow">inct stimuli elicit the same response. How do we learn to produce a certain" rel="nofollow">in behavior in" rel="nofollow">in presence of one stimulus (i.e., stop in" rel="nofollow">in front of a red sign versus a green one)? We do this through stimulus discrimin" rel="nofollow">ination, which is the tendency for a behavior to occur in" rel="nofollow">in certain" rel="nofollow">in situations (i.e., in" rel="nofollow">in the presence of certain" rel="nofollow">in stimuli) but not in" rel="nofollow">in others (in" rel="nofollow">in the absence of the stimuli). As such, discrimin" rel="nofollow">ination train" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing can be viewed as the process of defin" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing a response class. Usin" rel="nofollow">ing a stimulus discrimin" rel="nofollow">ination technique, B. F. Skin" rel="nofollow">inner (1951) once taught pigeons to “read.” The pigeons would peck a disk when a sign read, “Peck,” and would not peck when a sign read “Don’t peck. Another example of stimulus discrimin" rel="nofollow">ination is bein" rel="nofollow">ing able to recognize when people are lyin" rel="nofollow">ing from their facial expressions and other body language. The term stimulus control is used in" rel="nofollow">in stimulus discrimin" rel="nofollow">ination train" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing and refers to the in" rel="nofollow">increased tendency to behave a certain" rel="nofollow">in way in" rel="nofollow">in one situation but not in" rel="nofollow">in another. For example, an in" rel="nofollow">individual operatin" rel="nofollow">ing a motor vehicle will usually stop at all red traffic lights, and this tendency is clearly a function of rein" rel="nofollow">inforcin" rel="nofollow">ing and punishin" rel="nofollow">ing consequences (i.e., in" rel="nofollow">increased likelihood that he won’t get in" rel="nofollow">into an accident, or get a traffic ticket for runnin" rel="nofollow">ing a red light), but the in" rel="nofollow">individual can proceed through a red light, and might deliberately do so under certain" rel="nofollow">in circumstances (e.g., because he is already late to work). Behavior change and skill acquisition programs are designed to develop, or in" rel="nofollow">increase, the frequency of target behaviors. However, engagin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in a behavior now does not necessarily mean that the behavior will contin" rel="nofollow">inue in" rel="nofollow">in the future. Similarly, engagin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in a behavior in" rel="nofollow">in one settin" rel="nofollow">ing does not mean that it will occur in" rel="nofollow">in other settin" rel="nofollow">ings. Research has demonstrated that if you do not deliberately plan for learned behaviors to be generalized and main" rel="nofollow">intain" rel="nofollow">ined they are not likely to happen. For this Assignment, you will explore and apply techniques for generalizin" rel="nofollow">ing and main" rel="nofollow">intain" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing behaviors. To prepare for this Assignment: •Read Chapter 11 of your course textbook. Consider the relations between generalization, discrimin" rel="nofollow">ination, and stimulus control. •Read the assigned Steeg and Sullivan (2009) article. •Review previous chapters on rein" rel="nofollow">inforcement and punishment, if needed. •For an enhanced understandin" rel="nofollow">ing of these concepts, you are encouraged to also explore the Optional Learnin" rel="nofollow">ing Resources for this week. •Examin" rel="nofollow">ine your own experiences from when you were a high school student and identify factors that worked well for you in" rel="nofollow">in main" rel="nofollow">intain" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing academic behaviors. •Read the followin" rel="nofollow">ing scenario: Hazel, a 16-year old high school student, is given plenty of time in" rel="nofollow">in her English Composition class to work on writin" rel="nofollow">ing. However, she usually does not complete her writin" rel="nofollow">ing assignment within" rel="nofollow">in the time allotted durin" rel="nofollow">ing the class period. She rarely completes her English composition homework either. •Engagin" rel="nofollow">ing your knowledge of prin" rel="nofollow">inciples of rein" rel="nofollow">inforcement and punishment, consider the concepts of generalization, discrimin" rel="nofollow">ination, and stimulus control, and propose procedures that could in" rel="nofollow">increase Hazel’s English composition classwork completion and homework completion behaviors. •Once Hazel in" rel="nofollow">increases her English composition classwork completion and homework completion, consider how Hazel will main" rel="nofollow">intain" rel="nofollow">in the positive behavior changes, and how the changes could be applied to other subjects, such as math. Drawin" rel="nofollow">ing on your readin" rel="nofollow">ing of the Steege and Sullivan (2009) article and textbook, complete the followin" rel="nofollow">ing: 1.Explain" rel="nofollow">in the procedures you devised that could in" rel="nofollow">increase Hazel’s English composition classwork and homework completion. 2.Explain" rel="nofollow">in how Hazel will main" rel="nofollow">intain" rel="nofollow">in the positive behavior changes, and how the changes could be applied to other subjects, such as math. Support your Assignment with evidence from the assigned Learnin" rel="nofollow">ing Resources. Provide a reference list for resources you used for this Assignment: Readin" rel="nofollow">ings •Chance, P. (2014). Learnin" rel="nofollow">ing and behavior (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. ?Chapter 11, “Generalization, Discrimin" rel="nofollow">ination, and Stimulus Control” •Steege, M. W., & Sullivan, E. (2009). Generalization and main" rel="nofollow">intenance of learned positive behavior. In A. Akin" rel="nofollow">in-Little, S. G. Little, M. Bray, & T. Kehle (Eds.), Behavioral in" rel="nofollow">interventions in" rel="nofollow">in schools: Evidence-based positive strategies (pp. 189–201). Washin" rel="nofollow">ington, DC: APA Books. Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.      

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