Ch. 8: Stimulus Control of Behavior

A relation in which the significance of one stimulus or event depends on the status of another stimulus.

An approach to the analysis of stimulus control which assumes that organisms respond to a compound stimulus as an integral whole rather than a collection of separate and independent stimulus elements. (Compare with stimulus element approach.)

A stimulus that controls the performance of instrumental behavior because it signals the availability (or nonavailability) of reinforcement.

A gradient of responding that is observed when organisms are tested with the S+ from a discrimination procedure and with stimuli that increasingly differ fromthe S+. Typically the highest level of responding occurs to stimuli similar to the S+; progressively less responding occurs to stimuli that increasingly differ from the S+. Thus, the gradient has an inverted-U shape.

A procedure in which one cue designates when another cue will be reinforced. Also called occasion setting.

A gradient of responding observed when organisms are tested with the S- from a dscrimination procedure and with stimuli that increasingly differ from the S-. The lowest level of responding occurs to stimuli similar to the S-; progressively more responding occurs to stimuli that increasingly differ from S-. Thus, the gradient has a U shape.

A discrimination between stimuli that differ only in terms of the value of one stimulus feature, such as color, brightness, or pitch.

A stimulus that signals the relation between two other events. The nature of a binary relation may be determined by a third event, called a modulator.

A procedure in which different reinforcement schedules are in effect in the presence of different stimuli presented in succession. Generally, each stimulus comes to evoke a pattern of responding that corresponds to whatever reinforcement schedule is in effect during that stimulus.

A procedure in which one cue designates when another cue will be reinforced. Also called facilitation.

Interference with the conditioning of a stimulus because of the simultaneous presence of another stimulus that is easier to condition.

A displacement of the highest rate of responding in a stimulus generalization gradient away from the S+, in a direction opposite the S-.

Differential responding in the presenece of two or more stimuli.

(In classical conditioning) A classical conditioning procedure in which one stimulus (the CS+) is paired with the unconditioned stimulus on some trials and another stimulus (the CS-) is presented without the unconditioned stimulus on other trials. As a result of this procedure, the CS+ comes to elicit a conditioned response and the CS- comes to inhibit this response.

A procedure in which the reinforcement for responding is available whenever one stimulus (the S+, or SD) is present and not available whenever another stimulus (the S- or Sdelta) is present.