Ch 17 Stimulus Control Flashcards
(26 cards)
prompt fading strategy used to teach new skills - especially those involving discrimination and independent responding. systematically increasing time between instruction (SD) and prompt, allowing learner opportunity to respond independently before receiving help.
-promotes independent responding
-reduces prompt dependency
-helps teach discrimination skills
time delay
2 types
1. constant time delay
2. progressive time delay
systematic prompt fading procedure where a fixed delay is inserted between instruction (SD) and prompt. this gives learner a chance to respond independently before prompt is provided. the delay remains the same across all trials.
-reinforce if learner responds correctly during delay, if not deliver the prompt
constant time delay
prompt fading strategy where amount of time between instruction (SD) and prompt is gradually increased across trials or sessions. gives learner growing opportunity to respond independently, helping to fade prompts and promote stimulus control
progressive time delay
prompts added to or embedded in instructional materials to help learner make correct response. they alter the stimulus itself- not the learner’s behavior- to highlight or clarify the correct choice.
stimulus prompts
graphical representation showing how much a behavior generalizes across stimuli that vary from the original trained stimulus. reflects how the learner responds to stimuli that are similar or different from the one used during instruction.
-bell-shaped curve that shows high responding to the original trained stimulus and decreasing responding as stimuli become less similar
stimulus generalization gradient
when a behavior occurs in the presence of stimuli that are similar to the training stimulus.
stimulus generalization
prompt fading technique where features of a stimulus are gradually changed or removed to help learner transfer control from the prompted stimulus to the natural stimulus. used to teach discriminations while minimizing errors
-used to highlight correct stimulus during early teaching
-the salient(extra) feature is faded over time
-promotes stimulus control by the natural SD
-often used with stimulus prompts (e.g. color fading, size fading, position fading)
stimulus fading
procedure used to teach learner to differentiate between 2+ stimuli by reinforcing a response in the presence of a specific stimulus and not reinforcing (or putting on extinction) that response in the presence of other stimuli (S-delta or sΔ)
-teaches learner to respond to correct stimulus only
-involves a discriminative stimulus (SD) and S-delta (SΔ)
-reinforcement strengthens responding to SD and extinction/no reinforcement helps stop responding to SΔ.
e.g. “touch dog” -> dog picture & cat picture presented. learner touches cat->no reinforcement
stimulus discrimination training
when behavior occurs in presence of specific stimulus (SD) but not in presence of other stimuli (SΔ). it means the learner has learned to differentiate between stimuli and only responds when the conditions for reinforcement are present.
-behavior only occurs in response to the SD and behavior is withheld in presence of non-reinforcing stimuli
-shows stimulus control is established
-result of stimulus discrimination training
stimulus discrimination
stimulus that signals reinforcement is NOT available
stimulus delta (sΔ)
stimulus that signals reinforcement IS available
e.g. child learns to say “dog” only when shown picture of a dog
stimulus control
occurs when presence of an irrelevant or competing stimulus prevents learner from attending to or responding to the relevant stimulus. it interferes with development of stimulus control because learner’s behavior is “blocked” from being influenced by the correct cue.
-happens when a more salient (noticeable) stimulus overshadows that intended SD
-can result in learner responding to the wrong cue or not learning the desired behavior
e.g. teaching learner to say “red” when shown a red card. each time you say “red” aloud the learner responds to your voice, and not the card. the verbal prompt is blocking the stimulus (red card) from gaining control.
stimulus blocking
instructions, cues, or assistance provided after the SD to help evoke correct response from learner.
-act directly on the learner’s behavior , does not modify the stimulus
response prompts
types
1. verbal prompts- spoken cues or instructions (e.g. “touch apple” after SD is given )
- gestural prompts- pointing, motioning toward correct response after giving SD
- modeling prompts- demonstrating correct behavior after SD
- physical prompts- HOH, FP, PP, WP, EP, etc.
occurs when presence of a more salient (more noticeable) stimulus interferes with learning by drawing attention away from the relevant stimulus.
-as a result of __________, learner may fail to develop stimulus control over the intended stimulus
-involves competing stimuli during learning
-a salient, irrelevant stimulus capture’s learner’s attention
-similar to stimulus blocking, but occurs during intitial learning
overshadowing
stimulus blocking
VS
overshadowing
stimulus blocking- a previously learned cue prevents a new one from gaining control; learner already responds to one SD, so the new SD doesn’t gain any associative strength. (e.g. child learns to respond to a gesture cue for “sit”. later, a verbal cue is added with the gesture but child continues to only respond to the gesture. the gesture blocks the verbal cue from gaining stimulus control.)
overshadowing- two cues are presented together, but one is too dominant for the other to be learned; often happens during initial learning when multiple stimuli are presented
occurs when a behavior is controlled by only one limited aspect of a stimulus or small set of stimuli, even though the correct response requires attention to multiple relevant feautures. this can result in inconsistent or incorrect responding, especially in tasks requiring discrimination.
-learner responds to only part of the stimulus; fails to attend to all relevant features
-can lead to errors in discrimination
e.g. teaching child to identify the word “cat” and child only responds correctly when the word is in large font
over selective stimulus control
prompt fading strategy where the insructor begins with the most intrusive prompt necessary to ensure correct responding, and then systematically fades to less intrusive prompts over time. this approach prompts errorless learning, especially for new or difficult skills.
-begins with high level of support
-fades prompts gradually based on learner’s performance
-often used when goal is rapid acquisition of new behaviors
e.g. FP->PP->model->verbal-> gestural->IND
most-to-least response prompts
prompting and fading strategy where learner is given a chance to respond independently first, and then increasingly more intrusive prompts are used only if needed. this method encourages independence and helps identify the minimal level of support a learner requires.
-begins with none or minimal assistance
-prompts are provided only if learner does not respond correctly
-prompts increase in intensity until correct response is made
-good for learners who can respond with minimal help or who are being taught to problem-solve
least-to-most response prompts
teaching and testing procedure in which learner is presented with a sample stimulus and must select correct match from 2+ comparison stimuli. widely used in ABA to teach discrimination, concepts, and pre-academic skills such as matching, labeling, reading, etc.
key elements:
1. sample stimulus
2. comparison stimulus
3. correct response
4. reinforcement
matching-to-sample
group of stimuli that share common physical characteristics (such as shape, color, size, texture), and evoke the same response. learners generalize responses to all members of the class because of their shared features.
feature stimulus class
teaching strategy in which prompts are used to ensure the learner responds correctly from the start, minimizing or preventing errors during acquisition. goal is to reduce frustration, increase confidence, and promote fast accurate learning by helping the learner experience success immediately
errorless learning
stimulus that signals availability of reinforcement for a specific behavior. sets the occasion for a response, because in the past that behavior has been reinforced in the presence of that stimulus.
discriminative stimulus (SD)
occurs when the correct response to a discriminative stimulus depends on the presence of another stimulus. aka one stimulus modifies the meaning or function of another, and the learner must attend to both stimuli to respond correctly.
e.g. reinforcement is given only when child raises hand and the teacher is present. (not just when raising hand alone)
e.g.
sample stimulus (conditional cue)- the word “dog”. comparison stimuli- pictures of a dog, cat, and bird. learner must choose picture of dog because the sample is “dog”. correct choice depends on the sample stimulus.
e.g. child selects red when asked “touch red” only when color words are used (vs shape words like “touch square”)
-encourages attention to multiple cues
-teaches complex discrimination skills
-underlies conditional relations, verbal behavior, and RFT
conditional discrimination
stimulus class formed through stimulus generalization within a class and discrimination between classes. demonstrated when an individual responds the same way to all members of a feature or arbitrary stimulus class, but differently to stimuli outside the class.
-involves generalization and discrimination
-stimuli in the ___ class evoke the same response, and stimuli outside the ___ class do not evoke the same response
-can be based on shared features or arbitrary relations
e.g. present pictures of different dog breeds->learner says “dog”. present pictures of other breeds->learner does not say “dog”. learner has formed the ___ of “dog”
concept
