Stimulus generalization vs. discrimination
A child bitten by a large dog now fears all dogs, including small puppies. This is:
Answer B: explanation for every choice
A
Discrimination is responding only to the original stimulus and not to similar ones.
B
Correct. The fear response has spread to stimuli similar to the original one.
C
Spontaneous recovery is the return of an extinguished response.
D
Higher-order conditioning uses a conditioned stimulus to condition a new neutral stimulus.
TakeawayGeneralization spreads a response to similar stimuli. Discrimination limits it.
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Reviewed 2026-11-05 by a medical student. Spot an error? Report it with question ID ps73.