Provide two individual examples to teach “stimulus generalization” and “response generalization” to a client. Explain how these two types of generalizations differ.
Stimulus Generalization
Example 1: Fear of Dogs Imagine a client who has been bitten by a large black dog and now has a fear of that particular dog. Over time, this fear extends to other dogs, regardless of their size, breed, or color. This is an example of stimulus generalization, where the client’s fear response is triggered by different but similar stimuli (all dogs) to the original stimulus (the black dog that bit them).
Example 2: Learning Math Concepts A child learns the concept of addition with small numbers (e.g., 2 + 2). When later presented with larger numbers (e.g., 20 + 20), the child is able to apply the same addition concept. This is stimulus generalization because the child applies the learned behavior (addition) to new but similar stimuli (different sets of numbers).
Response Generalization
Example 1: Greeting People A client learns to greet others by saying “Hello.” Later, the client starts using variations like “Hi,” “Hey,” or waving their hand as forms of greeting. This is response generalization, where the client generates different responses that achieve the same outcome (greeting someone).
Example 2: Playing a Musical Instrument A client learns to play a simple melody on the piano using specific finger movements. As they become more skilled, they start to play the same melody using different fingerings or even on another instrument like the keyboard. This is response generalization because the client uses different responses to achieve the same outcome (playing the melody).
Difference Between Stimulus Generalization and Response Generalization
- Stimulus Generalization occurs when a learned response to a specific stimulus is elicited by similar but different stimuli. For instance, fear of one dog generalizes to fear of all dogs.
- Response Generalization occurs when a learned behavior leads to the production of different but related responses. For example, learning to say “Hello” and then generalizing this to saying “Hi,” “Hey,” or waving.