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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Contextual control of stimulus generalization and stimulus equivalence in hierarchical categorization.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether hierarchical categorization would result from a combination of contextually controlled conditional discrimination training, stimulus generalization, and stimulus equivalence. First, differential selection responses to a specific stimulus feature were brought under contextual control. This contextual control was hierarchical in that stimuli at the top of the hierarchy all evoked one response, whereas those at the bottom each evoked different responses. The evocative functions of these stimuli generalized in predictable ways along a dimension of physical similarity. Then, these functions were indirectly acquired by a set of nonsense syllables that were related via transitivity relations to the originally trained stimuli. These nonsense syllables effectively served as names for the different stimulus classes within each level of the hierarchy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Community and job satisfactions: an argument for reciprocal influence based on the principle of stimulus generalization.

The principle of stimulus generalization provided the underlying argument for a test of hypotheses regarding the association of community and job satisfactions and a critique of related theory and research. Two-stage least squares (2SLS) analysis made possible the examination of reciprocal causation, a notion inherent in the theoretical argument. Data were obtained from 276 employees of a Western U.S. coal mine as part of a work attitudes survey. The 2SLS analysis indicated a significant impact of community satisfaction on job satisfaction and an effect of borderline significance of job on community satisfaction. Theory-based correlational comparisons were made on groups of employees residing in four distinct communities, high and low tenure groups, males and females, and different levels in the mine's hierarchy. The pattern of correlations was generally consistent with predictions, but significance tests for differences yielded equivocal support. When considered in the context of previous studies, the data upheld a reciprocal causal model and the explanatory principle of stimulus generalization for understanding the relation of community and job satisfactions. Sample characteristics necessitate cautious interpretation and the model per se might best be viewed as a heuristic framework for more definitive research.

Adult↗
PubMed1963

A further study of stimulus generalization following three-stimulus discrimination training.

A group of pigeons was trained in a Skinner box to peck for VI reinforcement when the key was illuminated by a monochromatic light of 540 or 580 mmu but were non-reinforced for responding to 560 mmu. Two control groups, differing in amount of training, received only the two positive stimuli. At the completion of training all Ss received generalization tests under extinction. Both control groups produced bi-modal generalization gradients with the peaks of responding at the S+ values. The post-discrimination gradient revealed peaks displaced from the S+ values in the direction away from the S-, low responding and increased steepness in the region of S- and a general elevation of the gradient.

Animals↗
PubMed1963

Stimulus generalization of a positive conditioned reinforcer.

Stimulus generalization has been observed for discriminative, eliciting, and emotional functions of stimuli. In our study, in order to investigate the generalization of the reinforcing function of stimuli, pigeons were trained in a Skinner box to peck at an unlighted key to obtain aperiodic, brief exposures of light at a wavelength of 550 mmicro, the positive conditioned reinforcer, which was immediately followed by food reward. Testing in extinction, we obtained generalization gradients for the number of responses and the time the pigeons expended to produce exposures on the unlighted key of 550 mmicro, 530 mmicro) 510 mmicro, or no light. This finding suggests that stimulus generalization occurs with all functions of stimuli.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Stimulus generalization as a function of stimulus novelty and familiarity in rats.

Three experiments used rats as subjects to investigate the generalization of conditioned responding between stimuli as a function of the subjects' exposure to these cues prior to conditioning. Experiment 1 used a between-subjects design, food as the reinforcer, and measured the tendency of subjects to approach the site of food delivery during the stimuli. Generalization of this response was more marked when the training and test stimuli were equated in terms of their novelty (i.e., when both were novel or both were familiar) than when the stimuli differed in this respect (i.e., when one was novel and the other was familiar). Experiments 2a and 2b used within-subjects designs to confirm the reliability of the results of Experiment 1. Implications of these results for current theories of stimulus representation are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Stimulus generalization, discrimination learning, and peak shift in horses.

Using horses, we investigated three aspects of the stimulus control of lever-pressing behavior: stimulus generalization, discrimination learning, and peak shift. Nine solid black circles, ranging in size from 0.5 in. to 4.5 in. (1.3 cm to 11.4 cm) served as stimuli. Each horse was shaped, using successive approximations, to press a rat lever with its lip in the presence of a positive stimulus, the 2.5-in. (6.4-cm) circle. Shaping proceeded quickly and was comparable to that of other laboratory organisms. After responding was maintained on a variable-interval 30-s schedule, stimulus generalization gradients were collected from 2 horses prior to discrimination training. During discrimination training, grain followed lever presses in the presence of a positive stimulus (a 2.5-in circle) and never followed lever presses in the presence of a negative stimulus (a 1.5-in. [3.8-cm] circle). Three horses met a criterion of zero responses to the negative stimulus in fewer than 15 sessions. Horses given stimulus generalization testing prior to discrimination training produced symmetrical gradients; horses given discrimination training prior to generalization testing produced asymmetrical gradients. The peak of these gradients shifted away from the negative stimulus. These results are consistent with discrimination, stimulus generalization, and peak-shift phenomena observed in other organisms.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Stimulus generalization of 1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)piperazine (TFMPP) to propranolol, pindolol, and mesulergine.

Using standard operant procedures with rats trained to discriminate the serotonin (5-HT) agonist 1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)piperazine (TFMPP) (0.5 mg/kg) from saline, tests of stimulus generalization and stimulus antagonism were conducted with propranolol, pindolol, and mesulergine. Neither propranolol nor mesulergine antagonized the TFMPP stimulus (pindolol was not evaluated as an antagonist). However, TFMPP-stimulus generalization occurred with all three agents. These results suggest that the TFMPP-stimulus may involve both a 5-HT1B and a 5-HT1C mechanism and further suggest that propranolol, pindolol, and mesulergine may be capable of acting as agonists at certain populations of serotonin receptors.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗
PubMed1983

Stimulus generalization and the peak shift with movement stimuli.

Stimulus generalization is suggested as an alternative method for examination of the "novelty" problem in motor learning. These experiments demonstrated that stimulus generalization occurs using simple movements as stimuli. The phenomenon of the "peak shift" in post-discrimination generalization gradients was also examined. The first experiment demonstrated that a peak shift occurred using linear movements as stimuli and that the magnitude of the peak shift increased as the difference between the training stimuli decreased. The second experiment showed similar results when the stimuli consisted of a range of movements rather than single movement length. The final experiment provided evidence that perception of movement length is influenced by the magnitude of an immediately preceding movement. The relevance of these studies to current motor-learning theory is discussed.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1979

The allocation of time to temporally defined behaviors: responding during stimulus generalization.

In one stimulus condition, reinforcement depended on rats holding a lever for a duration having both minimum and maximum boundaries. During a second light intensity, reinforcement was not available for some rats; for others, reinforcement depended on a second response duration requirement. Generalization test stimuli controlled the same response durations found during training, and the amount of time allocated to a given response duration depended on the proximity of the test stimulus to the training stimulus which controlled that particular duration. The results indicated that a gradient of stimulus control does not reflect an underlying continuous change in responding, but is a result of the mixing of responses previously controlled by stimuli present during conditioning.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Task specificity in nonspecific transfer and in extradimensional stimulus generalization in pigeons.

The theory of general attention predicts that true discrimination (TD) training will produce greater positive non- (stimulus-) specific transfer and sharper extradimensional stimulus generalization gradients than pseudodiscrimination (PD) training, because TD training establishes a set to discriminate (general attentiveness). Previous demonstrations have employed go-no-go (GN) discrimination training. In order to determine whether discrimination training per se is sufficient to produce the effects described, TD and PD groups of pigeons were trained in a successive-conditional (SC) discrimination. In Experiment 1, eight groups received TD or PD training between two line orientations in either an SC or a GN discrimination prior to transfer to either a true SC or a true GN discrimination between two colors. Discriminative performance in transfer was facilitated only when the original and transfer discriminations were of the same type. Experiment 2 replicated four of the conditions of Experiment 1 with procedural changes to make the transfer discrimination identical to that employed in previous "general attention experiments," with the same results. It is concluded that positive nonspecific transfer is primarily mediated by the transfer of task-specific learning rather than by the transfer of attentiveness. In Experiment 3, four groups were trained as in Stage 1 of Experiments 1 and 2, then given single-stimulus (SS) training with a chromatic stimulus, followed by a wavelength stimulus generalization test. Only TD-GN discrimination training produced sharp gradients, an effect leading to the conclusion that go-no-go discrimination training and stimulus generalization are closely related by task requirements rather than by attention. It is concluded that task-appropriate response tendencies probably mediate the effects observed.

Animals↗