Final answer:
Stimulus control is a concept where an organism’s behavior is influenced by the presence or absence of a stimulus. A discriminative stimulus signals reinforcement or punishment for a behavior, thereby affecting its likelihood. This is crucial in instrumental learning as it indicates when a learned behavior should be exhibited.
Step-by-step explanation:
Stimulus control is a psychological concept that occurs when an organism behaves in one way in the presence of a given stimulus and another way in its absence. The ability to differentiate between stimuli and respond accordingly is critical in learning.
- Discriminative Stimulus
A discriminative stimulus is a specific type of stimulus that is associated with the occurrence of a particular behavior, which will be reinforced or punished, thus affecting the probability of the behavior being repeated. For instance, when a traffic light turns green, it signals to drivers that they can go, serving as a discriminative stimulus for the behavior of driving forward.
- Relation to Instrumental Learning
Instrumental learning is a type of learning in which an organism learns to associate their behaviors with certain consequences. A discriminative stimulus can influence instrumental learning by indicating the appropriate context in which a learned behavior should occur.
- Factors for Stimulus Control
Several factors are important for effective stimulus control, including:
- The consistent presentation of the stimuli when the behavior is to be reinforced.
- Clear distinction between relevant stimuli and irrelevant ones.
- Repetition of the association between the behavior and the stimulus.
- The intensity and salience of the stimulus.