Final answer:
Stimulus generalization is when an organism reacts similarly to different but related stimuli, while stimulus discrimination is when the organism can differentiate between similar stimuli and only responds to the specific one associated with the conditioned response.
Step-by-step explanation:
The difference between stimulus generalization and stimulus discrimination rests on how an organism responds to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus. Stimulus generalization occurs when an organism shows the conditioned response to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus. If a dog has been conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell that usually precedes food, the dog may also salivate in response to other, similar-sounding bells, demonstrating generalization. Conversely, stimulus discrimination takes place when an organism learns to respond differently to various stimuli that might be similar but are not associated with the original conditioned response. The same dog might learn to distinguish between the bell associated with food and a different bell that never precedes food, and thus, only respond to the specific bell associated with food.
An example of stimulus generalization would be if someone conditioned to fear a particular breed of dog due to an aggressive encounter might also feel fear when encountering other breeds with similar features. On the other hand, an example of stimulus discrimination would be if that person only experienced fear with the specific breed associated with the past trauma but not with other breeds, having discriminated or differentiated that not all dogs pose the same threat.