Final answer:
Stimulus discrimination is the process by which an animal learns to respond differently to similar stimuli, such as how Pavlov's dogs learned to produce a conditioned response only to the conditioned stimulus (a tone) and not other similar sounds.
Step-by-step explanation:
Stimulus discrimination involves the ability of an animal to differentiate between a conditioned stimuli and other similar but different non-conditioned stimuli. This process allows an animal to respond differently to various stimuli that are similar, demonstrating the conditioned response only to the conditioned stimulus and not to other non-conditioning stimuli.
For instance, in Ivan Pavlov's classical experiment, dogs learned to salivate at the sound of a bell that was consistently followed by the presentation of food. Over time, they did not salivate to similar sounds that were not associated with food, such as a doorbell, thereby showing stimulus discrimination. This concept is vital in both classical and operant conditioning, guiding how behavior is shaped and learned.
In contrast, stimulus generalization is when an organism responds to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus. For example, if a sound resembling the bell used in Pavlov's experiment is heard, the dogs might initially respond as if it were the bell, showing stimulus generalization. With further training, these animals would learn to discriminate between the two sounds if only one consistently predicts the arrival of food.