Final answer:
A discriminative stimulus (SD) is a cue that signals the availability of a reinforcement or punishment, influencing behavior in operant conditioning. It helps an organism distinguish between similar stimuli, shaping behavior appropriately to specific contexts. An example is Pavlov's dogs responding to a bell because it signaled food.
Step-by-step explanation:
Discriminative Stimulus Explained
A discriminative stimulus (SD) is a particular type of stimulus that is used in behavioral psychology to signal the availability of reinforcement or punishment following a particular behavior. In the context of operant conditioning, the discriminative stimulus is the cue that a subject learns to identify as a predictor of a consequence, thereby influencing their subsequent behavior. An example of this would be Pavlov's dogs learning to respond to the sound of a bell, and not other similar sounds, because the bell was a signal that food was about to be presented, making the bell a discriminative stimulus for salivating.
Similarly, in classical conditioning, the discriminative stimulus indicates the presence of the conditioned stimulus; for instance, if a light is turned on every time a bell (the conditioned stimulus) is rung before food is presented, the light can become a discriminative stimulus indicating that the bell and food are coming.
Discriminative stimulus is crucial in shaping behavior and is used in practices like animal training, where it helps teach animals to respond to specific signals. In humans, this concept can be applied to understanding how we learn to respond to various cues in different scenarios, such as a student learning to focus on a task when sitting at a desk versus when sitting on a couch.