Final answer:
A discriminative stimulus is a specific cue that signals whether a response will be reinforced or punished, leading to stimulus discrimination where an organism responds only to the specific stimulus. An example is a dog sitting only when the owner says 'sit'. In contrast, stimulus generalization occurs when similar stimuli elicit the same response, such as a child feeling excited by a bell sound similar to the school recess bell.
Step-by-step explanation:
An example of a discriminative stimulus involves the process through which an organism learns to respond to a specific stimulus and not others, thereby demonstrating what is known as stimulus discrimination. Let's say a dog has been trained to sit when the owner says 'sit' and in doing so, receives a treat. In this situation, the word 'sit' is the discriminative stimulus. If the owner says a different word like 'hit' or 'bit', and the dog does not sit because it does not associate these words with the command 'sit', the dog is demonstrating stimulus discrimination. This ability to distinguish and respond differently to similar stimuli is crucial for learning and adaptation.
Another way to think about discriminative stimuli is within the context of stimulus generalization, where a learned response to a specific stimulus is elicited by similar stimuli. For example, if a child hears a bell ring at school indicating recess and experiences excitement, this bell (discriminative stimulus) prompts the child to anticipate playtime. Later, if the child hears a similar bell sound outside of school and feels a similar excitement, despite being in a different environment, this is an example of stimulus generalization. The child has generalized the response to a similar stimulus, cueing a similar behavioral response.
Thus, discriminative stimuli are foundational in operant conditioning as they signal whether a response will be followed by reinforcement or punishment, thereby impacting subsequent behavior and learning.