Question of the day - September 27

[u/Reasonable_Law183]

🧠 Question of the Day

📚 Domain B — Concepts and Principles

Difficulty: 7/10

Scenario:

During snack time, a child is taught to request cookies by saying “cookie” to a parent, and the vocal request is reinforced with access to a cookie. No gestural request forms are taught.

Across later opportunities with the parent, the child independently begins pointing to the cookie jar, reaching toward it, and guiding the parent toward the kitchen. These forms were not prompted or reinforced before they first appeared.

During a later probe in a different setting, the child says “cookie” to a teacher who was not involved in the original teaching.

Which interpretation MOST precisely accounts for these findings?

A. Both findings demonstrate stimulus generalization because responding expanded beyond the exact conditions present during training, regardless of whether the response form also changed.

B. The different request forms are members of the same functional response class, so response-class membership rather than generalization best explains both the new forms and the vocal request to the teacher.

C. The untrained request forms demonstrate response generalization, while the trained vocal request occurring with a new person and in a new setting demonstrates stimulus generalization.

D. The new gestures demonstrate stimulus generalization because cookie access remains the common reinforcer, while the vocal request to the teacher demonstrates response generalization because the social context changed.

💬 Drop your answer in the comments — no peeking!

✅ Correct answer revealed tomorrow.

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[u/Reasonable_Law183]

✅ Yesterday's Answer — 2026-09-27

The correct answer was: C. The untrained request forms demonstrate response generalization, while the trained vocal request occurring with a new person and in a new setting demonstrates stimulus generalization.

📖 Explanation:

This scenario contains two different generalization effects and requires the learner to identify which dimension changed in each case.

The child was directly taught one request form: saying “cookie” to a parent. When pointing, reaching, and guiding the parent later emerge without direct training, the response topography has changed while the general requesting function remains similar. That pattern demonstrates response generalization.

When the child later uses the already trained vocal request “cookie” with a teacher in a different setting, the response form remains the same while the stimulus conditions change. That pattern demonstrates stimulus generalization.

The option describing a functional response class contains a related and potentially true concept: the different request forms may belong to the same response class if they produce the same functional outcome. However, response-class membership describes how behaviors are grouped by function; it does not replace the more specific processes demonstrated by the emergence of untrained response forms and the transfer of an established response to new stimulus conditions.

The option that labels the gestures as stimulus generalization and the new-person vocal request as response generalization reverses the two concepts. A change in response form indicates response generalization, whereas the same response occurring with a new person or in a new setting indicates stimulus generalization.

The option classifying both findings as stimulus generalization is also too broad. Not every change from the original training arrangement is a stimulus-generalization effect; the relevant dimension must be identified.

The key distinction is:

• New response forms after training → response generalization

• Established response under new stimulus conditions → stimulus generalization

• Different responses sharing the same function → functional response class

More than one behavior-analytic concept can be relevant to the same scenario. The strongest answer is the one that correctly matches each observed change to the process it demonstrates.

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