Stimulus control
Stimulus control is a concept in behavioral psychology where a subject, be it a human or an animal, responds in a specific way when certain stimuli are present. This phenomenon suggests that the stimulus acts as a signal, guiding the subject's behavior based on the circumstances surrounding it. It is primarily studied in the context of operant conditioning, where individuals learn to associate specific behaviors with rewards or consequences. The foundational work of Ivan Pavlov, who demonstrated classical conditioning with dogs, laid the groundwork for understanding stimulus control. Additionally, B.F. Skinner expanded on this idea through his experiments with rats, illustrating how environmental stimuli could influence behavior by providing reinforcement or punishment.
In practical applications, stimulus control is evident in various settings, such as classrooms or parenting, where specific cues are used to elicit desired behaviors. For instance, a teacher may use dimmed lights to signal students to quiet down, or parents might introduce a nightlight to help a child feel secure at bedtime. In daily life, individuals also respond to environmental stimuli, such as braking when seeing brake lights on vehicles ahead. Overall, stimulus control highlights the significance of environmental cues in shaping behavior and reinforcing learning.
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Subject Terms
Stimulus control
In behavioral psychology, stimulus control exists when a subject—a person, an animal, or some other organism—behaves in a certain way when a particular set of circumstances (the stimulus) is present. The stimulus occurs before the subject carries out a particular behavior and basically acts as a signal that directs the subject's response. When a subject is under stimulus control, anticipating how the subject will respond is possible. Stimulus control is most often studied in the context of operant conditioning, which is when subjects learn to associate particular behaviors with certain rewards or consequences.
Background
Around the turn of the twentieth century, Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov was developing the concept of classical (or Pavlovian) conditioning through his experiments with dogs. Pavlov observed that his dogs' natural, or unconditioned, response to the presence of food was to salivate, or drool. Pavlov referred to the food as an unconditioned stimulus and the dogs' salivation as an unconditioned response.
Through experimentation, Pavlov discovered that he could condition his dogs to elicit the unconditioned response, or salivation, using a neutral stimulus. In his experiments, he used the sound of a tuning fork as his neutral stimulus. By itself, the tuning fork's sound elicited no response from the dogs. However, Pavlov began sounding the tuning fork while feeding his dogs, which caused them to salivate. Eventually, the dogs became conditioned to associate the tuning fork's sound with food, and they would salivate after hearing it, even if food was not immediately present. The tuning fork had become a conditioned stimulus, and salivation at the sound of the tuning fork had become a conditioned response. The dogs' salivation in response to the tuning fork is an example of stimulus control.
Many students of psychology are interested in stimulus control with regard to operant, or instrumental, conditioning. Psychologist B. F. Skinner, who is often called the "father of operant conditioning," studied the concept during the mid-twentieth century. An operant behavior is a behavior controlled by consequences. Operant conditioning focuses on how environmental consequences affect a subject's behavior. Skinner found that behaviors that resulted in positive outcomes (i.e., behaviors that were rewarded or reinforced) were more likely to be repeated, while behaviors that resulted in negative outcomes (i.e., behaviors that were punished) were more likely to be avoided. Therefore, the goal of operant conditioning is to modify behavior through positive reinforcement.
An operant behavior is under stimulus control if the presence of certain stimuli in the subject's environment causes the subject to perform or suppress a particular response to produce a specific outcome. These stimuli are called discriminative stimuli because subjects must learn how to distinguish, or discriminate, between and respond to different stimuli. For example, the driver of a car will respond differently to a red light than a green light. A red light will likely cause the driver to step on the brake pedal to slow down. A green light will likely cause the driver to keep his or her foot on the gas pedal.
Overview
Skinner began his studies into operant conditioning and stimulus control on rats, which he placed into a device that has come to be known as the "Skinner box." The Skinner box contained a lever, which released food pellets when pressed. Rats placed inside the box moved around and occasionally bumped the lever, which released a piece of food. Very quickly, the rats discovered that each time they moved the lever, they received a food reward. The food was a form of positive reinforcement that encouraged the rats to continue to press the lever. After a while, each time the rats were placed in the box, they immediately pressed the lever to get food. This aspect of Skinner's experiment demonstrated classical conditioning.
Other parts of Skinner's experiment demonstrated operant conditioning and the concept of stimulus control. For example, in some cases, Skinner placed rats in the box and alternated switching a light in the box on and off. When the light was on, pressing the lever delivered food to the rats. When the light was off, pressing the lever produced nothing. In time, the rats became attuned to the different stimuli in their environment. As a result, they stopped pressing the lever when the light was off because they received no reinforcement. They continued to press the lever when the light was on because they received positive reinforcement in the form of food. At this point in the experiment, the light signaled to the rats how to behave. Therefore, they were under stimulus control.
In the real world, humans tend to use the concept of stimulus control to make changes to the environment to encourage certain behaviors. Teachers may use stimulus control in the classroom. For example, teachers may turn out the lights and instruct students to quiet down at the same time. As the teacher repeats this process, students will learn that when the teacher turns out the lights, they should stop talking, even if the teacher does not specifically instruct them to do so. Turning out the lights is the stimulus because it signals students to refrain from talking.
Parents may use stimulus control with their children. For example, a child who has bad dreams at night may come to associate darkness with fear. As a result, the child may avoid going to bed at bedtime. By placing a nightlight in the child's bedroom, parents change the child's environmental stimuli. The presence of the light makes the child feel safer and more secure and soothes some of their fears, which makes them more willing to go to bed at bedtime.
On roadways, humans have become conditioned to respond to many kinds of environmental stimuli in different ways. For example, drivers traveling on the highway are likely to hit their brakes when they see brake lights on the cars ahead of them. The appearance of brake lights ahead is a stimulus that signals other drivers to slow down and use caution. As a result, drivers will slow down to avoid an accident. Their behavior is under stimulus control.
Bibliography
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