Which process describes learning to respond to certain stimuli but not others?

• A. Habituation
• B. Reconditioning
• C. Stimulus discrimination
• D. Stimulus generalization

Answer: (C)

Discrimination is the process where learning sharpens so you respond to a specific stimulus while not responding to other, similar cues. In conditioning terms, you’ve learned that only the particular signal predicts the outcome, so the response is elicited by that signal but not by other stimuli that don’t forecast reinforcement. This tuning lets behavior be precise rather than rubbed with a broad generalization. For example, if a dog is trained to salivate to a bell at a certain pitch but not to bells at other pitches, that’s discrimination. By contrast, generalization would mean responding to those similar bells as well, habituation would be a diminished response to repeating the same stimulus, and reconditioning would involve relearning after extinction.