Lecture9 Generalization training

Behavior Analysis

Review

So far we have discussed a number of behavior analytic procedures: reinforcement, prompting, fading, chaining, extinction, differential reinforcement, punishment and discrimination training.

These are the fundamental tools for changing the frequency of behavior

However there are a few more things to learn before the end of term

Lets start with an example

Example

Imagine that you were helping Julie become better at working with others.

Currently other children hate doing activities with Julie because everything has to be her way.

As a behaviorist you decide that you will play with Julie every day. During this time you reinforce any time Julie compromises.

After a while Julie plays very cooperatively, leaving you feel very pleased with yourself.

However the following week, Julie’s teacher gets in touch and tells you that Julie is just as bad as ever at playing well with others.

Generalization

In that situation it was not enough to change target behavior, the effects of the training must generalize.

Generalization: the tendency for the effects of training to spread

There are two types of generalization Stimulus generalization Response generalization

Stimulus generalization

Stimulus generalization: the tendency for the effects of training in one situation to spread to other situations

This definition speaks of the spread of the effects of training In other words, if training changes a behavior, and the

change in behavior carries over to another situation, then you have stimulus generalization. If you reinforce a target behavior in one situation and the

behavior also occurs more often in a different situation then the effects of the reinforcement have generalized

And if you put the target behavior on extinction, and the behavior declines not only in the training setting, but somewhere else, the the effects of extinction have generalized

Stimulus generalization

In short, if the effects of training, whatever the training and whatever the effects, carry over to situations where there was no training, that’s stimulus generalization. For example, training Julie to be cooperative with me

worked in that situation. But the effects of training did not generalize to the classroom

It is important to note that situations can be alike and different in many ways. Lab research consistently shows that generalization occurs more easily when the training situations and the other situations are more alike

For example, if a pigeon learns to peck a disk illuminated by a red light, it will peck nearly as often when the light is dark orange, and at a lower rate if the disk is yellow

Stimulus generalization

Much the same thing happens with humans e.g. if Julie was asked to play computer games with her teacher in the office, she would most probably be cooperative. The adults would be different but the situations would be similar.

If a child played with Julie in the office then the cooperative behavior would decrease, because the situations would have become more different – an adult is very different to a child

Response generalization

Response generalization: the tendency for the effects of training one behavior to spread to other behaviors

For example, training a pigeon to peck at a disk on a wall might increase its tendency to peck at disks on the floor

Pecking the wall and pecking the floor are different behaviors

Any time training one behavior affects the performance of other behaviors, response generalization has occurred For example, after teaching Julie to cooperate, you might

find that she not only cooperates better, but is also more likely to smile and say thank you

Or I might teach my dog to sit before having its breakfast, and it might start to lift its paw also

Response generalization

Response generalization is often important in solving behavior problems

This is because behavior problems involve many different behaviors, and ideally, we want to be able to improve each behavior without have to train each one

Importantly, stimulus and response generalization are difficult to separate because different behaviors occur in different situations

But the way to remember it is: with stimulus generalization the situation is changing, in response generalization the critical change is in the behavior

Case study: Crystal

Crystal was a very shy 4 year oldShe was of average intelligence, however her speech skills

were delayed and she spoke so softly she could hardly be heard

Louis Fleece and his colleagues designed an intervention program to get crystal to speak more loudly.

In order to do this they used shaping, in other words they planned to reinforce slight increases in the volume at which Crystal spoke.

In order to do this Crystal was given a specific training procedure with her teacher outside of class where speaking loudly was reinforced

But twice a week crystal also had to recite a poem in a different situation: the classroom

Case study: Crystal

Thus the intervention included a shaping procedure outside of the class and a practice exercise inside the class

This practice exercise provides a way of monitoring the effects of the training program, as well as providing a way to reinforce the generalization of the behavior

On a scale of 1-20, Crystal tended to speak at an average volume of 2. Post training, in the classroom, her volume increases to around 11

These results suggest that the training that Crystal received with the teacher generalized to the classroom

Importantly, when the behavior did generalize, it was reinforced in the classroom

Rules for Generalization

Generalization is a naturally occurring phenomenonHowever, in attempting to solve behavior problems, people

often expect too much of naturally occurring generalization, often this results in generalization failure

Stimulus generalization failures are common For example, when little Dora is told off for hitting her

brother with a baseball bat in the living room, her parents believe the behavior will be reduced. Until they see Dora hitting Billie with a baseball bat in the front yard!

Response generalization failures are also common For example, if Dora puts down the baseball bat but

instead hits Billie with the frying pan!

Rules for Generalization

Therefore in order to make sure that appropriate generalization does occur, many behavior analysts offer generalization training

This refers to conducting training in a way that will increase the likelihood of generalization

Although there are lots of suggestions for improving stimulus and response generalization, three rules of thumb are especially helpful: Define the target behavior so as to include many variations Make the training situations resemble natural situations Monitor the target behavior in natural settings

Define the target behavior so as to include many variations

If you want to get a change in many different forms of a behavior then you have to include many different forms of the behavior in your training For example, if you want to get a student to study more you must

define the behavior clearly. Reading, making notes, working on exercises and flash cards could all qualify as studying. Studying involves many behaviors.

So if you want to get the reinforcement effects to generalize to behaviors that are not reinforced during training, reinforce several different forms of studying behavior.

If all you reinforce is note taking (no variation) then you cant expect changes in other studying behaviors, in natural settings

Similarly, if you want to get a shy person to interact socially, then don’t just reinforce one type of interaction, reinforce several kinds of social interaction

The more different kinds of behavior you reinforce, the more likely you are to get new forms of behavior in natural settings

Make the training situations resemble natural situations

The greater the similarity between the setting in which the training occurs and the settings in which the desired behavior change is to occur, the greater the generalization

Notice that plural in the title. Since the target behavior probably occurs in a variety of situations, it is often helpful to do the training a variety of situations

Importantly, if you can change the target behavior in natural settings, then you should. However, in situations where this is not possible, generalization is key e.g. it is unlikely that Julie’s teacher would like the intervention to disturb the rest of the class

Monitor the target behavior in natural settings

At the very least you want to get regular feedback from a teacher/parent etc

But ideally you should observe the target behavior in a variety of natural settings and record data

When you see a satisfactory change in behavior in natural settings, you will know the training is working

For example, in order to find out if Julie has become more cooperative in the classroom, in the office and in the playground. Then you might monitor her behavior in those situations. If she cooperates better in the classroom and the office, but not the playground, then you might alter the training to better resemble the playground!

Flashcard

Generalization: the tendency for the effects of training to spread

Stimulus generalization: the tendency for the effects of training in one

situation to spread to other situations

Response generalization: the tendency for the effects of training one

behavior to spread to other behaviors