Discrimination training is a teaching technique used in AppliedApplied means that the behaviors targeted for change in... BehaviorBehavior refers to any activity or action that living o... Analysis (ABA) that involves reinforcing a specific behavior in the presence of one stimulusStimulus is defined as any change in the environment or... (known as the discriminative stimulus, or SD) and withholding reinforcementReinforcement is a fundamental concept in Applied Behavior A... (extinctionExtinction is an effective technique used to reduce unwanted...) when the behavior occurs in the presence of other stimuli. The goal is to help the individual learn to respond appropriately to certain stimuli and not to others. This technique is often used to teach individuals to differentiate between different contexts or cues.
Example
A child is learning to identify colors. During discrimination training, the behavior analyst holds up a red card (SD) and asks, “What color is this?” If the child says, “Red,” they are reinforced with praise or a reward. When the behavior analyst holds up a blue card and the child says, “Red,” the analyst does not provide reinforcement, allowing the behavior to go through extinction. Over time, the child learns to correctly identify the colors based on the presence of the correct stimulus and the associated reinforcement.