Question

Describe stimulus generalization and semantic generalization. Give an example of each for a fear conditioning procedure in which the spoken word “rate” was paired with shock, and the stimulus later being present is the spoken word of either “mouse” or “hat”

Answer 1

Stimulus generalization occurs when a previously unassociated or new stimulus that has similar characteristics to the previously associated stimulus elicits a response that is the same or similar to the previously associated response. In this example, when the word 'rat' is paired with an electric shock, the organism may generalize this association and expect an electric shock when 'hat' is spoken. This is because both the stimuli, 'rat' and 'hat' are phonetically similar. In case of semantic generalization, the process of generalization occurs based on the perceived meaning of the word. Using the same example above, the organism will expect the electric shock when 'mouse' is spoken during semantic generalization because 'rat' and 'mouse' have similar meanings.