Question

Stimulus control can play an important role in our social lives. For example, there are behaviors in which we engage that might be appropriate under one set of circumstances or setting, but no so under others. If we are able to discriminate those circumstances, then we would say that behavior is under stimulus control. Have you ever known someone who FAILS to discriminate the circumstances under which certain behaviors are and are not allowed? Please share an observation on the failure or lack of stimulus control in this context. The behavior can come from a friend, acquaintance, person you saw in a store or elsewhere, a child or even yourself.

Answer 1

My grandmother’s current state represents of a lack of stimulus control. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease 3 years ago and is at the final stage of the disease. She has lost the ability to carry out psychomotor functions and is suffering from high degree of cognitive impairment. She now urinates and defecates whenever she feels the urge to, regardless of whether or not she is in a toilet. She is therefore unable and fails to discriminate the circumstances under which these behaviours are allowed as human waste expulsion should take place in a designated toilet.