Bethany taught her dog to jump every time she raises her right hand. Later, the dog started jumping even if she raised her left hand. In this scenario, the dog's action of jumping as a response to a similar stimulus is due to a tendency called _____.

Generalization (stimulus generalization) is the tendency of a subject to respond to a stimulus or a group of stimuli similar but not identical to the original conditioning stimulus.

Stimulus generalization occurs when a previously unassociated or new stimulus that has similar characteristics to the previously unassociated stimulus elicits a response that is the same or similar to the previously associated response. In short, similar stimuli triggers similar responses when stimulus generalization is at work.

For example, people who are afraid of snakes do not fear only one type of snake buh react similarly when they see any type of snake.

In the case of Bethany and her dog, the dog responds to the raising of Bethany's left hand (similar stimulus) the same way it would respond to raising of Bethany's right hand (conditioned stimulus).

Therefore, the answer that best suits the question is GENERALIZATION (STIMULUS).

ogechukwubenedict ogechukwubenedict · Answer 2 · 2020-03-07T03:29:48+01:00

Answer: d. Generalization

Explanation: In most cases, individuals are able to differentiate between similar items or stimuli. In other cases however, similar stimuli tend to elicit the same response. This concept is known as generalization. It is defined as the tendency to respond in the same way to different but similar stimuli. A classically conditioned response to a slightly different signal will depend on its resemblance to the original. This is the case with Bathany as both the right and left hands are mirror images of one another. This explains why her dog jumps on her raising either of both hands.