Alex has learned that if his mom is upset and he praises her,she will cook him a great meal.However,if he praises his mom when she is in a good mood,she responds by saying,"Are you trying to butter me up?" and doesn't cook at all.In this example,Alex's mom's mood is a ____.
A) discriminative conditioned stimulus
B) reinforcer
C) prohibitive control
D) stimulus predictor

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Alex's mom's mood is acting as a discriminative conditioned stimulus because it is signaling to Alex when it is appropriate to praise her for a desired outcome (cooking a great meal) and when it is not appropriate (when she is already in a good mood and doesn't need to be "buttered up"). The discriminative stimulus is signaling when that behavior will be reinforced.

Alex Has Learned That If His Mom Is Upset and He