Mark's dog, Gus, sits whenever Mark says, "Sit." Mark now wants to teach Gus a new trick. He wants to teach him to bark every time he says, "Speak," but whenever Mark says, "Speak," Gus just sits. The dog's behavior is an example of
A) habituation.
B) generalization.
C) contiguous occurrences.
D) contingent occurrences.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Gus is generalizing the command "speak" with the behavior of sitting that he has already learned for the command "sit." He is not making the distinction between the two commands and their specific behaviors, so he is generalizing his response.

Mark's Dog, Gus, Sits Whenever Mark Says, "Sit