discrimination training

1. a procedure in which an operant response is reinforced in the presence of a particular stimulus but not in the absence of that stimulus. For example, a rat’s lever-press response might be reinforced when a stimulus light is on but not when the light is off. The rat will eventually learn to press the lever only when the light is on. See discrimination of cues.

2. in sport, the training of the ability to identify task-relevant cues and their meaning.

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Psychology term of the day

November 17th 2024

mother figure

1. a person who occupies the mothering role in relation to a child: a mother surrogate.

2. in psychoanalytic theory, a person onto whom the patient transfers feelings and attitudes that he or she had toward the real mother or the primary caregiver. Also called mother substitute.