The following video will introduce you to the concept of the stimulus. Watch this primer video and then complete the associated consolidation exercise. Alternatively, read the transcript below.
One of the basic concepts that RBTs should learn about is the stimulus.
A stimulus is something that can be detected by an organism. Any environmental object or event counts as a stimulus if can be detected by the person of interest. That is, anything a person sees, hears, touches, tastes or smells is a stimulus.
For example, somebody saying ?hello? to you is a stimulus. If you see an apple, then the apple is a stimulus. If you smell pizza, then that smell is a stimulus.
People respond to different stimuli in different ways. This will depend on an organism?s biology and on a person?s learning history.
Some stimuli belong to classes. A stimulus class is a group of stimuli with something in common.
This similarity can relate to:
Physical appearance (e.g. a Poodle, a Labrador and a Wolfhound are all part of the Dog class)
Function (e.g. a fork, knife and spoon are all part of the Cutlery class)
Time (e.g. Antecedent or Consequence – we?ll learn more about these in future lessons)
In future lessons, you?ll learn about how stimuli and classes of stimuli can have different effects on the occurrence of behaviour, but before you learn about these, complete the consolidation exercise to make sure that you have a good grasp of the concept ?stimulus?.