G.6 Design and Evaluate Procedures to Produce Simple and Conditional Discriminations

Understanding Simple and Conditional Discriminations in Teaching

When working with students, it’s important to understand how they learn to respond to different situations or stimuli. Two key concepts that help explain this are simple and conditional discriminations. Let’s break down what each of these means and how they apply to teaching and learning.

Simple Discrimination

In a simple discrimination, the student learns to respond to one specific cue. Only that one stimulus controls the student’s behavior. Think of it as a straightforward “if-then” scenario: if a particular stimulus is present, then the student knows how to respond.

For example:

• Crossing the street: When a child sees a green light at the crosswalk, they know it’s time to walk. Here, the only cue they need to pay attention to is the green light. This is a simple discrimination because just one stimulus (the green light) controls their behavior.

Conditional Discrimination

A conditional discrimination occurs when a student's response is controlled by more than one stimulus, or

when they must respond based on a combination of cues. It’s like adding an extra layer of conditions to the learning process. The student learns to respond differently based on the context or the presence of additional stimuli.

For example:

• Crossing the street safely: Now, imagine the child is at a busy intersection with both traffic lights and a crossing guard. The child has to pay attention to both the green light and whether the crossing guard raises their hand to stop them. If the light is green but the crossing guard is holding up their hand to stop traffic, the child waits. The child’s behavior is controlled by both the light and the crossing guard’s signal. This is a conditional discrimination because the child needs to consider both cues before responding.

  
  

Here’s an easy way to differentiate between the two:

Simple Discrimination: The student responds to just one stimulus.

Conditional Discrimination: The student responds based on more than one stimulus.

Designing Procedures for Simple and Conditional Discriminations

To design effective procedures for teaching these discriminations:

• For Simple Discriminations: Start by presenting one stimulus at a time and reinforcing correct responses. For instance, start by teaching the child to respond to one cue (e.g., looking for the green light before crossing).

• For Conditional Discriminations: Introduce multiple stimuli and add another layer of instruction. For example, after teaching the green light, later introduce more cues, like adding the crossing guard’s signals to teach the child when it’s safe to cross, even when the light is green.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of These Procedures

To ensure the procedures are working, continuously evaluate how well the student is responding:

• Are they able to consistently respond correctly in simple discrimination tasks (e.g., touching the red card when shown)?

• Can they respond correctly in conditional discrimination tasks (e.g., touching the green card only when the word "green" is said)?

• Are they generalizing these skills to new situations or tasks?

By tracking progress and adjusting prompts or reinforcements, teachers and parents can help students move from simple to more complex, conditional discriminations, fostering independence and more advanced learning.

Understanding simple and conditional discriminations can help you create more effective teaching strategies. Simple discriminations focus on one stimulus at a time, while conditional discriminations require students to respond based on a combination of cues. By designing and evaluating procedures to teach these skills, you can guide your students toward more independent and flexible learning.