Discrimination training is a technique used in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to help individuals learn to differentiate between different stimuli and respond appropriately to each one. The goal is to teach the individual to recognize and respond to specific cues or signals while ignoring others.
How Discrimination Training is Used in ABA:
Defining Target Behaviors: The first step is to identify the behaviors that need to be learned or modified. For example, teaching a child to respond to their name but not to other random sounds.
Using Discriminative Stimuli: In discrimination training, specific stimuli (discriminative stimuli) are presented to signal when a particular behavior should occur. For instance, a therapist might say “Touch the red circle” as a cue for the desired response.
Reinforcement: When the individual responds correctly to the discriminative stimulus, they receive reinforcement (e.g., praise, tokens, or access to preferred activities). This positive reinforcement increases the likelihood that the correct behavior will be repeated.
Error Correction: If the individual responds incorrectly, the trainer can provide corrective feedback. This might involve prompting the individual to try again or offering additional cues to help them understand the task.
Generalization: Once the individual can successfully discriminate in controlled settings, efforts are made to promote generalization. This means practicing in different contexts or with varying stimuli to ensure the skill transfers to real-world situations.
Gradual Fading: As the individual becomes more proficient, prompts and cues can be gradually faded, encouraging them to respond independently.
Example:
If a child is learning to identify colors, a discrimination training approach might include:
Presenting a red object and a blue object while saying, “Touch the red object.”
Reinforcing the child when they correctly touch the red object.
Repeating this with different colors and objects to help the child learn to discriminate between them.
