Generalization
Also called: generalisation, stimulus generalization, response generalization, transfer
Definition
The occurrence of a learned response under conditions other than those in which it was taught — with different people, settings, or materials — or the appearance of related responses that were never directly taught. It is planned for deliberately rather than assumed to follow from teaching.
In plain language
Using a skill outside the exact situation where it was taught. With new people, in new places, or with different materials. It has to be planned for, not hoped for.
Examples
A learner who has been taught to ask for help at the table also asks a different staff member for help in the playground.
A skill taught with one set of cards is used correctly with unfamiliar objects.
Not generalization
A skill that appears reliably with one person in one room and nowhere else. That is the absence of generalization.
A skill still performed months later in the same setting, which is maintenance over time rather than transfer across conditions.
See also
Written from
- stokes-baer-1977
- baer-wolf-risley-1968
Written from Stokes and Baer (1977) on programming generalization, plus the founding dimensions paper. No textbook glossary consulted.
This entry has not yet been through clinical review. Treat it as a draft.