Oliver tells a tasteless joke at a party and gets a big laugh.The next day, he tells the same joke in class, thinking people will laugh.Instead, his teacher takes him aside after class and gives him a stern lecture about why he should not say such things about a particular ethnic group.In behaviorist terminology, we could say that Oliver:
A)Has generalized from one situation to another inappropriately
B)Is receiving negative reinforcement for his joke-telling behavior
C)Experiences a group contingency at the party but not in class
D)Is being shaped to tell tasteless jokes

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Generalization is the tendency to respond in a similar way to stimuli that resemble the original stimulus. In this case, Oliver generalized the positive response he received at the party to the classroom setting, where the context and audience were different.

Oliver Tells a Tasteless Joke at a Party and Gets