Six-year-old Sam asks only his Dad if he can stay up past his bedtime and never asks his Mom. Which term could be used to describe Sam's father?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Sam's father is a discriminative stimulus because Sam only asks him for permission to stay up past his bedtime and not his mother. A discriminative stimulus is a specific cue or context that signals when a behavior will be reinforced or punished, in this case, Sam has learned that his behavior of asking to stay up past his bedtime will be reinforced only when he asks his father and not his mother.

Six-Year-Old Sam Asks Only His Dad If He Can Stay