Which statement best captures stimulus generalization as described in the material?

• A. A response occurs in the presence of a specific stimulus and similar stimuli
• B. A response occurs only to the exact stimulus
• C. A response occurs only to dissimilar stimuli
• D. The response is extinguished

Answer: (A)

Stimulus generalization is the idea that a learned response to one stimulus tends to occur in the presence of stimuli that resemble it, because they share features that trigger the same reaction. The best statement captures this by saying a response happens with the specific stimulus and with similar stimuli. If the response only occurred to the exact cue, that would be discrimination rather than generalization. If it only occurred to dissimilar stimuli, that would not fit the generalization pattern, and if the response were extinguished, that describes extinction, not generalization.