Discrimination
Definition
In psychology, discrimination refers to an organism’s ability to differentiate between a specific stimulus and similar ones but not identical stimuli.
Analogy
Imagine you're at a car lot full of red cars, but you're looking for one specific red car. You can tell the difference between that specific red car and all the other similar ones - this is discrimination.
Related terms
Stimulus Generalization: This refers to the tendency for the conditioned response to be evoked by stimuli that are similar to the stimulus to which it was originally conditioned.
Positive Reinforcement: It’s when a desirable event or stimulus is presented as a consequence of a behavior and the behavior increases.
Negative Reinforcement: It’s when an undesirable event or stimulus is removed or prevented from happening as a consequence of a behavior and the behavior increases.
"Discrimination" appears in:
Study guides (2)
Practice Questions (13)
- What does discrimination in classical conditioning refer to?
- Which theory best explains how stereotypes can lead to prejudice and discrimination?
- Why does discrimination often occur due to cognitive biases?
- What type of discrimination involves behaviors targeted at individuals because of their membership in a particular group?
- How did the Robbers Cave experiment improve our understanding of intergroup conflict, prejudice, and discrimination?
- In what way did Jane Elliot's "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" experiment contribute to our comprehension of discrimination?
- How does the fundamental attribution error contribute to bias and discrimination in psychological practices?
- In what way can confirmation bias lead to unethical psychology practice related to prejudice and discrimination?
- How does stereotype threat contribute to discrimination?
- How does economics' "game theory" provide insights into the formation and perpetuation of societal prejudices and discrimination?
- How can anthropology's study of cultural relativism enhance our comprehension of bias and discrimination in psychology?
- Which strategy mitigates discrimination best in schools?
- Which psychological theory emphasizes the role of learned behaviors in contributing to prejudice and discrimination?
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