What is the purpose of the Discriminative Stimulus (SD) in this context?

• A. Planned staff response following client errors to ensure the SD is effectively paired with correct responding.
• B. An additional stimulus paired with the SD to bring about correct responding.
• C. The sequence of responses used in skill chaining.
• D. A natural context cue without reinforcement.

Answer: (A)

The Discriminative Stimulus (SD) is a cue that signals reinforcement is available for a specific behavior, guiding the learner to respond in a way that will be rewarded. In this context, part of making that cue effective is how the teacher or staff respond: if the learner makes an error, a planned staff response helps ensure the SD remains tied to correct responding by providing another opportunity to respond correctly in the presence of the SD and delivering reinforcement for the correct response. This pairing strengthens the association between the SD and the desired behavior, making it more likely the learner will respond correctly whenever the SD is present. The other options describe adding an extra prompt or stimulus, detailing a skill-chaining sequence, or using a cue without reinforcement, which do not capture the SD’s role of signaling that reinforcement is available for the correct response.