What is the delta stimulus in psychology

A boy is sitting on his father's lap looking at a book. The father tells his son: "Look for the dog" and helps the boy to touch the dog. When the child touches the dog, the father hugs him and says "yes, exactly." The child finds this very pleasant, becoming stronger, so that when the parent turns the page and says again "look for the dog," the child will touch the dog without waiting for the parent's guidance. If, on the other hand, the child had touched the cat instead of the dog, the father would not have hugged or reinforced him verbally; the behavior of touching the cat is associated with the unavailability of a reinforcement every time the child hears the saying "touch the dog". We are then in the presence of a delta stimulus, and in this Psychology-Online article we will see what is delta stimulus in psychology with examples.

Index

1. What is a delta stimulus
2. Examples of delta stimulus in psychology
3. Difference between delta stimulus and discriminative stimulus

In stimulus discrimination training, two phases are involved:

1. The first, when there is a discriminative stimulus, the behavior is reinforced.
2. Second, when any other prior stimulus, except the discriminatory stimulus, is present, the behavior is not reinforced. During discrimination training, any previous stimulus present when the behavior is not strengthened is called a delta stimulus.

The delta stimulus is defined as "a stimulus in the presence of which a particular response will not be reinforced" (Malott, 2007)^[1]. Indeed, when a stimulus is associated with absence of reinforcement, we speak of the delta stimulus state, in the presence of which the behavior is not reinforced.

A delta stimulus is one that is present when a response is being subjected to extinction or punishment, and the Presence of a delta stimulus will reduce the probability and / or rate of the response that was punished or extinguished in its presence. What is the function of the delta stimulus? In general, the delta stimulus functions as a signal that indicates that a certain response will not be emitted.

In the following articles you will find more information about the operant conditioning and the classical conditioning.

To finish seeing what delta stimuli are and how they work, we will present some examples:

• During animal discrimination training, the animal often responds in the presence of stimuli similar to Discriminatory stimuli: These similar stimuli are delta stimuli (animal trainers call them "stimuli cold "). But in the end, the response to the delta stimulus will turn off. Let's take the example of a hen that has to peck at a red circle. The coach draws two cards, one circled in red and one circled in blue. Pecking the red circle will be reinforced, which does not happen when pecking the blue circle. At first, the hen could peck both circles, but if it is reinforced only in the presence of the red circle, in the end it will only occur in the presence of that circle. The blue circle, in this case, would be a delta stimulus.
• Stimulus-based behavioral control occurs when the presence or absence of a stimulus discriminative stimulus or a delta stimulus controls the performance of a behavior particular. For example, the presence of a stop signal (delta stimulus) at a traffic junction, it warns the driver to stop driving and increases the likelihood of "braking" behavior.
• A child manifests a series of disruptive behaviors in the classroom, but only in the presence of a specific teacher, Laura, and not with another teacher, Mariela. In this example, the teacher Mariela is the delta stimulus.

By stimulus is understood anything that a person can experience through the senses; anything that can be seen, felt, smelled, touched, or tasted. Several people may experience the same sensations in different ways, and a stimulus that may be pleasant for one person may be irritating or painful for another. In particular:

• A stimulus can be associated with another event when is followed by reinforcement or punishment; in this case it is considered a discriminative stimulus. In other words, when that stimulus is present, it indicates the availability or possibility of reinforcement or punishment.
• When a stimulus is associated, instead, with the no availability of a booster, then it is called as a condition delta stimulus.

For exampleAlthough swearing behavior may, in the case of a child, be reinforced with social attention in the context of the group of friends, it can be punished in the presence of the parents. In this case, the group of friends in a discriminatory stimulus, while the family would be a delta stimulus of the behavior “swearing”.

Also know what a conditioned stimulus and a unconditional stimulus.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to What is the delta stimulus in psychology, we recommend that you enter our category of Basic psychology.

1. Mallott, R. W. (2007). Principles of Behavior. London: Pearson.

• Hernández Sánchez, C. (et al.) (2012). Racism and education. From invisibility to evidence. Madrid: Editorial Complutense.
• Behavior Modification (2015). Stimuli. Recovered from: http://modificaciondelaconducta.blogspot.com/p/estimulos.html
• Trivisonno, C. M. (2007). Introduction to the ABA Approach to Autism and Developmental Delay. A Handbook for Parents and Educators. Lulu Editions.