What term describes the ability to respond differently to various stimuli?

The term that describes the ability to respond differently to various stimuli is discrimination. In the context of psychology, particularly in learning theories and conditioning, discrimination refers to the capacity to distinguish between similar stimuli and react to them in different ways. This process is crucial for learning because it allows an individual to recognize which stimuli signal different outcomes, enabling more adaptive behaviors.

For example, in classical conditioning, if a dog learns to salivate to the sound of a bell but not to a similar sound, it demonstrates discrimination by responding specifically to the sound of the bell that has been paired with food. The ability to discriminate helps organisms avoid confusion and respond appropriately to their environment based on the specific stimuli they encounter.

In contrast, generalization involves responding similarly to different but related stimuli, where an organism shows the same response to stimuli that are not identical but share some characteristics. Conditioning, on the other hand, refers to the overall learning processes such as classical and operant conditioning, while extinction involves the reduction of a learned response when the reinforcement or associated stimuli are no longer presented. Thus, discrimination is key to nuanced responses in diverse situations, refining how organisms interact with their surroundings.