Chapter 18 – Transferring Behavior to New Settings and Making It Last

Programming of Generality of Behavior Change

Carole, in the last year of her BA Honors degree in psychology at the University of Manitoba, had to give an oral presentation of her honors thesis research. She had already prepared a detailed outline of her 15-minute presentation and had timed it while giving a mock presentation in front of the mirror in her bedroom. Athletes have used this type of simulation strategy to increase the chances that successful practice performance will transfer to the competition venue. To implement the above strategy, Carole booked the classroom where her presentation would occur so that she could practice it by doing some run-throughs. If behaviors are brought under the control of a wide variety of stimuli during training, then the probability of some of those stimuli being present in the target situation increases and therefore the probability of generalization increases.