17 hours ago

Allyson Callihan 

Forum 6 

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For new behaviors to become effective and consistent they must be generalized. Students should take behaviors learned in conditioned settings and use them in natural environments in their community. An example of a skill that may be targeted in a special education program could be correctly using silverware to eat. If a student has bad table manners or cannot appropriately use or manipulate silverware, they may need to be taught this skill. Being able to use silverware to eat is a skill that should be generalized throughout settings. As students will often eat different foods in different locations with different silverware, generalizing this skill is necessary. Ways that can improve the generalization of this skill would be incorporating it in various settings which may include eating in the lunch room or eating in the classroom. It is also important the student uses a variety of materials such as plastic silverware and metal silverware. Students should be given a variety of foods to eat with which could increase generalization of which silverware items to use for different types of food (solids/liquids). Stimulus generalization occurs in different settings than that which the intervention took place. In using this method, the student may be first taught how to use a fork, spoon and knife in the cafeteria, once this skill is learned the instructors can then change settings and practice in the classroom or a different room. The example given in the text is when “a student might learn to raise her hand before asking a question in one teacher’s class and perform this behavior in another teacher’s class” (Maag, 2018). The Bible says “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning” (Proverbs 9:9, English Standard Version). As this says, it is important for teachers to improve student learning and increase knowledge which can be done through the process of generalization.

Maag, J. (2018). Behavior management: From theoretical implications to practical applications (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage [ISBN 978-1-285-45004-9]