When Jose tells a joke, sometimes people laugh, sometimes they change the subject, and sometimes they provide disapproving feedback. This is an example of a:
a. Stimulus class based on formal characteristics
b. Stimulus class based on temporal location
c. Response class
d. Stimulus class based on functional characteristics
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is c. Response class.
A response class refers to a group of responses that share a common function or result. In this case, Jose’s joke elicits different responses from people, such as laughter, a change of subject, or disapproving feedback. These responses are all reactions to the same stimulus (the joke), but they vary in nature. Despite the variation in form, they all fall under the same response class because they are all reactions to the stimulus of the joke.
In behavior analysis, response classes are defined by their shared effect or consequence, not by the specific form of the behavior. So, even though laughter, changing the subject, and disapproving feedback differ in form, they are responses to the same event, making them part of the same response class.
To further clarify, a stimulus class would group stimuli (or environmental events) that share certain characteristics, either formal (physical features), temporal (when they occur in relation to other stimuli), or functional (the effect or role they play in eliciting behavior). However, the key distinction here is that the question is referring to the different ways people react to Jose’s joke, which points to a response class, not a stimulus class.