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Generalization (learning)

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Generalization is the concept that humans and animals use past learning in present situations of learning if the conditions in the situations are regarded as similar. For example, if a person has learned in the past that every time they eat an apple, their throat becomes itchy and swollen, they might assume they are allergic to all fruit. When this person is offered a banana to eat, they reject it upon assuming they are also allergic to it through generalizing that all fruits cause the same reaction. Although this generalization about being allergic to all fruit based on experiences with one fruit could be correct in some cases, it may not be correct in all. Both positive and negative effects have been shown in education through learned generalization and its contrasting notion of discrimination learning.

Generalization is understood to be directly tied to the transfer of knowledge across multiple situations. Generalization allows humans and animals to recognize the similarities in knowledge acquired in one circumstance, allowing for transfer of knowledge onto new situations. This idea rivals the theory of situated cognition, instead stating that one can apply past knowledge to learning in new situations and environments.

Generalization is shown to have implications on the use of the spacing effect in educational settings. In the past, it was thought that the information forgotten between periods of learning when implementing spaced presentation inhibited generalization. In more recent years, this forgetting has been seen as promoting generalization through repetition of information during each occasion of spaced learning. The effects of gaining long-term generalization knowledge through spaced learning can be compared with that of massed learning (lengthy and all at once; for example, cramming the night before an exam) in which a person only gains short-term knowledge, decreasing the likelihood of establishing generalization.

A specific type of generalization, fear generalization, occurs when a person associates fears learned in the past through classical conditioning to similar situations, events, people, and objects in their present. When fear generalization becomes maladaptive it is connected to many anxiety disorders. This maladaptation is often referred to as the overgeneralization of fear and can also lead to the development of posttraumatic stress disorder.

Generalization has been shown to be refined and/or stabilized after sleep.

In scientific studies looking at generalization, a generalization gradient is often used. This tool is used to measure how often and how much animals or humans respond to certain stimuli, depending on whether the stimuli are similar or different. For example, when measuring responses to color, it is expected that subjects will respond to colors similar to each other, like shades of pink after being exposed to red, as opposed to a non-similar shade of blue.

References

Generalization (learning) Wikipedia