Preattending Skills
Academic or social skills require the learner to orient themselves appropriate to the SD in the instructional setting. These skills can include: looking at the instructor, looking at the materials, looking at a model, listening to oral instruction, and sitting for an appropriate amount of time during an appropriate moment.
Stimulus Salience
Salience is in reference to the prominence of a stimulus in the learner’s environment. Stimuli can acquire salience depending on the learner’s capabilities, learning history, and the context of the environment. Another way to determine salience is to observe how a learner reacts to a change in the stimulus.
Overselective Stimulus Control
The range of stimulus control is too limited. When a learner focuses on a specific portion of a stimulus, instead of seeing the stimulus as a whole, overselective stimulus control may be occurring.
Stimulus Blocking and Overshadowing
Blocking and overshadowing can decrease stimulus salience. Blocking, or masking, occurs when a competing stimulus blocks the evocative function of a controlling stimulus. Overshadowing occurs when a more salient stimulus blocks the acquisition of stimulus control.