Now consider Noah’s behavior in art class. Is Noah’s selection of an art medium at the end of class an operant? Is it a generalized operant?
After several weeks in art class, Noah learned that his teacher gave him a good grade only when he used a new medium that he hadn’t tried before. By the end of class, Noah was using a new medium for each of his artworks.
It IS an operant because each response typically has the same effect (getting a good grade) in a given context (art class).
It IS a generalized operant. He picked a different medium every time, so the form of his selection responses varied considerably.