What is the goal of stimulus control transfer?

The goal of stimulus control transfer is to shift the control of behavior from prompts to the natural or new discriminative stimulus (SD). This is fundamental in teaching because it helps learners act independently in the presence of the new stimulus without needing prompts. The focus is on ensuring that the behavior occurs in response to the natural context or cue rather than dependently relying on prompts. Essentially, the aim is to support the development of independence and generalization of skills, allowing the learner to respond appropriately to the new SD in various environments.

In this context, prompt fading is often used to gradually reduce prompts as the learner begins to reliably respond to the natural SD. This reinforces the idea that the behavior should be maintained under the control of the new stimulus rather than prompts.