Which term refers to the process characterized by high rates of inaccurate responding during the early phase of learning?

The term that refers to the process characterized by high rates of inaccurate responding during the early phase of learning is acquisition. During the acquisition stage, individuals are in the process of learning new information or skills, which often leads to mistakes as they attempt to grasp the material. This is a natural part of the learning curve, where individuals are trying to form connections and understand new concepts. The inaccuracies often stem from confusion, the complexity of the material, or simply the fact that they are still in the early stages of practice.

Generalization typically occurs after the acquisition phase, where learned behaviors or responses are applied to different but similar situations. Maintenance refers to the ongoing ability to perform a learned behavior over time, and extinction is the fading of a learned response due to the absence of reinforcement. These concepts highlight different phases of the learning process but do not specifically describe the initial inaccuracies experienced during the early stages of learning, marking acquisition as the correct choice.