A - Philosophical Underpinnings Flashcards
Identify the goals of behavior analysis as a science.
Description
Prediction
Control
Explain the Philosophical Assumptions
Selectionism, Determinism, Empiricism, Parsimony, Pragmatism, Philosophical Doubt-
Selectionism
Behaviors are selected based on environmental factors
3 Types: Phylogenic, Ontogenic, Cultural
Phylogenic
Selection by natural evolution
Ontogentic
Selection due to interaction with enviornment
Cultural
Behavior is passed from one person to the next (imitation/modeling)
Determinism
The universe is lawful and orderly. Things do not happen accidentally. Things happen for a reason.
Ex. There is an explanation for a vase falling off the shelf even though no one as around
Empiricism
Objective observation of events that are based on data, not thoughts or feelings
Parsimony
The simplest and most logical explanations should always be considered first
Pragmatism
Analyze outcomes and procedures based on results. Where the results useful or not? Interventions should produce meaningful outcomes, and evaluated on those
outcomes.
Philosophical Doubt
Question established outcomes and results. Question everything while looking for better explanations whenever possible
Mentalism
Include Hypothetical constructs, explanatory fiction, and circular reasoning
Hypothetical Constructs
The unobserved process that is said to be present
Explanatory Fiction
The fictional variable used to explain behavior
“He was tired today, so he could not complete his work.”
Circular Reasoning
Faulty logic. The effect is the cause, and the cause is the effect “He misbehaves because of autism. He has autism so he misbehaves”
Behaviorism
Guiding philosophy of behavior science. There is an explanation for behavior as a result of interactions between individuals and the environment
Ex. The client didn’t tantrum because they were “mad.” The tantrum was a result of Environmental/individual interaction
Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB)
The study of behavior principals to be later used
outside of the experimental setting. Not applied research.
Ex. You work in a lab with rats. You do operant behavior research on the rats, but don’t apply that research outside of your lab.
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
Applying behavior principles to research in offices, clinics,
schools, etc. on human subjects
Ex. You examine the effects of extinction on your client’s screaming
Practice Guided by Behavior Analysis
The interventions that result from behaviorism, EAB,
and ABA
Ex. The actual interventions used in the real world
7 Dimensions of Applied Behavior Analysis
Behavioral
Applied
Technological
Conceptually Systematic
Analytic
Generality
Effective
Applied
Changes are positive and socially significant in the person’s life. Change is meaningful.
Ex. Someone learns to dress themselves
Analytical
A functional relation is demonstrated between what is changed in the environment and the behavior we want to change. Are we controlling the behavior?
Behavioral
Behavior must be observable and measurable.
Conceptually Systematic
Interventions should be consistent with behavioral principles
Effective
There must be a significant and socially important level of change to the behavior
Ex. You increase your client’s ability to dress themselves to the point where they can do
it fully independently
Generality
The target behavior should change not only in the learning environment but outside of the learning environment as well
Technological
An intervention should be replicable by anyone who reads the intervention
