Additional Studies

Question 1

____ ____ requires the scientist to continually question the truthfulness of what is regarded as fat.

Scientific knowledge must always be viewed as ____!

Answer 1

Philosophic doubt requires the scientist to continually question the truthfulness of what is regarded as fat.

Scientific knowledge must always be viewed as tentative!

Question 2

What is the difference between MENTALISTIC and ENVIRONMENTAL explanations of behavior?

Answer 2

MENTALISTIC explanations of behavior assumes that a mental, or “inner,” dimension exists that differs from a behavioral dimension and it directly causes or at least mediates some forms of behavior…it relies on hypothetical constructs (unobserved entities that cannot be manipulated in an experiment. e.g., free will, memory, info processing, etc.).

Example: X = knew the teacher would send him to the principal’s office and he would get out of doing his math problems. Y = was frustrated by the math problems

Julie spends recess time all alone because she: X = has a low self-concept. Y = she finds time alone very reinforcing as she knows that she will avoid teasing

Sue starved herself for several weeks, then binged on burgers and purged because: 2-5 X = She is bulimic. Y = She suffers from Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimic type.

=explanations inferred, circular, not directly physically measurable

ENVIRONMENTAL explanations of behavior assumes that behavior cannot occur in the absence of environment. Environment=the conglomerate of real circumstances in which the organism exists.

=explanations derived from direct measurement

Question 3

____ describes the extent to which a “measurement procedure yields the same value when brought into repeated contact with the same state of nature”

____ measurement is consistent measurement.

Answer 3

Reliability describes the extent to which a “measurement procedure yields the same value when brought into repeated contact with the same state of nature”

Reliable measurement is consistent measurement.

Question 4

Define behavior:

Answer 4

The activity of living organisms.

Includes everything that people DO.

An organism’s interaction with its environment that results in measurable change.

PRIVATE EVENTS: within the skin. Covert stimulus control…accessible only to the individual involved.

Question 5

_____ is a decrease in responsiveness to repeated presentations of a stimulus; most often used to describe a reduction of respondent behavior as a function of repeated presentation of the eliciting stimulus over a short span of time.

Example:

Answer 5

Habituation is a decrease in responsiveness to repeated presentations of a stimulus; most often used to describe a reduction of respondent behavior as a function of repeated presentation of the eliciting stimulus over a short span of time.

Example: not running any more when you hear a dog bark.

Question 6

What are the differences between rule governed and contingency shaped behavior?

Answer 6

1) Contingency-Shaped involves immediate consequences

~ Rule-governed behavior often involves delayed consequences

2) Contingency-shaped is strengthened gradually through trial-and-error

~ Rule-governed behavior leads to immediate behavior change (does not take a few trials for behavior change to occur)

3) Contingency-shaped: involves an antecedent stimulus, usually an SD (verbal or non-verbal), which sets the occasion for some response

~ Rule-governed behavior: involves two antecedent stimuli; one of each is verbal that describes the relation between some other stimulus, a response and a consequence