Area 3: Principles, Processes, and Concepts 3-1 to 3-9 Flashcards
Define and provide examples of behavior:
- Activity of LIVING organisms ONLY! (e.g., not the behavior of a stock market)
- Relating to the existence of a RELATION between the organism and the environment (e.g., own body)
- Behavior is MOVEMENT!
- Must be MEASURABLE
** Usually used in reference to a LARGER set or CLASS of responses that share certain topographical dimensions or functions.
EXAMPLES: clapping, thinking, feeling..tearing open a bag of peanuts AND thinking how good the peanuts will taste. Reading a sentence in a book AND feeling its weight and shape in your hands
- Being hungry, getting wet, or receiving behavior IS NOT BEHAVIOR! They are examples of states that are sometimes confused with the behavior that they are trying to explain. There is no environmental agent with which the hungry organism interacts so no behavior is implied.
Define and provide examples of a response:
…a SPECIFIC instance of behavior
E.g., flipping a light switch up.
The controlling variables of primary importance in applied behavior analysis are located in:
Controlling variables of primary importance are located in the ENVIRONMENT. Although reinforcement and the effects of consequences are important in applied behavior analysis, they are not where the controlling variables are located.
Which of the following is considered a property of behavior amenable to measurement?
T____ L____: Which mean ___ in time a behavior occurs.
Although the definition of behavior includes movement, also known as displacements in space through time, the best answer for this question is TEMPORAL LOCUS-which means when in time a behavior occurs.
A behavior that occurs more frequently under some antecedent conditions than it does in others is called a(n):
Discriminated operant: Reinforcement selects not just certain forms of behavior; it also selects environmental conditions that in the future will evoke (increase) instances of the response class.
The term “contingent” as used in behavior analysis refers to the dependent relationship of a particular consequence on the occurrence of behavior and is also used in reference to the t_________ contiguity of behavior and its consequences.
TEMPORAL: Behavior is selected by the consequences that immediately follow it, irrespective of whether those consequences were produced or depended upon the behavior- “the only important property of the contingency is temporal.”
Conditioned _______ are the product of respondent conditioning.
REFLEXES: New stimuli can acquire the ability to elicit respondents. This type of learning is associated most with Ivan Petrovich Pavlov.
Operant conditioning encompasses:
Reinforcement and punishment: Operant conditioning refers to the process and selective effects of consequences on behavior.
Define and provide examples of a response class:
A GROUP of responses with the SAME FUNCTION.
E.g., Turning on a light switch–each response may look different, but all the responses share the same FUNCTION
Define and provide examples of stimulus:
“an energy change that affects an organism through its receptor cells” (Michael, 2004, p.7)
Examples: people, places, things, light, sounds, odor, etc.
Define and provide examples of a stimulus class:
any group of stimuli sharing a predetermined set of COMMON ELEMENTS in one or more of the dimensions of: physical features, temporally, or functionally.
Example: the concept of ‘redness’
Define and provide examples of positive reinforcement:
…occurs when a behavior is followed IMMEDIATELY by the presentation of a stimulus and, as a result, occurs more often in the future.
…behavior maintained by positive reinforcement PRODUCES a stimulus that was ABSENT prior to responding
Example: the behavior of turning on the light switch is reinforced by the presence of light
Define and provide examples of negative reinforcement
…occurs when a behavior is immediately followed by the withdrawal of a stimulus that increases the future frequency of the behavior.
…behavior maintained by negative reinforcement TERMINATES a stimulus that was PRESENT prior to responding
Example: escape of avoidance contingencies, like going to the principles office may reinforce the behavior of acting out during class.
…Turning off the light/noises, shielding our eyes, fleeing from an aggressor.
Define and provide examples of conditioned reinforcement:
Secondary or learned reinforcer
It had been paired numerous times with one or more other reinforcers (stimulus-stimulus pairing)
Not related to any biological need or anatomical structure.
Examples: social praise, attention, money, tokens
Define and provide examples of unconditioned reinforcement:
function WITHOUT prior learning or pairings with other reinforcers
Example: food, water, sexual stimulation!
