Behavioral Analysis Flashcards
Joseph Wolpe experiment
Discovered systematic desensitization
- Paired specific sounds and images with electric shocks given to cats
- Cats began equating images/sounds with shock; images/sounds created feeling of fear
- Cats gradually exposed to the same images/sounds accompanied by food instead of shocks
- Eventually “unlearned” their fear
Mary Cover Jones experiment
“Little Peter”
- 3 y/o Peter afraid of rabbits and generalizes fear
- Rabbit is gradually brought closer to Peter, Peter is presented with candy (favorite food)
- Fear subsided and Peter is able to touch rabbit without crying
- Peter hospitalized for 2 months; returns with early level of fear reaction
- Jones develops “desensitization technique”
Desensitization
An emotional response to a negative or aversive stimuli is diminished after repeated exposure to it (doing something so many times that you’re no longer afraid)
Flooding
A person is exposed to the feared stimulus at full intensity for a prolonged period of time until the person is no longer afraid
Efficient but causes discomfort
May be gradual
May be in vivo or imaginal
Law of Effect
Thornedike
A person makes a number of responses to a situation and at least one leads to a satisfying solution
The connection of that particular response to the pleasing solution “stamps in” the response
If an action receives an award, that action becomes stamped in the mind
Thornedike’s experiment
Hungry cat put in puzzle box, fish placed just outside box
Cat could escape by stepping on a pedal that released the latch
Cat tries to squeeze through slats of box, biting slats
Eventually accidentally steps on pedal which opens door and cat gets the fish
This is repeated with the same cat and as the trials progressed, the cat takes less time to open the door
Skinner’s 3-Term Contingency
A > B > C
Antecedent > Behavior > Consequence
Operant Behavior Contingency
S > R > S^R or S^P
Stimulus (A) > Response (B) > Reinforcement or Punishment (C)
Operant Behavior
Behavior influenced by consequences
Respondent Behavior
Behavior influenced by reflexes
Operant Conditioning
Antecedent sets the occasion for the response; involves the manipulation of consequences
Ex. “Sit” > dog sits > gets treat; sitting increases in the future if the dog gets a treat (the consequence shapes the behavior)
Difference between respondent and operant conditioning
Respondent involves a stimulus-stimulus pairing, whereas operant involves a response-stimulus pairing
Respondent Conditioning
Pairing a previously neutral stimulus with a stimulus that is unlearned/inborn (Pavlov)
Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB)
Calls for inductive, data-driven approaches to establishing functional relations between antecedents (stimuli) and behaviors
Goal: Experimentally identify, describe, and refine principles of behavior
Difference between EAB and ABA
ABA is looking at socially significant behavior, whereas EAB is simply looking at behavior
Radical Behaviorism
Considers covert behaviors (inside the skin) to be behavior
Methodological Behaviorism
Only considers observable behaviors
Difference between radical and methodological behaviorism
Methodological behaviorism says that the mind should be ignored because its processes can’t be seen, whereas radical behaviorism takes inner states (thoughts, emotions, etc.) into account
Ontogeny
The responses learned by consequences that occur throughout an organism’s life
Learned after birth
Phylogeny
Behaviors acquired by an organism/species during the course of evolution as a result of contingencies of survival
Born with
Free Operants
Behaviors that can be emitted at any time
Discrete
Once it occurs is may be available to occur again without obstacle or delay
Ex. reading
Restricted Operant
Rates of the behavior’s occurence are determined by opportunities to respond
Ex. naming words on a flashcard, answering questions on a test
Function of behavior
What does the organism “get” by its behavior (consequences)
Attention/tangibles
Escape/avoidance
Automatic positive reinforcement (preferred sensory)
Automatic negative reinforcement (sensory escape)
Reciprocal Determinism
Environment, covert behavior (the individual), and overt behavior (gen. behavior) all influence and are influenced by each other
Overt and covert behaviors interact
Ex. a child dislikes going to school so they act out in class; teachers don’t like child because of their behavior which leads to an unfavorable environment for the child
Stimulus Class
Antecedent stimuli that trigger the same response
Ex. many different ringtones from your phone cause you to pick it up
Response Class
Behaviors that operate in the environment that might generate many consequences
Ex. someone says “Good morning!”; you might respond with “Hi,” nod, wave, etc.
Primary (unconditioned) reinforcer
A reinforcer that an animal is born needing
Ex. food, water, shelter
Secondary (conditioned) reinforcer
Initially neutral stimuli that have acquired reinforcing capability because of being paired with primary reinforcers or established secondary reinforcers
Requires stimulus-stimulus pairing
Ex. tokens, clicker, etc.
Rule-Governed Behavior
You do not directly experience the consequence of a behavior, rather you change your behavior based on a rule
Ex. You stop before a railroad crossing when the arms go down
Superstitious Behavior
When an antecedent stimulus is paired with a consequence accidentally
Motivating Operations
Environmental variables that alter the effectiveness of some stimulus, object, or event as a reinforcer, and alter the current frequency of all behavior that has been reinforced by that stimulus, object or event; increase the current frequency of behavior when an effective reinforcer is not available
Establishing Operations
A motivating operation that increases the value of a reinforcer and increase the frequency in the behavior that provides access to the reinforcer
Has an evocative effect on the behavior because the value of the reinforcer is increased
Ex. skipping lunch and having an empty stomach increases the value of the reinforcer of food
Abolishing Operations
A motivating operation that decreases the value of a reinforcer and decreases the frequency in the behavior that provides access to the reinforcer
Has an abative effect on the behavior because the value of the reinforcer is decreased
Ex. having so much juice that you like that you no longer like the juice so it’s no longer a high value reinforcer
Sources of Motivating Operations
Deprivation, satiation, increase in painful or aversive stimulus
What is ABA?
The science of understanding and treating behavior; focus on objective descriptions, quantification, controlled experimentation, and finding causes of behavior; coined by B.F. Skinner
The Principles of Behavior
- Reinforcement
- Punishment
- Extinction
- Stimulus control
- Motivating Operations
Stimulus Control
An operant (learned) behavior is emitted in the presence of certain stimuli and is not emitted when these stimuli are missing or other stimuli are present
Response
An instance of behavior
Respondent Extinction
When the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus; conditioned stimulus is no longer the conditioned response
Diagram of Respondent Conditioning
US → UR
NS ≠ UR
NS + US paired repeatedly = CS
CS → CR
Definition of Behavior
Anything a person says or does; includes observable actions as well as things everyone else may not be able to see (feelings, emotions, thoughts, etc.)
Correlation
Can predict that on variable (independent) MAY be responsible for changes in another variable (dependent); only suggests a relationship between variables
Independent Variable
Represents the experimental variable you are introducing; manipulated by the experimenter
Dependent Variable
The variable you are studying; manipulated by the independent variable
Functional Relations
When a well-controlled experiment demonstrates that the changes in the dependent variable can be reliably produced by manipulations of the independent variable and the change is unlikely to be the result of confounding variables
Explanatory Fictions
Using non-observable constructs to explain behavior; part of mentalism
Ex. A child acts out only because they have ADHD; The rat presses the lever because it “knows” it will get food
Hypothetical Constructs
A formally unexplained phenomenon that cannot be observed or experimentally manipulated, but it might exist; part of mentalism
Ex. Freud’s id, ego, and super-ego
Mentalism
An approach to explaining behavior that assumes that mental/”inner” dimensions exist that differ from a behavioral dimension, and that activity in this dimension either directly causes or at least mediates some forms of behavior, if not all; concentrates on neural, psychic, spiritual, subjective, conceptual, or hypothetical properties
Conditioned Emotional Response (CER)
Neutral stimulus paired with fear-eliciting unconditioned stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that elicits fear
Ex. seeing a dog (NS) is paired with the pain of being bitten by the dog (US), seeing a dog may become a conditioned stimulus that elicits fear (CR)
Discrimination
The conditioned response is elicited by only one conditioned stimulus
Generalization
The conditioned response may be elicited by more than one conditioned stimulus
Counter-Conditioning
Behavior incompatible with a habitual undesired pattern is induced
Ex. Dog lunges at window when someone walks by (displaying fear), given a treat when someone walks by to change emotional state
John Watson
“Father of behaviorism”
- Said behavior could be studied without looking into the mind
- Little Albert experiment (not afraid of rat [NS], paired with metal clanging [US], afraid of rat [CS])