BF SKINNER (BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS) Flashcards
Which term best describes B. F. Skinner?
A) determinist B) psychotherapist C) cognitive psychologist D) sociologist
determinist
Thorndike’s law of effect states that responses to stimuli that are followed by a satisfier tend to be…
stamped in
Any aversive condition that when removed from a situation increases the probability that a given behavior will occur is a
negative reinforcer.
While in college, Skinner aspired to become a
writer
John Watson argued that the goal of psychology is
to study behavior objectively.
According to Skinner, internal mental states such as thinking, foresight, and reasoning
exist, but should not be used to explain behavior.
Skinner believed that behavioral analysis should
interpret behavior but not explain it.
Skinner believed the most crucial aspect of science is
an attitude that values empirical observation.
Shaping complex behavior through operant conditioning usually includes which procedure?
successive approximation
Skinner favored reward over punishment largely because
the effects of punishment are less predictable.
Allyson rubs her knee to reduce pain. This behavior is most likely an example of
negative reinforcement.
A bricklayer is paid a given amount of money for every brick laid. This procedure most closely approximates which schedule of reinforcement?
fixed-ratio
According to Skinner, human personality is partially shaped by
natural selection.
Extinction of a response will occur earliest when learning occurs under which schedule of reinforcement?
continuous
A slot machine pays off on which schedule?
A) continuous B) fixed-ratio C) fixed-interval D) variable-interval E) none of the above
none of the above
Which of these would be the best example of a conditioned reinforcer?
A) sleep B) relief from a headache C) praise D) oxygen
praise
A unified repertoire of responses is Skinner’s definition of
human personality.
Which of these concepts would Skinner see as an explanatory fiction?
A) drive B) ego C) self-realization D) all of the above
all of the above
Skinner saw creative behavior as resulting from
mutations.
According to Skinner, the act of blocking out unpleasant thoughts is an example of
C) negative reinforcement.
Which of these would be an example of social control through describing contingencies?
A) deprivation B) advertising C) imprisonment D) receiving a paycheck
advertising
According to Skinner, unhealthy behavior
is a means of coping with excessive social control.
In his philosophy of science, Skinner
opposed hypothetical-deductive methods.
a doctrine
that avoids all hypothetical constructs, such as ego, traits, drives, needs, hunger, and
so forth.
radical behaviorism
Skinner can rightfully be regarded
as a ____ and _______-
determinist (he rejected the notion
of volition or free will) and an environmentalist (held that psychology must not explain behavior
on the basis of the physiological or constitutional components of the organism but
rather on the basis of environmental stimuli)
The
second held that responses to stimuli that are followed immediately by an annoyer
tend to be
stamped out
science has three main characteristics
science is
cumulative
it is an attitude that values empirical observation
science is a search for order and lawful relationships.
A neutral (conditioned) stimulus is paired with—that
is, immediately precedes—an unconditioned stimulus a number of times until it is
capable of bringing about a previously unconditioned response, now called the conditioned response
classical conditioning
Although classical conditioning is responsible for some human learning, Skinner
believed that most human behaviors are learned through _______
Operant Conditioning
is a procedure in
which the experimenter or the environment first rewards gross approximations of the
behavior, then closer approximations, and finally the desired behavior itself.
Shaping
It strengthens the behavior and it rewards the person. R
Reinforcement
Any positive consequence that, when added to a situation,
increases the probability that a given behavior will occur is termed a
Positive Reinforcer
Subtracting a negative consequence from a situation also
increases the probability that the preceding behavior will occur
Negative Reinforcement
the organism is reinforced for every
response. This type of schedule increases the frequency of a response but is an inefficient use of the reinforcer
continuous schedule
Skinner preferred _____________ not only because
they make more efficient use of the reinforcer but because they produce responses
that are more resistant to extinction
intermittent schedules
The organism is reinforced intermittently
according to the number of responses it makes.
fixed-ratio schedule
The organism is reinforced after every
nth response
variable-ratio schedule
The organism is reinforced for the
first response following a designated period of time
fixed-interval schedule,
Is one in which the organism is reinforced after the lapse of random or varied periods of time
variable-interval schedule
“People do not observe
particular practices in order that the group will be more likely to survive; they observe
them because groups that induced their members to do so survived and transmitted them”
Cultural Evolution
Once learned, responses can be lost for at least four reasons
Extinction
