Chapter 1 Flashcards
What is behavior, generally and technically? Give three synonyms for behavior.
Essentially, behavior is anything that a person says or does.
Some commonly used synonyms include “activity,” “action,” “performance,” “responding,” “response,” and “reaction.”
Technically, behavior is any muscular, glandular, or electrical activity of an organism.
Distinguish between behavior and products of behavior. Give an example of a behavior and a product of that behavior that are not in this chapter.
Getting an “A” in a behavior modification course, or losing 10 pounds are products of behavior. The behavior that produces an “A” is studying effectively. The behaviors that lead to weight loss are resisting overeating and exercising more.
Distinguish between overt and covert behaviors. Give two examples of each that are not in this chapter.
Walking, talking out loud, throwing a baseball, yelling at someone—are all overt behaviors that could be observed and recorded by an individual other than the one performing the behavior.
The opposite of private or covert behavior is public or overt behavior.
Imagining is usually thought of as being visual, but it can also involve other senses. For example, we can imagine a scent, a taste, and a feeling of rubbing one’s hand across a rough surface. Imagining and private self-talk (thinking in words), in addition to being called covert behaviors, are sometimes referred to as cognitive behaviors.
- Overt behavior is anything that a person says or does. Covert behavior is what a person thinks or feels.
*What are cognitive behaviors? Give two examples.
Cognitive behaviors are imagining and private self-talk, such as imagining seeing your graded assignment on the UM Learn site, and saying to yourself, “I did great.”
Describe two dimensions of behavior. Give an example of each.
Characteristics of behavior that can be measured are called dimensions of behavior.
THREE dimensions of behavior are duration, rate, and intensity.
The DURATION of a behavior is the length of time that it lasts (e.g., Mary studied for one hour).
The RATE of a behavior is the number of instances that occur in a given period of time (e.g., Frank planted five tomato plants in his garden in 30 minutes).
The INTENSITY or force of a behavior refers to the physical effort or energy involved in emitting the behavior (e.g., Mary has a strong grip when shaking hands).
From a behavioral point of view, what do terms like intelligence or creativity refer to? Give an example of each.
Although their meaning may vary from speaker to speaker, they always refer to ways of behaving. An INTELLIGENT person, for example, solves problems quickly; a CREATIVE person frequently emits behaviors that are novel or are unusual and have desirable effects.
What are two positive reasons that summary terms for behavior patterns are used frequently in psychology and in everyday life?
Summary labels commonly used to refer to psychological problems include autism spectrum disorder, attention- deficit/hyperactive disorder, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, road rage, interpersonal difficulties, and sexual dysfunction.
- They may be useful for quickly providing general information about how an individual might perform. We would expect that a 10-year-old child who has been labeled as having a severe developmental disability, for example, would not be able to read even at the first-grade level.
- The labels may imply that a particular treatment program will be helpful. Someone with road rage might be encouraged to take an anger-management course. Someone who is unassertive might benefit from an assertiveness training course.
What are two disadvantages of using summary labels to refer to individuals or their actions? Give an example of each.
One is that they may lead to pseudo- explanations of behavior (pseudo meaning false). For example, a child who inverts words while reading, such as “saw” for “was,” might be labeled as having dyslexia. If we ask why the child inverts words, and we are given the answer “Because he has dyslexia,” then the summary label for the behavior has been used as a pseudo-explanation for the behavior. Another name for pseudo-explanation is circular reasoning.
A second disadvantage of labeling is that labels can negatively affect the way an individual might be treated, such as by focusing on an individual’s problem behaviors rather than strengths. Suppose, for example, that a teenager consistently fails to make his bed but reliably mows the lawn and places the garbage cans on the street on pickup days. If the parents describe their son as “lazy,” that label may cause them to focus more on the problem behavior than to praise the positive behaviors. In some societies, racial minorities have been given the negative label “lazy” even though they were the ones doing most of the hard, physical work.
What is a behavioral deficit? Give two examples that are not in this chapter.
Behavioral deficits (too little behavior of a particular type).
Examples of behavioral deficits
- A child does not pronounce words clearly and does not interact with other children.
- A teenager does not complete homework assignments, help around the house, work in the yard, or discuss problems and difficulties with her parents.
- An adult does not pay attention to traffic regulations while driving, does not thank others for courtesies and favors, or does not meet his/her partner at agreed-upon times.
- A basketball player, encouraged by the coach to visualize the ball going into the net just before a foul shot, is unable to do so.
What is a behavioral excess? Give two examples that are not in this chapter.
Behavioral excesses (too much behavior of a particular type).
Examples of behavioral excesses
- A child frequently gets out of bed and throws tantrums at bedtime, throws food on the floor at mealtime, and hides her mother’s tablet.
- A teenager frequently interrupts conversations between his parents and other adults, uses abusive language, and spends hours on social media or text messaging on his/her cell phone.
- An adult watches TV continuously, frequently eats junk food between meals, smokes one cigarette after another, and bites his/her fingernails.
- A golfer often thinks negatively (e.g., “If I miss this one, I’ll lose!”) and experiences considerable anxiety (e.g., heart pounding, palms sweating) just before important shots
*What are the three reasons why the authors describe behavior problems in terms of specific behavioral deficits or excesses?
(a) to avoid the problems of using general labels to refer to individuals;
(b) because it is behavior that causes concern and behavior that must be treated to alleviate the problems; and
(c) specific procedures are available to overcome problem behaviors.
Define behaviour modification.
Behavior modification involves the systematic application of learning principles and techniques to assess and improve the overt and covert behaviors of individuals in order to enhance their daily functioning.
Behavior modification has seven main characteristics.
What are stimuli? Describe two examples that are not in this chapter.
The physical variables that make up a person’s environment are called stimuli (plural of stimulus). More specifically, stimuli are the people, objects, and events currently present in one’s immediate surroundings that impinge on one’s sense receptors and that can affect behavior.
For example, the teacher, other students, and the furniture in a classroom are all potential stimuli in a student’s environment in a classroom setting. An individual’s own behavior can also be a part of the environment influencing that individual’s subsequent behavior.
When hitting a forehand shot in tennis, for example, both the sight of the ball coming near and the behavior of completing your backswing provide stimuli for you to complete the forehand shot and hit the ball over the net. Things that a therapist might say to a client are also a part of that client’s environment.
List seven defining characteristics of behavior modification.
- Its strong emphasis on defining problems in terms of behavior that can be MEASURED in some way and using changes in the behavioral measure of the problem as the best indicator of the extent to which the problem is being helped.
- Its treatment procedures and techniques are ways of ALTERING an individual’s CURRENT ENVIRONMENT—i.e., the individual’s immediate physical surroundings—to help that individual function more fully.
- Its methods and rationales can be DESCRIBED PRECISELY.
- The techniques of behavior modification are often APPLIED by individuals IN EVERYDAY LIFE.
- The techniques STEM from basic and applied RESEARCH in the SCIENCE of learning.
- Behavior modification emphasizes SCIENTIFIC DEMONSTRATION that a particular intervention or treatment was responsible for a particular behavior change
- It places HIGH VALUE on ACCOUNTABILITY for everyone involved in behavior modification programs
What is meant by the term target behavior? Give an example of a target behavior of yours that you would like to improve. Is your target behavior one that you want to increase (i.e., a behavioral deficit) or one that you want to decrease (i.e., a behavioral excess)?
Behaviors to be improved in a behavior modification program are called target behaviors.
For example, if a university student sets a goal of studying 2 hours out of class for each hour spent in class, studying is the target behavior.
