Chapter 1

Question 1

Applied Behavior Analysis

Answer 1

The science in which tactics derived from the principles of behavior are applied to improve socially significant behavior and experimentation is used to identify the variables responsible for the improvement in behavior.

Question 2

Behaviorism

Answer 2

The philosophy of a science of behavior; there are various forms of behaviorism. (See methodological behaviorism, medical behaviorism.

Question 3

Determinism

Answer 3

The assumption that the universe is a lawful and orderly place in which phenomena occur in relation to other events and not in a willy-nilly, accidental fashion.

Question 4

Empiricism

Answer 4

The objective observation of the phenomena of interest; objective observations are “independent of the individual prejudices, tastes, and private opinions of the scientist. …Results of empirical methods are objective in that they are open to anyone’s observation and do not depend on the subjective belief of the individual scientist.

Question 5

Experiment

Answer 5

A carefully controlled comparison of some measure of the phenomenon of interest (the dependent variable) under two or more different conditions in which only one factor at a time (the independent variable) differs from one condition to another.

Question 6

Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Answer 6

A natural science approach to the study of behavior as a subject matter in its own right founded by B. F. Skinner; methodological features include rate of response as a basic dependent variable, repeated or continuous measurement of clearly de fined response classes, within-subject experimental comparisons instead of group design, visual analysis of graphed data instead of statistical inference, and an emphasis on describing functional relations between behavior and controlling variables in the environment over formal theory testing.

Question 7

Explanatory Fiction

Answer 7

A fictitious or hypothetical variable that often takes the form of an-other name for the observed phenomenon it claims to explain and contributes nothing to a functional account or understanding of the phenomenon, such as “intelligence” or “cognitive awareness” as explanations for why an organism pushes the lever when the light is on and food is available but does not push the lever when the light is off and no food is available.

Question 8

Functional Analysis

Answer 8

An analysis of the purposes (functions) of problem behavior, wherein antecedents and consequences representing those in the person’s natural routines are arranged within an experimental design so that their separate effects on problem behavior can be observed and measured.

Question 9

Functional Analysis Conditions

Answer 9

Typically consists of four conditions: three test conditions-contingent attention, contingent escape, and alone and a control condition in which problem behavior is expected to be low because reinforcement is freely available and no demands are placed on the person.

Question 10

Functional Relations

Answer 10

A verbal statement summarizing the results of an experiment (or group of related experiments) that describes the occurrence of the phenomena under study as a function of the operation of one or more specified and controlled variables in the experiment in which a specific change in one event (the dependent variable) can be produced by manipulating another event (the independent variable), and that the change in the dependent variable was unlikely the result of other factors (con founding variables) .

Question 11

Hypothetical Construct

Answer 11

A presumed but unobserved process or entity (e.g., Freud’s id, ego, and superego.

Question 12

Mentalism

Answer 12

An approach to explaining behavior that assumes that a mental, or “inner,” dimension exists that differs from a behavioral dimension and that phenomena in this dimension either directly cause or at least mediate some forms of behavior, if not all.

Question 13

Methodological Behaviorism

Answer 13

A philosophical position that views behavioral events that cannot be publicly observed as outside the realm of science.

Question 14

Parsimony

Answer 14

The practice of ruling out simple, logical explanations, experimentally or conceptually, before considering more complex or abstract explanations.

Question 15

Philosophic Doubt

Answer 15

An attitude that the truthfulness and validity of all scientific theory and knowledge should be continually question.

Question 16

Pragmatism

Answer 16

A philosophical position asserting that the truth value of a statement is determined by how well it promotes effective action; primary criterion by which behavior analysts judge the value of their findings.

Question 17

Radical Behaviorism

Answer 17

A thoroughgoing form of behaviorism that attempts to understand all human behavior, including private events such as thoughts and feelings, in terms of controlling variables in the history of the person (ontogeny) and the species (phylogeny).

Question 18

Replication

Answer 18

(a) Repeating conditions within an experiment to determine the reliability of effects and increase internal validity. (See baseline logic, prediction, verification.) (b) Repeating whole experiments to determine the generality of findings of previous experiments to other subjects, settings, and/or behaviors.

Question 19

Science

Answer 19

A systematic approach to the understanding of natural phenome-na (as evidenced by description, prediction, and control) that relies on determinism as its fundamental assumption, empiricism as its primary rule, experimentation as its basic strategy, replication as a requirement for believability, parsimony as a value, and philosophic doubt as its guiding conscience.