Chapter 1 Vocab

Question 1

learning

Answer 1

acquisition, maintenance, and change of an organism’s behavior as a result of lifetime events

changes in behavior and conditions that maintain behavior in a steady state

Question 2

behavior

Answer 2

everything that an organism does

Question 3

neuroplasticity

Answer 3

alterations of neurons and neural interconnections during a lifetime by changes in environmental contingencies

Question 4

experimental analysis of behavior

Answer 4

involves intensive experimentation with a single organism over an extended period, rather than statistical assessment of groups exposed to experimental treatments.

verified by arranging experimental procedures that reveal the underlying basic principles and controlling variables.

breaking down complex environment-behavior relations into component principles of behavior

Question 5

reinforcement

Answer 5

an increase in the rate of operant behavior as a function of its consequences; the procedure of presenting a reinforcing event when a response occurs

Question 6

behavior analysis

Answer 6

a comprehensive experimental approach to the study of behavior of organisms

objectives: discovery of principles and laws that govern behavior, the extension of these principles over species, and the development of an applied technology

Question 7

applied behavior analysis

Answer 7

aka behavioral engineering;
branch of behavior analysis that uses behavior principles to solve practical problems

Question 8

reflex

Answer 8

when an unconditioned stimulus elicits an unconditioned response

Question 9

respondent

Answer 9

behavior that increases or decreases by the presentation of a conditioned stimulus that precedes the conditioned response

respondent behavior is
elicited, in the sense that it reliably occurs when the CS is presented

Question 10

respondent conditioning

Answer 10

when an organism responds to a new event based on a history of pairing with a biologically important stimulus

if a conditioned stimulus (CS) comes to regulate the occurrence of a conditioned response (CR), respondent conditioning has occurred

Question 11

operant conditioning

Answer 11

an increase or decrease in operant responses as a function of the consequences that have followed these responses

Question 12

operant

Answer 12

behavior that operates on the environment to produce a change, effect or consequence

emitted rather than elicited

Question 13

selection by consequences

Answer 13

kind of like natural selection

Question 14

immediate causation

Answer 14

process where we try to isolate a chain of events that directly result in some effect

Question 15

remote causation

Answer 15

where we explain a phenomenon by pointing to remote events that made it likely

Question 16

contingency

Answer 16

respondent- a correlation between a conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus (positive correlation required)

reinforcement- defines the relationship between the occasion, the operant class, and the consequences that follow (SD: R->Sr)

Question 17

behavioral neuroscience

Answer 17

integrates science of behavior with the science of the brain

effects of drugs on behavior, neural imaging and complex stimulus relations, choice and neural activity, and the brain circuitry of learning and addiction

Question 18

culture

Answer 18

all the conditions, events, and stimuli arranged by other people that regulate human action

Question 19

conditioned reflexes

Answer 19

an arbitrary stimulus is associated with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits reflexive behavior; after many repeats if the stimulus is presented alone and elicits a response the stimulus is the conditioned stimulus and the response is the conditioned response

Question 20

behaviorism

Answer 20

the scientific philosophy of behavior analysis

Question 21

trial-and-error learning

Answer 21

make fewer errors over repeated trials

Question 22

law of effect

Answer 22

principle of reinforcement: operants may be followed by a consequence that increase or decrease the probability or rate of response

Question 23

correlation

Answer 23

the percentage of conditioning trials in which the CS is followed by the US

Question 24

behavior analysts

Answer 24

researchers and practitioners of behavior analysis

Question 25

private behavior

Answer 25

only accessible to the person who emits it (thinking)