Chapter 13

Question 1

Adjunct Behaviors

Answer 1

Behavior that occurs as a collateral effect of a schedule of periodic reinforcement for other behavior; time-filling or interim activities (e.g., doodling, idle talking, smoking, drinking) that are induced by schedules of reinforcement during times when reinforcement is unlikely to be delivered.

Question 2

Alternative Schedule (ALT)

Answer 2

Provides reinforcement whenever the requirement of either a ratio schedule or an interval schedule-the basic schedules that makeup the alternative schedule-is met, regardless of which of the component schedule’s requirements is met first.

Question 3

Behavioral Contrast

Answer 3

The phenomenon in which a change in one component of a multiple schedule that increases or decreases the rate of responding on that component is ac companied by a change in the response rate in the opposite direction on the other, unaltered component of the schedule.

Question 4

Chained Schedule

Answer 4

A schedule of reinforcement in which the response requirements of two or more basic schedules must be met in a specific sequence before reinforcement is delivered; a discriminative stimulus is correlated with each component of the schedule.

Question 5

Compound Schedule of Reinforcement

Answer 5

A schedule of reinforcement consisting of two or more elements of continuous reinforcement (CRF), the four intermittent schedules of reinforcement (FR, VR, FI, VI), differential reinforcement of various rates of responding (DRH, DRL), and extinction. The elements from these basic schedules can occur successively or simultaneously and with or without discriminative stimuli; reinforcement may be contingent on meeting the requirements of each element of the schedule independently or in combination with all elements.

Question 6

Concurrent Schedule (Conc)

Answer 6

A schedule of reinforcement in which two or more contingencies of reinforcement (elements) operate independently and simultaneously for two or more behaviors.

Question 7

Conjunctive Schedule (Conj)

Answer 7

A type of intermittent reinforcement in which two or more schedules of reinforcement must be completed before reinforcement can be given. The order in which the schedules are completed is irrelevant.

Question 8

Continuous Schedule of Reinforcement (CRF)

Answer 8

A schedule of reinforcement that provides reinforcement for each occurrence of the target behavior.

Question 9

Differential Reinforcement of Diminishing Rates (DRD)

Answer 9

A schedule of reinforcement in which reinforcement is pro vided at the end of a predetermined interval contingent on the number of responses emitted during the interval being fewer than a gradually decreasing criterion based on the individual’s performance in previous intervals (e.g., fewer than five responses per 5 minutes, fewer than four responses per 5 minutes, fewer than three responses per 5 minutes).

Question 10

Differential Reinforcement of High Rates (DRH)

Answer 10

A schedule of reinforcement in which reinforcement is provided at the end of a predetermined interval contingent on the number of responses emitted during the interval being greater than a gradually increasing criterion based on the individual’s performance in previous intervals (e.g., more than three responses per 5 minutes, more than five responses per 5 minutes, more than eight responses per 5 minutes.

Question 11

Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates (DRL)

Answer 11

A schedule of reinforcement in which reinforcement (a) follows each occurrence of the target behavior that is separated from the previous response by a minimum inter response time (IRT), or (b) is contingent on the number of responses within a period of time not exceeding a predetermined criterion.

Question 12

Fixed Interval (FI)

Answer 12

A schedule of reinforcement in which reinforcement is delivered for the first response emitted allowing the passage of a fixed duration of time since the last response was reinforced (e.g., on an FI 3-minute schedule, the first response following the passage of 3 minutes is reinforced).

Question 13

Fixed Ratio (FR)

Answer 13

A schedule of reinforcement requiring a fixed number of responses for reinforcement (e.g., an FR 4 schedule reinforcement follows every fourth response).

Question 14

Intermittent Schedule of Reinforcement (INT)

Answer 14

A contingency of reinforcement in which some, but not all, occurrences of the behavior produce reinforcement internal validity The extent to which an experiment shows convincingly that changes in behavior are a function of the independent variable and not the result of uncontrolled or unknown variables.

Question 15

Lag Schedule

Answer 15

A schedule of reinforcement in which reinforcement is contingent on a response being different in some specified way (e.g., different topography) from the previous response (e.g., Lag 1) or a specified number of previous responses (e.g., Lag 2 or more).

Question 16

Limited Hold

Answer 16

A situation in which reinforcement is available only during a finite time following the elapse of an FI or VI interval; if the target response does not occur within the time limit, reinforcement is withheld and a new interval begins (e.g., on an FI 5-minute sched-ule with a limited hold of 30 seconds, the first correct response following the elapse of 5 minutes is reinforced only if that response occurs within 30 seconds after the end of the 5-minute interval).

Question 17

Matching Law

Answer 17

The allocation of responses to choices available on concurrent schedules of reinforcement; rates of responding across choices are distributed in proportions that match the rates of reinforcement received from each choice alternative.

Question 18

Mixed Schedule of Reinforcement (Mix)

Answer 18

A compound schedule of reinforcement consisting of two or more basic schedules of reinforcement (elements) that occur in an alternating, usually random, sequence; no discriminative stimuli are correlated with the presence or absence of each clement of the schedule, and reinforcement is delivered for meeting the response requirements of the element in effect at any time.

Question 19

Multiple Schedule

Answer 19

A compound schedule of reinforcement consisting of two or more basic schedules of reinforcement (elements) that occur in an alternating, usually random, sequence; a discriminative stimulus is correlated with the presence or absence of each element of the schedule, and reinforcement is delivered for meeting the response requirements of the element in effect at any time.

Question 20

Postreinforcement Pause

Answer 20

The absence of responding for a period of time following reinforcement; an effect commonly produced by fixed interval (FI) and fixed ratio (FR) schedules of reinforcement.

Question 21

Progressive Schedule of Reinforcement

Answer 21

A schedule that systematically thins each successive reinforcement opportunity independent of the individual’s behavior; progressive ratio (PR) and progressive interval (PI) schedules are thinned using arithmetic or geometric progressions.

Question 22

Ration Strain

Answer 22

A behavioral effect associated with abrupt increases in ratio requirements when moving from denser to thinner reinforcement schedules; common effects include avoidance, aggression, and unpredictable pauses or cessation in responding.

Question 23

Schedule of Reinforcement

Answer 23

A rule specifying the environmental arrangements and response requirements for reinforcement; a description of a contingency of reinforcement.

Question 24

Schedule Thinning

Answer 24

Changing a contingency of reinforcement by gradually increasing the response ratio or the extent of the time interval; it results in a lower rate of reinforcement per responses, time, or both.

Question 25

Tandem Schedule (tand)

Answer 25

A schedule of reinforcement identical to the chained schedule except, like the mix schedule, the tandem schedule does not use discriminative stimuli with the elements in the chain.

Question 26

Variable Interval (VI)

Answer 26

A schedule of reinforcement that provides reinforcement for the first connect response following the elapse of variable durations of time occurring in a random or unpredictable order. The mean duration of the intervals is used to describe the schedule (e.g., on a VI 10- minute schedule, reinforcement is delivered for the first response following an average of 10 minutes since the last reinforced response, but the time that elapses following the last reinforced response might range from 30 seconds or less to 25 minutes or more).

Question 27

Variable Ratio (VR)

Answer 27

A schedule of reinforcement requiring a varying number of responses for reinforcement. The number of responses required varies around a random number; the mean number of responses required for reinforcement is used to describe the schedule (e.g., on a VR 10 schedule an average of 10 responses must be emitted for reinforcement, but the number of responses required following the last reinforced response might range from 1 to 30 or more).