Chapter 2 Flashcards
Basic Concepts and Principles
Antecedent
An environmental condition or stimulus change existing or occur-ring prior to a behavior of interest.
Automatic Reinforcement
Reinforcement that occurs independent of the social mediation of others (e.g., scratching an insect bite relieves the itch).
Automaticity of Reinforcement
Automaticity (of reinforcement) refers to the fact that behavior is modified by its consequences irrespective of the person’s awareness.
Aversive Stimulus
In general, an unpleasant or noxious stimulus; more technically, a stimulus change or condition that functions (a) to evoke a behavior that has terminated it in the past; (b) as a punisher when presented following behavior, and/or (c) as a reinforcer when withdrawn following behavior.
Behavior
The portion of an organism’s interaction with its environment that is characterized by detectable displacement in space through time of some part of the organism and that results in measurable change in at least one aspect of the environment.
Behavior Change Tactic
A technologically consistent method for changing behavior derived from one or more principles of behavior.
Conditioned Punisher
A previously neutral stimulus change that functions as a punisher because of prior pairing with one or more other punishers; some-times called secondary or teamed punisher.
Conditioned Reflex
A learned stimulus-response functional relation consisting of an antecedent stimulus (e.g., sound of refrigerator door opening) and the response it elicits (e.g., salivation).
Conditioned Reinforcer
A stimulus change that functions as a reinforcer because of prior pairing with one or more other reinforcers; sometimes called secondary or learned reinforcer.
Conditioned Stimulus
The stimulus component of a conditioned reflex; a formerly neutral stimulus change that elicits respondent behavior only after it has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US) or another CS.
Consequence
A stimulus change that follows a behavior of interest. Some consequences, especially those that are immediate and relevant to current motivational states, have significant influence on future behavior; others have little effect.
Contingency
Refers to dependent and/or temporal relations between operant behavior and its controlling variables. (See contingent, three-term contingency.)
Contingency-Shaped Behavior
Behavior acquired by direct experience with contingencies.
Contingent
Describes reinforcement (or punishment) that is delivered only after the target behavior has occurred.
Deprivation
The state of an organism with respect to how much time has elapsed since it has consumed or contacted a particular type of reinforcer.
Discriminative Operant
An operant that occurs more frequently under some antecedent conditions than under others.
Discriminative Stimulus
A stimulus in the presence of which responses of some type have been reinforced and in the absence of which the same type of responses have occurred and not been reinforced.
Environment
The conglomerate of real circumstances in which the organism or referenced part of the organism exists; behavior cannot occur in the absence of environment.
Extinction
The discontinuing of a reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior (i.e., responses no longer produce reinforcement).
Habituation
A decrease in responsiveness to repeated presentations of a stimulus.
Higher-Order Conditioning
Development of a conditioned reflex by pairing of a neutral stimulus (NS) with a conditioned stimulus (CS). Also called secondary conditioning.
History of Reinforcement
An inclusive term referring in general to all of a person’s learning experiences and more specifically to past conditioning with respect to particular response classes or aspects of a person’s repertoire.