Chapter 2 Flashcards
An environmental condition or stimulus change existing or occurring prior to a behavior of interest.
Antecedent
Reinforcement that occurs independent of the social mediation of others (e.g., scratching an insect bite relieves the itch).
Automatic Reinforcement
Refers to the fact that behavior is modified by its consequences irrespective of the person’s awareness; a person does not have to recognize or verbalize the relation between her behavior and a reinforcing consequence, or even know that a consequence has occurred, for reinforcement to “work.” (Contrast with automatic reinforcement.)
Automaticity of Reinforcement
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has terminated it in the past, (b) as a punisher when presented following behavior, and/or (c) as a reinforcer when withdrawn following behavior.
Aversive Stimulus
That portion of an organism’s interaction with its environment that involves movement of some part of the organism (Johnston & Pennypacker, 2009, p. 31).
Behavior
A technologically consistent method for changing behavior derived from one or more principles of behavior (e.g., response cost is derived from the principle of negative punishment); possesses sufficient generality across subjects, settings, and/or behaviors to warrant its codification and dissemination.
Behavior Change Tactic
A previously neutral stimulus change that functions as a punisher because of prior pairing with one or more other punishers. (Sometimes called secondary or learned punisher; compare to unconditioned punisher.)
Conditioned Punisher
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); each person’s repertoire of conditioned reflexes is the product of his or her history of interactions with the environment (ontogeny).
Conditioned Reflex
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 Reinforcer
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.
Conditioned Stimulus
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.
Consequence
Refers to dependent and/or temporal relations between operant behavior and its controlling variables
Contingency
Behavior acquired by direct experience with contingencies.
Contingency-shaped Behavior
Describes reinforcement (or punishment) that is delivered only after the target behavior has occurred.
Contingent
The state of an organism with respect to how much time has elapsed since it has consumed or contacted a particular type of reinforcer; also refers to a procedure for increasing the effectiveness of a reinforcer (e.g., withholding a person’s access to a reinforcer for a specified period prior to a session).
Deprivation
An operant that occurs more frequently under some antecedent conditions than under others.
Discriminated Operant
A stimulus in the presence of which a given behavior has been reinforced and in the absence of which that behavior has not been reinforced; as a result of this history, an s0 evokes operant behavior because its presence signals the availability of reinforcement.
Discriminative Stimulus
The conglomerate of real circumstances in which the organism or referenced pan of the organism exists; behavior cannot occur in the absence of environment.
Environment
The discontinuing of a reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior (i.e., responses no longer produce reinforcement); the primary effect is a decrease in the frequency of the behavior until it reaches a pre-reinforced level or ultimately ceases to occur
Extinction
A decrease in responsiveness to repeated presentations of a stimulus; most often used to describe a reduction of respondent behavior as a function of repeated presentation of the eliciting stimulus over a short span of time; some researchers suggest that the concept also applies to within-session changes in operant behavior.
Habituation
Development of a conditioned reflex by pairing of a neutral stimulus (NS) with a conditioned stimulus (CS). (Also called secondary conditioning.)
Higher-order Conditioning
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.
History of Reinforcement