Chapter 2 - Basic Concepts

Question 1

antecedent

Answer 1

An environmental condition or stimulus change existing or occurring prior to a behavior of interest.

Question 2

automaticity of reinforcement

Answer 2

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.)

Question 3

aversive stimulus

Answer 3

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has terminated it in the past; (b) as a punisher when presented following behavior, and/or (c) as a reinforcer when withdrawn following behavior.

Question 4

behavior

Answer 4

The activity of living organisms; human behavior includes everything that people do. A technical definition: “that 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 a measurable change in at least one aspect of the environment” (Johnston & Pennypacker, 1993a, p. 23).

Question 5

behavior change tactic

Answer 5

A technologically consistent method for changing behavior derived from one or more principles of behavior (e.g., differential reinforcement of other behavior, response cost); possesses sufficient generality across subjects, settings, and/or behaviors to warrant its codification and dissemination.

Question 6

conditioned punisher

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

conditioned reflex

Answer 7

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).

Question 8

conditioned reinforcer

Answer 8

A stimulus change that functions as a reinforcer because of prior pairing with one or more other reinforcers; sometimes called secondary or learned reinforcer.

Question 9

conditioned stimulus

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

consequence

Answer 10

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.

Question 11

contingency

Answer 11

Refers to dependent and/or temporal relations between operant behavior and its controlling variables.

Question 12

contigent

Answer 12

Describes reinforcement (or punishment) that is delivered only after the target behavior has occurred.

Question 13

deprivation

Answer 13

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 of time prior to a session).

Question 14

discriminated operant

Answer 14

An operant that occurs more frequently under some antecedent conditions than under others.

Question 15

discriminative stimulus (SD)

Answer 15

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; this history of differential reinforcement is the reason an SD increases the momentary frequency of the behavior.

Question 16

environment

Answer 16

The conglomerate of real circumstances in which the organism or referenced part of the organism exists; behavior cannot occur in the absence of environment.

Question 17

extinction

Answer 17

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 prereinforced level or ultimately ceases to occur.

Question 18

habituation

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

higher order conditioning

Answer 19

Development of a conditioned reflex by pairing of a neutral stimulus (NS) with a conditioned stimulus (CS).

Question 20

history of reinforcement

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

motivating operation

Answer 21

An environmental variable that (a) alters (increases or decreases) the reinforcing or punishing effectiveness of some stimulus, object, or event; and (b) alters (increases or decreases) the current frequency of all behavior that has been reinforced or punished by that stimulus, object, or event.

Question 22

negative reinforcement

Answer 22

Occurs when a behavior is followed immediately by the withdrawal of a stimulus that increases the future frequency of the behavior.

Question 23

neutral stimulus

Answer 23

A stimulus change that does not elicit respondent behavior.

Question 24

ontogeny

Answer 24

The history of the development of an individual organism during its lifetime.

Question 25

operant behavior

Answer 25

Behavior that is selected, maintained, and brought under stimulus control as a function of its consequences; each person’s repertoire of operant behavior is a product of his history of interactions with the environment (ontogeny).

Question 26

operant conditioning

Answer 26

The basic process by which operant learning occurs; consequences (stimulus changes immediately following responses) result in an increased (reinforcement) or decreased (punishment) frequency of the same type of behavior under similar motivational and environmental conditions in the future.

Question 27

phylogeny

Answer 27

The history of the natural evolution of a species.

Question 28

positive reinforcement

Answer 28

Occurs when a behavior is followed immediately by the presentation of a stimulus that increases the future frequency of the behavior in similar conditions

Question 29

principle of behavior

Answer 29

A statement describing a functional relation between behavior and one or more of its controlling variables with generality across organisms, species, settings, behaviors, and time (e.g., extinction, positive reinforcement); an empirical generalization inferred from many experiments demonstrating the same functional relation

Question 30

punisher

Answer 30

A stimulus change that decreases the future frequency of behavior that immediately precedes it.

Question 31

punishment

Answer 31

Occurs when stimulus change immediately follows a response and decreases the future frequency of that type of behavior in similar conditions.

Question 32

reflex

Answer 32

A stimulus–response relation consisting of an antecedent stimulus and the respondent behavior it elicits (e.g., bright light–pupil contraction). Unconditioned and conditioned reflexes protect against harmful stimuli, help regulate the internal balance and economy of the organism, and promote reproduction.

Question 33

reinforcement

Answer 33

Occurs when a stimulus change immediately follows a response and increases the future frequency of that type of behavior in similar conditions.

Question 34

reinforcer

Answer 34

A stimulus change that increases the future frequency of behavior that immediately precedes it.

Question 35

repertoire

Answer 35

All of the behaviors a person can do; or a set of behaviors relevant to a particular setting or task (e.g., gardening, mathematical problem solving).

Question 36

respondent behavior

Answer 36

The response component of a reflex; behavior that is elicited, or induced, by antecedent stimuli.

Question 37

respondent conditioning

Answer 37

A stimulus–stimulus pairing procedure in which a neutral stimulus (NS) is presented with an unconditioned stimulus (US) until the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that elicits the conditioned response (also called classical or Pavlovian conditioning).

Question 38

respondent extinction

Answer 38

The repeated presentation of a conditioned stimulus (CS) in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus (US); the CS gradually loses its ability to elicit the conditioned response until the conditioned reflex no longer appears in the individual’s repertoire.

Question 39

response

Answer 39

A single instance or occurrence of a specific class or type of behavior. Technical definition: an “action of an organism’s effector. An effector is an organ at the end of an efferent nerve fiber that is specialized for altering its environment mechanically, chemically, or in terms of other energy changes”

Question 40

satiation

Answer 40

A decrease in the frequency of operant behavior presumed to be the result of continued contact with or consumption of a reinforcer that has followed the behavior; also refers to a procedure for reducing the effectiveness of a reinforcer (e.g., presenting a person with copious amounts of a reinforcing stimulus prior to a session).

Question 41

selection by consequences

Answer 41

The fundamental principle underlying operant conditioning; the basic tenet is that all forms of (operant) behavior, from simple to complex, are selected, shaped, and maintained by their consequences during an individual’s lifetime; Skinner’s concept of selection by consequences is parallel to Darwin’s concept of natural selection of genetic structures in the evolution of species.

Question 42

stimulus

Answer 42

“An energy change that affects an organism through its receptor cells”

Question 43

stimulus class

Answer 43

A group of stimuli that share specified common elements along formal (e.g., size, color), temporal (e.g., antecedent or consequent), and/or functional (e.g., discriminative stimulus) dimensions.

Question 44

stimulus control

Answer 44

A situation in which the frequency, latency, duration, or amplitude of a behavior is altered by the presence or absence of an antecedent stimulus.

Question 45

stimulus-stimulus pairing

Answer 45

A procedure in which two stimuli are presented at the same time, usually repeatedly for a number of trials, which often results in one stimulus acquiring the function of the other stimulus.

Question 46

three-term contingency

Answer 46

The basic unit of analysis in the analysis of operant behavior; encompasses the temporal and possibly dependent relations among an antecedent stimulus, behavior, and consequence.

Question 47

unconditioned punisher

Answer 47

A stimulus change that decreases the frequency of any behavior that immediately precedes it irrespective of the organism’s learning history with the stimulus. Unconditioned punishers are products of the evolutionary development of the species (phylogeny), meaning that all members of a species are more or less susceptible to punishment by the presentation of unconditioned punishers (also called primary or unlearned punishers).

Question 48

unconditioned reinforcer

Answer 48

A stimulus change that increases the frequency of any behavior that immediately precedes it irrespective of the organism’s learning history with the stimulus. Unconditioned reinforcers are the product of the evolutionary development of the species (phylogeny). Also called primary or unlearned reinforcer.

Question 49

unconditioned stimulus

Answer 49

The stimulus component of an unconditioned reflex; a stimulus change that elicits respondent behavior without any prior learning.