Chapter 2: Basic Concepts and Principles

Question 1

Antecendent

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Behavior

Answer 2

Portion of an organism’s interaction with its environment that involves movement of some part of the organism.

• larger set/class of responses that share physical dimensions (e.g. hand-flapping behavior) or functions (e.g. study behavior).

Question 3

Consequence

Answer 3

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 4

Environment

Answer 4

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

• all behavior occurs within an environment.
• complex and differ from instance to instance.

Question 5

Habituation

Answer 5

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 the concept also applies to within-session changes in operant behavior.

Question 6

Operant Behavior

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Ontogeny

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Phylogeny

Answer 8

The history of the natural evolution of a species.

Question 9

Reflex

Answer 9

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 10

Repertoire

Answer 10

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

A collection of knowledge or skills an individual has learned pertaining to a skill, task, or setting.

Question 11

Respondent Behavior

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Response

Answer 12

A single instance or occurrence of a specific class or type of behavior.

Technical definition: an “action of an organisms 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.”

• specific type of behavior occurring after a stimulus change in the environment.
• measurable unit of analysis in the science of behavior.

Question 13

Response Class

Answer 13

A group of responses of varying topography, all of which produce the same effect on the environment.

A group of behaviors that have the same function. Described using function or topography.

Function - Each response produces the same effect on the environment (e.g. Making a basket).
Topography - The form or shape of the response (e.g. Shooting form).

Question 14

Selectionism

Answer 14

A theory that all forms of life naturally and continually evolve as a result of the interaction between function and the survival value of that function. Operant selection by consequences is the conceptual and empirical foundation of behavior analysis.

Question 15

Socially Mediated Contingency

Answer 15

Also known as reinforcement:

A contingency in which an antecedent stimulus and/or the consequence for the behavior is presented by another person.

Question 16

Stimulus

Answer 16

An energy change that affects an organism through its receptor cells.

• environmental event that affects organisms.
• physical events that affect the behavior of an individual.
• external or internal to an individual.

Question 17

Stimulus Class

Answer 17

A groups 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.

Any group of stimuli sharing a predetermined set of common elements in one or more of these dimensions.

These dimensions are used to describe stimulus events.
- formally: Physical features of stimuli (e.g. shape, color, spatial position).
- temporally: When stimuli occur in respect to behavior of interest (e.g. antecedent or consequence).
- functionally: Effect of stimulus on behavior (e.g. hearing an alarm on a phone or oven).

Question 18

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

Answer 18

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