Chapter 2- operant behavior

Question 1

Behavior

Answer 1

That portion of an organism’s interaction with its environment that is characterized by detectable displacement of space through time of some part of the organism and results in a measurable change in at least one aspect of the
environment

Question 2

Operant Behavior

Answer 2

behavior that is selected,
maintained, and brought under stimulus control as a function of its consequences (i.e., reinforcement/punishment)

Question 3

Phylogeny

Answer 3

The history of the natural evolution of a species (i.e., behavior is
acquired by the species during the course of its evolution as a result of contingencies of
survival)

Question 4

Ontogeny

Answer 4

The history of the development of an individual during its lifetime
(i.e., behavior is acquired by an organism during the course of its lifetime
through its history of consequences)

Question 5

Cultural selections

Answer 5

Behavior is passed on from one member of a group to another-
Culture and cultural norms are established through selection by consequences
for group survival

Question 6

Operant Conditioning

Answer 6

The basic process by which operant learning occurs in which 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 7

Law of effect

Answer 7

Behavior that results in a pleasant/satisfying
consequence/outcome is more likely to be repeated under
similar circumstances in the future, and behavior that results
in an unpleasant consequence/outcome is less likely to
occur again under similar circumstances

Question 8

Consequence

Answer 8

any stimulus
change after a behavior of interest-some have a significant influence on
behavior, while others have little effect

Question 9

Positive

Answer 9

not referencing an pleasant attribute of a stimulus, it is
referencing the presentation of a stimulus

Question 10

Negative

Answer 10

is not referencing an unpleasant attribute of a stimulus, it is
referencing the termination of a stimulus

Question 11

Reinforcement

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Reinforcer

Answer 12

he stimulus change that increases the future
frequency of that type of behavior that immediately precedes it

Question 13

Punishment

Answer 13

occurs when stimulus change immediately follows a response and
decreases the future frequency of that type of behavior in similar circumstance

Question 14

Punisher

Answer 14

The stimulus change that decreases the future frequency of that
type of behavior that immediately precedes it

Question 15

Positive Reinforcement

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Negative Reinforcement

Answer 16

occurs when a behavior is followed immediately by
the removal of an aversive stimulus (or reduction in in intensity) that
increases the future frequency of the similar responses in similar conditions

Question 17

Positive Punishment

Answer 17

occurs when a behavior is immediately followed by the
presentation of a aversive stimulus and, as a result, decreases the future
frequency of similar responses in similar conditions

Question 18

Negative Punishment

Answer 18

occurs when a behavior is immediately followed by the
removal of a desirable stimulus (or a decrease in the intensity of the stimulus)
and, as a result, decreases the future frequency of similar responses in similar
conditions

Question 19

Automatic reinforcement

Answer 19

Reinforcement that occurs independent of the social mediation of others.

Question 20

Conditioned reinforcer

Answer 20

A stimulus change that functions as a reinforcer because of a prior pairing with one or more other reinforcers.

Question 21

Conditioned punisher

Answer 21

A previously neutral stimulus change that functions as a punisher because of prior pairing with one or more other punishers.

Question 22

History of reinforcement

Answer 22

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 23

Contingency shaped behavior

Answer 23

behavior acquired by direct experience with contingencies.

Question 24

Joint control

Answer 24

Phenomena in which two separate but interrelated forms of a person’s own verbal behavior combine to acquire stimulus control of a response that would not have occurred in the absence of either.

Question 25

Discriminative stimulus

Answer 25

A stimulus in the presence of which a given behavior has been reinforced.

Question 26

Discriminated operant

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Deprivation

Answer 27

the state of an organism with respect to how much time has elapsed since it has consumed or contracted a particular type of reinforcer. Also refers to a procedure for increasing the effectiveness of a reinforcer.

Question 28

Motivating operation

Answer 28

An environmental variable that A) alters the reinforcing or punishing effectiveness of some stimulus, object, or event, and B) alters the current frequency of all behaviors that has been reinforced or punished by that stimulus, object, or event.

Question 29

Aversive stimulus

Answer 29

In general, an unpleasant or noxious stimulus. A stimulus change or condition that functions to evoke behavior that has terminated it in the past or as a punisher or as a reinforcer when withdrawn.

Question 30

Contingent

Answer 30

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

Question 31

unconditioned reinforcer

Answer 31

A stimulus change that increases the frequency of any behavior that immediately precedes it irrespective of the organisms learning history with the stimulus.

Question 32

Unconditioned punisher

Answer 32

A stimulus change that decreases the frequency of any behavior that immediately precedes it irrespective of the organism’s learning history with the stimulus.

Question 33

Rule-governed behavior

Answer 33

Behavior controlled by a rule enables human behavior to come under the indirect control of temporally, remote, or improbable but potentially significant consequences.

Question 34

Stimulus control

Answer 34

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 35

Automaticity of reinforcement

Answer 35

Refers to the fact that behavior is modified by its consequences irrespective of the persons awareness: a person does not have to recognize or verbalize the relation between her behavior and a reinforcing consequence for reinforcement to “work”

Question 36

Selectionism

Answer 36

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 BA.

Question 37

Three-term Contingency

Answer 37

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.