Chapter 20 - Conditioned Reinforcer

Question 1

What type of reinforcement is most likely to always be an effective reinforcer even if you have just had a lot of it?

Answer 1

generalized reinforcer

Question 2

When reciting “Mary had a little lamb” you would first say, “Mary,” and this response would serve as a discriminative stimulus for the second response, “had,” and so on. The entire sequence would be called a(n) __________ (if there were some “final” reinforcement).

Answer 2

chain

Question 3

Everyone at Sunflower House had to earn 100 points a week to be eligible to continue living there. In January, Sunflower House changed that rule so that the members did not have to earn 100 points. They are now on their honor to earn 100 points a week simply to help the house running. Sunflower House soon learned that the members earned fewer and fewer points each week. These results suggested that points should be classified as what kind of reinforcer?

Answer 3

conditioned

Question 4

A reinforcer that makes a conditioned reinforcer effective is called a(n) _____________ reinforcer.

Answer 4

backup

Question 5

Claire started using “ephemeral” when she was around Dale because he complimented her for having such a good vocabulary. One day Kevin also complimented her for using “ephemeral.” After that, she said “ephemeral” in her conversation with many people. What behavioral procedure did Dale and Kevin use to get Claire to say the word with new people who had never reinforced her? ___________

Answer 5

generalization training

Question 6

Every time that Jean made an approving statement to her teachers, Polirstok and Greer (1977) have her a token. The tokens could be exchanged for music tapes, extra gym time, lunch with a favorite teacher, or extra English credit. These tokens could be considered to be a(n) ___________ reinforcer.

Answer 6

generalized

Question 7

Melody had been praised very strongly by her father for using the word “gregarious” for the first time one day. After that, Melody used the word in a conversation with her mother. What is the name for the process of using “gregarious” with her mother without ever having been reinforced by her mother?

Answer 7

generalization

Question 8

A sequence of responses in which the results of one response serve as an SD for the next response and in which the last response leads to a reinforcer is called a(n) ___________.

Answer 8

stimulus/response chain

Question 9

Define generalized reinforcer.

Answer 9

A reinforcer that is paired with many backup reinforcers.

Question 10

Carey earned a point for every page of the SRA Reading Program that she finished. She could trade each point for one cookie. Carey’s parents noted that she usually earned a few points early in the morning and then quit working for that day. The points probably lost their effectiveness as a conditioned reinforcer because Carey soon becomes __________ with cookies.

Answer 10

satiated

Question 11

The fifth tactic in using the stimulus control strategy for solving human problems is to make reinforcement more practical by creating __________ reinforcers.

Answer 11

conditioned

Question 12

Any reinforcer that loses its effectiveness permanently through unpaired presentations is called a(n) __________ reinforcer.

Answer 12

conditioned

Question 13

When towels were no longer backed up with social attention by Ayllon and Michael (1963), the towels lost their effectiveness as reinforcers. Thus, towels should be considered to be a(n) __________

Answer 13

conditioned

Question 14

Define stimulus/chain response.

Answer 14

A sequence of two or more responses in which the last lead to reinforcement and each prior response produces an SD for the following response.

Question 15

A stimulus/chain response is several related responses in which the results of one response serve as a(n) __________ for the next response.

Answer 15

SD

Question 16

Suppose the teacher have Juan two math problems such as “2 + 2 = ?” and “4 + 3 = ?.” Juan’s responses would not constitute a stimulus/response chain because the response to one problem does not serve as a(n) __________ for the response to the second problem.

Answer 16

SD

Question 17

One major advantage that conditioned reinforcers have over their backups, with respect to their effectiveness as reinforcers, is that conditioned reinforcers can easily be delivered according to the principle of ___________.

Answer 17

immediacy

Question 18

Define conditioned reinforcer

Answer 18

Any reinforcing event that loses its effectiveness permanently if presented unpaired with backup reinforcers.

Question 19

what is a generalized conditioned reinforcer?

Answer 19

a conditioned reinforcer that’s paired with many other reinforcers