Cooper: Chapter 1

Question 1

Fictitious/hypothetical variable that is named differently than the observed phenomena, but adds nothing to functionally explaining or understanding what is observed

Answer 1

Explanatory Fiction

Question 2

views behavioral events that cannot be publicly observed as OUTSIDE the realm of science

Answer 2

Methodological Behaviorism

Question 3

Objective observation of phenomena of interest

Answer 3

Empiricism

Question 4

Philosophy of a science of behavior

EG: methodological or radical

Answer 4

Behaviorism

Question 5

Assumption that the universe is a lawful and orderly place in which phenomena occur in relation to other events and not in accidental fashion

Answer 5

Determinism

Question 6

Behaviorism that attempts to understand all human bc, including private events like thoughts and feelings in terms of controlling variables

Answer 6

Radical Behaviorism

Question 7

Truthfulness and validity of all scientific theory and knowledge should be continually questioned

Answer 7

Philosophic Doubt

Question 8

Science in which tactics derived from the principles of behavior are applied to improve SOCIALLY SIGNIFICANT behavior and experimentation is used to identify variables responsible for improvement in behavior

Answer 8

Applied Behavior Analysis

Question 9

Practice of ruling out simple, logical explanations (experimentally/conceptually) before considering more complex or abstract explanations

Answer 9

Parsimony

Question 10

Presumed but UNOBSERVED process or entity; cannot be manipulated by an experiment

Answer 10

Hypothetical Construct

Question 11

Carefully controlled comparison of some measure of phenomena of interest (DV) under two or more conditions that differ by only one factor (IV) at a time

Answer 11

Experiment

Question 12

Different from behaviorism; assumes that mental (“inner”) dimension exist separately from behavioral dimension and causes (or mediates) some form of behavior (if not all)

Answer 12

Mentalism

Question 13

Founded by Skinner; natural science approach to study of behavior. Emphasizes functional relations between behavior and controlling variables in the environment

Answer 13

Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB)

Question 14

Systematic approach to understanding of natural phenomena (by description/prediction/control)

Determinism = fundamental assumption
Empiricism = prime directive
Experiment = basic strategy
Replication = believability 
Parsimony = conservative value
Philosophic Doubt = guiding conscience

Answer 14

Science

Question 15

Repeating experiments; primary method which scientists determine reliability and usefulness of findings and discover mistakes

Answer 15

Replication

Question 16

The occurence of the phenomena under study as a function of the operation of one or more specified and controlled variables; a specific change in one event (DV) can be produced by manipulating another event (IV) & changes in DV unlikely to be result of other factors (confounding variables)

b = f(x1),(x2)

Answer 16

Functional Relation