Cumulative Vocabulary Review Flashcards
Applied
The intervention must be applied to socially significant behaviors requiring change
Behavioral
Must be observable and measurable
Generativity
The behavior continues after the withdrawal of intervention and occurs in other settings/situations
Effective
The intervention is demonstrated through visual analysis of data to have produced positive results
Technological
The intervention is described and clear and precise terms
Conceptual
Interventions must be based on the principles of behavior and to the extent available, empirical data (literature/research)
Analytic
Demonstrating a functional relation between the intervention and the behavior, demonstration of control of the behavior by the intervention
Principles of Behavior
Derived from Operant Conditioning Theory (Developed by Skinner)
Learning occurs through experiences and the interaction with variables in the environment (Antecedents & Consequences)
Learning occurs through reinforcement and punishment
Applied Behavior Analysis
The process of applying sometimes tentative principles of behavior to the improvement of specific behaviors and simultaneously evaluating whether or not any changes noted are indeed attributable to the process of application
Radical Behaviorism
Skinner’s “far-reaching” form of behaviorism that includes both “public” and “private” behaviors
Methodological Behaviorism
A philosophical position in which behavioral events that cannot be observed are not behaviors
Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB)
Founded by Skinner; A natural science focusing on studying operant behavior as a subject matter, using single-subject experimental designs rather than group designs to measure behavior as a dependent variable
Behaviorism
Philosophy of science focused on observable and measurable phenomena
Pragmatism
The notion that a question is only worth pursuing if the answer to it would change our knowledge of the world
To be pragmatic is to explore answers to questions for which the answers would improve someone’s circumstances
Realism
The view of the world that assumes only the natural world, which presupposes an absolute truth
“View of the world that assumes a real-world to exist apart from our perceptions”
Mentalism
The assumption of an “inner” dimension as the explanation of behavior
Describing behavior as having non-physical, mental cause
Determinism
The assumption that the universe is a lawful and orderly place in which phenomena occur in relation to other events, not in an accidental fashion
- There are always causes of behavior
- All actions are the result of heredity or environmental factors
Explanatory Fiction
A fictitious variable, often another name for an observable behavior, which implies an inner cause for the behavior
Mental events used to explain behavior
Private Event
An event that can only be observed and verified by the individual performing the behavior
Public Event
An event observed by another person
Natural Event
An event that is locatable in time and space in the natural world
Explained by other natural events
Operant Conditioning
- Learning of “voluntary” responses/behaviors
- Learning takes place through consequences that follow the behavior
- 3-term contingency
Classical Conditioning
In classical (respondent) conditioning, the response is involuntary for the individual, such as breathing or sweating
Created by Ivan Pavlov
New reflex would form that is conditional upon experience (eg. salivating when smelling your favorite food)
Conditioned Stimulus
A formerly neutral stimulus that, after being associated with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to produce a conditioned response.
Example: If the sound of a whistle is paired with the smell of food multiple times, the whistle can eventually trigger hunger.
Unconditioned Stimulus
A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response.
Food: In Pavlov’s experiment, food was the unconditioned stimulus that caused dogs to salivate. The smell of food can also make you feel hungry.
Conditioned Response
The learned response to a conditioned stimulus.
Pavlov’s dogs salivated when they heard their food assistants approaching, even before the food was there. You might also salivate when you hear your microwave beep if you’ve associated that sound with the smell of food.
Unconditioned Response
The unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus.
Taste: Salivating in response to a sour taste
Discriminative Stimulus
Stimulus that triggers/tells the individual what to do in a situation
Positive Reinforcement
Addition of preferred stimulus that increases the rate of future behavior
Negative Reinforcement
Removal of non-preferred stimulus that increases the rate of future behavior
Positive Punishment
Addition of stimulus that decreases the rate of future behavior
Negative Punishment
Removal of stimulus that decreases the rate of future behavior
Verbal Behavior
Vocal, written, gestures, and sign language
An operant behavior that requires the presence of another person for its reinforcement; Speaker and listener
Discrimination
A change in an individual’s behavior with a change in context
Discriminative Stimulus
Changes in the environment that induce different activities
Rule-Governed Behavior
Implicitly shaped behavior
Rule:
- A verbal SD that points to reinforcement relation
- Depends on the verbal behavior of another person
Stimulus Control
Behavior changes as the context changes
Contingency
A dependent relationship between two events
A contingency between two events exists when one event is predictive of the likelihood of the occurrence of the other event
Motivating Operation
An environmental variable that:
- Alters the reinforcing or punishing effects of a stimulus, object, or event
- Alters the frequency of all behavior reinforced or punished by that stimulus
Echoic
Verbal imitation
May begin with the imitation of sounds
Mand
A request
Requesting and rejecting
Tact
A label; Followed by a generalized conditioned reinforcer
Child says “plane” when plane is visible
Intraverbal
Asking/answering questions - conversation
Parsimony
Scientific explanation that emphasizes simplicity and reliance on well-established knowledge
Empiricism
Knowledge based on experience
Reinforcement Trap
A short term contingency that reinforces maladaptive behavior is pitted against a long-term contingency that provides large reinforcers for good behavior
EX: Short term reinforcement of smoking a cigarette is chosen over the long term reinforcement of good health
Phylogenic Selectionism
The evolutionary history of individuals originating from the contingencies that operate during the environmental history of a species (Darwinism)
Ontogenic Selectionism
How the environment changes an individual over his or her lifetime; Changes in an organism resulting from interaction with the environment
Cultural Selectionism
Passing behavior from one person to another by imitation and modeling; Involves operant conditioning; specific to culture and may refer to individual organisms, as well as groups
Experimentation
A controlled comparison of a phenomenon of interest under two or more different conditions
Experimental Analysis of Behavior
A natural science approach to the study of behavior as a subject matter; analysis or study of operant behavior
Independent Variable
The intervention being studied; the intervention that is changing the behavior
Dependent Variable
The behavior being studied/being changed; the behavior that is dependent on the intervention for change
Replication
Repeating conditions with an experiment to determine the reliability of effects and increase internal validity
Verification
demonstrating that the prior level of baseline responding would have remained unchanged had the independent variable not been introduced
Prediction
A statement of the anticipated outcome of a presently unknown or future measurement
Situational Ethics
The tendency to tailor behavior about good/bad, right/wrong to particular situations rather than more generally across situations
