Environmental v Mentalistic explanations of behavior

Question 1

With regard to feelings, behavior analysts maintain that they…
A. Exist and cause overt behavior
B. Involve covert and respondent behavior governed by the same contingencies that affect overt behavior
C. Are mentalistic constructs that do not exist

Answer 1

B
What is referred to as “feelings“ or “emotions“ involves many different operant and respondent behaviors, that tend to occur together, within a specific context, and that include physiological responses that the person can feel and tact. For example, when exposed to certain stimuli (a barking dog), A person might feel his heart rate increase and his breathing quicken (respondent). He also might run away from the dog (operant), and a casual observer might say that he ran because he was “scared of the dog,“ that would mean that he ran because he felt his heart rate and breathing change. A more parsimonious explanation would be that these physiological changes are respondent behaviors elicited by the dog, and that they also function as SDs that evoke running because running from stimuli associated with danger in the past has been affective in providing escape from those stimuli. We tend to give explanations of emotion using terms like “scared“ because it is easier than attempting to describe all respondent, operant, and collateral events involved in a persons emotional and behavioral responses

Question 2

Mentalism
A. Tends to halt further inquiry into causal factors
B. Appeals to feelings or states of mind as a cause of behavior
C. Is an antecedent analysis
D. All of the above

Answer 2

D
A mentalistic explanation of behavior is based on internal states that are unobservable and unmeasurable. These alleged causal antecedent events, when excepted, tend to end the search for physical explanations of behavior

Question 3

Which is NOT an explanatory fiction? A child becomes an award-winning pianist because…
A. He had great talent from an early age
B. He practices at least 10 hours a week
C. His practice has reinforced his abilities
D. His knowledge of music is reinforced by practice

Answer 3

B
An explanatory fiction is circular reasoning whereby the cause and affect are both inferred from the same information. For example, “he cried because he felt sad.“ The sad feeling and the crying are both inferred from the same cluster of depressive behaviors. Words that are sometimes associated with explanatory fictions include: attitude, feelings, ability, talent, expectation, knowledge

Question 4

Mentalism…
A. Refers to contingencies of reinforcement as a cause of behavior
B. Characterizes feelings or states of mind as cause of behavior
C. Regards behavior as pathological or evidence of mental illness
All of the above

Answer 4

B
Mentalism is the attribution of behavior to the mind; two unobservable events. A mentalistic interpretation asserts that feelings, sensations, and states of mind cause behavior

Question 5

Although erroneous, mentalism is most like…
A. Both an antecedent and consequence analysis
B. And analysis of establishing operations
C. Consequent analysis
D. An antecedent analysis

Answer 5

D

Question 6

Feelings…
	A. Do not cause behavior
	B. Can be explanatory fictions
	C. Can be collateral products
	D. All of the above

Answer 6

D

Question 7

One reason behavior analysis is a natural science is that…
A. Employees a multidisciplinary approach
B. It employs statistical analysis
C. It doesn’t employ mentalism
D. It’s methods are consistent with the social sciences

Answer 7

C

Question 8

With circular reasoning, the cause is determined…
A. If the consequence for one behavior is the antecedent for the next behavior
B. From information independent of the effect
C. From the same information as the effect
D. By evaluating the cost independent of the effect

Answer 8

C
Circular reasoning occurs when a cause is determined from the same information as the effect. For example, a child’s disrespect for others (cause) may be attributed to bad attitude (effect). However, the bad attitude is only another description of the behavior. Attitude doesn’t cause disrespect. Contrast this to, say, tantruming that is determined from a functional assessment is due to contingent attention. The cause, contingent attention, is determined by evaluating the environment contingencies. Not the tantrum itself