EXAM TERMS Flashcards
Behavior Analysis
A natural science that studies functional relations between behavior and environmental events
Behavior
Behavior is everything that an organism does. The interaction of the muscles, glands, or other parts of a live organism with the environment
Public behavior
Behavior that can be observed by others, even though special instrumentation may be required at times.
Private behavior
Behavior that cannot be observed by others; it is only accessible to the organism who is engaging in the private event.
Response
A specific instance of behavior
Response cycle
The beginning, middle, and end of a resonse
Property
A fundamental quality of a natural phenomenon
Fundamental properties
Temporal Locus, Temporal Extent, Repeatability
Temporal Locus
A single response occurs in time
Temporal Extent
A response occupies time
Repeatability
A response can reoccur
Dimensional quantities
A quantifiable aspect of property
Latency
The amount of time between a stimulus and a response
Duration
The amount of time between the beginning and the end of the response cycle
Countability
The number of responses or number of cycles of the response class.
IRT
The time between two successive responses
Rate
The ratio of the number of responses over some period of time
Celeration
Change in one of the other dimensional quantities of behavior over time
Topography
Configuration, form, or shape of a response
Function
The effects or results of a response on the evironment
Response class
A grouping of individual actions or responses that share those commonalities included in the class definition
Topographical Response Class
A collection of two or more responses which share a common form
Functional Response Class
A collection of two or more topographically different responses that all have the same effect on the environment, usually producing a specific class of reinforcers
Environment
The total constellation of stimuli and conditions which can affect behavior
Environmental context
Consist of the situation (set of circumstances) in which behavior occurs at any given time.
Stimulus
A change in the environment which can affect behavior
Antecedent
A stimulus which precedes, that is, occurs before a response
Consequence
A stimulus which follows, that is, occurs before a response
Stimulus class
A group of stimuli that share specified common elements along formal, temporal and/or functional dimensions
Functional relation
Changes in an antecedent or consequent stimulus class consistently alter a dimension of a response class
Science
Science is a systematic approach for seeking and organizing knowledge about the natural world
Goals of Science
Description, Prediction, and control
Natural Science
Empirical phenomena; direct observation & measurement of phenomena or its permanent products
Types of natural science
Physics, chemistry, biology, behavior analysis
Social Science
Hypothetical constructs outside of the natural realm; Indirect observation & measurement
Types of social science
Psychology, sociology, political science
Philosophical assumptions
Determinism, empiricism, parsimony, philosophical doubt, pragmatism
Determinism
The universe is a lawful and orderly place
Empiricism
Objective observation with thorough description and quantification of the phenomena of interest, behavior
Experimentation
Systematic manipulation of an independent variable
Replication
Repeating any part of an experiment
Parsimony
Requires that all simple, logical explanations for the phenomena of interest be ruled out experimentally before more complex or abstract explanations are considered
Philosophical Doubt
Continually question the truthfulness of what is regarded as fact
Pragmatism
Assesses the truth of theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application
Behaviorism
The philosophy or world view underlying behavior analysis. Posits that behavior is the subject matter of our science
Radical Behaviorism
B.F. Skinner’s philosophy of the science of human behavior. Most influential type of behaviorism for guiding the science and practice of behavior analysis
Determinants of Behavior
Causes of behavior; probabilistic
Selection
The process in which repeated cycles occur of variation, interaction with the environment, and differential replication as a function of the interaction
Natural Selection
The environment selects which variations survive and are passed on
Cultural Selection
Cultural practices evolve as they contribute to the success of the practicing group.
