Final Flashcards
Stimulus
Anything an organism can sense.
Stimulus Class
A group of stimuli that share some common property.
3 Types of Stimulus Classes
Formal: They look the same in some way.
Temporal: They precede or follow a response.
Functional: They produce the same response.
Two kinds of stimulus changes:
Antecedent: Stimulus change prior to the behavior
Consequences: Stimulus changes post behavior.
Stimulus changes controlled by other people.
socially mediated
Stimulus changes produced direcetly by the behavior.
automatic
What is the environment?
- The circumstances in which the organism exists
- Includes all of the stimuli capable of affecting the organism
- Includes stimuli occurring within the skin
The environment is never…
unchanging
All behavior occurs in a…
context
Behavior
- Iteraction between the organism and environment
- Anything an organism does.
- Behavior never stops – ever – it is a constant flow or stream
Response
An individual instance of behavior
Stumulus Response Learning (3 qualities)
Respondent behavior (reflex)
- Specific responses to specific stimuli
- Selected through evolution – hardwired into our system
- Seemingly linked to species survival
A reflex is a…
Stimulus response relation (A stimulus elicits a reflexive response)
Respondent extinction
The CS is repeatedly presented without the US, the CR will decrease. This decrease in the CR due to repeated CS presentation is called respondent conditioning.
Reinforcement can come in two ways…
- Socially Mediated
- Automatic
In order for a stimulus change to function as a negative reinforcer
some aversive condition must exist prior to the behavior.
Negative reinforcement comes in two ways…
Escape
Avoidance
What is extinction?
The withholding of a reinforcer for a previously reinforced behavior
What is an extinction burst?
An increase in the behavior or other behaviors
that previously produced the specific reinforcer
What are two qualities of an extinction burst?
- An increase in members of a response class
- You may also see other emotional responses
What is spontaneous recovery?
A small resurgence in the behavior after fully
extinguished
What is resurgance?
When you place a behavior on extinction, and it becomes extinguished,it is possible for other behaviors that were previously extinguished to re-emerge.
Once the behavior has reached 0, we say the behavior has been..
The process is…
extinguished
extinction
Punishment is not…
extinction
Extinction is only if…
the decrease in behavior results from withholding reinforcement following that behavior
Withdrawing refers to (and not extinction)…
negative punishement
Extinction is more effective after…
continious reinforcement
Increased motivation will…
increase resistance to extinction
Provide what for extinction?
signals
What is bootleg reinforcement?
Reinforcement that is not under your control or is unprogrammed.
What is a byproduct of extinction?
Aggressive/destructive behaviors
What three effects are you likely to see from extinction?
- Extinction burst
- Spontaneous recovery
- Resurgence
What is continuous reinforcement?
Each occurance is reinforced
What is intermitten reinforcement?
Some occurances are reinforced
Continuous reinforcement is useful for…
- Useful in initially selecting and strengthening new behaviors
- Used during the initial stages of learning when responding is weaker
Intermitten reinforcement useful for…
- Used when behavior is relatively strong or during maintenance phases of instruction
- Helps promote resistance to extinction
All behavior must occasionally contact…
Reinforcement
We need to focus on shifting:
- Continuous programmed reinforcement to intermittent programmed reinforcement.
- Intermittent programmed reinforcement to naturally occurring reinforcement.
What is ratio scheadule?
Reinforcement is delivered based on the number of responses emitted.
What is interval scheadule?
Some amount of time must pass before a response produces reinforcement.
What is fixed ratio?
REINFORCEMENT IS DELIVERED AFTER A
FIXED NUMBER OF RESPONSES.
What are the fixed ratio scheadule characteristics?
-High rate of performance
-Post reinforcement pause (A period of time, following
reinforcement, where responding stops)
-Highly sensitive to extiniction
What is variable ratio?
-REINFORCEMENT IS DELIVERED AFTER A
VARIABLE (AVERAGE) NUMBER OF
RESPONSES
What are the interval scheadule characteristics?
- Very high, steady rate of responding
- Little or no post-reinforcement pause
- Resistant to extinction
What is fixed interval?
-FIRST RESPONSE after a fixed amount of time is reinforced.
What are fixed interval characteristics?
-Slow to moderate rate of responding
-Very large post-reinforcement pause
relative to schedule
-Response rate increase toward end of
interval
-Highly sensitive to extinction
What is the scallop effect?
Response rate increase toward end of
interval.
What is variable interval scheadule?
FIRST TARGETED RESPONSE AFTER A
VARIABLE (AVERAGE) AMOUNT OF TIME IS
REINFORCED.
What are characteristics of variable interval?
- Slow to moderate, steady rate of performance
- Little to no post reinforcement pause
- Resistant to extinction
What is a limited hold?
- A contingency added to the end of a schedule of reinforcement to increase adherence to the schedule
- Specifies a time period following the elapse of the interval during which a response must occur
In geneal, fixed scheadules…
- Longer PRP
- Susceptible to extinction
In general, variable scheadules…
- Short to no PRP
- Steady responding
- Resistant to extinction
When teaching a new behavior, you want to start with a…
Dense scheadule
Scheadule thinning promotes… (3)
- Maintenance of behaviors
- Better patterns of responding
- Resistance to extinction
What is thinning?
Refers to gradually decreasing the frequency of reinforcer delivery.
What is a ratio strain?
- The ratio requirement increased too quickly
- The ratio requirement is too large for the reinforcer offered
Witholding punishment could be considered…
unethical
The punishment selected should be the..
the least restrictive alternative
If using any punishment procedure…
develop clear guidelines and monitoring procedures
What are the myths of punishment? (5)
- Aversive procedures are non-normalized and unnatural
- Reinforcement works better than punishment
- Punishment should be a procedure of last resort
- Treatment hierarchies protect people
- Nonaversives can treat all problem behavior
What is a punisher?
A STIMULUS CHANGE that decreases the p
What is positive punishment?
A stimulus is presented following some behavior and this produces a decrease in the future occurrences of the behavior
What is negative punishment?
A stimulus is removed following some behavior and this produces a decrease in futures occurrences of the behavior.
Types of punishers…
- Unconditioned punisher
- Conditioned punisher
How to make a punisher effective? (5)
- Introduce a punisher at high intensity
- Make it immediete
- Select a dence schedule
- Decrease motivation to respond
- Punish eary on in the chain
What are possible punishment side effects? (3)
- Countercontrol (efforts made by the organism to escape the punishing event)
- Conditioned emotional or aggressive reactions
- Generalized suppression (a suppression of all responding)
What is behavioral contrast?
If a behavior is punished in one environment, it may increase in another environment.
What is the dead man’s rule?
If a dead man can do it, it aint before.
Punishers are defined functionally. What does that mean?
-They are defined by what they do (decrease the behaviors they
follow)
What are the realities of using punishment? (3)
- Most people are uncomfortable with it
- Many people rely on punishment because delivering punishment can negatively reinforce the punisher’s behavior
- It should always be considered a treatment component
What are positive punishment procedures? (4)
- Reprimand
- Response blocking
- Contingent work/effort
- Overcorrection
What are the characteristics of a reprimand?
-Also a commonly ineffective punisher
-May be effective for minor behaviors or
when heavy alternative reinforcement is
available
-Best used sparingly, or combined with
other interventions
What is response blocking?
What is it useful for?
- Physically intervening to block response completion
- Often a treatment component
- Useful for chronic behaviors such as stereotypy
What is RIRD
-Response interruption and redirection (RIRD)
-Response blocking plus redirection to a high
probability behavior
What is contingent work/effort?
- Required effort expenditure following behavior
- There is no topographical relation between effort and problem behavior
What is overcorrection and the two types? What are they good for?
Restitutional: Improve environment to state better than prior to behavior. Very effective with destructive behavior.
Positive practice: Repeatedly practice engaging in appropriate behavior. Very good for behaviors that require physical exertion
Notes on overcorrection (4)
- Problem behavior will typically occur when first implementing the procedure
- Always do one more repetition than you think necessary
- Provide repeated verbal instructions during procedure
- Have extremely high standards
Types of negative punishment
- Response cost
- Time out
Notes on response cost:
- Most effective when combined with a token economy
- Don’t let the individual dig themselves into a deep hole
- Develop a rule regarding loss per unit of time
- Loss of reinforcement should be obvious
- Develop multiple levels of loss
What is time out?
How do we make time out effective?
-Removal of all reinforcement for period of time -A very common punishment intervention -Also overused and sometimes ineffective -In order for time out to be effective, the time-in environment must be reinforcer dense -Not a good option for escape-maintained behaviors
What are the two types of time outs?
Nonexclusionary: Not removed from location, but no reinf available
Exclusionary: Removed from location and directed to a safe confined space
What can we also do to make time out effective? (4)
- Clearly define behaviors that will result in TO
- Make it pretty short
- Develop TO exit criteria
- Begin reinforcement when they get back
How are new behaviors formed?
-Through this process of reproduction, variation, and selection, new behaviors are born
What is differential reinforcement?
-It is the reinforcement of certain behaviors while placing others on extinction
How also is a new behavior formed?
Reinforcing some behaviors and placing others on extinction.
What are the types of differential reinforcement?
- Incompatiable behavior
- Other behavior
- Alternative behavior
- High rates of behavior
- Low rates of behavior
What is differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior?
Reinforce a behavior than cannot be performed at the same time as the problem behavior
What is differential reinforcement of other behavior?
-Reinforce any behavior that occurs after the problem behavior has not occurred for some time.
What are variations in the reinforcement of other behavior? (5)
Resetting Interval: Any occurrence of the behavior results in a reset of the amount of time
necessary to earn reinforcement
Continued Timing: Interval does not reset. The individual must go the remainder of the interval plus another interval
Momentary DRO: You reinforce if behavior is absent at the end of some interval of time.
What is differential behavior of alternative behavior?
Reinforce an appropriate form of the behavior that gets the same consequence.
What is differential reinforcement of high rates of behavior?
You reinforce only when behavior occurs faster than a certain level.
What is differental reinforcement of low rates of behavior?
You reinforce only when behavior occurs slower or less than a certain level.
What is positive reinforcement?
A stimulus is added to the environment following a response and the result is an increase in future behavior
What is negative reinforcement?
A stimulus is removed from the environment following a response and the result is an increase in future behavior.
Who was the founder of behaviorism?
Watson
What was Skinner’s contribution?
- Skinner expanded the theory and study of behaviorism
- Sought to include all human behavior into the field of study
- Came up with ABC
- Thoughts and feelings should be counted as behavior (the radical part)
What are the two minds of behavior?
Operant: Behavior learned through consequences
Respondent: Reflexes
What is the purpose of science?
Better understand the phenomena of interest.
What are the three levels of understanding?
- Description
- Prediction
- Influence/control
Attitudes of a good scientist:
Determinism: universe follows laws
Empiricism: knowlege is achieved through sensing
Experiment
Replication
Parsimony
Philosophic doubt
We never explain behavior by…
other behavior
Labeling behavior doesn’t…
explain behavior
What is mentalism?
Generally refers to explanations of behavior that infer non-physical “mental” processes as causes.
What are explanatory fictions?
Explanations that don’t actually explain or contribute to understanding; typically circular.
In behaviorism, what controls behavior?
The environment.
What are the dimensions of ABA?
Applied: Socially significant behaviors targeted.
Behavioral: Target the specific behavior in need of improvement; behaviors are observable and measureable.
Analytic: fundamental relations are discovered through manipulation of the independent variable while observing effects on the dependent variables
Technological: All procedures are described adequately to be replicable.
Conceptually Systematic: Procedures are derived from, and described in relation to, basic principles.
Generality: Behavior change lasts over time, is seen in other environements, and spreads to other behaviors.
Effective: Behavior changes to a socially significant degree.
What is a reinforcer?
Name the three parts!
A STIMULUS CHANGE THAT INCREASES THE
FUTURE FREQUENCY OF THE BEHAVIOR IT
IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWS.
Reinforcement changes the future responses in…
the same response class
What is automaticity?
A STIMULUS CHANGE THAT INCREASES THE
FUTURE FREQUENCY OF THE BEHAVIOR IT
IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWS.
What is rule governed behavior?
Behavior controlled by statements about contingencies
What is contingency shaped behavior?
Controlled directly by the immediate consequences
What are uncondionted reinforcers?
Require no learning to function as reinforces.
What is stimuls control?
- A response occurs in the presence of a stimulus, but not in it’s absence
- A response occurs in the absence of a stimulus, but not in it’s presence
What is a discriminative stimulus? (SD)
A stimulus that “signals” reinforcement is available for a certain response.
What is a delta stimulus?
A stimulus that signals no reinforcement is available for a certain response.
What’s as SDP?
Some stimuli are associated with punishment for certain behaviors.
What is a prompt?
Supplemental stimuli that increase the
likelihood that a response will occur
What are common response prompts?
Gestural
Modeling
Physical
Verbal
How do you prompt fade?
Remove the prompt while the SD remains ◦ The SD comes to control the response
What are the methods of prompt fading?
Most-to-least fading
Least-to-most fading
Time delay fading
Graduated guidance
How do you do most to least prompt fading?
- Start with most efficient prompt
- Systematically decrease prompts with each successful response
- If an error is made, you return to the last successful prompt
How do you do least to most prompt fading?
- Start with the least intrusive prompt
- If no response or an incorrect response move to the next least intrusive prompt
- Continue until you reach a prompt that results in the correct response
How does time delay prompting work?
- The form of the prompt does not change, only the delay to the prompt
- Upon the first presentation of an SD, the prompt is immediately delivered
- Upon the second presentation of the SD, the prompt is delivered after a few seconds
- This continues until no prompt is necessary
What is graduated guidance?
- In close physical proximity to learner, provide assistance as needed
- Immediately begin decreasing physical proximity
- Increase physical proximity as errors occur or are predicted to occur
Tips on prompts and prompt fading
- A difficulty in transferring control of the response from the prompt to the SD
- You should try to fade prompts as quickly as possible
- Lingering on one prompt level too long can result in prompt dependency
- If you find prompt dependency has developed and you cannot remove the prompt, consider switching to a different prompting hierarch.
What are motivating operations?
Stimulus changes in your environment (things that happen to you) that
(1) influence the value of other stimuli as reinforcers (value-altering effect) and
(2) influence the probability of specific behaviors (behavior-altering effect).
What are the two kinds of motivating operations?
Establishing operation (deprivation) Abolishing operation (satiation)
What are the two effects of an establishing operation?
Establishing effect (value-altering) Evocative effect (behavior-altering)
What are the two effects of an abolishing operation?
Abolishing effect (value altering) Abative effect (behavior altering)
What is the difference between and SD and a MO?
A N M O C H A N G E S M O T I V A T I O N F O R S O M E C O N S E Q U E N C E A N
S D I S A S S O C I A T E D W I T H T H E
A V A I L A B I L I T Y O F T H E C O N S E Q U E N C E
MO vs SD
