Final Exam Vocabulary

Question 1

Operant Conditioning

Answer 1

Increasing or decreasing a voluntary behavior through reinforcement or punishment.

Question 2

Positive Reinforcement

Answer 2

A stimulus/event at follows a behavior in order to increase the rate of occurrence of that behavior.

Question 3

Punishment

Answer 3

A stimulus/event that follows a behavior in order to decrease the occurrence of that behavior.

Question 4

Negative Reinforcement

Answer 4

A stimulus/event that is removed following a behavior in order to increase the rate of occurrence of that behavior.

Question 5

Antecedent

Answer 5

The stimulus/event factor that precedes a behavior

Question 6

Consequence

Answer 6

The stimulus/environmental factor that follows and reinforces a behavior

Question 7

Behavior

Answer 7

A person’s action that is observable and measurable

Question 8

Three term contingency

Answer 8

Antecedent + Behavior + Consequence. The method in which applied behavior analysts examine behavior.

Question 9

Social Validity

Answer 9

The acceptability of a treatment’s goals and/or procedures by the primary stakeholders involved.

Question 10

Operational Definition

Answer 10

Providing concrete examples of a target behavior. Minimizes disagreements among observers as to the behavior’s occurrence.

Question 11

Behavioral Objective (CSBC)

Answer 11

A statement that communicates a proposed change in a target behavior. Must include these components: condition, student, behavior, and criteria.

Question 12

Indirect Assessment

Answer 12

Assessment measures that do no include direct observation of the behavior as it is occurring. Instead assessment is done through talking about the behavior through an informant.

Question 13

Direct Assessment

Answer 13

Assessment measures that include observing the behavior as it is occurring.

Question 14

Discrete Behaviors

Answer 14

Behaviors with a clearly discernible beginning and ending.

Question 15

Latency

Answer 15

The amount of time between the presentation of a stimulus and the initiation of a response.

Question 16

Partial Interval Recording

Answer 16

A method of measuring a behavior’s frequency by indicating if a behavior occurred at least once during an interval of time. Tends to overestimate duration and underestimate rate of behaviors.

Question 17

Reversal Design (ABAB)

Answer 17

A format for graphing single-subject data that allows for monitoring behavior change. Has an initial baseline phase and intervention phase in which the independent variable is applied. Then the independent variable is withdrawn and reapplied. Can demonstrate a functional relationship between the dependent and independent variables.

Question 18

Dependent Variable

Answer 18

The behavior to be changed through intervention (independent variable)

Question 19

Independent Variable

Answer 19

The treatment or intervention that the experimenter manipulates in order to change a behavior.

Question 20

Primary reinforcers

Answer 20

Stimuli (such as food) that may have biological importance to an individual; such stimuli are innately motivating.

Question 21

Pairing

Answer 21

Simultaneous presentation of primary and secondary reinforcers to condition the secondary reinforcer.

Question 22

Satiation

Answer 22

A condition that occurs when there is no longer a state of deprivation.

Question 23

Fixed ratio schedule

Answer 23

Schedule for the delivery of reinforcers contingent on the number of correct responses; which the number of correct responses is held constant.

Question 24

Variable interval schedule

Answer 24

Schedule for the delivery of reinforcers contingent on the occurrence of a behavior following an average amount of time, where the interval of time varies for reinforcement.

Question 25

Thinning

Answer 25

Making reinforcement gradually available less often or contingent on greater amounts of appropriate behavior.

Question 26

Extinction

Answer 26

Withholding reinforcement for a previously reinforced behavior to reduce the occurrence of the behavior

Question 27

Noncontingent Reinforcement (NCR)

Answer 27

The delivery of reinforcers at predetermined intervals regardless of the student behavior

Question 28

Stimulus Control

Answer 28

The relation in which an antecedent prompts a behavior or serves as a cue for the behavior to occur.

Question 29

Shaping

Answer 29

Teaching new behaviors through differential reinforcement of successive approximations to a specified target behavior.

Question 30

Applied Behavior Analysis

Answer 30

A method of examining the functional relationship between a behavior and the real-world environmental variables that prompt and maintain it.

Question 31

Generalization

Answer 31

When a behavior is durable over time, appears in a variety of environments, and occurs in the presence of similar stimuli.

Question 32

Stimulus Generalization

Answer 32

When behaviors that have been reinforced in the presence of a specific stimulus occur in the presence of different but similar stimuli