flashcard fluency
truth of theories is determined by how well it works in practice
pragmatism
think: practical
choosing the simplest explanation before considering complex ones
parsimony
hint: simplest explanation
behavior influenced by its consequences, strengthened or weakened through reinforcement or punishment (ontogeny)
operant behavior
hint: behavior
learning process where behavior is shaped by its consequences, increasing or decreasing based on reinforcement or punishment
operant conditioning
hint: learning process, based on reinforcement & punishment
when a behavior is altered based on the presence or absence of an antecedent stimulus
stimulus control
hint: behavior is altered
environmental variable that alters the value of a reinforcer or punisher and alters frequency of related behavior
motivating operation
hint: alters value of reinforcer
behavior is modified by its consequences, regardless of awareness
automaticity of reinforcement
theory/assumption that behavior evolves and is maintained by consequences (function)
selectionism
hint: theory/assumption, behavior evolves
behavior learned directly by experience with contingencies
contingency-shaped behavior
hint: contingencies
a specific change in behavior caused by manipulating the environment
functional relation
procedure testing variable relations
experiment
hint: procedure testing
demonstrates functional relations between environmental variables and behavior
functional analysis
hint: demonstrates
fictitious/hypothetical variable that tries to explain behavior without evidence
explanatory fiction
hint: explain without evidence
presumed but unobservable process or entity (e.g. Freud’s id)
hypothetical construct
hint: unobservable
focuses on the behavior’s structure (what the behavior is)
e.g. a child screams loudly and stomps their feet
form
focuses on the behavior’s purpose (why the behavior occurs)
e.g. a child screams and stomps for attention or escape from a task
function
think: purpose
a relationship where changes in one variable are systematically associated with changes in another variable
e.g. Pivotal behavior produces _____ in other adaptive untrained behaviors. Teaching a child to self-initiate (e.g. approach others), choice making, self-management, and FCT are likely to produce adaptive variations in untrained settings. Teaching a child to make a choice: _____ effect would be increased communication (e.g. requesting items) and reduced problem behavior.
covariation
physical form or shape of behavior; describing how the behavior looks
e.g. behavior: writing name vs topography: picks up pencil, places it on paper, and forms letters on page.
topography
a behavior that opens access to new environments, reinforcers, and opportunities
behavioral cusp
think: mountain peak opens access to new life perspective
a behavior that, when learned, produces corresponding modifications or covariations in other untrained behaviors
pivotal behavior
think: pivots other behaviors
rating scale used to measure attitudes, opinions, or behaviors, typically ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree or from low to high frequency
e.g. for a behavior checklist:
frequency:
1=never 2=rarely 3=sometimes 4=often 5=always
Likert scale
target behaviors are selected because they will be reinforced in the natural environment
examples:
Daily Living Skills: maintains hygiene and reduces need for assistance, which will be naturally reinforced by social praise or acceptance
Social Skills: teaching student to say “hi” facilitates peer interactions and friendships which are naturally reinforcing
Academic Skills: teaching to raise hand will be reinforced by teacher acknowledgement
Self Advocacy: teaching to ask for break will be reinforced by reduced stress and access to preferred activities
Safety Skills: teaching child to stop at curb and look both ways before crossing street ensures safety and independence
relevance of behavior rule
group of behaviors that serve the same function, even if they have different topographies
e.g. saying hey, tapping shoulder, throwing a toy could all be used for gaining attention
response class
a group that shares the same function, topography, or temporal relation
stimulus class
generative learning VS emergent/derived stimulus relations
generative learning= ability to apply previously learned skills to novel situations ; learner actively generates new responses by recombining learned concepts (e.g. child learns “cat” “bat” and “sat” and later reads “mat”; learning to add 3+3 +3=9 and later applying the concept to multiplication 3x3=9)
emergent stimulus relations= ability to derive new stimulus relations from previously learned ones ; learner demonstrates untrained relations between stimuli based on previously taught associations (e.g. spoken word “cat”= picture of cat -> A=B. picture of cat=written word “cat” -> B=C. EMERGENT RELATION spoken word “cat” = written word “cat”, A=C ; transitivity)
-learner spontaneously matches spoken and written word cat after only being taught two associations. (If A=B and B=C, then A=C)
type of convergent multiple control involving a verbal stimulus that alters the function/evocative effects of another verbal stimulus in determining the correct response; response depends on multiple verbal cues, not just one
e.g. “Who is your teacher now?” vs “Who was your teacher last year?” changes the correct response
e.g. “Which animal says moo?” vs “Which animal says “roar?”
verbal conditional discriminationc (VC D)
verbal stimuli can alter the function of other stimuli or modify future behavior/effects of immediate or future MOs and SDs to change a listener’s behavior.
e.g. “From now on, reports are due at 2pm instead of 6pm” -> employees adjust their schedule based on this verbal rule
e.g. “If you touch the stove, you’ll burn” -> child now avoids touching stove despite never being burned
verbal function-altering effect
higher-order verbal cusp where speaker and listener repertoires merge, allowing a word learned/acquired as a listener to generate a tact, and vice versa, without additional training (aka it’s spontaneous). aligns with emergent symmetry and mutual entailment.
e.g. “Give me book” -> child gives book. Child later sees a book and says “book” (without direct training to tact)
e.g. Child learns to tact “ball” and when later asked “give me ball” they give the ball (without direct training to respond to that instruction)
bidirectional naming (BiN)
involves two or more verbal SDs/cues/stimuli that combine to create a new SD, evoking a more specific behavior.
e.g. “put spoon next to plate”
“Jump when I say clap, run when I say go”
“Who is wearing the green hat?”
“Point to the big square.”
compound verbal discrimination
behavioral effect where prior speaker and listener skills accelerate the acquisition of new skills without direct teaching or reinforcement history; previously learned skills enable learner to produce novel responses (aka apply learned behavior to new situations)
generative learning
behavior change strategy that manipulates antecedent stimuli to reduce problem behavior. Based on MOs, stimulus control, and contingency-independent interventions.
-stimulus control manipulations = modifying environment to reduce likelihood of behavior (removing triggers, adding prompts)
-MO manipulation= altering MOs to decrease value of reinforcement for problem behavior (e.g. providing NCR with breaks 3x day or giving attention every 5 min)
-contingency-independent antecedents = modifying antecedents to decrease likelihood of behavior (e.g. protective gear and equipment)
antecedent intervention
an NCR schedule where reinforcement is delivered after varying time intervals, independent of behavior.
e.g. giving attention around every 9 minutes (__-9min) to prevent attention seeking problem behaviors
variable-time schedule
backward chaining procedure in which some steps in the tast analysis are skipped (skip steps learner can perform)
backward chaining with leaps ahead
contingency that specifies a time interval by which a behavior chain must be completed after the SD for reinforcement to be delivered
behavior chain with a limited hold
focus on observable behavior; ignores private events
methodological behaviorism
learning through pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus (NS + US -> NS becomes CS that elicits a CR)
respondent conditioning
development of a conditioned reflex by pairining a neutral stimulus with a conditioned stimulus (NS + CS)
higher-order conditioning
empirical generalization describing a functional relation between behavior and its controlling variables
principle of behavior
measurement procedure for obtaining a tally or count of the number of times a behavior occurs; measures frequency of behavior; types of _____ are frequency, rate, celeration, trial by trial, and discrete categorization.
event recording
2 types of temporal locus
- latency
- IRT
3 measurement methods for repeatability
- count/frequency
- rate
- celeration
types of time sampling
- Partial-interval recording
- whole-interval recording
- momentary time sampling
3 types of event recordings
- frequency
- rate
- celeration
3 quantitative dimensions/fundamental properties of behavior
- repeatability
- temporal extent
- temporal locus
1 of 3 fundamental dimensions of behavior; refers to the fact that behavior can occur repeatedly through time and can be counted; can be measured by count (frequency), rate, celeration
repeatability
1 of 3 dimensional quantities of behavior; dimension of behavior that refers to the fact that behavior occupies time (aka it has a measurable duration)
e.g. client cried for 7 minutes during session
temporal extent
1 of 3 dimensional qualities of behavior; refers to the point in time at which a behavior occurs with respect to other events; measured using latency and IRT
e.g. child takes 3s to begin cleaning up after being told to. (latency)
e.g. child claps then claps again 10s later. (IRT)
temporal locus
continuous measurement that refers to the amount of time elapsed between two consecutive/successive instances of the same behavior; a measure of temporal locus
e.g. client hits at 1PM, and again at 1:03 PM.
e.g. client answers question, then 15s pass before answering the next question
IRT (interresponse time)
