Glossary A

Question 1

A coincidence between a performance and a reinforcer, where there is an increase in the frequency of the performance despite a lack of intentional connection between the performance and the reinforcer.

Answer 1

Accidental Reinforcement

Question 2

Tending to discourage, retard, or make more difficult; moving or working in an opposite or contrary direction.

Answer 2

Adverse

Question 3

A form of integration involving the maintenance of proximity to other individuals; to connect or associate oneself with.

Answer 3

Affiliation

Question 4

A situation in which an organism wants something but is afraid of obtaining it.

Answer 4

Approach-Avoidance Conflict

Question 5

A single step in the refinement process of shaping; one of many progressive steps.

Answer 5

Approximation

Question 6

The process of conditioning an animal’s frame of mind in eliciting behavioral responses.

Answer 6

Attitude Shaping

Question 7

A situation in which an organism is forced to choose one of two undesirable goals.

Answer 7

Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict

Question 8

A response to a cue that is instrumental in avoiding a painful experience.

Answer 8

Avoidance Conditioning

Question 9

The frequency that behavior is performed prior to initiating a behavior modification program.

Answer 9

Baseline

Question 10

A change or stray from the norm in standard of response.

Answer 10

Behavioral Drift

Question 11

Stimuli and methods used as tools to increase interest in the environment and decrease the frequency of stereotypical or injurious behavior.

Answer 11

Behavioral Enrichment

Question 12

A stimulus that pinpoints in time the precise moment of a desired response and bridges the gap in time between that point and when the animal is rewarded.

Answer 12

Bridge

Question 13

The process of learning a sequence of behaviors that proceeds semi-automatically in a determinate order.

Answer 13

Chaining

Question 14

A form of conditioning in which stimuli associated with naturally meaningful stimuli tend to become substitutes for the stimuli themselves and elicit similar responses; the pairing of a conditioned stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus that results in a conditioned response.

Answer 14

Classical Conditioning

Question 15

An event which is initially neutral may acquire aversive properties by virtue of being paired with other aversive events or a signal that no reinforcement will be forthcoming.

Answer 15

Conditioned Aversive Stimulus

Question 16

A reinforcer that derives its value as a result of its association with primary, innate, or unconditioned reinforcers.

Answer 16

Conditioned Reinforcer

Question 17

A reflex response elicited by a conditioned stimulus alone in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus after a sufficient number of pairings of the conditioned stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus.

Answer 17

Conditioned Response (CR)

Question 18

A stimulus which produces a previously unconditioned response through pairing or association.

Answer 18

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

Question 19

A change in the frequency or form of a behavior as a result of the influence of the environment, either through pairing with an unconditioned stimulus or through interaction with the environment.

Answer 19

Conditioning

Question 20

A schedule of reinforcement in which each performance is followed by the reinforcer.

Answer 20

Continuous Reinforcement

Question 21

A signal which will elicit a specific behavior or reflex as a result of a learned association.

Answer 21

Cue

Question 22

A representation of the particular occasion on which a performance will not be reinforced; indicates an incorrect behavior or response.

Answer 22

Delta

Question 23

Reducing the availability of, or access to, a reinforcer.

Answer 23

Deprevation

Question 24

Reinforcement of one form magnitude of a response when other rather similar form magnitudes are not reinforced.

Answer 24

Differential (Selective) Reinforcement

Question 25

Delivery of a reinforcer after a response that is incompatible or competes with a an undesirable target response.

Answer 25

Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behavior (DRI)

Question 26

Reinforcement of any performance except a particular one, resulting in a decrease in frequency of that particular behavior.

Answer 26

Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DRO)

Question 27

Learning to differentiate between different stimuli and react accordingly.

Answer 27

Discrimination

Question 28

A conditioned stimulus that produces a specific behavior; essentially, a stimulus that has a specific meaning (a cue).

Answer 28

Discriminative Stimulus (SD)

Question 29

A behavior that is forcibly produced by the environment; to automatically bring about a response or reflex.

Answer 29

Elicit

Question 30

A behavior that produces a change in the environment; produced through willingness or purposefulness.

Answer 30

Emit

Question 31

A procedure where the reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior is discontinued; a behavior which has decreased in frequency, often to the point where it is not performed at all.

Answer 31

Extinction

Question 32

An increase in the frequency and intensity of responding at the beginning of extinction.

Answer 32

Extinction Burst

Question 33

A procedure to change one stimulus controlling a certain behavior to another stimulus.

Answer 33

Fading

Question 34

When a stimulus acquires control of a response due to reinforcement in the presence of a similar, but different, stimulus; the process of comparing events, consequences, or objects which have some trait in common and recognizing that trait to extrapolate into new situations, guiding the animal's response, without the animal being specifically taught about that new situation.

Answer 34

Generalization

Question 35

A recurrent pattern of behavior acquired through experience and made or or less permanent by various reinforcing events; routinely emitted without a cue.

Answer 35

Habit

Question 36

The act of reinforcing, exactly following the behavior which is intended to increase in frequency.

Answer 36

Immediacy of Reinforcement

Question 37

The process of a very rapid development of a response or learning pattern to a stimulus, often forming lasting attachment or preference to it; often seen in young animals during a critical period of development.

Answer 37

Imprinting

Question 38

A behavior that is impossible to occur with another at the same time.

Answer 38

Incompatible Behavior

Question 39

An inborn predisposition to behave in a specific way when appropriately stimulated; a natural, unconditioned behavior shared by all members of a species.

Answer 39

Instinct

Question 40

The process by which the response is determined by the environmental consequences of a behavior; responses are a result of learning and emitted by an animal, as opposed to passively reacted to as in classical conditioning.

Answer 40

Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning

Question 41

A schedule of reinforcement in which a response is not reinforced every time it is performed.

Answer 41

Intermittent Reinforcement (Partial Reinforcement Maintenance)

Question 42

The duration of time between a stimulus being presented and a response being elicited.

Answer 42

Latency

Question 43

The process in which relatively permanent changes in behavior are produced through experience.

Answer 43

Learning

Question 44

A period in which early progress appears to have stopped and improvement is at a standstill, followed by a period of new progress.

Answer 44

Learning Plateau

Question 45

Learning that takes place in a series of steps, whereby successive approximations of the desired behavior are reinforced.

Answer 45

Method of Approximation

Question 46

The underlying force regulating a behavior, which partly determines the direction and strength of the response to a given situation.

Answer 46

Motivation

Question 47

To remove from the environment or direct away from the source of a stimulus.

Answer 47

Negative

Question 48

The stimulus to which responses are not reinforced or negatively reinforced.

Answer 48

Negative Discriminative Stimulus

Question 49

The frequency of the behavior is increased by the subtraction of something the animal does not like, as an immediate result of the behavior.

Answer 49

Negative Reinforcer

Question 50

Any stimulus that has no effect on behavior before conditioning.

Answer 50

Neutral Stimulus or Cue

Question 51

Emitted behavior that is controlled by its consequences and acts on and produces a change in the environment.

Answer 51

Operant Behavior

Question 52

A response to a stimulus in which the organism turns toward the source of the stimulus.

Answer 52

Orienting Response

Question 53

Measures of observed behavior.

Answer 53

Performance

Question 54

To add to the environment or direct towards the source of the stimulus.

Answer 54

Positive

Question 55

The addition of an aversive stimulus to the animal's environment following a response, thereby decreasing the frequency of that response.

Answer 55

Positive Punishment

Question 56

Presentation of a reinforcer following a behavior, thereby increasing the behavior's frequency

Answer 56

Positive Reinforcement

Question 57

A process in which learning is made easier by something learned previously.

Answer 57

Positive Transfer

Question 58

A stimulus which has been conditioned through generalization as a predecessor to an aversive stimulus.

Answer 58

Pre-Aversive Stimulus

Question 59

A quality that an animal responds to innately in a certain way, without any conditioning from a human.

Answer 59

Primary

Question 60

Reinforcement provided by a stimulus that the organism finds inherently rewarding, usually one that satisfies a biological need.

Answer 60

Primary (Unconditioned) Reinforcement

Question 61

The process where retention of new learning is interfered with by a previous learning experience.

Answer 61

Proactive Inhibition

Question 62

An antecedent event that helps initiate a response; instructions, gestures, physical guidance, or cues.

Answer 62

Prompt

Question 63

The process of sending or retrieving an animal from one point of station to another (or to bring back to station) through the use of a conditioned sound stimulus.

Answer 63

Recall

Question 64

An automatic and unthinking reaction to a stimulus by an organism; an innate response that is not learned and is inherent to the characteristics of the nervous system.

Answer 64

Reflex

Question 65

A lack of response.

Answer 65

Refusal

Question 66

Reversion to an earlier mental or behavioral level, or earlier stage of learning, as a result of frustration.

Answer 66

Regression

Question 67

The event which increases the frequency of the behavior it follows.

Answer 67

Reinforcement

Question 68

The relationship between the reinforcement and the exact properties of the performance which hit follows.

Answer 68

Reinforcement Contingency

Question 69

Anything that increases the frequency of the behavior it immediately follows; may also elicit a reflex response.

Answer 69

Reinforcer

Question 70

The failure of an operant behavior caused by previous aversive consequences.

Answer 70

Repression

Question 71

Behavior that is elicited or automatically controlled by antecedent stimuli; a performance that automatically follows certain stimuli; a reflex.

Answer 71

Respondent Behavior

Question 72

Any kind of behavior produced by a stimulus.

Answer 72

Response

Question 73

A stimulus that when presented upon the successful performance of a task elicits within an animal the feeling of satisfaction.

Answer 73

Reward

Question 74

A loss of effectiveness that occurs after a large amount of a reinforce has been delivered, and therefore loses its reinforcing value.

Answer 74

Satiation

Question 75

A quality that an animal responds to because it's perception has been conditioned or learned.

Answer 75

Secondary

Question 76

A stimulus that acquires reinforcing properties through association with a primary reinforcement.

Answer 76

Secondary Reinforcer

Question 77

A method of modifying behavior through selectively reinforcing responses that approximate the desired response to an increasingly greater degree.

Answer 77

Shaping

Question 78

An assigned position for an animal, designated by a trainer.

Answer 78

Station

Question 79

Any physical event or condition, including the organism's own behavior; any environmental condition which impinges on the animal's sensory perception.

Answer 79

Stimulus

Question 80

A differential form or frequency of a performance in the presence of one stimulus which is not evident in the presence of another stimulus.

Answer 80

Stimulus Control

Question 81

A representation of the particular occasion on which a performance will not be reinforced; a signal that indicates an incorrect behavior or response.

Answer 81

Stimulus Delta

Question 82

A term used to describe the decreased frequency of a performance that occurs when the performance is reinforced on a large fixed ratio schedule; occurs between long periods of no performance and periods when there are bursts of performance at high rates.

Answer 82

Strain

Question 83

The process of refining an animal's behavior from a spontaneous initial behavior to a behavior planned by the trainer; used to condition performance not currently in the organism's repertoire.

Answer 83

Successive Approximation

Question 84

Behavior which results from misunderstanding, where there is no intended relation between response and reinforcement; frequently related to fear of the unknown or aversive situations.

Answer 84

Superstitious Behavior

Question 85

Any reinforcer discernible by touch.

Answer 85

Tactile Reinforcement

Question 86

A prop which pinpoints a critical location for an animal in training.

Answer 86

Target (noun)

Question 87

The smallest unit of behavior, consists of an animal's action to touch a designated spot.

Answer 87

Target (verb)

Question 88

The final pattern of behavior that organism's are expected to demonstrate after the completion of shaping procedures.

Answer 88

Terminal Response

Question 89

The cessation of stimulus or response from the trainer for some interval of time; removing the situation in which the animal can get reinforcement, used to suppress incorrect responses.

Answer 89

Time-Out

Question 90

A response that is emitted on exposure to a stimulus without previous conditioning.

Answer 90

Unconditioned Reflex

Question 91

A response that is elicited by an unconditioned stimulus without prior training or learning; instinct or reflex.

Answer 91

Unconditioned Response

Question 92

Any stimulus possessing the capacity to elicit a reaction in the absence of prior conditioning.

Answer 92

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)