Lecture 1 Flashcards
Applied Behaviour Analysis
Branch of behaviour analysis that focuses on applying behavioural principles to real-world, socially significant situations
Anthropomorphism
Explanation of behaviour that attributes human motives to animals, when we don’t know whether they have the same motives or emotions
Automatic, involuntary behaviour (reflex)
Behaviour that is triggered by a stimulus and proceeds in full once triggered
Behaviour analysis
The science of behaviour - end goal is to explain why a behaviour occurs, be able to predict its occurrence, and to control its occurrence
Behaviourism
The philosophy of the science of behaviour
Conditioned reinforcer
Stimulus that becomes a secondary reinforcer via pairing with a primary reinforcer
Consequence
A stimulus that follows a behaviour, and changes the probability of that behaviour occurring again in the future
Contextual behavioural science
Concerned with integrating basic and applied research, emphasizes the importance of the “act-in-context”, and provides a mechanism of applying behavioural principles to all areas of human complexity
Covert events
Events that cannot be observed directly
Culture
Collection of contingencies of reinforcement into which individuals are born and to which they are exposed throughout their lives
Epi-phenomenonalism
Mental events are a “side-phenomenon” without relevance
Experimental Analysis of Behaviour
Branch of behaviour analysis that focuses on discovering basic principles and mechanisms underlying behaviour
Habituation
Process by which prolonged exposure to a stimulus reduces the response to that stimulus
Law of Effect
States that responses followed by satisfying or pleasurable consequences will increase in frequency, whereas responses followed by discomfort will decrease in frequency
Learning
Behaviour change in response to a change in the environment
Mentalism (or explanatory fiction)
Explanation of behaviour that refers to mental events which are not measurable or falsifiable
Methodological behaviourism
States that psychology should only be concerned with events that are publicly observable
Observational learning
Process by which learning occurs via observation
Operant
A response that is emitted spontaneously that has the same effect on the environment (not a reflex)
Operant conditioning
Process of learning in which a voluntary behaviour develops and is controlled by the consequences that follow - responses are emitted
Overt events
Events that are directly observable
Negative punishment
Removal of an appetitive stimulus decreases the likelihood of behaviour being repeated
Negative reinforcement
Removal of an aversive stimulus increases the likelihood of behaviour being repeated
Positive punishment
An aversive stimulus following a response decreases the likelihood of the response being repeated
Positive reinforcement
An appetitive stimulus following a response increases the likelihood of the response being repeated
Radical behaviourism
States that private events are governed by the same behavioural principles as public events; the only difference between public and private events is accessibility
Respondent (or classical, or Pavlovian) conditioning
Process of learning in which an unconditioned stimulus (US) is paired with a neutral stimulus (NS), and eventually the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) and elicits a conditioned response (CR) - responses are elicited
Topography
The actual “shape” of the operant - what does the behaviour “look like”?
Translational research
Branch of behaviour analysis that aims to bridge the gap between experimental and applied research
