Michael: Behavior Analysis: A Radical Perspective

Question 1

Experimental Analysis

Answer 1

Research on operant functional relations employing Skinner’s methodology

Behavior analysts readily attribute to innate endowment many behavioral characteristics shared by all members of a species

Innate endowment for most people is the one that might help to explain behavioral differences among different people

Question 2

3 kinds of behavioral relations

Answer 2

1. All organisms inherit some fairly specific stimulus-response relations called unconditioned reflexes
2. Some organisms inherit more complex environment-behavior relations, previously referred to as instinctive and now more likely to be called released behavior
   e. g. mating behavior, nest building
3. Organisms inherit certain capacities to be changed behaviorally by the environment, thus the capacity for reflex responses to be conditioned to novel stimuli (respondent conditioning) and the capacity for some environmental occurrences to increase the future frequency of the type of behavior they follow (operant conditioning)

Question 3

Pavlov

Answer 3

The systematic treatment of behavior begins with reflexes and respondent conditioning

Pavlov studied the way in which stimuli that did not elicit reflex responses could be brought to do so by being paired with the unconditioned stimuli for such responses

Question 4

Skinner

Answer 4

Skinner systematically used elicitation to refer to the effects of both unconditioned and conditioned stimuli

Presentation of the conditioned elicitor by itself leads to a decrease in its effectiveness as an elicitor (extinction)

**It is only the controlling relation between independent variable and behavior that can be identified as respondent or operant, not the behavior alone

Immediacy of reinforcement is important

Events that are delayed more than a few seconds after the response do not directly increase its future frequency

Question 5

Operant Conditioning

Answer 5

Response and the reinforcing consequences

(1) Stimulus situation
(2) Behavior
(3) Environmental consequences (reinforcement) show an increased future frequency of occurrence in the same or similar stimulus situation

(4) Motivation
。 Stimulus → Response → Reinforcement + Motivation

Question 6

Motivation

Answer 6

Motivation in behavior analysis refers to:

1. Change in what functions as effective reinforcement
2. Change in the relative strengths of different parts of the organism’s repertoire

Question 7

Respondent vs. Operant Extinction

Answer 7

Respondent extinction =
CS is presented w/out being paired with US
*No aspect of the procedure requires any responding

Operant extinction =
Response that was reinforced must occur in the relevant stimulus situation w/out reinforcement

Question 8

Operant Reinforcers

Answer 8

Unconditioned reinforcers = when some events function as reinforcement

Conditioned reinforcers =
Stimulus changes acquire their capacity to reinforce behavior by being systematically related to other reinforcing events
*Increases future response frequency when it is used as the consequence of a response

Positive reinforcers = They strengthen by being immediately presented

Negative reinforcers = They strengthen by being immediately removed following the response
*highly desirable as it is always good to have bad things terminated or removed.

Question 9

Skinner’s methodology

Answer 9

1. Main dependent variable was rate of response
2. Each subject was exposed to all values of the independent variable and only a few subjects studied
3. No use made of statistical inference
4. Research was NOT construed as a test of a theory

Question 10

Periodic reconditioning

Answer 10

Fixed Interval schedule of reinforcement

• First response following a fixed time period from the last reinforced response is reinforced
• This also starts another fixed time period

Behavior is not only sensitive to whether it is reinforced or not, but also sensitive to the arrangement of reinforcement in combination with requirements or contingencies involving:

• time
• number of responses
• the presence of stimuli

Question 11

Aversive stimuli

Answer 11

Negative Reinforcement

The reinforcement of behavior by the termination of environmental events [aversive stimuli] which when presented would function as punishment

Question 12

Escape vs Avoidance

Answer 12

Escape: When the response terminates an UNCONDITIONED aversive stimulus
e.g. fear

Avoidance: It terminates a warning stimulus that has become a CONDITIONED aversive stimulus due to its relation to the onset of the unconditioned aversive stimulus
e.g anxiety

Question 13

Molar vs. Molecular Interpretation of Reinforcement

Answer 13

Molar interpretation of reinforcement = Decreased frequency of aversive stimuli that results even if there is no immediate reinforcement

Molecular interpretation = Stimuli resulting from the lever pressing behavior itself are the reinforcement in that they are never followed immediately by shock as contrasted with the stimuli they replace

Question 14

Rate of Response

Answer 14

Only direct reflection of response probability which was the basic concern of the science of behavior

Question 15

Verbal behavior

Answer 15

Behavior which achieves its effect on the world through the mediation of someone else’s behavior
e.g. asking/telling someone to do something

Nonverbal behavior of reaching for an object is reinforced by tactile contact with the object

Verbal behavior of asking for the object is only reinforced with the object if there is someone available who responds to the request

Question 16

Private events

Answer 16

Although private events are not publicly observable behaviors, radical behaviorism accepts that we are each observers of our own private behavior.

Watson ruled out the study of private events as unscientific, not Skinner

Skinner rejected methodological behaviorism because he did not believe that public agreement provided assurance of proper contingency control.

Community can base its feedback (reinforcement, extinction, punishment) to the learner on common public accompaniments of the private stimuli (so if a child is in pain, adult can react to his or her crying)

Control by private stimuli also comes about as the result of stimulus generalization, where a response learned with respect to public stimuli simply occurs because a private stimulus has something in common w/ the public one

Question 17

Contingency-shaped behavior

Answer 17

Repertoire developed as result of exposure to reinforcement contingencies (e.g. speaking one’s native language)

Respondent and operant functional relations were used to interpret many aspects of human individual and social behavior (contingencies of reinforcement)

Behavior modification applied mainly with institutionalized clients and with children, but has expanded to include all phases of human endeavor

Question 18

Rule-governed behavior

Answer 18

Repertoire developed as a result of exposure to a verbal description of contingencies but not to the contingencies themselves

e. g., the early phases of learning a second language in school
e. g. composing sentences by using a grammar book and a bilingual dictionary

Question 19

Design of culture, Walden Two, Beyond Freedom and Dignity

Answer 19

Behavior analysis is a deterministic view that sees human behavior as the inevitable product of innate endowment and environmental events taking place during the person’s lifetime, and nothing else.

Freedom of choice is an illusion based on failure to appreciate the nature of control by positive reinforcement