Midterm

Question 1

Respondent Conditioning

Answer 1

• Automatic responses to prior stimuli
• Referred to as reflexive or involuntary
• Usually involves smooth muscles and glands that control our gastrointestinal track and blood vessels
• Is said to be elicited by prior stimuli

Question 2

Operant Conditioning

Answer 2

• Controlled by consequences
• Referred to as voluntary behavior
• Usually involves skeletal muscles
• Is said to be emitted by an individual

Question 3

Reinforcement

Answer 3

A consequence after a behavior that makes it more likely it will happen again

Question 4

Punishment

Answer 4

A consequence after a behavior that makes it less likely to happen again

Question 5

Define different types of reinforcers

Answer 5

• Primary reinforcer
• Secondary reinforcer
• Back-up reinforcer
• Generalized reinforcer

Question 6

Primary Reinforcer

Answer 6

Innate reinforcing qualities, not learned (e.g., food, touch, and shelter)

Question 7

Secondary Reinforcer

Answer 7

Associated with a primary reinforcer (e.g., give dog a treat, then say good boy)

Question 8

Back-up Reinforcer

Answer 8

Reward in exchange for earned tokens (e.g., in a token economy)

Question 9

Generalized Reinforcer

Answer 9

A stimulus that exerts a reinforcing effect because it has been associated with reinforcing stimuli
(e.g., stickers reinforce behavior when they add up to a prize)

Question 10

Describe five categories of reinforcers

Answer 10

CAMPS
• Consumables
• Activities
• Manipulatives
• Possessions
• Social reinforcers

Question 11

Consumables

Answer 11

Items that one can eat or drink
(e.g., candy, cookies, fruit, and beverages)

Question 12

Activities

Answer 12

Opportunities to watch TV, look at a picture, book, or stare out of a window

Question 13

Manipulatives

Answer 13

Play with a favorite toy, build with Legos, color or paint, ride a bicycle, or go on the Internet

Question 14

Possessions

Answer 14

Sit in one’s favorite chair, wear a favorite shirt or dress, have a private room, or enjoy some other item that one can possess (at least temporarily)

Question 15

Social Reinforcers

Answer 15

Affectionate pats and hugs, praise, nods, smiles, and even a simple glance or other indication of social attention

Question 16

Explain the purpose and components of functional behavioral assessment

Answer 16

Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA): Identification of relationships applicable to target behaviors
• Identifies situation in which behavior is present
• Identifies consequences that are maintaining the problem behavior
• Allows you to plan an intervention
• Make a plan -> consider positive behavior interventions
• Make behavior intervention plan
• Define target behavior and function of behavior
• Includes baseline measure of issue behavior, frequency, duration, settings, etc.
• Define objective and goals, who will carry out the plan
• Intervention -> Alter antecedent events, teach adaptive behaviors, provide consequences and reinforcements

Functional Analysis (FA): Experimenting with what you think is leading to the behavior
• Manipulate the environment ahead of time

Question 17

Indirect methods of behavioral assessment

Answer 17

Indirect Method of Assessment: Not directly observing the behavior yourself

• Interviews - Interviewing people that are important to the situation

• Questionnaires - child behavior checklist (broad overview; not specific to what is occurring in the situation)

• Role playing

• Data from referral source

• Client self monitoring

Question 18

Direct methods of behavioral assessment

Answer 18

• Narrative recording

• Event recording

• Interval recording

• Time sampling

Question 19

Narrative Recording

Answer 19

• Comprehensive description of the child’s natural behavior
• Going in and observing + writing down what happens
• Anecdotal recording - Write down things that seem relevant and of interest; not really sure what is controlling the behavior at this point
• Running recording - Writing down everything that happens; can not tend to all behaviors all the time

Question 20

Event Recording

Answer 20

• Record each time the behavior occurs
• Good for behaviors that have clear cut beginnings and endings
• Not good for behaviors that have high frequencies - Requires you to pay attention to doing the behavior
• Figure out when you’re going to observe and for how long you are going to observe
• Have control of decision making

Question 21

Interval Recording

Answer 21

• Look for behavior within specified intervals of time
• Number of times you are going to observe the child
• Looking for a frequency count - How often the behavior occurs within the intervals
• Record specific aspect of behavior within specified intervals of time
• Record presence or absence of behavior
• Divide observation period into specific intervals

•Partial Interval: If behavior occurs once at all during the interval, yes, or no

• Whole Interval: If behavior was present at the start and end of interval, if it lasts the entire time

• Momentary Time Interval: If the behavior is at the end of interval

• Variable Inter-Occasion Interval: Preselected random time intervals

Question 22

Time Sampling

Answer 22

• A type of interval recording
• Takes random times throughout the day to see if there is a comparison
• This is time efficient
• You can go in the morning, late morning, and early afternoon and compare the frequency of behavior during the different times
• Compare frequency of behavior over intervals of different times

Question 23

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of direct method of behavioral assessment

Answer 23

Direct: Real time information about the behavior, objective, but assessor may influence behavior

Advantages:
• More objective

Disadvantages:
• Time consuming
• Require appropriate training
• Only for behaviors, you can directly observe (overt behaviors)

Question 24

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of indirect method of behavioral assessment

Answer 24

Indirect: Can get information from multiple sources (parent, teacher, etc.), may be biased due to those filling them out having their own opinions, and might be inaccurate since people could not understand what they are being asked

Advantages:
• Convenient
• Covert behaviors (may be something that you cannot observe or can be so subtle that you cannot pick up on)

Disadvantages:
• Not being able to observe to behave yourself
• Potentially inaccurate
• Can be biased information

Question 25

Defined the six aspects of behavior that can be recorded

Answer 25

• Topography - Specific movements involved in making the response

• Frequency (or rate of behavior) - Number of instances of a behavior that occur in a given period of time

• Duration - Length of time from the beginning to the end of an episode of behavior

• Intensity (also known as magnitude or force of a response) - How strong the behavior is; Assessments of intensity often utilize instrumentation

• Stimulus Control - Degree of correlation between the occurrence of a given event and the response quickly following the event

• Latency (often called reaction time) - Time between the occurrence of a particular event or cue and the start of that behavior

Question 26

Discuss sources of unreliability and observation systems

Answer 26

• Observer bias

• Observer drift

• Difficulties in coding behavior

• Child reactivity

Question 27

Observer Bias

Answer 27

Observer may be biased in a way that influences the way they record behavior

Leniency Effect
• Not being strict
• Observer may be more tolerant of behaviors than other people are
• May already have some biases towards the individual

Primacy Effect
• Influenced by your first impressions (either positive or negative)

Question 28

Observer Drift

Answer 28

• Lose your attention or motivation
• Observer can get tired

Question 29

Difficulties in Coding Behavior

Answer 29

• If you miss or forget to record something
• Misunderstanding of how to record some thing

Question 30

Child Reactivity

Answer 30

Child knows they are being observed, and they can change their behavior

Question 31

Describe procedures to reduce unreliability

Answer 31

• Clear and precise definitions
• Systematic and precise rules for observation
• Time intervals that are not excessively long
• Training observers
• Periodic checks of observers

Reducing Child Reactivity
• Be as neutral as possible
• Position self outside of traffic flow
• Shift attention to other children
• Enter at natural breaks

Question 32

Describe the Premack principle

Answer 32

High probability behavior contingent upon low probability behavior

Question 33

Define Deprivation

Answer 33

Person has not experienced reinforcer
• Only give candy when reinforcing
• Recommended to do this before starting intervention

Question 34

Define Satiation

Answer 34

Reinforcer is no longer reinforcing and it has lost its effect
• Reinforcement Menus - Selection of things they can get and are of interest

Question 35

Differentiate different schedules of reinforcement

Answer 35

Fixed Ratio (FR)
Variable Ratio (VR)
Fixed Interval (FI)
Variable Interval (VI)