Philosophical Underpinnings

Question 1

Which level of scientific understanding is suggested by, “Users that complete at least 84% of the modules are more likely to pass the exam”?

Answer 1

Prediction

Question 2

Which level of scientific understanding is suggested by, “The standardized test scores ranged from 75-125”?

Answer 2

Description

Question 3

Which level of scientific understanding is suggested by, “Children who receive special education are less likely to go to college”?

Answer 3

Prediction

Question 4

Which level of scientific understanding is suggested by, “Withdrawal design data indicate that when children get training, scores go up—when the don’t, scores go down”?

Answer 4

Control

Question 5

Which level of scientific understanding is suggested by, “Changing criterion data show that each time the teacher raise the requirement to earn points, good behavior increases”?

Answer 5

Control

Question 6

Which level of scientific understanding is suggested by, “The average duration of responses was 3 minutes”?

Answer 6

Description

Question 7

Which level of scientific understanding is suggested by, “Alternating treatment data show that students are more likely to comply when a token system is in effect than when it is not in effect”?

Answer 7

Control

Question 8

Experimentation

Answer 8

o Requires control over extraneous variables
o Is an evaluation of how one event is influences by other events
o Ideally requires that all variables be controlled except the dependent variable
o Involves arranging events to evaluate their influence on phenomena
o Is one of the philosophical foundations of behavior analysis

Question 9

Philosophical underpinnings of behavior analysis include

Answer 9

o Empiricism
o Selectionism
o Determinism
o Parsimony
o Philosophical doubt
o Experimentation
o Replication

Question 10

A parsimonious explanation

Answer 10

o Requires the fewest assumptions
o Built on an existing foundation of knowledge and laws

Question 11

Despite several experiments that support the utility of behavioral momentum, a researcher questions the existence of this phenomenon. This researcher is

Answer 11

Demonstrating philosophical doubt

Question 12

What is NOT likely to rely on empirical support?

Answer 12

o Newspaper
o Magazine
o Internet article

Question 13

Given 2 explanations for the same phenomena, parsimony favors the explanation that is

Answer 13

Based on the fewest assumptions

Question 14

Select the most parsimonious explanation. A 5 year old tantrums in the candy aisle due to

Answer 14

A history of reinforcement

Question 15

Philosophical assumptions of behavior analysis include

Answer 15

o Pragmatism
o Empiricism
o Selectionism
o Determinism
o Parsimony
o Philosophical doubt

Question 16

A student often spoke out of turn to get his teachers attention…The student’s increase in callouts and decrease in hand raising is best explained by

Answer 16

Selectionism

Question 17

Which statement reflects a deterministic perspective with respect to a nonverbal adult who engages in aggression most mornings at breakfast?

Answer 17

Certain foods may upset her stomach, then she strikes out.

Question 18

Determinism is the assumption that…

Answer 18

All events have causes

Question 19

Behavior that is the result of ones genetic background is

Answer 19

Phylogenic

Question 20

An intervention is supported by peer-reviewed experimentation, but you don’t think it will work because the outcomes are inconsistent with what operant conditioning would predict.

Answer 20

Accept the data until contrary findings emerge

Question 21

The idea of selectionism is reflected in the statement that

Answer 21

Behavior is repeated or not depending on how it affects the environment

Question 22

From a deterministic perspective, variability in behavioral data is evidence of

Answer 22

Uncontrolled influences

Question 23

Human behavior involves an interaction between the continuation of phylogenic features that result in survival of the species and the contingencies of reinforcement that strengthen operant behavior. The process is …

Answer 23

o Selectionism

Question 24

Operant behavior is

Answer 24

Ontogenic

Question 25

Respondent behavior is

Answer 25

Phylogenic

Question 26

Phylogenic behavior is

Answer 26

elicited

Question 27

Ontogenic behavior is

Answer 27

emitted

Question 28

Pragmatism is the philosophical belief that

Answer 28

The truth of an explanation is measured by the extent to which it leads to effective action

Question 29

The statement that what matters to a marooned sailor is whether he is developing the skills to survive his predicament is characteristic of which philosophical view?

Answer 29

Pragmatism

Question 30

Which statement reflects a deterministic perspective with respect to a child who exhibits unpredictable tantrums?

Answer 30

We haven’t yet identified the factors that control tantrums

Question 31

Behavior that is the result of interactions with the environment during the individuals lifetimes is

Answer 31

Ontogenic

Question 32

Which philosophical assumption is reflected in this explanation: A problem behavior is maintained by teacher attention.

Answer 32

Parsimony

Question 33

Which philosophical assumption is reflected in the following statement: The reinforcing or punishing effects of environmental consequences are a principal mechanism in the development of an individual’s behavioral repertoire.

Answer 33

Selectionism

Question 34

Mentalism attributes the cause of behavior to

Answer 34

Antecedent events

Question 35

From a radical behavioral perspective, emotions and feelings

Answer 35

Are no different from other behaviors and can be analyzed and explained as such

Question 36

Mentalism

Answer 36

o Appeals to feelings or states of mind as causes of behavior o Explains behavior with reference to antecedent mechanisms o Tends to halt further inquiry into causal factors

Question 37

Acceptance of mentalistic explanations of behavior tends to

Answer 37

Halt further inquiry into causal factors

Question 38

Which is NOT an explanatory fiction? A child becomes an award-winning pianist because

Answer 38

he practices at least 10 hours a week

Question 39

Which is the correct way to talk about reinforcement?

Answer 39

When a behavior occurs more often after it produces a given consequence, the behavior has been reinforced

Question 40

Behavior analysts maintain that feelings are

Answer 40

respondents, explainable in the same terms as overt behavior

Question 41

Fido, the dog, runs to the door when he hears the car pull up to the house. It is NOT an explanatory fiction to claim that Fido runs to the door because

Answer 41

doing this has been reinforced by affection from his master

Question 42

With circular reasoning, the stated cause is

Answer 42

Just a restatement of the effect

Question 43

Feelings

Answer 43

o Can be explanatory fictions o Do not cause behavior

Question 44

Studying behavior as a means to make inferences about causal internal events- an S-O-R model of psychology-is the practice known as

Answer 44

Methodological behaviorism

Question 45

Behaviorism broke with traditional psychology with its assertion that

Answer 45

The determinants of behavior were to be found in the environment rather than in the mind.

Question 46

Investigation of human behavior by radical behaviorists involves

Answer 46

A comprehensive description of all human behavior

Question 47

According to the philosophy of radical behaviorism,

Answer 47

Private events are no different from public events other than the fact that they’re unobservable.

Question 48

According to radical behaviorism, thinking is

Answer 48

The act of privately talking to oneself

Question 49

Using empirically derived principles to conduct a comprehensive analysis of all human behavior, including behavior that is not publicly observable, is the goal of

Answer 49

radical behaviorism

Question 50

In order to say that private events are behavioral (not mental) phenomena, radical behaviorism assumes that

Answer 50

They can be explained by the same processes demonstrated to control observable behavior

Question 51

The S-R model of psychology that described behavior as a response to antecedent environmental stimuli was the form of

Answer 51

behaviorism

Question 52

Radical behaviorism asserts that private events are

Answer 52

Behavioral events that are unobservable by others but that are controlled by the same behavioral processes that control public events

Question 53

In the term Radical Behaviorism, the word Radical means

Answer 53

Relating to the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching and thorough

Question 54

The idea that all behavior occurs as a function of antecedent and consequent event occurring in the physical environment_ an S-R-S model of psychology- is a feature of

Answer 54

Skinnerian Behaviorism

Question 55

Radical behaviorism is

Answer 55

An S-R-S model of psychology: behavior is a function of antecedent and consequent events occurring in the physical environment

Question 56

According to a traditional view of psychology, the proper subject matter for psychology is the nature and function presumed internal processes and conscious states of mind. This view typically represents a ____ perspective.

Answer 56

mentalistic

Question 57

A child says “May I have some candy, please,” because

Answer 57

The behavior of asking nicely often produces candy

Question 58

The behavior of asking nicely often produces candy

Answer 58

automatic reinforcement

Question 59

Characteristics of mentalism

Answer 59

o Creates names for inner entities presumed to cause behavior o Assumes there are inner entities that are separate from behavior o Asserts that behavior is merely an expression of internal states

Question 60

Objections to mentalistic explanations of behavior include the fact that

Answer 60

o The attribute to hypothetical constructs, which stops inquiry into verifiable causes o Research resources are wasted on studying explanatory fictions o They provide a circular argument in which a descriptive label is applied to behavioral effects

Question 61

What are examples private events?

Answer 61

o The pain from getting hit by a baseball o Remembering items written on a grocery list o Feeling 90 degree heat at an amusement park o A tickling sensation from someone whispering in your ear

Question 62

After working late, a woman was waiting at the elevator to go home. The door opened and there was a rough looking man on the elevator. She said “Oh I forgot my papers and turned away. Which is not a mentalistic explanation of her behavior?

Answer 62

She had learned a rule and turning away functioned as following that rule.

Question 63

A mentalistic view is one that considers causes of behavior to be

Answer 63

Entities or event within the individual

Question 64

A private event...

Answer 64

o Affects only one person o Is stimulation that is evident only to the behaver o Includes thinking

Question 65

Baer, Wolf, and Risley defined

Answer 65

Applied Behavior Analysis

Question 66

Practice guided by behavior analysis

Answer 66

Applies the findings of the experimental analysis of behavior and applied research to social issues

Question 67

A BCBA works with several clients who were recently diagnosed with food allergies. The BCBA is engaging in

Answer 67

Applied Behavior Analysis

Question 68

A teacher combines several empirically validated strategies to form her own behavior management system and then measures its effectiveness with students. These activities are best characterized as

Answer 68

Practice guided ABA

Question 69

Which exemplifies basic science? Using a reading program

Answer 69

As a means of investigating how students learn to read

Question 70

Which exemplifies behavioral technology? Using a reading program

Answer 70

That has been experimentally demonstrated to improve reading

Question 71

When engaging in practice guided by behavior analysis, you must evaluate

Answer 71

Whether a treatment package produces the desired outcome

Question 72

The experimental analysis of behavior is characterized by

Answer 72

basic research

Question 73

Which contribution can be directly attributed to the experimental analysis of behavior?

Answer 73

The distinction between respondent and operant behavior

Question 74

Research on the basic principles of behavior is characterized by

Answer 74

The experimental analysis of behavior

Question 75

The "analytic" dimension of applied behavior analysis involves identifying a functional relationship between behavior and

Answer 75

environmental events

Question 76

The “technological” dimension of applied behavior analysis involves

Answer 76

o A specific and detailed description of the procedures o A complete and thorough description of the procedures o Procedures that are comprehensively explained so that a trained reader could replicate them

Question 77

The conceptually systematic dimension of ABA means that

Answer 77

o Procedures are described in terms of basic principles of behavior

Question 78

The behavioral dimension of ABA

Answer 78

o Means focusing on behavior as the basis of intervention and target for change o Requires studying what people do o Refers to defining the problem in terms of the behavior that need to be changed

Question 79

According to Baer, Wolf, & Risley (1968), the applied dimension of ABA refers to addressing behaviors

Answer 79

of social significance

Question 80

The “applied” dimension of applied behavior analysis involves

Answer 80

o A focus on behaviors that are important to both the individual and society o Using basic principles to solve problems of significance to participants

Question 81

The “analytic” dimension of applied behavior analysis requires

Answer 81

experimental control over environmental events responsible for behavior change

Question 82

The “effective” dimension of applied behavior analysis involves

Answer 82

o Treatment that results in a clinically significant change in an important dimension of behavior o Intervention packages that are cost-effective o Procedures that bring about behavior change efficiently o Procedures that produce practical and significant changes in behavior

Question 83

Generality as a dimension of ABA is evidenced by effective results obtained across

Answer 83

o Individuals o Settings o Procedural variations

Question 84

Generality is exemplified when treatment effects continue

Answer 84

When implemented by unfamiliar staff

Question 85

The requirement that procedures are described in term of basic principles refers to which dimension of ABA?

Answer 85

Conceptually systematic

Question 86

Conceptually systematic is exemplified when a reduction in behavior is described as resulting from

Answer 86

Extinction

Question 87

Conceptually systematic is exemplified when a process is described

Answer 87

With respect to fundamental behavioral principles

Question 88

A technological description of a timeout procedure would include

Answer 88

What behavior, where, how long, what is said, how…

Question 89

A behavior analyst is able to replicate a procedure based on its written description. This reflects which dimensions of ABA?

Answer 89

Technological

Question 90

The requirement that behavior change procedures are described specifically and completely enough that a trained reader could replicate then refers to which dimension of ABA?

Answer 90

Technological

Question 91

The requirement that procedures produce practical and significant changes in behavior refers to which dimension of ABA?

Answer 91

Effective

Question 92

The effective dimension of ABA is exemplified by...

Answer 92

All people in the experimental group made friends compared to the few people in the control group who made friends

Question 92

An interest in behaviors that are important to both the individual and society refers to which dimension of ABA?

Answer 92

Applied

Question 93

Believable demonstrations of control over the events responsible for behavior change reflect which dimension of ABA?

Answer 93

Analytic

Question 94

The behavioral dimension of ABA is exemplified by...

Answer 94

o a child speaking o Talking as a target behavior o Rapid eye movement o Gagging o Sweating

Question 95

Studying what people do refers to which dimension of ABA?

Answer 95

Behavioral