PSY7708 Week 1 ABA Terminology

Question 1

An approach to psychology focused on the relationship between stimuli and responses and the objective study of behavior, also known as Watsonian behaviorism.

Answer 1

Stimulus-Response Psychology

Question 2

The science in which tactics derived from the principles of behavior are applied to improve socially significant behavior and experimentation is used to identify the variables responsible for the improvement of behavior.

Answer 2

Applied Behavior Analysis

Question 3

The activity of living organisms, or what a person does and says.

Answer 3

Behavior

Question 4

The philosophy of a science of behavior.

Answer 4

Behaviorism

Question 5

The environmental events (antecedents and consequences) that influence the probability of a particular behavior.

Answer 5

Controlling Variable

Question 6

Behavior that is not observable to others.

Answer 6

Covert BX

Question 7

The assumption that the universe is a lawful and orderly place in which phenomena occur in relation to other events and not in a willy-nilly, accidental fashion.

Answer 7

Determinism

Question 8

An operant that occurs more frequently under some antecedent conditions than others.

Answer 8

Discriminated Operant

Question 9

The objective observation of the phenomena of interest.

Answer 9

Empiricism

Question 10

The conglomerate of real circumstances in which the organism or referred part of an organism exists.

Answer 10

Environment

Question 11

Variables that are relevant to describing the stimulus environment. These can include people and items present.

Answer 11

Environmental Variables

Question 12

A carefully controlled comparison of some measure of the phenomenon of interest under two or more different conditions in which only one factor at a time differs from one condition to another.

Answer 12

Experiment

Question 13

A natural science approach to the study of behavior as a subject matter in its own right founded by B.F. Skinner. Its methodological features include rate of response as a basic dependent variable, repeated or continuous measurement of clearly defined response classes, within-subject experimental comparisons instead of group design, visual analysis of graphed data instead of statistical inference, and an emphasis on describing functional relations between behavior and controlling variables in the environment over formal theory testing.

Answer 13

Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Question 14

A hypothetical variable that often takes the form of another name for the observed phenomenon it claims to explain and contributes nothing to a functional account or understanding of the phenomenon.

Answer 14

Explanatory Fiction

Question 15

A presumed but unobserved process or entity.

Answer 15

Hypothetical Construct

Question 16

An approach to explaining behavior that assumes that an “inner” dimension exists that differs from a behavioral dimension, and that phenomena in this dimension either directly cause or at least mediate some forms of behavior.

Answer 16

Mentalism

Question 17

A philosophical position that views behavioral events that cannot be publicly observed as outside the realm of science.

Answer 17

Methodological Behaviorism

Question 18

The history of the development of an individual during its lifetime.

Answer 18

Ontogeny

Question 19

Occurs when a behavior in a particular situation is followed by a reinforcing consequence, thus making the behavior more likely to occur in similar circumstances in the future.

Answer 19

Operant Conditioning

Question 20

The practice of ruling out simple, logical explanations, experimentally or conceptually, before considering more complex or abstract explanations.

Answer 20

Parsimony

Question 21

An attitude that the truthfulness or validity of all scientific theory and knowledge should be continually questioned.

Answer 21

Philosophical doubt

Question 22

The history of the natural evolution of a species.

Answer 22

Phylogeny

Question 23

Inductive reasoning that draws general rules based on specific observation. It is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations and seems to often go hand in hand with behaviorism.

Answer 23

Pragmatism

Question 24

A statement of the anticipated outcome of a presently unknown or future measurement.

Answer 24

Prediction

Question 25

A thoroughgoing form of behaviorism that attempts to understand all human behavior-including private events such as thoughts and feelings-in terms of controlling variables in the history of the person and species.

Answer 25

Radical Behaviorism

Question 26

A systematic approach to the understanding of natural phenomena that relies on determinism as its fundamental assumption, empiricism as its primary rule, experimentation as its basic strategy, replication as a requirement for believability, parsimony as a value, and philosophical doubt as its guiding conscience.

Answer 26

Science

Question 27

The principle that all forms of life, from single cells to complex cultures, evolve as a result of selection with respect to function.

Answer 27

Selectionism