PSY7709 Week 5 Terminology

Question 1

A motivating operation that decreases the reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus, object, or event.

Answer 1

abolishing operation

Question 2

A desirable target behavior that a person seeks to increase in frequency, duration, or intensity.

Answer 2

behavioral deficit

Question 3

An undesirable target behavior that a person seeks to decrease in frequency, duration, or intensity.

Answer 3

behavioral excess

Question 4

A metaphor to describe a rate of responding and its resistance to change following an alteration in reinforcement conditions.

Answer 4

behavioral momentum

Question 5

Schedules of reinforcement that exist at the same time for two or more different behaviors.

Answer 5

compound schedule of reinforcement

Question 6

Two or more of different behaviors or response options are concurrently available for the person.

Answer 6

concurrent operants

Question 7

A motivating operation that increases the effectiveness of some stimulus, object, or event as a reinforcer.

Answer 7

establishing operation

Question 8

A schedule of reinforcement in which the reinforcer is delivered for the first response that occurs after an interval of time has elapsed.

Answer 8

fixed interval

Question 9

A schedule of reinforcement in which a specific number of responses must occur before the reinforcer is delivered.

Answer 9

fixed ratio

Question 10

A schedule for the delivery of non-contingent stimuli in which a time interval remains the same from one delivery to the next.

Answer 10

fixed-time schedule

Question 11

A schedule of reinforcement in which not every instance of the behavior is followed by the delivery of the reinforcer. Includes fixed ratio, fixed interval, variable ratio, and variable interval schedules.

Answer 11

intermittent schedule of reinforcement

Question 12

A compound schedule of reinforcement consisting of two or more basic schedules of reinforcement that occur in an alternating, usually random, sequence. No discriminative stimuli are correlated with the presence or absence of each element of the schedule, and reinforcement is delivered for meeting the response requirements of the element in effect at any time.

Answer 12

mixed schedule

Question 13

An environmental variable that (a) alters (increases or decreases) the reinforcing or punishing effectiveness of some stimulus, object, or event; and (b) alters (increases or decreases) the current frequency of all behavior that has been reinforced or punished by that stimulus, object, or event.

Answer 13

motivating operation

Question 14

A compound schedule of reinforcement consisting of two or more basic schedules of reinforcement that occur in an alternating, usually random, sequence; a discriminative stimulus is correlated with the presence or absence of each element of the schedule, and reinforcement is delivered for meeting the response requirements of the element in effect at any time.

Answer 14

multiple schedule

Question 15

The absence of responding for a period of time following reinforcement. This effect is commonly produced by fixed interval (FI) and fixed ratio (FR) schedules of reinforcement.

Answer 15

post-reinforcement pause

Question 16

A schedule that systematically thins each successive reinforcement opportunity independent of the individual’s behavior. Progressive ratio (PR) and progressive interval (PI) schedules are thinned using arithmetic or geometric progressions.

Answer 16

progressive schedule of reinforcement

Question 17

Occurs when a stimulus change immediately follows a response and increases the future frequency of that type of behavior in similar conditions.

Answer 17

reinforcement

Question 18

A process in which an item from a preference assessment is delivered contingent on a behavior to see if the behavior increases.

Answer 18

reinforcer assessment

Question 19

A decrease in the reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus, object, or event caused by a motivating operation.

Answer 19

reinforcer-abolishing effect

Question 20

An increase in the reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus, object, or event caused by a motivating operation.

Answer 20

reinforcer-establishing effect

Question 21

Specifies which responses will be followed by delivery of the reinforcer; may be continuous or intermittent.

Answer 21

schedule of reinforcement

Question 22

Changing a contingency of reinforcement by gradually increasing the response ratio or the extent of the time interval, which results in a lower rate of reinforcement per responses, time, or both.

Answer 22

schedule thinning

Question 23

A schedule of reinforcement identical to the chained schedule except that, like the mixed schedule, the tandem schedule does not use discriminative stimuli with the elements in the chain.

Answer 23

tandem schedule

Question 24

A schedule for the delivery of noncontingent stimuli in which the interval of time from one delivery to the next randomly varies around a given time.

Answer 24

variable-time schedule