SCIENCE: BASIC CHARACTERISTICS AND A DEFINITION

Question 1

APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS

Answer 1

A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH FOR DISCOVERING ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES THAT RELIABLY INFLUENCE SOCIALLY SIGNIFICANT BEHAVIOR AND FOR DEVELOPING A TECHNOLOGY OF BEHAVIOR CHANGE THAT TAKES PRACTICAL ADVANTAGE OF THOSE DISCOVERIES

Question 2

THREE LEVELS OF UNDERSTANDING IN SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION

Answer 2

DESCRIPTION, PREDICTION, CONTROL

Question 3

1. DESCRIPTION

Answer 3

COLLECTION OF FACTS ABOUT THE OBSERVED EVENTS THAT CAN BE QUANTIFIED, CLASSIFIED, EXAMINED FOR POSSIBLE RELATIONS TO OTHER KNOWN FACTS- SUGGESTS POSSIBLE HYPOTHESIS

Question 4

DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE: WHITE’S STUDY OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS’ “NATURAL RATES” OF APPROVAL (VERBAL PRAISE OR ENCOURAGEMENT)

Answer 4

A. RATES OF TEACHER PRAISE DROPPED WITH EACH GRADE LEVEL AND (B) IN EVERY GRADE LEVEL AFTER GRADE 2, TEACHERS DELIVERED STATEMENTS OF DISAPPROVAL TO STUDENTS AT RATES EXCEEDING THEIR RATES OF PRAISE

Question 5

2. PREDICTION

Answer 5

PREDICTION ENABLES PREPARATION.
WHEN REPEATED OBSERVATIONS REVEAL THAT TWO EVENTS CONSISTENTLY COVARY WITH EATH OTHER - THE RELATIONSHIP, OR CORRELATION CAN BE USED TO PREDICT THE RELATIVE PROBABILITY. THAT ONE EVENT WILL OCCIR BASED ON THE PRESENCE OF THE OTHER EVENT.

Question 6

CORRELATIONAL STUDIES

Answer 6

USEFUL IN AIDING PREDICTION; CAN SUGGEST POSSIBILITY OF CAUSAL RELATIONS, THEN EXPLORED WITH EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES

Question 7

ABA MOST COMMON CORRELATIONAL STUDY

Answer 7

COMPARES THE RELATIVE RATES, OR CONDITIONED POSSIBILITIES OF TWO OR MORE OBSERVED VARIABLES.

Question 8

EXAMPLE: CORRELATIONAL STUDY MCKERCHER AND THOMPSON

Answer 8

CORRELATIONS BETWEEN PROBLEM BEHAVIOR EXHIBITED FOLLOWING CONSEQUENT EVENTS: TEACHER ATTENTION (100%) ; PRESENTATION OF MATERIAL (79%); ESCAPE FROM INSTRUCTIONAL TASKS (33%) ,OF 14 CHILD SAMPLED.

Question 9

3. CONTROL

Answer 9

GREATEST POTENTIAL BENEFITS FROM SCIENCE AND HIGHEST LEVEL OF SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING.

Question 10

FUNCTIONAL RELATIONS

Answer 10

THAT CHANGE IN THE DEPENDENDENT VARIABLE EXISTS WHEN A WELL CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT DEMONSTRATES THAT A SPECIFIC CHANGE IN ONE VENT (DEPENDENT VARIABLE) IS RELIABLY PRODUCED BY SPECIFIC MANIPULATIONS OF ANOTHER EVENT (INDEPENDENT VARIABLE), THE CHANGE IN THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE WAS UNLIKELY TO BE THE RESULT OF OTHR EXTRANEOUS FACTORS (CONFOUNDING VARIALBLES)

Question 11

JOHNSON AND PENNYPACKER (1980) EQUATION

Answer 11

Y + f(x), where x is the independent variable and y, the independent variable. to show, represent the x in isolation and demonstrate the isolation of x is sufficient for the production of y. y occurs only if x occurs

Question 12

ABA Applied Behavior Analysis

Answer 12

The science, 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 in behavior

Question 13

Behaviorism

Answer 13

The philosophy of a science of behavior; there are various forms of behaviorism (see methodological behaviorism and radical behaviorism)

Question 14

Determinism

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Experiment

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB)

Answer 16

a natural science approach to the study of behavior of a subject matter in its own right founded by B.F. Skinner; methodological measures 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 an an emphasis on describing functional relations between behavior and of controlling variables in the environment over formal theory testing.

Question 17

Explanatory fiction

Answer 17

A fictitious or 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 , such as “intelligence” or “cognitive awareness” as explanations for why an organism pushes the lever when the light is on and food is available but does not push the lever when the light is off and no food is available.