Unit 1

Question 1

Francis Bacon

Answer 1

Sets the foundation for an empirical philosophy of science by separating scientific knowledge from belief.

Question 2

Francis Bacon influences Skinner

Answer 2

1. Study nature, not books
2. Knowledge is power
3. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed
4. A better world is possible, but it will not come about by accident.

Question 3

Darwin

Answer 3

Origin of Species describes a theory of evolution. Removes the notion of purpose and intention for understanding changing forms in living creatures

Question 4

Ernst Mach- Science of Mechanics

Answer 4

Promotes positivism, focus on measurable events as the basis for meaningful knowledge. Cause and effect are best understood as functional relationships, not push-pull mechanical processes.

Question 5

Pavlov- The Conditioned Reflex

Answer 5

Stimulus-response (respondent) conditioning in his salivary studies of conditioning in dogs

Question 6

Skinner box

Answer 6

Operant conditioning chamber used for the study of the behavior of individual organisms.

Question 7

Behavior of Organisms (1938)

Answer 7

Skinner’s seminal studies in operant conditioning, establishing the principles of experimental analysis of behavior

Question 8

Project Pigeon (1944)

Answer 8

Skinner funded to develop an animal guidance system for air to ground missiles, discriminated key peck responding by pigeons. Use shaping and differential reinforcement.

Question 9

“The Operational Analysis of Psychological Terms” (1945)

Answer 9

Skinner extends the scope of behavior analysis with his theory of RADICAL BEHAVIORISM (the conceptual analysis of private events).

Question 10

Walden Two (1948)

Answer 10

Skinner follows Bacon and creates a fictional utopian society based on a science and technology of human behavior.

Question 11

Principles of Psychology (1950)- Keller & Schoenfeld

Answer 11

Fred Keller and William Schoenfeld publish psychology text featuring the principles of operant and respondent conditioning.

Question 12

Science and Human Behavior (1953)

Answer 12

Skinner writes a comprehensive behavior analytic account of human behavior, public and private, individual, social and cultural. Most complete statement by Skinner and most influential.

Question 13

Programmed Instruction

Answer 13

Skinner developed an instructional system for classroom education. Teaching machine and programmed instruction, following a visit to his daughter’s school.

Question 14

Verbal Behavior (1957)

Answer 14

Skinner publishes a behavior analytic interpretation of language. May be most important theoretical contribution

Question 15

JEAB (1958)

Answer 15

First scientific journal publishing exclusively operant research.

Question 16

Division 25 of the APA

Answer 16

Division of experimental analysis of behavior and behavior analysis.

Question 17

Chomsky

Answer 17

Highly critical review of Verbal Behavior and promoted his own linguistic theory

Question 18

Skinner and Lindsley- Schedules of Reinforcement

Answer 18

In 1956, Skinner met Ogden Lindsley and they established a human operant research laboratory.
The following year, Skinner and Charles Ferster published a compendium of basic research titled
Schedules of Reinforcement.

Question 19

Jack Michael

Answer 19

Jack Michael (one of the first people to apply the principles of behavior to changing
human behavior and refined and expanded the concepts of verbal behavior and
motivating operations)

Question 20

Baer, Wolf and Risley

Answer 20

Donald Baer, Mont Wolf, and Todd Risley (who applied the basic principles to change
the behavior of children with different problem behavior and published the seminal
article “Some Current Dimensions of Applied Behavior Analysis”),

Question 21

Ivar Lovaas

Answer 21

Ivar Lovaas (who’s contributions in the area early intensive behavioral intervention have
inspired countless of practitioners)

Question 22

JABA (1968)

Answer 22

Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis

Question 23

Mark Sundberg

Answer 23

Analysis of Verbal Behavior (journal founded in 1982)

Question 24

Automatic shaping

Answer 24

Automatic shaping occurs when changes in behavior are brought about by a progressive change in response-stimulus contingencies, which are not arranged by others.
E.g., learning to juggle oranges.

Question 25

Shaping

Answer 25

Shaping is the reinforcement of 
successively closer approximations to a 
target response by a gradually shifting 
program of contingencies.
– The shaping of lever-pressing.
– Exceptionally forceful lever pressing.
– Delayed lever pressing (key-pecking).

Question 26

Automatic Shaping and Automatic Reinforcement

Answer 26

The concept of “automatic shaping” is an
extension of the more familiar concept of
“automatic reinforcement.”

Question 27

Automatic Reinforcement- controversial term

Answer 27

The term is controversial:
– It suggests a special kind of reinforcer
– It is sometimes used as a cover for ignorance, when we can’t identify any reinforcers for a behavior.
– It can be used in a circular way:
• Why did he do X? It was automatically reinforced.
• How do you know? The behavior occurred in strength.

Question 28

1 of 3 ways for automatic reinforcement

Answer 28

In the first case, behavior produces changes in the environment outside of the skin, and it is these non-social environmental changes that reinforce behavior. An example of this type of automatic reinforcement occurs when you become more proficient at solving a puzzle or typing on your computer.

Question 29

2 of 3 ways for automatic reinforcement

Answer 29

A second case in which automatic reinforcement occurs, is when the sensory stimulation
produced by the behavior itself functions as a reinforcer. For example, when we rock back and
forth, the kinesthetic stimulation produced by this behavior can reinforce the rocking.

Question 30

3 of 3 ways for automatic reinforcement

Answer 30

A third case of automatic reinforcement can occur when behavior resembles (“matches”) the
behavior of others. This is what we call “achieving parity.” For example, when our wording or
sentences resemble those used by a verbal community, these similarities will reinforce our
verbal behavior.

Question 31

Chomsky’s Theory of Language

Answer 31

According to Chomsky, language is innate. Our ability to learn and use grammar is embedded in our brains, in a “language acquisition device”.
This view is language is called Nativism. To support this view, nativists point out that parents tend to correct errors of fact, but not the grammatical errors of their children. Regardless of this, children learn to speak with appropriate grammar despite the lack of direct teaching (see Brown & Hanlon; Möerk; Pinker, S. 1994; Gordon, P., 1985).

Question 32

Behaviorist’s approach to language acquisition

Answer 32

Language is operant behavior that is learned and is sensitive to its consequences. Evidence of this is provided by Palmer’s study, in which the verbal behavior of children changed as a function of the verbal behavior that was modeled in the absence of consequences for correct or incorrect uses of grammar.

Question 33

Automatic reinforcement and language acquisition

Answer 33

1) Unconditioned Automatic reinforcement: rhyme, prosody, alliteration
2) Conditioned reinforcement: Speech sounds paired with unconditioned reinforces become conditioned reinforcers
3) Evocative effects of our own verbal behavior (when coming up with composition)
4) Automatic reinforcement by achieving parity with verbal community