Unit 2

Question 1

Automatic reinforcement

Answer 1

Can be conditioned/unconditioned, positive or negative

-not socially mediated and not formally arranged

Question 2

Artistic/autistic automatic reinforcement

Answer 2

Behavior being strengthened by its own stimulation (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile, etc.)

Question 3

Practical automatic reinforcement

Answer 3

Behavior being strengthened by its direct effect on the environment (strength needed to push a door open, self-echoics, self mands, etc.)
-provided by the physical environment

Question 4

Automatic reinforcement and vocal behavior

Answer 4

Stimulus-stimulus pairing procedure was developed to increase vocal behavior (a vocal stimulus is paired with reinforcers to establish vocalizations as conditioned reinforcers).

Question 5

Intraverbal Behavior

Answer 5

Verbal behavior evoked by other verbal behavior, i.e. core element of academic and intellectual behavior

Question 6

Intraverbal behavior- technical defintion

Answer 6

Verbal behavior that is evoked by a verbal 
discriminative stimulus (SD) that does not have 
point-to-point correspondence to the verbal 
response (i.e., the stimulus and the response do not topographically match).

Question 7

Conditional discriminations

Answer 7

“A discrimination in which reinforcement of responding during a stimulus depends on (is conditional on) other stimuli”
One stimulus or motivational operation
(MO or EO) alters the evocative effect of a
second stimulus
Establishes the second stimulus as a
discriminative stimulus (SD)

Question 8

Conditional discriminations & intraverbal behavior

Answer 8

For example...
• “Name a food”
• “Name a hot food”
• ‘Name a breakfast food”
• “Name a sweet food”
• “What did you do today at school?"

Question 9

Automatic reinforcement

Answer 9

1) Same defining properties as “reinforcement”- follows bx, increases bx and under stimulus control
2) Can also have automatic punishment and automatic extinction (same as regular pun and ext).

Question 10

Nonverbal Practical

Answer 10

Nonverbal response on the surrounding world and behavior is shaped and automatically comes under the relevant stimulus control 
Ex. grab toy and have toy in hand
push door, it opens
climb steps, get to top
Turn and look, see things

Question 11

Verbal Practical

Answer 11

Verbal response operates on the speaker as listener and behavior is shaped and automatically comes under the relevant antecedent control
EX. self-mand, self-tact, self-echoic, etc.

Question 12

Nonverbal Artistic/autistic

Answer 12

Behavior produces nonverbal response operates on the behaver directly and bx is shaped and automatically comes under the relevant antecedent control
EX. stimulation: rocking tapping, hair twirling, masturbation, scratch an itch, mannerisms, gestures , hair style, dress

Question 13

Verbal Artistic/autistic

Answer 13

Producing verbal response operates on the behaver directly and bx is shaped and automatically comes under the relevant antecedent control.
EX. Accents, intonation, prosody syntax and grammar, singing echolalia

Question 14

Automatic Reinforcement Summary

Answer 14

Behavior can be shaped, maintained or eliminated by automatic contingencies that are not directly set up or mediated by other persons. Can be very efficient

Question 15

Current study on automatic reinforcement

Answer 15

• Pairing worked best with powerful reinforcers
• Pairings related to strongest forms of reinforcement resulted in the words being said later on
• Type of automatic reinforcement that occurred most were verbal practical
• Mands easiest to get under control

Question 16

Social behavior

Answer 16

Comprised of three repertoires:

1. Nonverbal
2. Verbal
3. Listener

Question 17

Social behavior- nonverbal behaviors

Answer 17

EX. eye contact, body posture, dress, touching, imitation, turn taking

Question 18

Social behavior- verbal behaviors

Answer 18

EX. Manding to others, mands for info, reciprocal conversations, self-editing

Question 19

Social behavior- listener behaviors

Answer 19

EX. attending to speaker, responding to mands of speaker, turn taking, serve as an audience

Question 20

Defective social behavior

Answer 20

• Weak MO/EO for social interaction

- Rules are complex, vague and constantly changing

Question 21

Defective verbal behaviors

Answer 21

-high rate of mands only, useless or odd tacting, lying, rote verbal responses, verbal perseveration

Question 22

Defective nonverbal behaviors

Answer 22

-standing too close, looking away or staring, facial stims, aggression, inappropriate touching

Question 23

Defective listener behaviors

Answer 23

-not making eye contact, changing the topic, not mediating reinforcement

Question 24

VB-MAPP (assessment of social behaviors)

Answer 24

• Sundberg 2008

- Contains 170 verbal behavior milestones across 3 developmental levels

Question 25

Issues to consider when teaching social behavior

Answer 25

• Too much 1:1 may impede social development?
• Overdependence on adult intervention
• Simplified procedures may produce rote or defective social behavior

Question 26

Reinforcement

Answer 26

Reinforcement is a fact and can be demonstrated, especially in the laboratory

Question 27

Stim-Stim Pairing (Sundberg et al.)

Answer 27

• Vocal stimulus is presented immediately before an established reinforcer
• Establishes vocalizations as automatically reinforcing
• Can lead to acquisition of mands, tacts, echoics
• Most effective with strong reinforcers
• Generalization can be observed

Question 28

Automatic Shaping

Answer 28

a change in behavior brought on by a progressive program of reinforcement contingencies that is not arranged by other people

Question 29

Verbal conditional discriminations

Answer 29

Verbal Conditional Discriminations
A compound verbal stimulus (2+ components)-
collectively the stimuli evoke an intraverbal response

What is your middle name?
What is your dog’s name?