Vocabulary Review

Question 1

abative effect

Answer 1

A decrease in the current frequency of behavior that has been reinforced by some stimulus, object, or event whose reinforcing effectiveness depends on the same motivating operation. For example, food ingestion abates (decreases the current frequency of) behavior such as opening the fridge that has been reinforced by food.

Question 2

abolishing operation (AO)

Answer 2

A motivating operation that decreases the reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus, object, or event. For example, the reinforcing effectiveness of food is abolished as a result of food ingestion.

Question 3

accuracy

Answer 3

The extent to which observed values, the data produced by measuring an event, match the true state, or true values, of the event as it exists in nature.

Question 4

adjunctive behavior OR schedule-induced behavior

Answer 4

Behavior that occurs as a collateral effect of a schedule of periodic reinforcement for other behavior; time-filling or interim activities (e.g., doodling, idle talking, smoking, drinking) that are induced by schedules of reinforcement during times when reinforcement is unlikely to be delivered.

Question 5

affirmation of the consequent

Answer 5

A three-step form of reasoning that begins with a true antecedent–consequent (if-A-then-B) statement and proceeds as follows: (1) If A is true, then B is true; (2) B is found to be true; (3) therefore, A is true. Although other factors could be responsible for the truthfulness of A, a sound experiment affirms several if-A-then-B possibilities, each one reducing the likelihood of factors other than the independent variable being responsible for the observed changes in behavior.

Question 6

alternative schedule

Answer 6

Provides reinforcement when the response requirements of any of two or more simultaneously available component schedules are met.

Question 7

anecdotal observation OR ABC recording

Answer 7

A form of direct, continuous observation in which the observer records a descriptive, temporally sequenced account of all behavior(s) of interest and the antecedent conditions and consequences for those behaviors as those events occur in the client’s natural environment.

Question 8

antecedent

Answer 8

An environmental condition or stimulus change existing or occurring prior to a behavior of interest.

Question 9

antecedent exercise

Answer 9

An antecedent intervention, implemented independently of occurrences of the problem behavior, that usually has clients engage in some effortful form of aerobic activity (e.g., walking, jogging, dancing, calisthenics, roller skating). Applied behavior analysts have used antecedent exercise in the treatment of many maladaptive behaviors such as self-injurious behavior (SIB), aggression, and diverse behaviors such as inappropriate vocalizations, repetitive movements, talking-out, out-of-seat, and stereotypic behaviors.

Question 10

antecedent intervention

Answer 10

A behavior change strategy that manipulates antecedent stimuli based on (a) motivating operations (evocative and abative effects), (b) stimulus control (differential availability of reinforcement), and (c) contingency-independent interventions (e.g., protective equipment, and restraint).

Question 11

antecedent stimulus class

Answer 11

A set of stimuli that share a common relationship. All stimuli in this set evoke the same operant behavior, or elicit the same respondent behavior.

Question 12

applied behavioral analysis (ABA)

Answer 12

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 in behavior.

Question 13

arbitrarily applicable relational responding (AARR)

Answer 13

Forming new stimulus classes with little or no reinforced practice.

Question 14

arbitrary relations

Answer 14

Stimuli to which people respond in interlocked ways, not because of physical similarity, but because social-verbal reinforcement contingencies teach people to respond to them in this way.

Question 15

arbitrary stimulus class

Answer 15

Antecedent stimuli that evoke the same response but do not resemble each other in physical form or share a relational aspect such as bigger or under

Question 16

artifact

Answer 16

An outcome or result that appears to exist because of the way it is measured but in fact does not correspond to what actually occurred.

Question 17

ascending baseline

Answer 17

A data path that shows an increasing trend in the response measure over time.

Question 18

audience

Answer 18

Anyone who functions as a discriminative stimulus evoking verbal behavior. Different ones may control different verbal behavior about the same topic because of a differential reinforcement history. Teens may describe the same event in different ways when talking to peers versus parents.

Question 19

autoclitics

Answer 19

The relation which involves two interlocking levels of verbal behavior emitted in one utterance. One level is a primary response (e.g., “The ice is solid”), while the other type is the secondary response (e.g., adding “I think”). This behavior benefits the listener by providing additional information regarding the primary response.

Question 20

autoclitic frames

Answer 20

Provide structure among verbal operants in terms of order, agreement, grouping, and composition of larger units of verbal behavior such as sentences. These help speakers generate novel utterances. For example, experience with the frame “the girl’s (ball, dog, coat) may enable a child to say “the girl’s hat” without prior teaching.

Question 21

autoclitic mand

Answer 21

A mand which involves supplemental control by an MO related to some aspect of the speaker’s primary verbal response. The mand (e.g., “Believe me, they are wrong.”) enjoins a listener to take some specific action regarding the primary response, and the behavior is reinforced by that action.