Week One Terminology

Question 1

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 of behavior.

Answer 1

Applied Behavior Analysis

Question 2

The activity of living organisms, or what a person does and says.

Answer 2

Behavior

Question 3

The philosophy of a science of behavior.

Answer 3

Behaviorism

Question 4

The environmental events (antecedents and consequences) that influence the probability of a particular behavior.

Answer 4

Controlling Variable

Question 5

Behavior that is not observable to others.

Answer 5

Covert Behavior

Question 6

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

Answer 6

Determinism

Question 7

An operant that occurs more frequently under some antecedent conditions than others.

Answer 7

Discriminated Operant

Question 8

The objective observation of the phenomena of interest.

Answer 8

Empiricism

Question 9

The conglomerate of real circumstances in which the organism or referred part of an organism exists.

Answer 9

Environment

Question 10

Variables that are relevant to describing the stimulus environment. These can include people and items present.

Answer 10

Environmental Variables

Question 11

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

Answer 11

Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Question 12

A 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.

Answer 12

Explanatory Fiction

Question 13

A 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.

Answer 13

Explanatory Fiction

Question 14

A presumed but unobserved process or entity.

Answer 14

Hypothetical Construct

Question 15

An approach to explaining behavior that assumes that an “inner” dimension exists that differs from a behavioral dimension, and that phenomena in this dimension either directly cause or at least mediate some forms of behavior.

Answer 15

Mentalism

Question 16

A philosophical position that views behavioral events that cannot be publicly observed as outside the realm of science.

Answer 16

Methodological Behaviorism

Question 17

The history of the development of an individual during its lifetime.

Answer 17

Ontogeny

Question 18

Occurs when a behavior in a particular situation is followed by a reinforcing consequence, thus making the behavior more likely to occur in similar circumstances in the future.

Answer 18

Operant Conditioning

Question 19

The practice of ruling out simple, logical explanations, experimentally or conceptually, before considering more complex or abstract explanations.

Answer 19

Parsimony

Question 20

An attitude that the truthfulness or validity of all scientific theory and knowledge should be continually questioned.

Answer 20

Philosophical Doubt

Question 21

The history of the natural evolution of a species.

Answer 21

Phylogeny

Question 22

Inductive reasoning that draws general rules based on specific observation. It is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations and seems to often go hand in hand with behaviorism.

Answer 22

Pragmatism

Question 23

A statement of the anticipated outcome of a presently unknown or future measurement.

Answer 23

Prediction

Question 24

A thoroughgoing form of behaviorism that attempts to understand all human behavior-including private events such as thoughts and feelings-in terms of controlling variables in the history of the person and species.

Answer 24

Radical Behaviorism

Question 25

A systematic approach to the understanding of natural phenomena that relies on determinism as its fundamental assumption, empiricism as its primary rule, experimentation as its basic strategy, replication as a requirement for believability, parsimony as a value, and philosophical doubt as its guiding conscience.

Answer 25

Science

Question 26

The principle that all forms of life, from single cells to complex cultures, evolve as a result of selection with respect to function.

Answer 26

Selectionism

Question 27

An approach to psychology focused on the relationship between stimuli and responses and the objective study of behavior, also known as Watsonian behaviorism.

Answer 27

Stimulus-Response Psychology