Behavioral Principles, Learning, and Motivation

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering behavioral shaping, schedules of reinforcement, extinction, motivating operations, habit formation, and mindset theory based on lecture notes.

Shaping

A behavioral technique in which a new behavior is taught by reinforcing small steps that gradually get closer to the desired final behavior.

Differential Reinforcement

A process within shaping where behaviors moving closer toward the desired goal are reinforced, while behaviors not moving toward the goal stop receiving reinforcement.

Successive Approximation

The small, progressive steps that get closer to the final target behavior, with each step being slightly more advanced than the previous one.

Lamb et al. (2004) Study

A behavioral study that utilized shaping and monetary reinforcers to help regular smokers gradually reduce cigarette consumption toward complete abstinence rather than expecting immediate cessation.

Extinction

A behavioral process that occurs when a previously reinforced behavior stops receiving reinforcement, leading to an overall decrease in the frequency of the behavior over time.

Reinforcement Contingency

A behavioral relationship in which a specific behavior produces a consequence that increases the likelihood of that behavior occurring again in the future.

Extinction Burst

A side effect of extinction characterized by a temporary increase in the frequency, intensity, or duration of the behavior immediately before it begins to decline.

Spontaneous Recovery

A phenomenon during extinction where a behavior that had previously decreased or stopped suddenly reappears after an interval of time has passed.

Motivating Operation (MO)

An environmental condition or event that temporarily alters the effectiveness or value of a reinforcer and changes the probability of behaviors that have previously obtained that reinforcer.

Deprivation Operation

A motivating operation that withholds or restricts access to a reinforcer, thereby increasing its momentary value and increasing the frequency of behaviors that previously produced it.

Satiation Operation

A motivating operation that provides abundant or unrestricted access to a reinforcer, decreasing its momentary value and decreasing behaviors that previously produced it.

Premack Principle

The principle stating that an opportunity to engage in a high-probability or more preferred behavior can be used to reinforce a lower-probability or less preferred behavior.

Preference Ranking

A hierarchical listing of activities from most preferred to least preferred used to arrange reinforcement contingencies by making high-preference activities contingent upon completing lower-preference ones.

Hot-Cold Empathy Gap

A psychological bias where individuals have difficulty accurately predicting how they will think, feel, or behave when they are in a different emotional or physiological state.

Cold State

A state of psychological and physiological calmness where a person is relaxed and not experiencing intense emotions, cravings, or visceral urges.

Hot State

A state marked by the presence of intense visceral drives, strong emotions, cravings, hunger, anger, fear, or excitement that heavily biases decision-making.

Behaviorceutical

A concept introduced by Dr. Kelly Lambert denoting an active behavior or activity (such as exercise, gardening, or building) that positively alters brain neurochemistry to improve mental well-being and combat depression.

Environmental Enrichment

The provision of complex physical and social stimulation (such as toys, social interaction, and exploration opportunities), shown in rat driving studies to accelerate learning and enhance cognitive skills.

Three-Term Contingency

The fundamental operant framework describing how the environment influences and maintains behavior, composed of Antecedent (A), Behavior (B), and Consequence (C).

Antecedent (A)

An environmental event or stimulus occurring prior to a behavior that serves as a cue, trigger, or signal indicating an opportunity to respond.

Behavior (B)

The actual physical action, performance, or response emitted by an individual.

Consequence (C)

The outcome or stimulus event that immediately follows a behavior, altering the future probability of that behavior occurring again.

Stimulus Class

A collection of distinct stimuli that share common physical attributes or produce the exact same functional behavioral response despite differences in appearance.

APOPO

An organization that applies positive reinforcement and shaping techniques to train African giant pouched rats to identify scents of buried landmines and tuberculosis.

HeroRATs

African giant pouched rats trained by APOPO that possess an exceptional sense of smell, are lightweight enough to avoid detonating landmines, and can quickly search extensive tracts of ground.

Watanabe et al. (1995) Study

A landmark behavioral experiment demonstrating concept learning in pigeons, in which subjects learned to categorize Impressionist works by Claude Monet and Cubist works by Pablo Picasso.

Concept Learning

The cognitive capability of an animal to discern underlying visual categories or styles and generalize that categorization to novel, previously unencountered exemplars.

Schedule of Reinforcement

A predetermined rule specifying the environmental criteria and timing required for a specific behavior to produce reinforcement.

Continuous Schedule of Reinforcement

A schedule of reinforcement in which every single instance of the desired target behavior is followed by a reinforcer.

Intermittent Schedule of Reinforcement

A reinforcement schedule where only selected instances of a behavior receive reinforcement rather than every occurrence.

Partial Reinforcement Extinction Effect (PREE)

The behavioral finding that behaviors established on intermittent schedules of reinforcement show substantially greater resistance to extinction than behaviors maintained on continuous reinforcement.

Habit

A behavior that is performed automatically without conscious deliberation through consistent repetition in response to a stable cue in a familiar setting.

Habit Automaticity Timeline

Empirical research establishing that it takes approximately $66\,\text{days}$ on average for a behavior to reach automaticity, disproving the popular myth that habits form in exactly $21\,\text{days}$.

Habit Loop

A neurological three-step sequence consisting of a Cue (the trigger), a Routine (the behavior itself), and a Reward (the positive reinforcement that solidifies the loop).

Fixed Mindset

The belief that personal intelligence and skills are unchangeable static traits, leading people to avoid challenges, fear failure, and view effort as indicative of low ability.

Growth Mindset

The belief that abilities and intellectual potential can be cultivated through effort, deliberate practice, persistence, and learning from failure.

Mueller and Dweck (1998) Study

A psychological investigation demonstrating that praising students for their effort promotes resilience and a growth mindset, while praising intelligence encourages a fixed mindset and early surrender when facing difficulty.