Concepts and Principles in Behavior Analysis

Vocabulary-style flashcards defining the technical terms and core principles of Behavior Analysis based on the lecture transcript.

Behavior

The portion of an organism's interaction with its environment that involves movement of some part of the organism; the actions of a living organism.

Response

A single instance or occurrence of a specific class or type of behavior; an action of an organism's effector.

Response Class

A group of responses of varying topography, all of which produce the same effect on the environment.

Topography

The physical form or shape of a behavior.

Repertoire

All of the behaviors a person can do; or a set of behaviors relevant to a particular setting or task.

Environment

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

Stimulus

An energy change that affects an organism through its receptor cells.

ABC

Antecedent/Behavior/Consequence; used when assessing behaviors of students.

Antecedent

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

Consequence

A stimulus change that follows a behavior of interest; some have significant influence on future behavior while others have little effect.

Stimulus Class

A group of stimuli that share specified common elements along formal (size, color), temporal (antecedent or consequent), and/or functional (discriminative stimulus) dimensions.

Respondent Behavior

The response component of a reflex; behavior that is elicited, or induced, by antecedent stimuli.

Reflex

A stimulus-response relation consisting of an antecedent stimulus and the respondent behavior it elicits.

Respondent Conditioning

A stimulus-stimulus pairing procedure where a neutral stimulus (NS) is presented with an unconditioned stimulus until the NS becomes a conditioned stimulus; also called classical or Pavlovian conditioning.

Operant Behavior

Behavior that is selected, maintained, and brought under stimulus control as a function of its consequences; behavior learned through past consequences.

Operant Conditioning

The basic process of operant learning where consequences result in an increased (reinforcement) or decreased (punishment) frequency of a behavior type in the future.

Positive Reinforcement

A response followed immediately by the presentation of a stimulus change that results in similar responses occurring more often.

Negative Reinforcement

A contingency where a response is followed by the termination, reduction, postponement, or avoidance of a stimulus, leading to an increase in future similar responses.

Unconditioned Reinforcer

A stimulus change that increases the frequency of behavior irrespective of learning history; a product of phylogeny.

Conditioned Reinforcer

A stimulus change that functions as a reinforcer because of prior pairing with one or more other reinforcers; also called secondary or learned reinforcer.

Automatic Reinforcement

Reinforcement that occurs independent of the social mediation of others.

Generalized Conditioned Reinforcer

A conditioned reinforcer paired with many other reinforcers that does not depend on an establishing operation for effectiveness, such as money.

Positive Reinforcer

A stimulus whose presentation of onset functions as reinforcement.

Premack Principle

Stating that making the opportunity to engage in a high-probability behavior contingent on a low-frequency behavior will function as reinforcement for the low-frequency behavior.

Variable Interval (VI)

A schedule of reinforcement for the first correct response following variable durations of time; the mean duration is used to describe the schedule.

Reinforcer Assessment

Direct, empirical methods for presenting stimuli contingent on a target response to measure their effectiveness as reinforcers.

Response-Deprivation Hypothesis

A model predicting reinforcement based on restricting access to a contingent behavior compared to baseline, such as $3\,\text{min.}$ trampoline time for $2$ completed math problems.

Stimulus Preference Assessment

Procedures used to determine preferred stimuli, their relative values, and their presumed value as reinforcers.

Avoidance Contingency

A contingency in which a response prevents or postpones the presentation of a stimulus.

Conditioned Negative Reinforcer

A previously neutral stimulus change that functions as a negative reinforcer due to prior pairing with other negative reinforcers.

Discriminated Avoidance

Responding in the presence of a signal prevents the onset of a stimulus from which escape is a reinforcer.

Escape Contingency

A contingency in which a response terminates an ongoing stimulus.

Free-Operant Avoidance

Responses at any time during an interval delay the presentation of an aversive stimulus.

Negative Reinforcer

A stimulus whose termination or reduction in intensity functions as reinforcement.

Unconditioned Reinforcement

Reinforcement that is inherent, such as food.

Unconditioned Negative Reinforcer

A stimulus functioning as a negative reinforcer resulting from phylogeny with no prior learning, such as shock or loud noise.

Schedule of Reinforcement

A rule specifying environmental arrangements and response requirements for reinforcement.

Continuous Reinforcement (CRF)

A schedule providing reinforcement for each occurrence of the target behavior.

Intermittent Schedules of Reinforcement (INT)

A contingency where some, but not all, occurrences of the behavior produce reinforcement.

Interval Schedule of Reinforcement

Behaviors are reinforced after a predictable (fixed) or unpredictable (variable) time interval.

Ratio Schedule of Reinforcement

A timetable where a reinforcer is administered only after a certain number of responses.

Fixed-time Schedule (FT)

A schedule for delivery of noncontingent stimuli where the time interval remains the same.

Fixed Ratio (FR)

A schedule requiring a fixed number of responses for reinforcement.

Fixed Interval (FI)

Reinforcement is delivered for the first response emitted following a fixed duration of time since the last reinforced response.

Variable-time Schedule (VT)

A schedule for noncontingent stimuli where the interval varies randomly around a given time.

Variable Ratio (VR)

A schedule requiring a varying number of responses for reinforcement, described by the mean number of responses required.

Postreinforcement Pause

The absence of responding for a period following reinforcement, common in FI and FR schedules.

Limited Hold

A situation where reinforcement is available only during a finite time following an FI or VI interval.

Schedule Thinning

Gradually increasing the response ratio or time interval, resulting in a lower rate of reinforcement.

Ratio Strain

Effects like avoidance or aggression associated with abrupt increases in ratio requirements.

Behavioral Contrast

When a change in one schedule component produces a change in the opposite direction on an unaltered component.

Conditioned Punisher

A previously neutral stimulus that functions as a punisher due to prior pairing.

Discriminative Stimulus Control

When behavior dimensions are altered by the presence or absence of an antecedent stimulus.

Discriminative Stimulus for Punishment

A stimulus in the presence of which behavior has been punished and in the absence of which it has not.

Generalized Conditioned Punisher

A conditioned punisher paired with a variety of other punishers, such as the word 'no'.

Negative Punishment

Response behavior followed by removal or decrease of a stimulus, decreasing future response frequency.

Overcorrection

A tactic based on positive punishment requiring effortful behavior related to fixing damage caused by the problem behavior.

Positive Practice Overcorrection

Requiring the learner to repeat a correct form of behavior or an incompatible behavior a specified number of times.

Positive Punishment

A response followed immediately by a stimulus presentation that decreases future frequency of the behavior.

Punisher

A stimulus change that decreases the future frequency of the behavior that precedes it.

Response Blocking

Physical intervention to prevent the completion of a targeted problem behavior.

Restitutional Overcorrection

Requiring the learner to repair damage and bring the environment to a condition better than original.

Unconditioned Punisher

A stimulus change decreasing behavior frequency irrespective of learning history.

Bonus Response Cost

Removing reinforcers from a provided reservoir contingent on target behavior.

Contingent Observation

A time-out procedure where the person is repositioned to observe activities but loses access to reinforcement.

Exclusion time-out

Physical removal from the environment for a specified period contingent on target behavior.

Hallway time-out

Removing a student to a hallway location near the classroom for a specified period.

Nonexclusion time-out

The person remains in the setting but lacks access to reinforcement for a period.

Partition Time-out

An exclusion procedure where the person stays behind a barrier that restricts the view within the setting.

Planned Ignoring

Withholding social reinforcers like attention or physical contact for a brief period.

Response Cost

Response-contingent removal of a tangible reinforcer; a form of negative punishment.

Time-out from Positive Reinforcement

Withdrawal of the opportunity to earn reinforcement for a specified time.

Time out Ribbon

A nonexclusion procedure using a band that, when removed, signals reinforcers are unavailable.

Abative Effect

A decrease in the current frequency of behavior reinforced by a stimulus whose effectiveness depends on a motivating operation.

Behavior-altering effect

Either an increase (evocative) or decrease (abative) in the current frequency of behavior.

Establishing Operation (EO)

A motivating operation that increases the effectiveness of a stimulus as a reinforcer.

Function-altering effect

A change in an organism's repertoire caused by reinforcement, punishment, or extinction procedures.

Recovery from punishment procedure

The occurrence of a previously punished response without its punishing consequence.

Reinforcer-abolishing effect

A decrease in the reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus caused by a motivating operation.

SD related to punishment (SDp)

A stimulus in whose presence behavior has been punished and in whose absence it has not.

Transitive conditioned motivating operation (CMO-T)

An environmental variable that establishes or abolishes the reinforcing effectiveness of another stimulus.

Unpairing

The occurrence of a stimulus alone that was previously paired or its occurrence in both the presence and absence of an effective stimulus.

Abolishing operation (AO)

A motivating operation that decreases the reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus.

Conditioned Motivating Operation (CMO)

A motivating operation whose value-altering effect depends on a learning history.

Evocative Effect

An increase in the current frequency of behavior reinforced by a stimulus whose effectiveness depends on the same motivating operation.

Motivating Operation (MO)

An environmental variable that alters reinforcing effectiveness and alters current frequency of reinforced behavior.

Reflexive Conditioned Motivating Operation (CMO-R)

A stimulus that acquires MO effectiveness by preceding worsening or improvement, such as a warning stimulus.

Reinforcer-Establishing effect

An increase in reinforcing effectiveness caused by an MO, such as food deprivation increasing food effectiveness.

Surrogate Conditioned Motivating Operation (CMO-S)

A stimulus that acquires MO effectiveness by being paired with another MO.

Unconditioned motivating Operation (UMO)

A motivating operation whose value-altering effect does not depend on learning history.

Value-altering effect

An increase (EO) or decrease (AO) in the reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus.

Rule-governed behavior

Behavior controlled by a rule, enabling control by temporally remote or improbable consequences.

Contingency-Shaped Behavior

Behavior acquired by direct experience with reinforcement or punishment contingencies.

Audience

Anyone functioning as a discriminative stimulus evoking verbal behavior.

Autoclitic relation

Two interlocking levels of verbal behavior emitted in one utterance.

Automatic punishment

Punishment occurring independent of social mediation by others.

Copying text

An elementary verbal operant involving a written response evoked by a written verbal Sd with formal similarity.

Echoic

An elementary verbal operant involving a vocal response evoked by a vocal verbal Sd with formal similarity.

Formal similarity

When the antecedent stimulus and response share the same sense mode and physically resemble each other.

Generic extensions

A tact evoked by a novel stimulus sharing all defining features of the original.