BCBA-Section B of the 5th Edition Task List

Behavior

Behavior

Any activity of an organism any movement by the organism.

Could be inside the organism (eg., action potential-smallest unit of behavior.

Anything that a dead man cannot do (the dead man test).

Response

A specific instance (one occurrence) of a behavior

Response Class

A group of topographically different responses (e.g., they look different) that generate that same consequence (e.g., they serve the same function).

Stimulus

anything that a person can experience through their senses, anything that can be seen, heard, smelled, felt, or tasted.

Stimulus Class

a group of antecedent stimuli that have common effect on an operant class. Tend to evoke or abate the same behavior or response class.

Respondent Conditoning

Occurs when a neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus. Also known as Pavlovian Conditioning or classic conditioning.

Operant Conditoning

the process of learning through reinforcement and punishment. In operant conditioning behaviors are strengthened or weakened based on the consequences of that behavior.

Positive Reinforcement

refers to the introduction of a desirable or pleasant stimulus after a behavior. The desirable stimulus reinforces the behavior, making it more likely that the behavior will reoccur.

Negative Reinforcement

the removal of an aversive stimulus in an effort to increase the likelihood of a targeted behavior in the future.

Partial Reinforcement Schedule Fixed Ratio (FR)

reinforce every nth response

Partial Reinforcement Schedule: Variable Ratio (VR)

reinforce roughly every nth response

Partial Reinforcement Schedule: Fixed Interval (FI)

reinforce after n amount of time

Partial Reinforcement Schedule: Variable Interval (VI)

reinforce roughly after n amount of time

Positive Punishment

adding an aversive stimulus to the environment as the consequence to an undesirable behavior in an effort to decrease the behavior.

Negative Punishment

removing a desirable stimulus from the environment as the consequence to an undesirable behavior in an effort to decrease the behavior

Socially Mediated Contingency

the consequence results from the action of another person

Automatic Contingency

the consequence is produced directly by a response independent of the actions of another

Unconditioned Reinforcement

inherent and naturally occurring reinforcement

Conditioned Reinforcement

previously neutral stimuli that has become a reinforcer through association with an established reinforcer

Generalized Reinforcer

a stimulus which has acquired reinforcing properties through repeated pairings with other reinforcers under various situations; the stimulus (which was previously neutral) now becomes reinforcing for many behaviors.

Unconditioned Punisher

inherent and naturally punishing stimulus.

Conditioned Punisher

A previously neutral stimulus changes that functions as a punisher.

Generalized Punisher

a stimulus that exerts a punishing effect because it has been associated with punishing stimuli

Extinction

Formally defined as "the omission of previously delivered unconditioned stimuli

Stimulus Control

When a behavior is emitted more often in the presence of an antecedent than in it's absence because of its history of reinforcement, punishment or extinction.

Discrimination

teaching a client how to tell the difference between two or more stimuli. Reinforcing occurrences of a behavior in the presence of one stimulus condition and not in the presence of another stimulus condition.

Generalization

teaching learned targets in the natural environment.

Maintenance

including mastered item or skill into programs in an effort to maintain previously learned items or skills.

Motivating Operations (MO)

environmental variables that alter the effectiveness of some stimulus, object, or event as a reinforcer and after the current frequency of all behavior that has been reinforced by that stimulus object or event.

Establishing Operations (EO)

increases the current effectiveness of some stimulus, object, or event as reinforcement.

Abolishing Operations (AO)

decrease the current effectiveness of some stimulus, object, or event as reinforcement.

Rule-Governed Behavior

behavior that is the result of known rules

Contingency-Shaped Behavior

learned behavior based on the reinforcement or punishment that the individual exposed to by their actions.

Mand

A request

The learner communicates what they want or need.

Tact

Labeling or naming.

The leaner labels something within their environment.

Echoic

Repeating verbally.

The learner repeats what they have heard.

Intraverbal

The learner responses to another person conversationally.

Listener Responding

Following directions.

The learner responds to the request of another person in the form of an action.

Motor Imitation

The learner copies the movement of another person.

Visual Perception Match-to-Sample (VPMTS)

The learner sorts and matches like items.

Reflexivity

A type of stimulus-to-stimulus relation in which the learner, without any prior training or reinforcement for doing so, selects a comparison stimulus that is the same as the sample stimulus (e.g., A=A).

Symmetry

A type of stimulus-to-stimulus relationship in which the learner, without prior training or reinforcement for doing so, demonstrates the reversibility of matched sample and comparison stimuli (e.g., if A=B, then B=A).

Transivity

A derived (i.e., untrained) stimulus-stimulus relation (e.g., A=C, C=A) tat emerges as a product of training two other stimulus-stimulus relations 9e.g., A=B, B=C).