Terms PSYCH 311

What is an appetitive stimulus?

A pleasant or satisfying stimulus that can positively reinforce an instrumental response.

What is an aversive stimulus?

An unpleasant or annoying stimulus that can punish an instrumental response.

What does behavioral contrast refer to?

A change in the value of a reinforcer produced by prior experience with a reinforcer of a higher or lower value.

What is continuous reinforcement (CRF)?

A schedule of reinforcement in which every occurrence of the instrumental response produces the reinforcer.

What is differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO)?

Reinforcement is provided for any behavior except the target behavior.

What is discrimination in behavioral terms?

Differential responding in the presence of two or more stimuli.

What is escape behavior?

A behavior that leads to the termination of an aversive stimulus.

What is extinction in behavioral psychology?

The process of reducing a previously reinforced behavior by withholding reinforcement.

What is an extinction burst?

An increase in the frequency of responding when an extinction procedure is initially implemented.

What defines a fixed interval (FI) schedule?

Reinforcement is provided for the first response after a fixed amount of time has elapsed.

What is a fixed ratio (FR) schedule?

Reinforcement is delivered after a fixed number of responses.

What is generalization in behavioral contexts?

Responding to test stimuli that are different from the cues that were present during training.

What is instrumental conditioning?

A type of learning where the consequences of a behavior determine the likelihood of that behavior being repeated.

What does magnitude of reinforcer refer to?

The size or intensity of a reinforcer.

What is negative punishment?

The removal of an appetitive stimulus as a result of a target behavior, decreasing the likelihood of that behavior.

What is negative reinforcement?

The removal of an aversive stimulus following a target behavior, increasing the likelihood of that behavior.

What is omission training?

An instrumental conditioning procedure where the instrumental response prevents the delivery of a reinforcing stimulus.

What defines operant conditioning?

A type of learning where behavior is controlled by its consequences.

What is partial reinforcement (intermittent reinforcement)?

A schedule of reinforcement in which only some occurrences of the instrumental responses are reinforced.

What is positive punishment?

The addition of an aversive stimulus as a result of the target behavior, decreasing its future probability.

What is positive reinforcement?

The addition of a preferred or appetitive stimulus as a result of the target behavior, increasing its future probability.

What does the Premack Principle state?

A high-probability behavior can be used to reinforce a low-probability behavior.

What is a primary reinforcer (unconditioned)?

A stimulus that is inherently reinforcing, such as food, water, or sex.

What defines punishment in behavioral terms?

A consequence that decreases the future probability of the behavior it follows.

What is a reinforcer?

Any consequence that increases the future probability of the behavior it follows.

What is reinforcer devaluation?

A procedure that makes a reinforcer less attractive.

What is reinstatement in behavioral psychology?

The reappearance of an extinguished response produced by exposure to the US or reinforcer.

What is renewal in the context of conditioning?

The reappearance of an extinguished response produced by a shift away from the contextual cues present during extinction.

What is resistance to extinction?

The extent to which responding persists during an extinction process.

What is the response allocation approach?

An approach to understanding reinforcement that considers the range of activities available to an individual.

What is the response deprivation hypothesis?

An explanation of reinforcement where restricting access to a response below its baseline makes the opportunity to perform that response an effective reinforcer.

What is resurgence?

The reappearance of an extinguished response caused by the extinction of another behavior.

What is a secondary reinforcer (conditioned)?

A stimulus that becomes an effective reinforcer due to its association with a primary reinforcer.

What is spontaneous recovery?

The reappearance of an extinguished response after some time has elapsed since the extinction procedure.

What is stimulus control?

The extent to which behavior is influenced by the presence or absence of specific stimuli.

What is stimulus discrimination?

The ability to respond differently to different stimuli.

What is stimulus generalization?

The tendency to respond similarly to stimuli that share features with the original stimulus.

What does a stimulus generalization gradient illustrate?

The strength of responding to different stimuli that vary along a particular dimension.

What characterizes superstitious behavior?

Behavior that increases in frequency due to accidental pairings of reinforcement with the behavior.

What is temporal contiguity?

The occurrence of two events, like a response and a reinforcer, occurring close together in time.

What is the temporal relation in conditioning?

The time interval between an instrumental response and the reinforcer.

What defines a variable interval (VI) schedule?

The first response after a variable amount of time has elapsed is reinforced.

What is a variable ratio (VR) schedule?

Reinforcement is delivered after a variable number of responses.