ABA

Acquisition

The addition of new behavior to an organism’s repertory; learning

Adaptation

A reduction, usually during the prolonged presentation of a stimulus, in the behavior produced by that stimulus

Adduction

The production of novel behavior when new combinations of stimulus properties that separately control different classes or properties of behavior engender new combinations of those classes or properties

As when a child appropriately combines a color name and an animal name on seeing a horse of a different color for the first time

Antecedent

A stimulus or event that precedes some other event or a contingency

Aversive Stimulus

A stimulus effective as a negative reinforcer or as a punisherA

Avoidance

The prevention of an aversive stimulus by a response

Backward Conditioning

Respondent conditioning in which the CS follows rather than precedes the US 

Behavior

Anything an organism does

Behavior Analysis

Breaking complex behavior down into its functional parts

Summation

A stimulus that is below threshold in eliciting a response if presented once may become an effective elicitor if presented repeatedly

Habituation

The reduction in responding with repeated stimuli

Potentiation

An increase over repeated presentation in the respondent behavior elicited by a stimulus

Weak Reflex Strength

Long latency, small magnitude, large duration

Strong Reflex Strnegth

Short latency, large magnitude, long duration

Respondent Conditioning 

Where an involuntary response is elicited with a neutral stimulus after repeated presentation with an unconditioned stimulus (US), which leads the neutral stimulus to elicit the same response

Phylogenic Contingencies

Behaviors that are part of an organism’s inherited genetics (ex; grasping, knee jerk, pupil dilation)

Otogenic Contingencies

Behaviors that are shaped during an organism’s lifetime (ex; babies crying, writing, language)

Reinforcing Consequences

Those that increase or maintain responding

Punishing Consequences

Those that decrease or suppress

Reflex

The reliable relation between a stimulus and the behavior change it produces

Relation between stimulus and response

NS

Neutral Stimulus

A stimulus that before any conditioning occurs, does not elicit a response

US

Unconditional Stimulus

A stimulus that naturally elicits a response without any learning

UR

Unconditional Response

CS

Conditional Stimulus

A previously neutral stimulus that after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus, elicits a conditioned response

CR

Conditional Response

A learned reaction to a previously neutral stimulus that has been associated with an unconditioned stimulus through repeated pairing

Chaining

The creation of maintenance of a sequence of discriminated operants such that responses during one stimulus are followed by other stimuli that reinforce those responses and set the occasion for the next one

Conditional Discrimination

A discrimination in which reinforcement of responding during a stimulus depends on other stimuli

Conditioned Reflex

A reflex produced by a contingent relation between stimuli

One stimulus, originally neutral, sets the occasion for a second stimulus, the US. A conditioned reflex is created when the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus.

Conditional Reinforcer

A stimulus that functions as a reinforcer because of its contingent relation to another reinforcer

Consequence

An event produced by some other eventCo

Contingent Stimulus

The presentation of a stimulus that depends on a response-stimulus contingency

Continuous Reinforcement (CRF)

Reinforcement of every response qualifying as a member of a descriptive operant class

Delay Conditioning

Respondent conditioning in which the CS is presented for some fixed extended time before the US (no less than 5s in most cases)

Differential Conditioning

Differentiation

Discriminated Operant

An operant defined in terms of the stimulus during which it occurs as well as its environmental effect

This operant depends on the relations among three events: a stimulus in the presence of which a response may have consequences

Discriminative Stimulus

Any stimulus with a discriminative functionE

Elicitation

The reliable production of a response by a stimulus in unconditioned or conditioned reflexes

Extrinsic Reinforcer

A reinforcer that has an arbitrary relation to the responses that produce it Free

Free Operant

Noncontingent Reinforcer

NCR

A reinforcer delivered without reference to the organism’s behavior 

Functional Analysis

An analysis in terms of behavioral functionsFun

Functional Class

A class in which members have common behavioral functions, either produced by similar histories or acquired through emergent relations

Generalizaiton

The spread of the effects of reinforcement, or other operations such as extinction or punishment, during one stimulus to other stimuli differing from the original along one or more dimensions

Generalized Reinforcer

A conditional reinforcer based on several primary reinforcers

Latency

The time from an event, usually a stimulus, to a response

Continuous schedules

reinforce every response within an operant class

Intermittent schedules

reinforcement are the reinforcement of some responses but not others

Variable interval reinforcement schedules

reinforce a single response that occurs after a specified time has elapsed; the time varies from one instance to the next; earlier responses do not do anything

Variable ratio reinforcement schedules

designated by the average number of responses required per reinforcer; the average ratio of responses to reinforcers

Fixed interval reinforcement schedules

schedules where the time is constant from interval to the next, and performance is characterized by a pause after the reinforcer followed by a gradual or an abrupt transition to a moderate response rate

Fixed ratio reinforcement schedules

schedules where the number is constant from on reinforcer to the next and performance is characterized by pauses after the reinforcer followed by a relatively high and constant response rate

limited hold

a set up or scheduled reinforcer remains available only for a limited time; if no response occurs within that time, the reinforcer is lost

Ratio strain

the appearance of pauses in VR responding or in FR responding at times other than after a reinforcer

Mixed schedules

a compound schedule with two or more component schedules operating in alternation, all during the same stimulus

Multiple schedules

two schedules that alternate, and each is correlated with a different stimulus. They serve as baselines in studies of variables that affect behavior

observing response

a response that produces or clarifies a discriminative stimulus, and that may be maintained by the effectiveness of the stimulus as a conditional reinforcer

tandem schedule

a compound schedule in which a reinforcer is produced by a successive completion of two or more component schedules, all of which operate during a single stimulus

chained schedule

a compound schedule in which reinforcers are produced by successive completions of two or more component schedules, each operating during a different stimulus

concurrent schedule

two or more schedules operating simultaneously and independently, each for a different response

Changeover delay

feature sometimes used with concurrent schedules to prevent sequences in which a reinforcer produced by one response closely follows the other response

Maximizing

emitting the response with the maximum reinforcement probability

Optimization

when the organism produces the highest possible overall reinforcement rate

Satisficing

when the organism meets some minimal requirements

Melioration

when the organism balances performance so as to produce equal reinforcement rates under different conditions

To define an operant class, we must know the effect 

• Of responses in the class on the environment  

• Of differential reinforcement on behavior 

differentiation refers to

Sharpening reinforcement effects with respect to response properties 

Positive reinforcement

A response produces a stimulus that increases the behavior response

Ex; lever pressing produces a food pellet

Negative reinforcement

A response removes a stimulus and the behavior increases

Ex; lever pressing to discontinue shock

Positive punishement

A response produces a stimulus and behavior decreases

Ex; speeding leads to a speeding ticket

Negative punishment

A response removes a stimulus and the behavior decreases

Ex; SIB removes iPad

Induction

Differentiation

Discrimination

Generalization

Differential Reinforcement of High Rates

Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates

Differential Reinforcement of Paced Responding

Differential Reinforcement of High rates

Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior

Inter Response Time

Inter Trial Interval