Respondent conditioning

Elicited and emitted behavior

Elicited Behavior

Responses that are reliably produced by a specific stimulus, known as a reflex.

Reflex

A reliable relationship between a specific stimulus and a particular response, characterized by elicitation.

Emitted Behavior

Responses that occur spontaneously without any observable or identifiable external eliciting stimulus.

Threshold

The minimum intensity of a stimulus necessary to elicit a response, considered a statistical summary.

Latency

The time period between the presentation of a stimulus and the onset of the response.

Magnitude

The size or strength of a response in relation to the elicited stimulus.

Duration

The length of time the response lasts following the presentation of the stimulus.

Excitation

The occurrence where a stimulus increases the probability of a response.

Inhibition

The occurrence where a stimulus decreases the probability of a response.

Habituation

A decrease in response strength that occurs over successive presentations of the same stimulus.

Potentiation

An increase in response strength that occurs with repeated presentations of the same stimulus.

Imprinting

A process where a young animal forms an attachment to the first moving object it encounters.

Conditional Probability

The likelihood of one event occurring given the presence or absence of another event.

Fixed Action Pattern

An all-or-none response that follows a complete course once initiated, regardless of stimulus properties.

Kinesis

A form of movement that is random, stopping when a desired environment is reached.

Taxis

A directed movement towards or away from a stimulus, typically following a gradient.

Establishing Operation

An environmental or organic variable that changes the reinforcing or aversive properties of a stimulus.