Behavior Analysis Key Terms: Reinforcement, Operants, and Stimuli

Consequence

A stimulus that follows a response

Function

Effect of a stimulus or response on another stimulus or response

Functional relation

When a stimulus consistently alters a response

Operant

A class of responses

Operant behavior

Behavior under the control of consequences

Reinforcement

Consequent stimulus increases probability of future similar responses

Positive reinforcement

Stimulus added following response, which increases behavior

Negative reinforcement

Stimulus removed following response, which increases behavior

Premack Principle

High-P contingent on low-P behavior; increases low-P behavior

Escape

Terminates an aversive stimulus.

Avoidance

Prevents or delays an aversive stimulus.

Automaticity

Consequences modify behavior regardless of awareness

Automatic

The response itself directly produces the consequence

Free operant

Responses can occur at any time

Restricted operant

Responses can only occur in presence of specific antecedents

Stimulus

Environmental change that affects an organism

Environment

All stimuli and conditions that can affect behavior

Conditioned response (CR)

Response elicited by CS due to prior learning

Respondent discrimination

CR elicited by one stimulus, not similar stimuli

Blocking

Prior CS prevents conditioning of NS with that US

Behavior

anything an organism does; muscles/glands interacting with the environment

Response

A specific instance of behavior

Response class

A group of responses that share some commonality

Behaviorism

Philosophy underlying behavior analysis; behavior is the subject matter

Determinism

The universe is a lawful and orderly place

Empiricism

Objective observation, description, and quantification of behavior

Mentalism

Assumes that behavior is caused by some mental or inner dimension

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

Research on socially significant problems

Applied

Change behaviors of social significance

Behavioral

Behavior is the target, not a proxy

Analytic

Identify functional relations through systematic manipulations.

Technological

Precise description and definition of procedures for replication

Conceptually Systematic

Procedures described in terms of basic principles

Effective

Improvements lead to meaningful changes for clients

Generality

Behavior change should maintain, transfer, and spread

Punishment

Consequent stimulus decreases the probability of future similar responses

Positive punishment

stimulus added following a response which decreases behavior

Negative Punishment

Stimulus removed following response which decreases behavior

Extinction (operant)

Stop reinforcing a previously reinforced behavior

Spontaneous Recovery

Sudden/temporary reappearance of a behavior following extinction

Recovery

Stop punishing a previously punished behavior

Schedule of reinforcement

A rule that specifies which responses will be followed by reinforcement and which will not

Continuous reinforcement

Every single response within a class is reinforced

Intermittent schedule

Some responses are reinfoced and some are not

Ratio Schedule

Reinforcer is delivered after a certain number of responses

Interval schedule

Reinforcer is delivered for the FIRST response after a certain amount of time since the previous reinforcer

Time-based schedule

A stimulus is delivered at a specified point in time

Fixed

Number of responses or amount of time remains the same for each reinforcer delivery

Variable

Number of responses or amount of time averages around a particular value

Adjunctive behavior

Non-target, schedule induced behavior

Concurrent schedule

2 or more schedules operating simultaneously but independently

Multiple schedule

2 or more alternating schedules; associated with distinct stimuli

Mixed schedule

2 or more alternating schedules; no signaling stimuli

Chained schedule

2 or more schedules are completed in specific sequence

Lag schedule

Response must differ from previous response

Behavioral contrast

Opposite change in behavior occurs in unaltered context

Motivating operation (MO)

Alters frequency of behavior and effectiveness of consequence

Establishing operation (EO)

Event that establishes reinforcer or punisher effectiveness

Abolishing operation (AO)

Event that decreases reinforcer or punisher effectiveness

Establishing

Increases value of consequence

Abolishing

Decreases value of consequence

Surrogate CMO (CMO-S)

Stimulus that has been paired with another MO

Reflexive CMO (CMO-R)

Stimulus that typically precedes a worsening/improving situation

Transitive CMO (CMO-T)

Stimulus that alters the value of another stimulus

Stimulus class

A group of stimuli that share some commonality

Discriminative stimulus (SD)

Antecedent occasioning a response due to a history of differential reinforcement

S-delta

Antecedent that abates response due to a history of extinction

SDP

Antecedent that abates response due to a history of punishment

S-delta-P

Antecedent that occasions response due to a history of recovery

Evoke

Effect of antecedent to bring forth a response

Abate

Effect of antecedent to suppress a response

Differential reinforcement

Reinforcing some responses and placing others on extinction

Discrimination

Result of only reinforcing a response in presence of certain stimulus

Differentiation

Result of only reinforcing a certain topography

Stimulus control

Behavior probable in presence of stimulus

Discriminated operant

Operant established through differential reinforcement

Conditional discrimination

Reinforcement is contingent on two stimuli

Stimulus generalization

Response occurs in presence of novel stimuli

Response generalization

Spread of effects of reinforcement to new topographies