Choice and Verbal Behavior

Choice

Definition of Choice

  • Choice: Voluntary behavior occurring in a context where alternative behaviors are possible.   - Two Important Components:     - Voluntary: The behavior is not influenced by phylogeny (evolutionary history) or Pavlovian conditioning.     - Context of Alternative Behaviors: Choices are made when multiple options are available, and the individual can select from these options.

Variables Affecting Choice

Four Variables Affecting Choice

  1. Reinforcement vs. No Consequence
  2. Reinforcer Size/Quality
  3. Effort
  4. Reinforcer Delay
Reinforcement vs. No Consequence
  • Individuals tend to choose reinforcement over no consequence.
  • Example Choices:   - $0.25: Chosen Option   - Nothing: Non-chosen Option
Reinforcer Size/Quality
  • Individuals prefer larger (higher-quality) reinforcers over smaller (lower-quality) reinforcers.
  • Example Choices:   - $0.25: Smaller Reinforcer   - $25.00: Larger Reinforcer
Effort
  • Individuals are more likely to choose low-effort reinforcers over high-effort reinforcers.
  • Example Schedule:   - FR1 (Fixed Ratio 1) for $0.25: Low-effort choice   - FR20 (Fixed Ratio 20) for $0.25: High-effort choice
Reinforcer Delay
  • Individuals favor immediate reinforcers over delayed ones of equal value.
  • Example Choices:   - $0.25 immediately: Chosen Option   - $0.25 after 2 hours: Non-chosen Option

Impulsivity and Self-Control

Definitions

  • Impulsive Choice: Choosing the smaller-sooner reward over the larger-later reward.
  • Self-Control Choice: Choosing the larger-later reward over the smaller-sooner reward.

Predicting Impulsive Choices

  • Conditions under which someone picks the “smaller-sooner” reward include understanding the delay discounting curve.
  • Delay Discounting Curve: Hyperbolic function predicting response patterns.   - Example: $1,000 now has the same subjective value as about $100 in 25 years.

Subjective Value and Discounting

  • Subjective Value: The perceived value of a reward, influenced by timing and availability.
  • Types of Discounting:   - Shallow Discounting: Leads to more self-control choices.   - Steep Discounting: Leads to more impulsive choices and is associated with substance use disorders and treatment relapse.
Reducing Impulsive Choices
  1. Commitment Strategies: Making advanced choices assists in reducing impulsivity.    - More likely to choose the larger-later reward when both options are delayed.
  2. Delay Exposure Training: Training to wait helps in making self-control choices.    - Learning to delay allows better decision-making for larger-later rewards.

Verbal Behavior, Rule-Following, and Clinical Behavior Analysis

Overview

  • Focus on the functional role of language as a behavioral analysis.
  • Language Functions: Communication of wants and avoidance of aversive stimuli.

Skinner's Functional Taxonomy of Verbal Behavior

  • Verbal behavior is classified based on the interaction between the speaker and listener's reinforcement.
  • Four Verbal Operants:   1. Echoic   2. Mand   3. Tact   4. Intraverbal
Echoic
  • Definition: A verbal operant where the response aligns with the verbal antecedent stimulus, maintained by social reinforcement.
  • Example: Repeating sounds or phrases (e.g., “Yay!”)
  • Importance: Essential for learning vocal communication and various skills due to its imitative nature.
Mand
  • Definition: A verbal operant prompted by an establishing operation, maintained by a verbally specified reinforcer.
  • Example: Asking for a drink at a restaurant (e.g., “Hi! Can I have iced tea?”)
  • Importance: Critical for self-advocacy and avoiding problematic behavior.
Tact
  • Definition: A verbal operant that arises from a nonverbal stimulus, maintained by social reinforcers.
  • Example: Labelling observations (e.g., “Woah! Look at that giraffe!”)
  • Importance: Vital for social interactions and can facilitate further verbal requests (mands).
Intraverbal
  • Definition: A verbal response elicited by a verbal discriminative stimulus without point-to-point correspondence.
  • Example: Engaging in a conversation (e.g., “Today, I went to the movies.”)
  • Importance: Crucial for maintaining relationships and social skills.

Importance of Listener Behavior

Listener's Role in Verbal Interaction

  • Skinner's focus on the speaker overlooked the listener's behavior, which is also fundamental in communication.
  • Example Ignoring Listener's Behavior: Questions like “Where's the horse?” or “What is this?” illustrate listener interaction.

Symmetric Relational Responding

  • Definition: Relating two arbitrary stimuli as equivalent helps in understanding relationships between words and objects.
  • Method: Multiple exemplar training to facilitate connections between stimuli.

Expanding Verbal Repertoire via Stimulus Equivalence

  • Definition: Teaching unidirectional relationships between stimuli leads to symmetry in relational responses among all stimuli, making them equivalent in understanding.

Verbal Behavior and Emotional Response

Psychological Functions of Verbal Stimuli

  • Verbal stimuli can evoke emotional responses even without prior conditioning.
  • Example:   - Neutral Stimulus (NS): The word 'perro'   - Unconditioned Stimulus (US): The word 'dog'   - Unconditioned Response (UR): Increase in heart rate, sweating.   - Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Hearing 'perro'   - Conditioned Response (CR): Increase in heart rate, sweating.

Rule-Governed Behavior

Differences from Contingency-Shaped Behavior

  • Most discussed behaviors stem from contingency-shaped behavior influenced directly by reinforcement.
  • Rule-Governed Behavior: Influenced by verbal descriptions of the operative contingencies rather than direct experience.

Examples of Rule-Governed Behavior

  1. Parental Guidance: "The stove is still hot. Don’t touch it."    - Touching results in a burn leads to avoidance.
  2. School Policies: "Late submissions result in an automatic 0."    - Avoiding late submissions follows established rules.
  3. Social Consequences: “If you sneak out, you will lose your phone for a week.”    - Enforcing rules makes refusal more likely.
  4. Warnings: "Speeding fines doubled."    - Influencing behavior through descriptive rules.

Types of Rule-Governed Behavior

  1. Pliance: Occurs because of mediated positive or negative reinforcers.    - Example of Pliance with numerical consequence.

  2. Tracking: Rule-following because instructions accurately describe the real-world contingencies of reinforcement, extinction, or punishment.