Term | Definition |
Goals of Science | 1. Prediction and Control
2. Development of technology to benefit humanity |
Determinism | All behavior is lawful |
Empiricism | Objective observation with thorough description and quantification of behavior |
Two elements of empiricism | 1. Experimentation
2. Replication |
Parsimony | Simple explanations should be ruled out before complex ones |
Philosophical Doubt | Continually question the truthfulness of what is regarded as fact; be skeptical |
Pragmatism | Assesses the truth of theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application |
Pragmatic Truth Criterion | 1. evaluates science in terms of its products that benefit humanity
2. goal is to predict and control behavior
3. behavior analysis has produced a powerful technology for behavior change that has made a difference in thousands of people's lives |
Philosophical Assumptions | 1.Determinism
2.Empiricism
3.Parsimony
4.Philosophical Doubt
5.Pragmatism |
Selection | Process in which repeated cycles occur of:
1. variation
2. interaction with e'ment
3. differential replication as a function of interaction |
Skinner and selectionism | 1. natural selection
2. operant selection
3. cultural selection |
natural selection | survival of the fittest |
Operant selection | selected responses are repeated and reproduced |
cultural selection | special kind of operant selection; mediated by verbal behavior involving cultural practices |
Selectionism | Behavior is the joint product of:
1. contingencies of survival responsible for natural selection on the species
2. contingencies of reinforcement responsible for the repertoires acquired by individual organism |
Temporal contiguity | nearness of events in time
** very important factor in learning |
Types of temporal contiguity | S1-S2 (Pairing)
R-S |
Contingency | Likelihood that one event is a result of another event
If X (AND ONLY X) then Y |
Contiguity | Adjacency between events regardless of causality |
Types of Contingencies | 1. S-S (Pairing)
2. R-S
3. S-R-S (3-term contingency) |
Basic operations of behavior analysis | 1. direct observation of behavior and e'ment events
2. repeated measures of behavior
3. Graph data
4. manipulation
5. systematic evaluation
6. analysis and interpretation |
Direct observation | The "Show me" methods: using senses to observe behavior in context |
Direct observation - measurement | one of the following:
1. number
2. Time-based aspects of the behavior (latency, duration, and/or IRT)
3. time-sampling |
Repeated Measures | Data collected multiple times before intervention, and after each manipulation, and during any other phase of the study |
Types of manipulations | 1. present an antecedent stimulus
2. withdraw an antecedent stimulus
3. pair 2 or more stimuli
4. provide a consequence (onset/offset)
5. signal a consequence
6. establish/abolish effectiveness of consequence |
Systematic evaluation | Control for extraneous confounding variables in single-case designs |
analysis and interpretations | Look for functional relations between behavior and e'mental events |
Presentation of stimulus | 1. salt on tongue -> salivation
2. sudden loud noise -> startle response
3. rain begins -> turn on windshield wipers |
Withdrawal of a stimulus | 1. light turns off -> pupils dilate
2. rain stops -> turn off wipers |
Pairing | Contingently pairing 2 or more stimuli concurrently
may be same time, or 1 can precede the other |
consequential operations (+) | 1. press lever -> food pellet comes out
2. ask for water -> get water
3. tough hot stove -> get burned |
consequential operations (-) | 1. flip switch -> light turns off
2. walk indoors -> rain stops hitting you
3. kick teacher -> get out of class
4. hit brother -> video games turned off |
Signaling a consequence | s1-r1 - consequence
s2-r1 - no consequence
dad - ask for video game - gets video game
mom - ask for video game - doesn't get video game |
establishing operations | 1. salt on tongue increases the effectiveness of getting water as a consequence
2. decreasing the temperature to 50 degrees Fahrenheit makes getting a blanket more effective consequence
3. a locked door makes finding a key a more effective consequence |
abolishing operations | 1. drinking 32oz of water decreases effectiveness of getting water as a consequence
2. raising the temperature to 80 degrees Farenheit makes getting a blanket a less effective consequence |
learning | relatively permanent change in behavior as a result of experience |
magnification of a stimulus | rain gets harder -> turn up wipers |
attenuation of a stimulus | rain lessens -> turn down wipers |