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| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) | An evidence-based behavioral therapy focusing on general well-being, defined as making reliable contact with high-priority positive reinforcers |
| Adapted Alternating Treatment Designs | A variation of the multielement design for comparing the efficiency of instructional procedures. The comparison phase of the design features the alternating application of two or more different teaching methods. |
| Add-In Component Analysis | A method for conducting a component analysis in which components are assessed individually or in combination before the complete treatment package is presented |
| Adjunctive Behavior | Behavior that occurs as a collateral effect of a schedule of periodic reinforcement for other behavior; time-filling or interim activities that are induced by schedules of reinforcement during times when reinforcement is unlikely to be delivered |
| Affirmation of the Consequent | A three-step form of reasoning that begins with a true antecedent-consequent (if A, then B) statement: 1) If A is true, B is true; 2) B is found to be true; 3) therefore, A is true |
| Alternative Schedule (alt) | Provides reinforcement when the response requirements of any of two or more simultaneously available component schedules are met |
| Antecedent Exercise | An antecedent intervention, implemented independently of occurrences of the problem behavior that usually has clients engage in some effortful for of aerobic activity |
| Antecedent Stimulus Class | A set of stimuli that share a common relationship |
| Arbitrarily Applicable Relational Responding (AARR) | Forming new stimulus classes with little or no reinforced practice |
| Arbitrary Relations | Stimuli to which people respond in interlocked ways, not because of physical similarity, but because social-verbal reinforcement contingencies teach people to respond to them in this way |
| Arbitrary Stimulus Class | Antecedent stimuli that evoke the same response but do not resemble each other in physical form or share a relational aspect |
| Artifact | An outcome or result that appears to exist because of the way it is measured but in fact does not correspond to what actually occurred |
| Autoclitic Frame | Provide structure among verbal operants in terms of order, agreement, grouping, and composition of larger units of verbal behavior such as sentences |
| Autoclitic Mand | Involves supplemental control by an MO related to some aspects of the speaker's primary verbal response |
| Autoclitic Tact | Controlled by some nonverbal feature of the primary response or its controlling variables, and the autoclitic response informs the listener of that feature |
| Automatic Contingencies | Skinner (1957) used "automatic" to identify circumstances in which behavior is evoked, shaped, maintained, or weakened by environmental variables occurring without direct manipulation by other people |
| Backward Chaining with Leaps Ahead | A backward chaining procedure in which some steps in the task analysis are skipped; used to increase the efficiency of teaching long behavior chains when there is evidence that the skipped steps are in the learner's repertoire. |
| Bar Graph | A simple and versatile graphic format for summarizing behavioral data; shared most of the line graphs features except that it does not have distinct data points representing successive response measures through time |
| Baseline Logic | A term sometimes used to refer to the experimental reasoning inherent in single-subject experimental designs; entails three elements: prediction, verification, and replication |
| Behavior Chain Interruption Strategy | An intervention that relies on the participants skill to initially perform all the critical elements of a chain independently, but the chain is then interrupted, so that another behavior can be prompted or emitted |
| Behavior Chain with a Limited Hold | A contingency that specifies a time interval by which a behavior chain must be completed for reinforcement to be delivered |
| Behavior Chain Tactic | A technologically consistent method for changing behavior derived from one or more principles of behavior; possesses sufficient generality across subjects, settings, and/or behaviors to warrant its codification and dissemination |
| Behavior Checklist | An itemized list (usually in hierarchical order) that provides descriptions of specific skills and the conditions under which each skill should be observed. |
| Behavior Trap | An interrelated community of contingencies of reinforcement that can be especially powerful, producing substantial and long-lasting behavior changes |
| Behavioral Inflexibility | An insensitivity to external stimuli occurring when private events interfere with well-being behaviors on high high-priority positive reinforcers are contingent |
| Believablity | The extent in which the researcher convinces herself and others that the data are trustworthy and deserve interpretation |
| Bidirectional Naming (BiN) | A higher-order verbal cusp consisting of the fusing together of the speaker and listener repertoires in bidirectional relations |
| Bonus Response Cost | A procedure for implementing response cost in which the person is provided a reservoir of reinforcers that are removed in predetermined amounts contingent on the occurrence of the target behavior |
| Brief Functional Analysis | An analysis in which only one or two 5-10 minute sessions are conducted for each condition |
| Calibration | The process of comparing the data produced by a measurement system to a known standard or true value, and when sources of error are found, using that information to correct or improve the measurement system |
| Causal Relations | If-then relationships (e.g if A, then B; if B, then C) that are a central feature of understanding and doing science |
| Celeration | The change (acceleration or deceleration) in rate of responding over time; based on count per unit of time (rate); expressed as a factor by which responding is accelerating or decelerating (multiplying or dividing) |
| Celeration Time Period | A unit of time in which celeration is plotted on a Standard Celeration Chart |
| Celeration Trend Line | The celeration trend line is measured as a factor by which rate multiplies or divides across the celeration time periods |
| Chained Schedule | A schedule of reinforcement in which the response requirements of two or more basic schedules must be met in a specific sequence before reinforcement is delivered; a discriminative stimulus is correlated with each component of the schedule |
| Chaining | Various methods for linking specific sequences of stimuli and responses to form new performances |
| Class Expansion | A new member us added to a demonstrated stimulus equivalence class as the result of teaching a new conditional discrimination |
| Class Merger | Independent equivalence classes are combined as the result of teaching a new but interrelated conditional discrimination |
| Class-Specific Reinforcment | A match-to-sample procedure in which not only is the correct comparison choice conditional on the sample stimulus, but the type of consequence delivered is, too; class-specific consequences themselves become members of the equivalence classes |
| Clicker Training | A term popularized by Pryor (1999) for shaping behavior using conditioned reinforcement in the form of an auditory stimulus such as a handheld device that produces a clicking sound when pressed. |
| Codic | A type of verbal behavior where the form of the response is under the functional control of a verbal stimulus with point-to-point correspondence, but without formal similarity |
| Combinatorial Entailment | A relation involving two stimuli that both participate in mutual entailment with some common third stimulus |
| Compound Schedule | A schedule of reinforcement consisting of two or more elements of continuous reinforcement (CRF), the four intermittent schedules of reinforcement (FR, VR, FI, VI), differential reinforcement of various rates of responding (DRH, DRL), and extinction |
| Compound Verbal Discrimination | Involves two or more verbal SD's that each independently evoke behavior, but when they both occur in the same antecedent configuration, a different SD is generated, and a more specific behavior is evoked |
| Concept | A stimulus class whose members share a common set of features |
| Concurrent Chains Design | An experimental design in which participants are presented with two or more response options; each option is associated with a distinctive discriminative stimulus and lead to a different set of treatment procedures |
| Conditional Discrimination | Performance in a match-to-sample procedure in which discrimination between the comparison stimuli is conditional on, or depends on, the sample stimulus present on each trial |
| Conditional Probability | The likelihood that a target behavior will occur in a given circumstance |
| Conditioned Negative Reinforcer | A previously neutral stimulus change that functions as a negative reinforcer because of prior pairing with one or more negative reinforcers |
| Conditioned Reflex | A learned stimulus-response functional relation consisting of an antecedent stimulus (e.g., sound of refrigerator door opening) and the response it elicits (e.g. salivation) |
| Confidentiality | Describes a situation of trust insofar as any information regarding a person receiving or having received services may not be discussed with or otherwise made available to another person or group, unless that person has provided explicit authorization |
| Conjunctive Schedule (conj) | A schedule of reinforcement that is in effect whenever reinforcement follows the completion of response requirements for two or more schedules of reinforcement |
| Constant Time Delay | A procedure for transferring stimulus control from contrived response prompts to naturally existing stimuli |
| Contextual Control | The situation or context in which a stimulus (a stimulus class) occurs determines its function |
| Contextual Stimulus | Signals the type of relational responding that will be reinforced |
| Contingency Contract | A mutually agreed-upon document between parties (e.g., parent and child) describing a contingent relationship between the completion of specified behavior(s) and access to specified reinforcer(s). |
| Contingency Reversal | Exchanging the reinforcement contingencies for two topographically different responses |
| Contingency-Shaped Behavior | Behavior acquired by direct experience with contingencies |
| Contingent | Describes reinforcement (or punishment) that is delivered only after the target behavior has occurred |
| Contingency Space Analysis | A graphic display of the probability of one event given the occurrence (or not) of another event |
| Contingent Observation | A procedure for implementing time-out in which the person is repositioned within an existing setting such that observation of ongoing activities remains, but access to reinforcement in lost |
| Contrived Contingency | Any contingency of reinforcement (or punishment) designed and implemented by a behavior analyst or practitioner to achieve the acquisition, maintenance, and/or generalization of a target behavior |
| Contrived Mediating Stimulus | Any stimulus made functional for the target behavior in the instructional setting that later prompts or aids the learner in performing the target behavior in a generalized setting |
| Count | A simple tally of the number of occurrences of a behavior |
| Countercontrol | Behavior evoked by coercion or aversive forms of external control;takes many forms, including escape, attack, passive resistance; "an emotional reaction of anger or frustration including operant behavior which injures or is aversive to the controller" |
| Counting Time | The period of time in which a count of the number of responses emitted is recorded |
| Cumulative Recorder | A device that automatically draws cumulative records (graphs) that show the rate of response in real time; each time a response is emitted, a pen moves upward across paper that continuously moves at a constant speed |
| Deictic Relation | A relation between the self, as one stimulus, and other stimuli from the external world |
| Delay Discounting | A phenomenon in which delayed rewards, regardless of their significance and magnitude, exert decreasing influence over choice-making behavior as a function of their temporal distance from present circumstances |
| Delayed Multiple Baseline Design | A variation of the multiple baseline design in which an initial baseline, and perhaps intervention, begin for one behavior (or setting, or subject), and subsequent baselines for additional behaviors begin in a staggered or delayed fashion |
| Derived Stimulus Relations | Responding indicating a relation (e.g., same as, opposite, different from, better than) between two or more stimuli that emerges as an indirect function of related instruction or experience |
| Descending Baseline | A data path that shows a decreasing trend in the response measure over time |
| Descriptive Functional Behavior Assessment | Direct observation of a problem behavior and the antecedent and consequent events under naturally occurring conditions |
| Differential Reinforcement of Diminishing Rates (DRD) | A schedule of reinforcement in which reinforcement is provided at the end of a predetermined interval contingent on the number of responses emitted during the interval being fewer than a gradually decreasing criterion based on the individuals performance |
| Direct Measurement | Occurs when the behavior that is measured is the same as the behavior that is the focus of the investigation |
| Disciplinary Standards | Statements describing corrective, disciplinary, and revocation actions, depending on the circumstances for violations of a professional |
| Discontinuous Measurement | Measurement conducted in a manner such that some instances of the response class(es) of interest may not be detected |
| Discriminated Operant | An operant that occurs more frequently under some antecedent conditions than under others |
| Discriminated Avoidance | A contingency in which responding in the presence of a signal prevents the onset of a stimulus from which escape is a reinforcer |
| Discriminated Stimulus for Punishment | A stimulus in the presence of which a given behavior has been punished and in the absence of which that behavior has not been punished |
| Distinction Relation | Responding jointly to two stimuli on the basis of their differences |
| Double-Blind Control | A procedure that prevents the subject and the experimenter(s) from detecting the presence or absence of the treatment variable |
| DRI/DRA Reversal Technique | draAn experimental technique that demonstrates the effects of reinforcement; it uses differential reinforcement of an incompatible or alternative behavior (DRI/DRA) as a control condition instead of a baseline condition |
| DRO Reversal Technique | An experimental technique for demonstrating the effects of reinforcement by using differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) as a control condition instead of a no-reinforcement (baseline) condition |
| Drop-Out Component Analysis | A method for conducting a component analysis in which the investigator presents the treatment package and then systematically removes the components |
| Duplic | A type of verbal behavior where the form of the response is under the functional control of a verbal stimulus with formal similarity, and a history of generalized reinforcement |
| Elementary Verbal Operants | Michael's (1982) term for Skinner's (1957) taxonomy of five different types of speaker behavior distinguished by their antecedent controlling variables and related history of consequences; mand, tact, intraverbal, duplic, and codic |
| Emergent Stimulus Relations | Stimulus relations that are not taught directly but emerge as an indirect function of related instruction or experience |
| Enriched Environment | An intervention that provides noncontingent access to preferred sources of reinforcement (e.g., toys, games, social and recreation activities) |
| Environmental Enrichment (EE) | An antecedent intervention that provides noncontingent access to preferred sources of reinforcement (e.g., toys, games, social, and recreational activities) |
| Equal-Interval Scale | A scale in which equal distances on the axis represent equal absolute amounts of the variable plotted on the axis. |
| Equivalence Test | A porobe for the emergence of untrained stimulus-stimulus relations that evaluates both symmetry and transitivity simultaneously |
| Equivalence-Class Formation | The emergence of accurate responding to untrained and nonreinforced stimulus-stimulus relations following the reinforcement of responses to some stimulus-stimulus relations |
| Errorless Learning | A variety of techniques for gradually transferring stimulus control with a minimum of errors |
| Ethical Codes of Behavior | Documents generated or adopted by professional organizations that provide clear guidelines for their members when deciding a course of proper action in conducting their professional duties |
| Evocative Effect (a motivating operation) | An increase in the current frequency of behavior that has been reinforced by some stimulus |
| Exact Count-per-Interval (IOA) | The percentage of total intervals in which two observers recorded the same count; the most stringent description of IOA for most data sets obtained by event recording |
| Exclusion (training) | A procedure for building new arbitrary conditional discriminations based on the robust findings that learners will select a novel comparison stimulus over a known one in the presence of a novel sample |
| Explanatory Fiction | A fictitious or hypothetical variable that often takes the form of another name for the observed phenomenon it claims to explain and contributes nothing to a functional account or understanding of the phenomenon |
| Extinction-Induced Variablility | Phenomenon in which diverse and novel forms of behavior are sometimes observed during the extinction process |
| Extraneous Variable | Any aspect of the experimental setting that must be held constant to prevent unplanned environmental variation (e.g., temperature, lighting) |
| Feature Stimulus Class | Stimuli that share common physical forms or structures (e.g., made from wood, four legs, round, blue) or common relative relationships (e.g., bigger than, hotter than, higher than, next to) |
| Fixed-Interval DRO (FI-DRO) | A DRO procedure in which reinforcement is available at the end of intervals of fixes duration and delivered contingent on the absence of the problem behavior during each interval |
| Fixed-Momentary DRO (FM-DRO) | A DRO procedure in which reinforcement is available at specific moments in time, which are separated by a fixed amount of time, and delivered contingent on the problem not occurring at those moments |
| Formal Similarity | Occurs when the controlling antecedent stimulus and the response or response product (a) share the same send mode and (b) physically resemble each other |
| Fraudulent Conduct | Intentional, willful, and deceitful behavior |
| Free Operant | Any operant behavior that results in minimal displacement of the participant in time and space |
| Free-Operant Avoidance | A contingency in which responses at any time during an interval prior to the scheduled onset of an aversive stimulus delays the presentation of the aversive stimulus |
| Full-Session DRL | A procedure for implementing DRL in which reinforcement is delivered at the end of the session if the total number of responses emitted during the session does not exceed the criterion limit |
| Function-Altering Effect (relevant to operant relations) | A change in an organism's repertoire of MO, stimulus, and response relations, caused by reinforcement, punishment, and extinction procedure, or a recovery from punishment procedure |
| Function-Based Definition | Designates responses as members of the targeted response class solely in terms of their common effects on the environment |
| Functionally Equivalent | Serving the same function or purpose |
| Generalization | A generic term for a variety of behavioral processes and behavior change outcomes |
| Generalization Across Subjects | Changes in the behavior of people not directly treated by an intervention as a function of treatment contingencies applied to other people |
| Generalization Probe | Any measurement of a learner's performance of a target behavior in a setting and/or stimulus situation in which direct training has not been provided |
| Generalization Setting | Any place or stimulus situation that differs in some meaningful way from the instructional setting and in which performance of the target behavior is desired |
| Generalized Behavior Control | A behavior change that has not been taught directly |
| Generalized Imitation | A term often used when a learner imitates a wide variety of unprompted, untrained, non-reinforced modeled behaviors in different settings and situations |
| Generative Learning | A behavioral effect whereby previously acquired speaker and listener skills enable or accelerate the acquisition of other speaker and listener skills, without dependence on direct teaching or a history of reinforcement |
| Generic (tact) Extension | A tact evoked by a novel stimulus that shares all of the relevant or defining features associated with the original stimulus |
| Good Behavior Game | An independent group contingency in which a behavior group is divided into two or more teams that compete against each other and/or a specified criterion |
| Graph | A visual format for displaying data |
| Habilitation | Occurs when a person's repertoire has been changed such that short- and long-term reinforcers are maximized and short- and long- term punishers are minimized |
| Habit Reversal | A multiple-component treatment package for reducing unwanted habits such as fingernail biting and muscle tics |
| Habituation | A decrease in responsiveness to repeated presentations of a stimulus |
| Hero Procedure | A term sometimes used for a dependent group contingency (i.e., a reward for the group is contingent upon the behavior of an individual group member) |
| Hierarchical Relation | A nested stimulus relation in which a category, subsuming multiple stimuli, is itself a member of a higher-order category subsuming multiple stimuli |
| High-Probability (high-p) Request Sequence | An antecedent intervention in which two to five easy tasks with a known history of learner compliance (high-p requests) are presented in quick succession immediately before requesting the target task, the low-p request |
| Higher-Order Conditioning | Development of a conditioned reflex by pairing of a neutral stimulus (NS) with a conditioned stimulus (CS) |
| Higher-Order Operant Class | Behavior defined in terms of general relations between antecedents and responses, rather than in terms of specific stimuli and responses; examples include generalized imitation, manding, instruction following, naming, and relational framing |
| History of Reinforcement | An inclusive term referring in general to all of a person's learning experiences and more specifically to past conditioning with respect to particular response classes or aspects of a person's repertoire |
| Hypothetical Construct | A presumed but unobserved process or entity |
| Imitation Training | A systematic, research-based set of procedures for teaching a non-imitative learner to imitate models of novel behaviors |
| Impure Tact | A verbal operant involving a response that is evoked by both an MO and a nonverbal stimulus; thus, the response is part mand and part tact |
| Indirect Functional Assessment | Structured interviews , checklists, rating scales, or questionnaires used to obtain information from people who are familiar with the person exhibiting the problem behavior (e.g., teachers, parents, caregivers) |
| Indirect Measurement | Occurs when the behavior that is measured is in some way different from the behavior of interest |
| Indiscriminable Contingency | A contingency that makes it difficult for the learner to discriminate whether the next response will produce reinforcement |
| Instructional Setting | The environment where instruction occurs |
| Intermittent Schedule of Reinforcement (INT) | A contingency of reinforcement in which some, but not all, occurrences of the behavior produce reinforcement |
| Interrupted Chain Procedure | A procedural variation of the behavior chain interruption strategy, entails arranging the environment such that the learner is unable to continue the chain at a predetermined point until responding to a prompt |
| Interval DRL | A procedure for implementing DRL in which the total session is divided into equal intervals and reinforcement is provided at the end of each interval in which the number of responses during the interval is equal to or below the criterion limit |
| Interval-by-Interval IOA | An index of the agreement between observers for data obtained by interval recording or time sampling measurement |
| Interview-Informed Synthesized Contingency Analysis | A variation of functional analysis designed to increase effiency |
| Intraverbal Control | Some verbal stimuli only supplement other more critical antecedents, but nonetheless they play with a causal role in evoking behavior |
| Irreversibility | A situation that occurs when the level of responding observed in a previous phase cannot be reproduced even though the experimental conditions are the same as they were during the earlier phase |
| Joint Control | A phenomenon in which two separate, but interrelated forms of a person's own verbal behavior, combine to acquire stimulus control of a response that would not have occurred in the absence of either |
| Lag Reinforcement Schedule | A schedule of reinforcement in which reinforcement is contingent on a response being different in some specified way from the previous response or a specified number of previous responses |
| Latency-Based Functional Analysis | An analysis in which each session is terminated as soon as a problem behavior occurs |
| Least- to - Most Response Prompts | A technique of transferring stimulus control in which the practitioner gives the participant an opportunity to perform the response with the least amount of assistance on each trial |
| Level System | A component of some token economy systems in which participants advance up (or down) through a succession of levels contingent on their behavior at the current level |
| Line Graph | Based on a Cartesian plane, a two-dimensional area formed by the intersection of two perpendicular lines |
| Listener Discriminations | When verbal SD evokes a specific nonverbal behavior, due to a history of reinforcement |
| Local Response Rate | The average rate of response during a smaller period of time within a larger period off which an overall response rate has been given |
| Massed Practice | A self-directed behavior change technique in which the person forces herself to perform an undesired behavior repeatedly, which sometimes decreases the future frequency of the behavior |
| Matching-to-Sample Procedure | A discrete trial procedure for investigating conditional relations and stimulus equivalence |
| Mean Count-per-Interval IOA | The average percentage of agreement between the counts reported by two observers in a measurement period composed of a series of smaller counting times |
| Mean Duration-per-Occurance IOA | An IOA index for duration per occurrence data |
| Measurement | The process of applying quantitative labels to describe and differentiate objects and natural events |
| Measurement BIas | Non-random measurement error; a form of inaccurate measurement in which the data consistently overestimate or underestimate the true value of an event |
| Metaphorical (tact) Extension | A tact evoked by a novel stimulus that shares some, but not all, of the relevant features of the original stimulus |
| Methodological Behaviorism | A philosophical position that views behavioral events that cannot be publicly observed as outside the realm of science |
| Metonymical (tact) Extension | A tact evoked by a novel stimulus that shares none of the relevant features of the original stimulus configuration, but some irrelevant yet related feature has acquired stimulus control |
| Mixed Schedule (mix) | A compound schedule of reinforcement consisting of two or more basic schedules of reinforcement that occur in an alternating, usually random, sequence |
| Modeling | A behavior change strategy in which learner acquire new skills by imitating demonstrations of the skills by live or symbolic models |
| Most-to-Least Response Prompts | A technique of transferring stimulus control in which the practitioner physically guides the participant through the entire performance sequence, and then gradually reduces the level of assistance in successive trials |
| Motor Imitation (relating to sign language) | A type of duplic verbal behavior in which the form of a motor response is under the functional control of a visual verbal (Sd) that has formal similarity between a verbal stimulus and a verbal product, and a history of generalized reinforcement |
| Multielement Design | An experimental design in which two or more conditions are presented in rapidly alternating succession independent of the level of responding |
| Multiple Baseline Across Behaviors Design | A multiple baseline design in which the treatment variable is applied to two or more different behaviors of the same subjects in the same setting |
| Multiple Baseline Across Setting Design | A multiple baseline design in which the treatment variable is applied to the same behavior of the same subject across two or more different settings, situations, or time periods |
| Multiple Baseline Across Subjects Design | A multiple baseline design in which the treatment variable is applied to the same behavior of two or more subjects in the same setting |
| Multiple Control (of verbal behavior) | There are two types of multiple control |
| Multiple Probe Design | A variation of the multiple baseline design that features intermittent measures, or probes, during baseline |
| Multiple Schedule (mult) | A compound schedule of reinforcement consisting of two or more basic schedules of reinforcement that occur in an alternating, usually random, sequence |
| Multiple Treatment Interference | The effects of one treatment on a subjects behavior being conounding by the influence of another treatment administered in the same study |
| Multiple Treatment Reversal Design | Any experimental design that uses the experimental methods and logic of the reversal tactic to compare the effects of two or more experimental conditions to baseline and/or to one another |
| Mutual Entailment | A bidirectional stimulus relation in which one direction is directly learned and the other is derived |
| Naive Observer | An observer who is unaware of the study's purpose and/or the experimental conditions in effect during a given phase or observation period |
| Naturally Existing Contingency | Any contingency of reinforcement (or punishment) that operates independent of the behavior analyst's or practitioner's efforts |
| Negligence | Failure to demonstrate professional integrity on the part of the provider that threatens the client's health and safety |
| Neutral Stimulus (NS) | A stimulus change that does not elicit respondent behavior |
| Nodal Stimulus (node) | A stimulus set that must be held in common across a minimum of two conditional discriminations to provide a basis for all equivalence properties |
| Non-Equivalence Relations | Derived stimulus relations in which stimuli are related on some basis other than "sameness" |
| Noncontingent Reinforcement (NCR) Reversal Technique | An experimental control technique that demonstrates the effects of reinforcement by using noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) as a control condition instead of a no-reinforcement (baseline) condition |
| Nonconcurrent Multiple Baseline Across Participant Design | An experimental design that consists of a related series of A-B (baseline-intervention) sequences conducted across participants at different points in time |
| Normalization | As a philosophy and principle, the belief that people with disabilities should, to the maximum extent possible, be physically and socially integrated into the mainstream of society regardless of the degree of type of disability |
| Observed Value | A measure produced by an observation and measurement system |
| Observer Reactivity | Influence on the data reported by an observer that results from the observer's awareness that others are evaluating the data |
| Overall Response Rate | The rate of response over a given time period |
| Overselective Stimulus Control | A condition in which the range of discriminative stimuli, or stimulus features controlling behavior, is extremely limited; often interferes with learning |
| Overshadowing | Occurs when the most salient component of a compound stimulus arrangement controls responding and interferes with the acquisition of stimulus control by the more relevant stimulus |
| Partition Time-Out | A variation of time-out from positive reinforcement in which contingent on the occurrence of the target behavior, the participant remains in the time-in setting, but his view of the setting is restricted by a panel or cubicle |
| Percentage | A ratio (proportion) formed by combining the same dimensional quantities, such as count (number/number) or time (duration/duration, latency/latency) |
| Perspective Shifting | Responding as if from the vantage point of another person, place, or time than the personal here and now |
| Pivotal Behavior | A behavior that, when learned, produces corresponding modifications or covariation in other untrained behaviors |
| Placebo Control | A procedure that prevents a subject from detecting the presence of absence of the treatment variable |
| Planned Activity Check (PLACHECK) | A variation of momentary time sampling in which the observer records whether each person in a group is engaged in the target behavior at specific points in time |
| Planned Ignoring | A procedure for implementing time-out in which social reinforcers are withheld for a brief period contingent on the occurrences of the target behavior |
| Point-to-Point Correspondence | A relation between the stimulus and response or response product that occurs when the beginning, middle and end of the verbal stimulus matches the beginning, middle, and end of the verbal response. |
| Practice Effects | Improvements in performance resulting from opportunities to perform a behavior repeatedly so that baseline measures can be obtained |
| Pragmatism | A philosophical position asserting that the truth value of a statement is determined by how well it promotes effective action |
| Precision Teaching | An instructional approach that involves pinpointing the skills to be learned |
| Principle of Behavior | A statement describing the functional relation between behavior and one or more of its controlling variables with generality across organisms, species, settings, behaviors, and time |
| Private Events | Covert events typically accessible only to the person experiencing them |
| Procedural Fidelity | The extent to which procedures in all phases and conditions of an experiment, including baseline, are implemented correctly |
| Programming Common Stimuli | A tactic for promoting setting/situation generalization by making the instructional setting similar to the generalization setting |
| Progressive-Ratio (PR) Schedule of Reinforcement | A variation of a fixed ratio (FR) schedule of reinforcement that increases the ratio requirements incrementally within the session |
| Progressive Schedule of Reinforcement | A schedule that systematically thins each successive reinforcement opportunity independent of the individual's behavior |
| Progressive Time Delay | A procedure for transferring stimulus control from contrived response prompts to naturally existing stimuli that starts with simultaneous presentation of the natural stimulus and the response prompt |
| Range-Bound Changing Criterion Design | A variation of the changing criterion design in which each intervention sub- phase includes a lower and an upper criterion within which the participant is expected to perform |
| Ratio Scale | A scale in which equal distances on a graphs axis correspond to equal ratios of change in the variable plotted on the axis |
| Reactivity | Effects of an observation and measurement procedure on the behavior being measured |
| Recombinative Generalization | "Differential responding to novel combinations of stimulus components that have been included previously in other stimulus contexts" |
| Recovery from Punishment | The occurrence of a previously punished type of response without its punishing consequence |
| Reflex | A stimulus-response relation consisting of an antecedent stimulus and the respondent behavior it elicits |
| Reflexive Conditioned Motivating Operation (CMO-R) | A stimulus that acquires MO effectiveness by preceding some form of worsening or improvement |
| Reflexivity | A type of stimulus-to-stimulus relation in which the learner, without any prior training or reinforcement for doing so, selects a comparison stimulus that is the same as the sample stimulus |
| Reinforcer-Abolishing Effect (of a motivating operation) | A decrease in the reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus, object, or event caused by a motivating operations |
| Reinforcer-Establishing Effect (of a motivating operation) | An increase in the reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus, object, or event caused by a motivating operation |
| Relational Frame | Any specific type of arbitrarily applicable relational responding |
| Relational Frame Theory (RFT) | A theory of derived stimulus relations proposing that stimulus relations are inherently verbal and that accumulated experience with relational exemplars creates generalized repertoires of relating |
| Relevance of Behavior Rule | Holds that only behaviors likely to produce reinforcement in the person natural environment should be targeted for change |
| Replication | Repeating conditions within an experiment to determine the reliability of effects and increase internal validity |
| Research Question | A statement of what the researcher seeks to learn by conducting the experiment |
| Respondent Extinction | The repeated presentation of a conditioned stimulus (CS) in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus (US) |
| Response Differentiation | A behavior change produced by differential reinforcement |
| Response Interruption and Redirection (RIRD) | A procedural variation of response blocking that involves interrupting stereotypic behavior at its onset and redirecting the individual to complete high probability behavior instead |
| Response Prompts | Prompts that operate directly on the response to cue a correct response |
| Response-Deprivation Hypothesis | A model for predicting whether contingent access to one behavior will function as reinforcement for engaging in another behavior based on whether access to the contingent behavior represents a restriction of the activity compared to the baseline level |
| Restraint | Three common types of restrain--personal restrain, protective equipment, and self restraint--appear in the behavior analysis literature |
| Resurgence | Refers to the reoccurrence of a previously reinforced behavior when reinforcement for an alternative behavior is terminated or decreased and to the three-phase procedure that produces the effect |
| Risk-Benefit Analysis | A comparison prior to conducting a behavioral assessment or intervention of the potential harm to the client versus the benefits likely to result from the procedures |
| Scatterplot | A two-dimensional graph that shows the relative distribution of individual measures in a data set with respect to the variables depicted by the x- and u-anes |
| Scatterplot Recording | A procedure for recording the extent to which a target behavior occurs more often at particular times than others |
| Schedule of Reinforcement | A rule specifying the environmental arrangements and response requirements for reinforcement |
| Score-Interval IOA | An interobserver agreement index based only on the intervals in which either observer recorded the occurrence of the behavior |
| Selection by Consequences | A fundamental principle underlying operant conditioning |
| Selection-Based Verbal Behavior | A category of verbal behavior in which the speaker points to or selects a particular stimulus |
| Selectionism | A theory that all forms of life naturally and continually evolve as a result of the interaction between function and the survival value of that function |
| Self-Contract | Contingency contract that a person makes with himself or herself incorporating a self-selected task and reward as well as personal monitoring of task completion and self-delivery of the reward |
| Self-Control [Skinner's Analysis] | Skinner (1953) conceptualized self-control as a two-response phenomenon: the controlling response affects variables in such a way as to change the probability of the controlled response |
| Self-Control [impulse analysis] | A person's ability to "delay gratification" by emitting a response that will produce a larger delayed reward over a response that produces a smaller but immediate rewards |
| Self-Evaluation | A procedure in which a person compares her performance of a target behavior with a predetermined goal or standard |
| Self-Instruction | Self-generated verbal responses, covert or overt, that function as rules or response prompts for a desired behavior |
| Self-Management | The personal application of behavior change tactics that produces a desired change in behavior |
| Self-Monitoring | A procedure whereby a person systematically observes his behavior and records the occurrence or nonoccurrence of a target behavior |
| Semilogarithmic Chart | A two-dimensional graph with a logarithmic scaled y axis so that equal distances on the vertical axis represent changes in behavior that are of equal proportions |
| Sensory Extinction | A procedure by which behaviors maintained by automatic reinforcement are placed on extinction by masking or removing the sensory consequence |
| Sequence Effects | The effects on a subject's behavior in a given condition that are the result of the subject's experience with a prior condition |
| Setting/Situation Generalization | The extent to which a learner emits the target behavior setting or stimulus situation that is different from the instructional setting |
| Simple Discrimination | Responding is under stimulus control of a single antecedent stimulus condition |
| Simple Verbal Discrimination | A single-component word or phrase evokes a nonmatching intraverbal response (e.g., upon hearing "Ready, set...," a child says "go,") |
| Simple-to-Complex Testing Protocol | An arrangement in which types of stimulus equivalence probes are introduced sequentially, beginning with symmetry, followed by transitivity and then combine tests for equivalence |
| Socially Mediated Contingency (reinforcement) | A contingency in which an antecedent stimulus and/or the consequence for the behavior is presented by another person |
| Solistic (tact) Extension | A verbal response evoked by a stimulus property that is only indirectly related to the proper tact relation |
| Space-Responding DRL | A procedure for implementing DRL in which reinforcement follows each occurrence of the target behavior that is separated from the previous response by a minimum interresponse time |
| Spatial Relation | Responding jointly to two stimuli on the basis of their juxtaposition in space |
| Standard Celeration Chart | A multiply-divide chart with six base-10 cycles on the vertical axis that can accommodate response rates as low as 1 per 23 hours to as high as 1000 per minute |
| Steady State Responding | A pattern of responding that exhibits relatively little variation in its measured dimensional quantities over a period of time |
| Steady State Strategy | Repeatedly exposing a subject to a given condition while trying to eliminate or control extraneous influence on the behavior and obtaining a stable pattern of responding before introducing the next condition |
| Stimulus | "An energy change that affects an organism through its receptor cells" |
| Stimulus Blocking | Occurs when a competing stimulus blocks the evocative function of a stimulus that has acquired stimulus control over the behavior |
| Stimulus Discrimination | When one stimulus signals the availability of reinforcement and the absence of that stimulus signals a zero or reduced chance of reinforcement, responses will occur more often in the presence of the Sd than in its absence. |
| Stimulus Fading | A method of transferring stimulus control that involves highlighting a physical dimension of a stimulus to increase the likelihood of a correct response and then gradually diminishing the exaggerated dimension until the learner is responding correctly |
| Stimulus Generalization Gradient | A graphic depiction of the extent to which behavior that has been reinforced in the presence of a specific stimulus condition is emitted in the presence of other stimuli |
| Stimulus Prompts | Prompts that operate directly on the antecedent task stimuli to cue a correct response in conjunction with the critical Sd |
| Stimulus-Control Topographies | Refers to two different forms of stimulus control that can result from a match-to-sample procedure involving one sample stimulus and two comparison stimuli |
| Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing | A procedure in which two stimuli are presented at the same time, usually repeatedly for a number of trials, which often results in one stimulus acquiring the function of the other stimulus |
| Surrogate Conditioned Motivating Operation (CMO-S) | A stimulus that acquires its MO effectiveness by being paired with another MO and has the same value-altering and behavior-altering effects as the MO with which it was paired |
| Symmetry | A type of stimulus-to-stimulus relationship in which the learner, without prior training or reinforcement for doing so, demonstrates the reversibility of matched sample and comparison stimuli |
| Systematic Desensitization | A behavior therapy treatment for anxieties, fears, and phobias that involves substituting one response, generally muscle relaxation, for the unwanted behavior-- the fear and anxiety |
| Tact Extension | Once a tact has been established, the tact response can occur under novel stimulus conditions through the process of stimulus generalization |
| Taking Dictation | An elementary verbal operant involving a spoken verbal stimulus that evokes a written, typed, or fingerspelled response that does not have formal similarity between the stimulus and the response |
| Tandem Schedule (tand) | A schedule of reinforcement identical to the chained schedule except, like the mix schedule, the tandem schedule does not use discriminative stimuli with the elements in the chain |
| Teach Loosely | Randomly varying functionally irrelevant stimuli within and ross teaching sessions |
| Temporal Extent | Refers to the fact that every instance of behavior occurs during some amount of time; one of the three dimensional quantities of behavior from which all behavioral measurements are derived |
| Temporal Locus | Refers to the fact that every instance of behavior occurs at a certain point in time with respect to other events (i.e., when in time behavior occurs can be measured) |
| Temporal Relation | Responding jointly to two stimuli on the basis of their juxtaposition in time |
| Time Delay | A procedure for transferring stimulus control from contrived response prompts to naturally existing stimuli that begins with the simultaneous presentation of the natural stimulus and response prompt |
| Topography-Based Definition | Defines instances of the targeted response class by the shape or form of the behavior |
| Topography-Based Verbal Behavior | A category of verbal behavior in which the listener is affected by a specific response topography emitted by the speaker |
| Total Count IOA | The simplest indicator of IOA for event recording data; based on comparing the total count recorded by each observer per measurement period |
| Total Duration IOA | A relevant IOA for total duration measurement; computed by dividing the shorter of the two durations reported by the observers by the longer duration and multiplying by 100 |
| Training Structure | Refers to dimensions of procedural arrangements when teaching multiple conditional discriminations |
| Transfer of Function | Occurs when teaching a new function for one member of an established equivalence class results in the same function holding for all members of the class |
| Transformation of Function | Occurs when the behavioral function of one stimulus in a stimulus class changes as a predictable function of the behavior function of other stimuli in the class |
| Transitive Conditioned Motivating Operation (CMO-T) | An environmental variable that, as a result of a learning history, establishes (or abolishes) the reinforcing effectiveness of another stimulus and evokes (or ebates) the behavior that has been reinforces by that other stimulus |
| Transitivity | Describes derived stimulus-stimulus relations (e.g., A = C) that emerges as a product of training two other stimulus-stimulus relations (A = B and B = C) |
| Treatment Drift | An undesirable situation in which the independent variable of an experiment is applied differently during later stages than it was at the outset of the study |
| Treatment Package | A behavioral intervention consisting of multiple components (e.g., contingent praise, tokens, and extinction) |
| Trial-Based Functional Analysis | An analysis in which a series of trials is interspersed among classroom activities |
| Trial-by-Trial IOA | An IOA index for discrete trial data based on comparing the observers' counts (0 or 1) on a trial-by-trial, or item-by-item basis |
| True Value | A measure accepted as a quantitative description of the true state of some dimensional quantity of an event as it exists in nature |
| Trials-to-Criterion | A special form of event recording; a measure of the number of responses or practice opportunities needed for a person to achieve a pre-established level of accuracy or proficiency |
| Type I Error | An error that occurs when a researcher concludes that the independent variable had an effect on the dependent variable, when no such relation exists |
| Type II Error | An error that occurs when a researcher concludes that the independent variable had no effect on the dependent variable, when in truth it did |
| Unchaining | Occurs when, in the case of a two-step chain, the second behavior in the chain (r2) produces reinforcement in the presence of the prior SD (s2) , but (r2) also produces reinforcement when that SD is not present. Unchaining may weaken a chain |
| Unconditioned Motivating Operation (UMO) | A motivating operation whose value-altering effect does not depend on a learning history |
| Unconditioned Negative Reinforcer | A stimulus that functions as a negative reinforcer as a result of the evolutionary development of the species (phylogeny); no prior learning is involved |
| Unconditioned Reflex | An unlearned stimulus response functional relation consisting of an antecedent stimulus (e.g., food in mouth) that elicits the response (e.g., salivation) |
| Unpairing | Two kinds: (a) the occurrence alone of a stimulus that acquired its function by being paired with an already effective stimulus, or (b) the occurrence of the stimulus in the absence as well as in the presence of the effective stimulus |
| Unscored-Interval IOA | An interobserver agreement index based only on the intervals in which either observer recorded the nonoccurrence of the behavior |
| Value-Altering Effect (of a motivating operation) | Either (a) an increase in the reinforcing effectiveness of some stimulus, object, or event, in which case the MO is an establishing operation (EO), or (b) a decrease in reinforcing effectiveness, in which case the MO is an abolishing operation (AO) |
| Variable Baseline | Data points that do not consistently fall within a narrow range of values and do not suggest any clear trend |
| Variable-Interval DRO (VI-DRO) | A DRO procedure in which reinforcement is available at the end of intervals of variable duration and delivered contingent on the absence of the problem behavior during the interval |
| Variable-Momentary DRO (VM-DRO) | A DRO procedure in which reinforcement is available at specific moments of time, which are separated by variable amounts of time in random sequence, and delivered if the problem is not occuring at those times |
| Verbal Conditioned Discrimination (VCD) | A type of convergent multiple control involving a verbal stimulus that alters the evocative effects of another verbal stimulus in the same antecedent configuration |
| Verbal Episode | An interaction between a speaker and a listener |
| Verbal Function-Altering Effect | Verbal stimuli can alter the functional effects of immediate or future SDs and MOs and, accordingly, change a listener's behavior |
| Video Modeling | A behavior change strategy in which the participant views a video of a model performing the target behavior and then imitates the behavior |
| Video Self-Modeling | A behavior change strategy in which the participant views a video of himself successfully performing the target behavior and then imitates his own model |
| Withdrawl Design | A term used by some authors as a synonym for A-B-A-B design; also used to describe experiments in which an effective treatment is sequentially or partially withdrawn to promote the maintenance of behavioral changes |
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cbarrow13