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134 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Applied Behavioral Analysis |
An technology of behavior in which basic principles of behavior are applied to solving real-world issues |
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Behavior
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Any activity of an organism that can be observed or somehow measured |
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Behavior Analysis (or Experimental Analysis of Behavior) |
The behavioral science that grew out of Skinner's philosophy of radical behaviorism. |
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Aristotle’s four laws of association
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-Law of Similarity- events that are similar to each other are readily associated with each other; allows us to group similar objects into larger categories
-Law of Contrast- events that are opposite each other are readily associated; ie., black and white -Law of Contiguity- (closeness) events that occur in close proximity to each other in time or space are readily associated -Law of Frequency- the more frequently two items occur together the stronger the association |
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Law of Similarity
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events that are similar to each other are readily associated with each other; allows us to group similar objects into larger categories |
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Law of Contrast |
events that are opposite each other are readily associated; ie., black and white |
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Law of Contiguity |
(closeness) events that occur in close proximity to each other in time or space are readily associated
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Law of Frequency |
the more frequently two items occur together the stronger the association |
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Mind-Body Dualism (Descartes) |
proposes that some human behaviors are reflexes that are automatically elicited by external stimulation, while other behaviors are freely chosen and controlled in the mind. Animals do not have this ability to control behavior. |
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British Empiricists |
maintained that almost all knowledge was a function of experience (experiential knowledge). |
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Introspection
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a method to study mind and behavior used primarily by structuralists, in which the subject in an experiment attempts to accurately describe his or her conscious thoughts, emotions, and sensory experiences.
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Watson’s Methodological Behaviorism
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for methodological reasons, psychologists should study only those behaviors that can be directly observed. Subjectively perceived activities, such as thinking, are methodologically too difficult to assess to be of much use in a scientific analysis of behavior.
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Four Problems with Using Internal Events to Explain Behavior (Skinner) |
1. Our assessments of internal thoughts and feelings are often unreliable
2. It is often difficult to determine the actual relationship of thoughts and feelings of behavior 3. We do not have any means of directly changing internal events 4. Explanations are sometimes only pseudo-explanations |
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Skinner’s position on internal events such as thoughts and emotions
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Skinner rejected internal events as explanations for behavior. Instead he focused on the environmental consequences of behavior as the ultimate cause of both observable behavior (overt behavior) and internal events (covert behavior).
-Changing environment → influence on behavior |
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Countercontrol (Skinner)
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the deliberate manipulation of environmental events to alter their impact on our behavior
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Independent Variable
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the aspect of an experiment that systematically varies across the different conditions in the experiment. It is what is manipulated in the experiment
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Dependent Variable
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is the aspect of an experiment that is allowed to vary freely to see if it is affected by changes in the independent variable. It is what is measured in the experiment
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Appetitive Stimulus
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an event that an organism will seek out, i.e., food when we are hungry |
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Aversive Stimulus |
an event that an organism will avoid, i.e., electric shock or extreme heat
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Contiguity |
“closeness” or “nearness” |
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Temporal Contiguity |
the extent to which events occur close together in time. |
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Spatial Contiguity |
the extent to which events are situated close to each other in space. |
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Contingency |
a predictive or functional relationship between two events such that the occurrence of one event predicts the probable occurrence of another |
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Inter-observer or Inter-rater Reliability
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calculated as the number of intervals in which the observers agree divided by the total number of intervals. 4/8= 50%
- 80% is the minimum accepted level of reliability - 90% is the preferred level of reliability |
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Single-Subjects Design |
require only one or a few subjects to conduct an entire experiment |
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Simple-Comparison Design |
behavior in a baseline condition is compared to behavior in a treatment condition. A major problem with this design is that it does not control for the possibility that some other event occurred at the same time that the treatment was implemented. |
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Multiple-Baseline Design |
a treatment instituted at successive points in time for two or more persons, settings, or behaviors. Good alternative to reversal design because we do not have to worry about withdrawing the treatment to determine that it is effective. |
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Flexion Response
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a protective reflex in which we automatically jerk our hand or foot away from a hot or sharp object that we have inadvertently contacted, and the aforementioned startle reaction- designed to ready us for a fight or flight if an unexpected stimulus should prove dangerous.
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Reflex Arc
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a neural structure that underlies many reflexes and consists of a sensory neuron, an interneuron, and a motor neuron. Makes the signal travel faster. Upon touching something hot or sharp, receptors in the hand stimulate sensory neurons that carry bursts of nerve impulses toward the spinal cord which sends the message to the motor neurons. The motor neurons then activate the muscles in order to move. At the same time pain messages are also sent through the spinal cord to the brain but it is slower and by the time you feel pain the hand is already moved.
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Fixed Action Pattern |
a fixed sequence of responses elicited by a specific stimulus; species specific behaviors; AKA Modal Action Patterns |
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Sign Stimulus/Releaser |
the specific stimulus that elicits a fixed action pattern |
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Habituation |
a decrease in strength of an elicited behavior following repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus. |
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Sensitization |
an increase in the strength of an elicited behavior following repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus |
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Dishabituation |
the reappearance of a habituated response due to the presentation of a novel stimulus |
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Opponent-Process Theory |
proposes that an emotional even elicits two competing processes: (1) an a-process or primary process that is directly elicited by the event and (2) a b-process or opponent process that is elicited by the a-process and serves to counteract the a-process. -The a-process happens quickly and correlates closely with the presence of the emotional event -The b-process is slow to increase and slow to decrease. -With repeated presentations of the emotional event, the b-process increases in both strength and duration |
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Unconditioned Stimulus (US) |
a stimulus that naturally elicits a response without any prior learning |
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Unconditioned Response (UR) |
The response that is naturally elicited by the unconditioned stimulus without any prior learning |
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Neutral Stimulus (NS) |
a stimulus not associated with the unconditioned response. It is neutral |
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Conditioned Stimulus (CS) |
Any stimulus that , although initially neutral, comes to elicit a response because it has been associated with an unconditioned stimulus |
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Conditioned Response (CR) |
The response, often similar to the unconditioned response, that is elicited by the conditioned stimulus. |
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Aversive Conditioning |
the US is an event that is considered unpleasant and that the organism avoids. |
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Appetitive Conditioning |
the US is an event that is usually considered pleasant and the organism seeks out |
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Delayed Conditioning |
the onset of the NS precedes the onset of the US, and the two stimuli overlap. This is the best arrangement for conditioning, especially if the time between the onset of the NS and the onset of the US (the interstimulus interval) is relatively short. |
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Backward Conditioning |
the onset of the NS follows the onset of the US. This is traditionally considered the least effective procedure for conditioning. |
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acquisition
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the process of developing and strengthening a conditioned response through repeated pairings of a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus. In general, acquisition proceeds rapidly during early conditioning trials and then levels off.
-More intense USs produce stronger and more rapid conditioning than do less intense USs -More intense NSs result in stronger and more rapid conditioning than do less intense NSs. |
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Extinction
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decreasing the strength of the conditioned response by repeated presenting the CS without the US
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Spontaneous Recovery |
is the reappearance of a conditioned response to a CS following a rest period after extinction. Each time the response recovers it is somewhat weaker and is extinguished more quickly than before.
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Stimulus Generalization
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is the tendency for a CR to occur in the presence of a stimulus that is similar to the CS; the more similar to the CS the greater the response
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Stimulus Discrimination
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the tendency for a response to be elicited more by one stimulus than another; specific
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Higher-Order Conditioning
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a stimulus that is associated with a CS can also become a CS if the event is subsequently associated
Example: Wasp (NS1): Sting (US) → Fear (UR) Wasp (CS1) → Fear (CR) Trash bin (NS2): Wasp (CS1) → Fear (CR) Trash bin (CS2) → fear (CR) |
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Sensory Preconditioning
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when one stimulus is conditioned as a CS, another stimulus with which it was previously associated can also become a CS.
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Blocking
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the presence of an established CS interferes with conditioning of a new CS. Blocking is similar to overshadowing, except that the compound consists of a neutral stimulus and a CS rather than two neutral stimuli that differ in salience. The original CS already predicts the CR so attention is not paid to the NS and a new association is not made.
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Overshadowing
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the most salient member of a compound stimulus is more readily conditioned as a CS and thereby interferes with conditioning of the least salient member.
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Latent Inhibition
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a familiar stimulus is more difficult to condition as a CS than is an unfamiliar stimulus. |
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S-R Model of Conditioning |
the neutral stimulus (NS) becomes directly associated with the unconditioned response (UR) and therefore comes to elicit the same response as the UR. |
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S-S Model of Conditioning |
the NS becomes directly associated with the US and, because of this association, comes to elicit a response that is related to the US. |
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Compensatory-Response Model |
a CS that has been repeatedly associated with the primary response (a-process) to a US will eventually come to elicit a compensatory response (b-process); similar to the opponent-process theory |
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Phobias
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represent a process of overgeneralization in which a conditioned fear response to one event has become overgeneralized to other harmless events.
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Observational Learning
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many phobias are acquired when observing fearful reactions in others.
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Temperament
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an individual’s base level of emotionality and reactivity to stimulation which is to a large extent genetically determined |
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Preparedness |
a genetically based predisposition within a species to learn certain kinds of associations more easily than others |
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History of Control |
living in an environment where they had some degree of control over important events seemed to effectively immunize them against the traumatic effects of encountering a strange and frightening object
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Incubation
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the strengthening of a conditioned fear response as a result of brief exposures to the aversive CS. Extinction does not occur because the person tends to avoid the feared stimulus (the CS) so that repeated exposure to the CS in the absence of the US does not take place. Because of this tendency to move away from the feared stimulus, any exposures that do occur are likely to be very brief.
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US Revaluation |
exposure to a US of a different intensity (different value) than that used during conditioning can alter the strength of the response to a previously conditioned CS. |
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Selective Sensitization
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an increase in one’s reactivity to a potentially fearful stimulus following exposure to an unrelated stressful event.
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3 systematic desensitization procedures developed by Wolpe.
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1. Training in Relaxation
2. Creation of a hierarchy of imaginary scenes that elicit progressively intense levels of fear 3. Pairing of each item in the hierarchy with relaxation |
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Flooding |
based on the principle of extinction; a behavioral treatment that involves prolonged exposure to a feared stimulus, thereby, providing maximal opportunity for the conditioned fear response to be extinguished. |
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Behaviorism |
a natural science approach to psychology that traditionally focuses on the study of environmental influences on observable behavior |
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Cognitive Behaviorism |
A brand of behaviorism that utilizes intervening variables, usually in the form of hypothesized cognitive processes, to help explain behavior, Sometimes called "purposive behaviorism. |
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Cognitive Map |
The mental representation of one's spatial surroundings |
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Empiricism |
In psychology, the assumption that behavior patterns are mostly learned rather than inherited. Also know as the "nurture" perpective |
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Evolutionary Adaptation |
An inherited trait (physical or behavioral) that has been shaped through natural selection |
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Functionalism |
An approach to psychology which proposes that the mind evolved to help us adapt to the world around us, and that the focus of psychology should be the study of those adaptive processes |
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Latent Learning |
Learning that occurs in the absence of any observable indication of learning and only becomes apparent under a different set of conditions |
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Law of Parsimony |
The assumption that simpler explanations for a phenomenon are generally preferable to more complex ones. |
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Learning |
A relatively permanent change in behavior that results from some type of experience |
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Nativism |
The assumption that a person's characteristics are largely inborn. AKA- "nature" perspective |
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Natural Selection |
The evolutionary principle according to which organisms that are better able to adapt to environmental pressures are more likely to reproduce and pass along those adaptive characteristics than those that cannot adapt. |
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Neobehaviorism |
A brand of behaviorism that utilizes intervening variables in the form of hypothesized physiological processes, to help explain behavior |
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Radical behaviorism |
A brand of behaviorism that emphasizes the influence of the environment on overt behavior, rejects the use of internal events to explain behavior, and views thoughts and feelings as behaviors that themselves need to be explained |
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Reciprocal Determinism |
The assumption that environmental events, observable behavior, and "person variables" (including internal thoughts and feelings) reciprocally influence each other. |
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Social Learning Theory |
A brand of behaviorism that strongly emphasizes the importance of observational learning and cognitive variables in explaining human behavior. It has more recently been referred to as "social-cognitive" theory |
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S-R Theory |
The theory that learning involves the establishment of a connection between a specific stimulus and a specific response. |
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Structuralism |
An approach to psychology which assumes that it is possible to determine the structure of the mind by identifying the basic elements that compose it. |
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Baseline |
The normal frequency of behavior before some itnervention. |
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Case Study Approach |
A descriptive research approach that involves intensive examination of one or few individuals |
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Changing-Criterion Design |
A type of single-subject design in which the effect of the treatment is demonstrated by how closely the behavior matches a criterion that is systematically altered. |
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Comparative Design |
A type of control group design in which different species constitute one of the IVs |
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Control Group Design |
A type of experiment in which, at its simplest, subjects are randomly assigned to either an experimental (or treatment) group or a control group; subjects assigned to the experimental group are exposed to a certain manipulation or treatment, while those assigned to the control group are not. |
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Covert Behavior |
Behavior that can be subjectively perceived only by the person performing the behavior; -Thoughts and Feelings -AKA Private Events or Private Behavior |
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Cumulative Recorder |
A device that measures the total number of responses over time and provides a graphic depiction of the rate of behavior. |
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Deprivation |
The prolonged absence of an event that tends to increase the appetitiveness of that event. |
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Descriptive Research |
Research that focuses on describing the behavior and the situation within which it occurs |
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Duration |
The length of time that an individual repeatedly or continuously performs a certain behavior. |
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Establishing Operation |
A procedure that affects the appetitiveness or aversiveness of a stimulus. |
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Functional Relationship |
The relationship between changes in an IV and changes in a DV; a cause and effect relationship |
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Intensity |
The force or magnitude of a behavior |
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Interval Recording |
The measurement of whether or not a behavior occurs within a series of continuous intervals. |
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Latency |
The length of time required for a behavior to begin |
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Naturalistic Observation |
A descriptive research approach that involves the systematic and recording of behavior in its natural environment |
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Overt Behavior |
Behavior that has the potential for being directly observed by an individual other than the one performing the behavior |
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Rate of Response |
The frequency with which a response occurs in a certain period of time. |
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Response |
A particular instance of behavior |
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Reversal Design |
A type of single-subject design that involves repeated alternations between a baseline period and a treatment period. |
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Satiation |
The prolonged exposure to (or consumption of) an event that tends to decrease the appetitiveness of that event. |
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Speed |
The amount of time required to perform a complete episode of behavior from start to finish |
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Stimulus |
Any event that can potentially influence behavior. |
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Time-Sample Recording |
The measurement of whether or not a behavior occurs within a series of discontinuous intervals |
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Topography |
The physical form of a behavior |
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Variable |
A characteristic of a person, place, or thing that can change (vary) over time or from one situation to another. |
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Classical Conditioning |
A process whereby one stimulus that does not elicit a certain response is associated with a second stimulus that does; as a result, the first stimulus also comes to elicit a response. |
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Excitatory Conditioning |
Conditioning procedure in which the NS is associated with the presentation of a US |
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Inhibitory Conditioning |
Conditioning procedure in which the NS is associated with absence or removal of a US |
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Orienting Response |
The automatic positioning of oneself to facilitate attending to a stimulus. |
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Reflex |
A relatively simple, involuntary response to a stimulus |
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Simultaneous Conditioning |
Conditioning procedure in which the onset of the NS and the onset of the US are simultaneous. |
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Startle Response |
A defensive reaction to a sudden, unexpected stimulus, which involves automatic tightening of skeletal muscles and various hormonal and visceral changes |
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Trace Conditioning |
Conditioning Procedure in which the onset and offset of the NS precede the onset of the US |
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Compound Stimulus |
A complex stimulus that consists of the simultaneous presentation of two or more individual stimuli. |
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Disinhibituation |
The sudden recovery of a response during an extinction procedure when a novel stimulus is introduced. |
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Experimental Neurosis |
An experimentally produced disorder in which animals exposed to unpredictable events develop a neurotic- like symptoms. |
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External Inhibition |
A decrease in the strength of the conditioned response due the presentation of a novel stimulus at the same time as the conditioned stimulus. |
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Occasion Setting |
A procedure in which a stimulus (known as an occasion setter) signals that a CS is likely to be followed by the US with which it is associated |
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Pseudoconditioning |
A situation in which an elicited response that appears to be a CR is actually the result of sensitization rather than conditioning |
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Semantic Generalization |
The generalization of a conditioned response to verbal stimuli that are similar in meaning to the CS |
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Temporal Conditioning |
A form of classical conditioning in which the CS is the passage of time. |
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Aversion Therapy |
A form of behavior therapy that attempts to reduce the attractiveness of a desired event by associating it with an aversive stimulus |
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Counterconditioning |
The procedure whereby a CS that elicits one type of response is associated with an event that elicits an incompatible response. |
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Overexpectation Effect |
The decrease in the conditioned response that occurs when two separately conditioned CSs are combined into a compound stimulus for further pairings with the US. |
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Preparatory-Response Theory |
A theory of classical conditioning that proposes that the purpose of the CR is to prepare the organism for the presentation of the US. |
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Reciprocal Inhibition |
The process by whereby certain responses are incompatible with each other, and the occurrence of one response necessarily inhibits the other |
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Rescorla-Wagner Theory |
A theory of classical conditioning that proposes that a given US can support only so much conditioning and that the amount of conditioning must be distributed among the various CSs available. |
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Stimulus-Substitution Theory |
A theory of classical conditioning that proposes that the CS acts as a substitute for the US. |
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Systematic Desensitization |
A behavioral Treatment for phobias that involves pairing relaxation with a succession of stimuli that elicits increasing levels of fear. |
