Research Desgin And Methods Terms And Definitions

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Stimulus

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Any physical event or condition, including the organism's own behavior. A stimulus may have many functional relationships to an organism's behavior repertoire. Each stimulus is categorized differently on the basis of its function.

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Response

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Any measurable instance of behavior

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Three-Term Contingency

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A temporal arrangement among three events: the occasion for a response, the response, and the consequence

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Respondent

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Any response which is controlled by the stimulus that precedes it. Respondents are not learned; they are intact at birth. Also known as reflexive response. Rate of responding is dependent on the rate at which the eliciting stimulus is resented.

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Eliciting Stimulus

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A stimulus which evokes a reflexive response

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Neutral Stimulus

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Environmental events which bring about no change in the behavior of a specific organism.

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Respondent Conditioning

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The process by which a stimulus that previously had no effect (neutral stimulus) on a particular respondent acquires the capacity to elicit that respondent

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Unconditioned Stimulus

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An eliciting stimulus that evokes a response without having had to be paired with another stimulus in the past

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Conditioned Stimulus

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A stimulus which has gained the capacity to elicit a response by being paired consistently in the past with another stimulus already possessing those properties

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Unconditioned Response

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A response which is elicited (or evoked) by the unconditioned stimulus

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Habituation

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Gradual decline in the magnitude of a respondent over the course of repeated elicitations

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Operant Response

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Any behavior whose rate, or probability of occurrence, is governed by its consequences

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Operant Conditioning

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The process by which the frequency or probability of occurrence of behavior is modified by the consequences for the behavior

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Positive Reinforcer

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Any stimulus, when delivered contingent on a specific response, increases the rate of probability of that response

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Primary Reinforcer

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A reinforcing stimulus which does not depend on history of conditioning for its reinforcing properties and is weakened only by satiation

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Negative Reinforcer

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Any stimulus, when removed contingent on a response, increases the rate or probability of that response

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Punisher

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Any stimulus, when delivered contingent on a response decreases the rate or probability of that response

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Satiation

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The reduction in the effectiveness of a reinforcer as a function of repeated presentations of that reinforcer

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Extinction

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The withholding of a reinforcer previously contingent on a response which results in a decrease in the rate or probability of that response

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Avoidance Behavior

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Behavior which postpones an aversive event

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Escape Behavior

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Behavior which terminates an aversive event

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Spontaneous Recovery

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A temporarily higher rate sometimes observed at the beginning of an experimental session, following a session in which the rate has declined. This traditional term suggests that the earlier rate has "recovered".

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Discriminative Stimulus

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A stimulus in whose presensce a response is highly probable because the response has previously been reinforced in the presence of that stimulus