What Is Behaviour, Generally And Technically?

Front 1

What is behaviour, generally and technically? Give three synonyms for behaviour.

Back 1

Behaviour is any muscular, glandular, or electrical activity of an organism. Synonyms can include activity, action and performance.

Front 2

Describe two dimensions of behaviour.

Back 2

Overt behaviour is all visible behaviours that could be observed and recorded by an individual other than the one performing the behaviour. This can include walking and talking out loud.
Covert behaviour is private internal behaviour that cannot be readily observed by others. This can include private self- talk and feeling something.

Front 3

What are three disadvantages of using summary labels to refer to individuals or their actions?

Back 3

can lead to pseudo-explanations of behaviour. This means it can lead to circular reasoning. A child may be labelled dyslexic and this is because he reads words the wrong way, but when asked why he does that we say “because he is dyslexic.” Labels can also negatively affect the way an individual is treated. If a child is labelled as handicapped, a teacher may spend less time encouraging that individual to succeed due to this disability. It also may direct our focus to an individual’s problem behaviours rather than to his or her strengths. A parent may focus on the fact that a teenager may never make his bed and calls him lazy, but he also takes out the garbage each week and does the dishes. Instead of recognizing the strong points the parent only focuses on the fact that he does not make his bed.

Front 4

What do behaviour modifiers mean by the term environment?

Back 4

people, objects, and events currently present in one’s immediate surroundings that impinge on one’s sense receptors that can affect behaviour.

Front 5

Define behaviour modification.

Back 5

Behaviour modification involves the systematic application of learning principles and techniques to assess and improve individual’s covert and over behaviours in order to enhance their functioning.

Front 6

Define behaviour assessment

Back 6

the collection and analysis of information and data in order to (a) identify and describe target behaviours; (b) identify possible causes of the behaviour; (c) guide the selection of an appropriate behavioural; (d) evaluate treatment outcome.

Front 7

misconceptions about behaviour modification.

Back 7

1. Use of rewards by behaviour modifiers to change behaviour is bribery
2. Behaviour modification involves the use of drugs, psychosurgery, and electroconvulsive therapy.
3. Behaviour modification only changes symptoms; it doesn’t get at the underlying problems.
4. Behaviour modifiers deal only with observable behaviour; they don’t deal with thoughts and feelings of clients.

Front 8

PSI

Back 8

personalized system of instruction

Front 9

The founder of PSI

Back 9

Fred S. Keller

Front 10

characteristics of PSI

Back 10

· Identifies the target behaviours or learning requirements for a course in the form of study questions, such as the questions at the end of each chapter in this book
· Requires students to study only a small amount of material before demonstrating mastery, such as the amount of material in one or two chapters that might be studied in a week or two
· Has frequent tests (at least once a week or two) in which students demonstrate their knowledge of the answers to the study questions
· Has mastery criteria so that students must demonstrate mastery at a particular level before going on to the next level
· Is nonpunitive, in that the students are not penalized for failing to demonstrate mastery on a test, but simply restudy and try again
· Uses number of student assistants to score tests immediately and provide feedback to students concerning test performance
· Incorporates a go at your own pace feature in which students are allowed to proceeded though the course material at rates that suite their own particular abilities and time demands
· Uses lecture primarily for motivation and demonstration, rather then as a major means of presenting new information

Front 11

Health psychology

Back 11

considers how psychological factors can influence or cause illness, and how people can be encouraged to practice healthy behaviour so as to prevent health problems.

Front 12

areas of application within health psychology are

Back 12

· Direct treatment of medical problems
· Establishing treatment compliance
· Promotion of healthy living
· Management of caregivers
· Stress management

Front 13

Behavioural community psychology

Back 13

applications to socially significant problems in unstructured community settings, where the behaviour of individuals is not considered deviant in the traditional since.

Front 14

behaviours in business, industry, or government that have been modified by behaviour modification include

Back 14

· Performance management
· Industrial behaviour modification
· Organizational behaviour technology
· Organizational behaviour analysis

Front 15

behaviours in the area of behavioural community psychology that have been modified by behaviour modifiers include:

Back 15

· Controlling littler in public campgrounds
· Increasing recycling of returnable soft drinks
· Helping community boards to problem solve
· Encouraging welfare recipients to attend self-help meetings

Front 16

What are two questions to ask when judging whether or not a behavior is reinforced on an FI schedule? What answers to those questions would indicate that the behavior is reinforced on an FI schedule?

Back 16

does reinforcement require only one response after a fixed interval of time? and (2) does responding during the interval affect anything? If the answer to the first question is yes and the second question is no, then the behavior is reinforced on an FI schedule.

Front 17

Explain what an FI/LH schedule is, and describe the details of an example in everyday life.

Back 17

A fixed-interval/limited-hold schedule is one in which the response is only reinforced within a specified window of time, all other responses, before and after the specified time, will be ignored. An example of an FI/LH schedule that occurs in everyday life might be watching one’s favorite show on TV. One might repeatedly check to see if the time has come yet for the show, either checking the time or flipping the channel but this will do nothing until the designated time for the show to come on arrives. Finally when the interval arrives it takes one response of tuning to the channel to be reinforced as the program plays.

Front 18

Explain what a VI/LH schedule is. Describe the details of two examples of a VI/LH schedule that occurs in everyday life.

Back 18

A variable-interval/limited-hold schedule is one in which the response will only be reinforced when it occurs in a designated interval of time; the time in which the reinforcement occurs varies around some pre-designated mean. Two examples of VI/LH schedules that occur in everyday life are:
· A 1 day sale at a department store – the sale happens at unpredictable intervals around a mean of every 30 days, responses outside of the specific day of the sale will not be reinforced, the items will be full price, but if the individual responds in the limited time of that one day, he or she will be reinforced with sale prices on purchased items.
· Waiting for luggage at the airport – after an unpredictable length of time the luggage will slowly come past the individual, at that point the response of picking up one’s luggage will be reinforced but if the individual does not respond in this short interval he or she will have to wait another unpredictable interval in order to respond again.

Front 19

Explain what an FD schedule is. Describe the details of two examples of FD schedules that occur in everyday life.

Back 19

A fixed-duration schedule is one wherein the period that a behavior must occur is fixed from reinforcement to reinforcement. Two examples of a FD schedule that occur in real life:
· Finishing a course – on must continue to study for a fixed amount of time in order to receive a passing final mark (the reinforcer), if one were to quit mid-term he or she would not receive a passing final mark, likewise if one were to begin studying at the end of the term he or she would also be unable to receive a passing mark.
· Pregnancy – a female must be pregnant for a fixed duration in order to give birth to a baby (the reinforcer)

Front 20

Explain what a VD schedule is. Describe the details of an example of a VD schedule that occurs in everyday life.

Back 20

A variable-duration schedule is a schedule where the interval of time that the behavior must occur in always changes unpredictably from reinforcement to reinforcement around some mean variable. An example of a VD schedule that occurs in everyday life is:
· Knitting a sweater – the time it takes to knit a sweater varies around several factors and the individual must continue knitting to be reinforced with the finished project.

Front 21

. Describe how intermittent reinforcement works against those who are ignorant of its effects. Give an example.

Back 21

Intermittent reinforcement works against those who are ignorant of its effects in that it unintentionally reinforces behaviors one is trying to curb on a variable-ratio or variable-duration schedule. This inadvertently reinforced behavior is highly resistant to extinction.