SPCE 609 FINAL EXAM

conditioned stimulus (CS)

An antecedent stimulus that evokes a conditioned response (because the stimulus signals a delay-reduction to a phylogenetically important event) is referred to as the

Negative punisher

Charlie works about 8 overtime hours per week. He says he hates it, but it helps his family make ends meet. On Monday, Charlie lost his temper and yelled at his boss. His boss told him that he was barring him from working any overtime hours for the rest of the week. This reduced Charlie's income. After that, Charlie was careful to hold his tongue when he was angry with his boss. Barring Charlie from working overtime hours appears to function as a

causation

Just because two variables tend to occur together (e.g., rate of sexual activity and personal income), that does not imply...

negative reinforcer - avoidance (SRA-)

Just before our dog vomits on the floor, she always engages in a gag response where she opens her mouth wide and makes a gagging sound. This sound is not aversive but as soon as we hear it, we run her outside so we can prevent her from vomiting on the rugs (which would be aversive). Assuming that this stimulus prevention functions as a reinforcer, it would be classified as a...

shaping

Olivia, who is concerned about her health, wants to eat more fruits and vegetables and less meat. Rather than swearing off meat forever, but then relapsing at her favorite hamburger joint a week later, she has decided to gradually reduce her meat consumption. For the first week, she can earn a reinforcer if she gives up meat just one day a week (if she eats meat more than once, no reinforcer). This reduction is a mere approximation of the behavior she ultimately wants to achieve. In week two, she moves on to the next in her series of successive approximations to her final goal. The approach Olivia has adopted for changing her diet is called...

SD; Sdelta

On Halloween night, a well-illuminated, decorated house functions as an _____ for knocking on the door, and a completed dark, undecorated house functions as an _____ for this behavior.

Establishing operation (EO)

The book discusses two kinds of motivating operations (MOs). One of them temporarily increases the value of a reinforcer and increases behaviors that produce that reinforcer. Which MO is this describing?

avoidance

This form of negative reinforcement is defined as a consequent prevention of a stimulus change, the effect of which is to increase operant behavior above its no-reinforcer baseline level.

loss aversion

This is the tendency for loss-prevention (SRA-) to influence behavior more than presentation of the same stimulus (SR+).

habituation

This refers to the gradual reduction in reflex responding following repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus.

SD

When an establishing operation (EO), like food deprivation, occurs, we will look for a(n) _____________________ that signals that our response (ordering a meal) will be reinforced.

an extinction burst

When extinction produces a temporary increase in the rate, magnitude, or duration of the previously reinforced response, this is referred to as ____________________________.

extinction

When self-injurious behavior is maintained by automatic reinforcement, it is impossible to use ________________ because there is no way to turn OFF the reinforcer.

All of these

When thinning out the schedule of reinforcement that is maintaining a newly acquired adaptive behavior (which is to replace a problem behavior), it is critical to...

correlated

When two variables tend to occur together (e.g., rate of sexual activity and personal income), they are...

whole-interval

When using the direct-observation technique known as _________________ recording, we will record if the behavior does or does not occur throughout each of the contiguous observation periods.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Where most approaches to psychotherapy hold that thoughts are important in determining the client's wellbeing, _________________________ is different. This approach to therapy seeks to undermine the client's belief that controlling their own thoughts is important in their ability to live a fulfilling life.

To determine whether a problem behavior is an operant behavior

Which of the following is a reason that behavioral analysts conduct a functional analysis of behavior?

Focusing on the behavior of the group means that we are not studying the behavior of the individual. Behavior is something that individuals do. To evaluate if the independent variable changed behavior, the group experimental designs must rely upon inferential statistical analyses, which can be misused. The behavior of the experimental and control groups will differ before the experiment even begins; this is because the individuals assigned to the two groups are different. This makes these designs noisy, which can only be overcome by recruiting large groups of participants.

Which of the following is a weakness of group experimental designs? Select all that apply.

Variable-ratio (VR)

Which schedule of reinforcement will maintain the most behavior, particularly as the schedule value gets very large?

unconditioned stimulus (US)

An antecedent stimulus that elicits an unconditioned reflex response is referred to as the

motivating operation (MO)

A ______________ _______________is an environmental and/or biological event that (1) temporarily alters the value of a specific reinforcer and (2) increases/decreases the probability of behaviors yielding that reinforcer.

behavioral definition

A ________________ is a precise specification of the topography of the target behavior, allowing observers to reliably identify instances and non-instances of that behavior.

reinforcer

A _________________ is a consequence that increases operant behavior above its baseline level.

functional

A behavior is reliably and systematically changed when behavior analysts change a(n) _____________ variable.

social validity

A behavioral definition has _________________ when the consumer of the intervention, or an expert in the field indicates that the definition accurately reflects the behavior of interest.

automatic

A consequence that is directly produced by the response - it is not provided by someone else - and which increases the behavior above a no-reinforcer baseline is called a(n) ______________ reinforcer.

an individual living organism's activity, public or private, which may be influenced by internal or external stimulation.

A definition of behavior is...

conditioned punisher

A dog has learned to stay away from the invisible fence because, each time it approaches it, a tone is presented. The tone signals that, if the dog continues to approach the invisible fence, a shock will be presented. This device uses a ___________________ (the tone) to decrease the frequency of leaving the yard.

nature and nurture

A good portion of scientific evidence supports the argument that individual behavior is determined by _________.

extinction

A positive reinforcement contingency will shift to operant ________________ if responses are emitted, and they meet the reinforcement contingency but they are not reinforced. The effect of this will be that responding will fall to baseline (no-reinforcer) levels.

response

A single instance of behavior is referred to as a(n)...

Stimulus

A singular thing that you experience through your senses (sight, smell, sound, taste, or tactile sensation) is called a ___________.

presentation; removal

A stimulus change can include either the __________________ or the ______________ of a stimulus.

conditioned, backup

A token economy is a set of rules governing the delivery of response-contingent ___________ reinforcers that may be later exchanged for one or more _____________ reinforcers.

breakpoint

A useful measure of a reinforcer's efficacy is the maximum amount of behavior it will maintain. Behavior analysts refer to this measure as a ______________

independent

A(n) ____________ variable is publicly observable change, controlled by the experimenter, which is anticipated to influence behavior in a specific way.

substitute

A(n) ________________ reinforcer is a reinforcer that is increasingly consumed when access to another reinforcer is constrained.

self-control

A(n) __________________ choice is made when the individual chooses the larger-later reward and foregoes the smaller-sooner reward.

Impulsive

A(n) __________________ choice is made when the individual chooses the smaller-sooner reward and foregoes the larger-later reward.

non-contingent

A(n) ___________________ consequence occurs after a response, but not because the response caused it to occur.

primary

According to the textbook, B.F. Skinner (behavioral psychologist) and E.O. Wilson (evolutionary biologist) agreed that natural selection and genes played a very large role in accounting for ____________ reinforcers. If these consequences did not function as reinforcers, most of them from birth onward, then the individual would be very unlikely to survive. If the individual dies, it never passes its genes on to its offspring. Hence, all members of the species (the offspring of those who survived) find these consequences reinforcing.

information

According to this theory of reinforcement, behavior is controlled by the likely future, as exemplified in the past.

Not enough information is provided to make this decision.

Alonzo is teaching his first middle-school Math class. He asks the students a question and one student, Freya raises her hand. Alonzo runs to her desk and gives her a high-five.

duration

Amaury works on his homework from 2pm to 6pm. The 4 hours spent doing homework is the ___________ of the behavior.

determinism

Behavior analysts believe that behavior has a knowable cause (or causes). This assumption is known as _____________.

to identify consequences that would probably function as a reinforcer, if made contingent upon a desired performance.

Behavior analysts frequently will ask their clients, employees, etc. to complete a reinforcer survey. The purpose of the survey is...

negative punishment

Burns got a job teaching at the local high-school. On the first day, he had many problems with class clowns and rude behaviors occurring during his lecture (e.g., one student sitting in the back would make squishy sounds every time Mr. Burns took a step). Burns had had enough of this about 30 minutes into his first class. He started subtracting 1 point from each student who spoke (or made squishy sounds) without first raising their hand. Mr. Burns found that this _____________________ procedure resulted in an immediate decrease in inappropriate verbal responses.

tact

April, a 2-year old, is outside on a blustery winter day. April says "snow". Her parents, looking at all of the snow on the ground, reply, "Yes sweety, there is a lot of snow outside today." Because April's verbal response is (1) occasioned by a nonverbal stimulus (the snow she sees all around her) and (2) maintained by her parents' social reinforcers ("Yes sweety..."), we would classify her verbal response as a(n)...

matching; choice

Chapter 13 introduced you to the equation at right. This equation is known as Herrnstein's ________________ equation; it is designed to predict ________________ behavior.

autogenic

B. F. Skinner described categories of verbal behavior (speaking) that were defined by their function (i.e., the antecedents and consequences that influence them) rather than their grammatical structure (e.g., nouns, verbs, etc.). These categories have proven useful when teaching language to children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Which of the following is NOT one of those functional categories of verbal behavior?

self-control

Emerson's doctor indicated that a healthier diet would do them well - a healthier weight, lower cholesterol, a healthier heart. Emerson vows to do better, recognizing that these health improvements will only come later if they are able to stick to the diet. But as night falls and Emerson sits down to watch the game, a strong urge to eat pork rinds arises. Emerson sits with the urge to go to the pantry for some tasty tidbits, never giving in to the temptation, they stick with their doctor's advice. Emerson has made a(n) ___________________ choice.

Single-subject

Experimental designs that expose individuals to baseline (independent variable OFF) and experimental (independent variable ON) phases to determine if the independent variable systematically and reliably changes behavior are known as ________?

Size

For most of us, money is an effective reinforcer when provided contingent upon a behavior. If your boss at offered you a $5 cash bonus provided right after you completed a dangerous job (which could result in serious injury), most of us would turn down the offer. Which of the four dimensions of reinforcer efficacy is useful in explaining why we would turn the boss down?

Antecedent- the granola Behavior- taking a bite Consequence- taste

For this item, match the antecedent, the behavior, and the consequence. The diner takes a bite of the granola and yogurt as soon as it is delivered. The yogurt has soured, so it tastes terrible.

in the presence of the same antecedent stimulus.

Habits are formed when an operant response has been repeatedly reinforced, hundreds, if not thousands of times...

substitutes; substitutes

Herrnstein's matching equation makes accurate predictions about choice behavior when the two reinforcers we are choosing between function as _______________. When the two reinforcers do not function as ________________, the matching equation does not make accurate predictions.

fixed-ratio (FR) 50

IF an average of 50 responses -> THEN one reinforcer describes a ____________ schedule of reinforcement.

inter-observer agreement

IOA stands for...

Applied

If a behavior analyst conducts scientific research in a clinical setting, they are considered to be ___________.

replicated

If an experiment was repeated next week, or with new participants, or in a different setting, or by different researchers and the results were the same, we would say that the experiment was _________________.

The response-consequence contingency

If you drop your cellphone in the toilet, then it will stop working. Which behavior-analytic concept does this example illustrate?

there is a convincing change in trend in the intervention phase.

If you recall the three steps in the visual analysis, then you can look at the data in the inset graph and confidently conclude...

spontaneous recovery

Imagine that Mary Cover Jones worked with her client, Peter, for one session. By the end of the session, Dr. Cover Jones presents the furry animal and Peter shows no fear. Two days later, Peter returns to the therapist's office, encounters the rabbit, and experiences a moderately strong fear response. This increase in conditioned responding following the passage of time since the last session is known as...

stimulus preference assessment; preference hierarchy

In a ___________________________, several different goods are available and the individual is allowed to choose one and use/consume it. The good that is consistently chosen first will be placed at the top of the _______________________. This good is the most likely one to function as a reinforcer.

the objectively measured target behavior.

In behavior analysis, the dependent variable is...

trend; less "bounce"

In panel A of the below figure, the change in __________ is much more convincing because there is ______________.

level

In the below figure, there is a clear ______________ change after the intervention was introduced

trend

In the below figure, there is a clear ______________ change after the intervention was introduced

phobias (fear of stimulus events)

In the famous "Little Albert" experiment, John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner demonstrated that Pavlovian conditioning could explain how children acquire...

Reversal (A-B-A)

In this design, the independent variable is turned ON and OFF to examine its effects on behavior, while simultaneously ruling out confounds.

direct observation

Instead of relying on self-reports to measure human behavior, behavior analysts prefer to measure behavior using...

falsifiable

It is important that a scientific hypotheses is specific enough to be proven wrong. A scientific hypothesis is not ___________________ if it cannot be proven wrong,

If someone says that a behavior is determined, what do they mean?

It means that behavior has a cause, or multiple causes.

Tracking

Jenna was having friends over for dinner, so she downloaded a recipe for mushroom risotto. She had never made risotto before but she knew it could be tricky to make it correctly. Therefore, she followed the downloaded directions meticulously. In the end, the risotto tasted great and her guests were pleased with the dinner. Following rules because they appear to correctly describe operant contingencies that operate in the world is known as...

Shaping

Jeremy is trying to teach his dog, Timber, to jump through a hoop. First he provides a reinforcer (click and treat) when Timber looks toward the hoop that Jeremy is holding. Jeremy reinforces this behavior several times but then he asks for a little bit more. Now Timber will earn a reinforcer only when she takes a step toward the hoop. Jeremy reinforcers a series of successive approximations to the terminal behavior he desires - Timber jumping through the hoop when it is held 3 feet off the ground. What technique is Jeremy using to train Timber?

establishing operation (EO)

Kyle shows Geoffrey the trailer for a new movie that he thinks Geoffrey will like. After watching it, Geoffrey is highly motivated to get to the movie theater and to buy a ticket to that movie. The trailer appears to have functioned as a(n) _____________ ______________ because it temporarily increased the value of a reinforcer (the movie ticket) and increased behaviors that produce that reinforcer (bicycling to the theater and purchasing a ticket).

negative reinforcement - avoidance (SRA-); negative reinforcement - escape (SRE-)

Lighting a citronella candle to prevent bug bites is an example of ______, while applying anti-itch cream to reduce the irritation of a bug bite is an example of ______.

negative reinforcers - avoidance (SRA-); positive reinforcers (SR+)

Loss aversion refers to the phenomenon of placing more value on ______ than ______

differential reinforcement

Many school teachers arrange a _________________ __________________ contingency when they reinforce raising your hand and extinguish taking without being called upon first.

Pavlovian extinction

Mary Cover-Jones published a paper in the 1924 that revolutionized the treatment of phobias. What principle, discovered by Ivan Pavlov, did Cover-Jones use to decrease her client's fear of furry animals.

timeout from positive reinforcement

Most people today have first-hand experience with the negative punishment technique known as _______________________________. This method of punishment was pioneered in the animal lab and adapted for use by applied behavior analysts. This effective method of punishment has largely replaced the physical punishments previously used by parents; e.g., smacking, hitting, spanking, and whipping with a switch.

breakpoint

One measure of reinforcer efficacy is choice - if salted caramels are chosen more often than Laffy Taffy, then, for this individual, salted caramels are the more effective of the two reinforcers. But choice does not tell us how much more reinforcing salted caramels are than Laffy Taffy, for this individual. For this we need to measure the maximum amount of behavior the reinforcer will maintain, a measure known as the ____________.

less; more

One predictor of how quickly operant extinction will decrease a response is the prior rate of reinforcement. The _______ frequently the response had been reinforced, the _______ slowly the response will undergo extinction. This direct relation between prior reinforcement rate and how quickly behavior undergoes extinction is call the partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE).

public behavior

Saying that you ate too much for lunch is an example of...

automatic reinforcer

Scratching a mosquito bite produces a consequence that is not provided by another person. If we determine that the feeling produced by scratching the bite is a reinforcer, we would classify it as a(n) ________________________.

To predict behavior. To discover functional variables that may be used to positively influence behavior.

Select the two goals of behavior analysis. (Note: you should have two answers)

the experimental analysis of behavior

Some behavior analysts conduct research in controlled laboratory settings, where confounding variables are prevented from occurring. These individuals work in _________.

Diminishing marginal utility: Change up the reinforcer periodically. This will increase the individual's interest in learning.

The book discusses 6 principles of effective shaping. Which of the following is NOT one of those principles?

All of these

The book discusses several attractive features of the token economy. Which of the following is one of those attractive features?

The CS signals a delay-reduction to the US. The larger the delay-reduction, the faster Pavlovian learning occurs.

The book discusses three things learned during Pavlovian conditioning. The first of these was discussed while referring to the below graph. What is the first thing learned during Pavlovian conditioning?

Abolishing operations (AO)

The book discusses two kinds of motivating operations (MOs). One of them temporarily decreases the value of a reinforcer and decreases behaviors that produce that reinforcer. Which MO is this describing?

functional variable

The change in a _______________ will systematically and reliably influence behavior.

Multiple-baseline design

The data in the below graph were collected using one of the single-subject experimental designs. Which one?

Three term contingency

The functional relation between antecedent, behavior, and consequence is known as the

the scientific method

The idea that _________ is a reliable way to identify the determinants of behavior is one of the assumptions of behavior analysts.

positive reinforcement

The parents consulted with the behavior analyst because their child threw tantrums at bedtime. This typically went on for hours, which meant that the child was not getting enough sleep (nor were the parents). The parents said they had been using timeout - when the child tantrums in bed, they remove the child from the bed and bring him to the living room where he has to sit quietly in a timeout chair for 30 minutes while the parents (and the child) watch TV. Despite their good intentions, the tantruming continues. The behavior analyst explained to the parents that timeout only works if it is a timeout from...

functional

The scientific method used to (1) determine if a problem behavior is an operant and (2) identify the reinforcer that maintains that operant behavior is called a(n) ____________ analysis of behavior.

salient (something easily noticed)

The second principle of effective Pavlovian conditioning is to ensure that the CS is a(n) ______________ event.

continuous

The simplest contingency is _______________ reinforcement, in which every instance of the response is reinforced.

Organizational Behavior Management (OBM)

The systematic application of positive reinforcement (and other behavioral principles covered) to workplace settings is called ____________________.

self-report

The textbook describes two general methods used to measure behavior in the behavioral and social sciences. One of these methods, the _____________ method, involves asking people to tell you if they have engaged in the behavior.

Provide no more than three verbal warnings before putting the individual in timeout.

The textbook outlines four guidelines for effectively using timeout from positive reinforcement. Which of the following is NOT one of those guidelines?

a high rate of responding with little or no post-reinforcement pause.

The typical pattern of responding under an FR schedule of reinforcement is...

primary, conditioned

The warmth provided by a coat on a freezing day can function as a ______________ reinforcer, whereas a gift card that allows you to purchase a coat can only function as a _________________ reinforcer.

Testing the purification of the pharmacological dependent measure

There are three components of a behavioral experiment. Which of the following is NOT one of those components?

Public behavior is determined but private behavior is outside the domain of science

There are two beliefs that guide the science of behavior analysis. Which of the following in NOT one of these beliefs?

Backward chaining

There are two methods for teaching an individual to emit a stimulus-response chain. In the method known as ________________________ the final link in the chain is taught first and, once that link is mastered, addition links are added in reverse order.

Variable-ratio (VR)

Under a ____________________ schedule of reinforcement, the amount of time that must elapse before the first response is reinforced is not the same every time.

No, this is not a reinforcer

Use your memory of the book's flowchart to decide if the stimulus change (bolded) is a reinforcer or not. The behavior if interest is underlined. MacLean cut her finger so she immediately drove to the hospital. At the hospital, she was required to complete some forms, was eventually seen by a physician, and was released with 10 stitches.

biological; environmental

What are the two broad categories of functional variables in behavior analysis?

Self-reports rely on flawed human memories - we often cannot recall whether or how often we engaged in a behavior. Sometimes people will stretch the truth in their self-reports, often to make themselves look better than they are.

What are the two problems with self-reported measures of behavior?

It has to learn that the conditioned reinforcer signals a delay-reduction to the backup reinforcer

What does the individual have to learn before a conditioned reinforcer will function as a reinforcer?

symmetric relational responding

When a child hears, "where's the cow" and points to a cow, and later can say "cow" when someone is pointing toward a cow, the child has demonstrated that they know what "cow" means. The technical term for this verbal behavior is...

generalized conditioned reinforcer

When a conditioned reinforcer signals a delay reduction to more than one backup reinforcer it is referred to as a ________________________________.

taste aversion

___________ ____________ learning occurs when at food or drink acquires CS properties because, after it is consumed, the individual experiences a nauseous, gastro-intestinal illness (the US)

Operant

_____________ behavior may be defined as a generic class of responses influenced by antecedents, with each response in the class producing the same consequence.

Conditioned

______________ reinforcers are those consequences that function as reinforcers only after learning occurs.

Spontaneous recovery of operant behavior

___________________ describes the temporary resumption in operant responding following time away from the extinction setting.

Stimulus equivalence

____________________ is demonstrated when an individual symmetrically relates three or more stimuli as, in many ways, equivalent to one another.