BCBA 5th Edition Flashcards

Behavioral Concepts and Definitions

• Description: A collection of facts about an observed event reflects its characteristics and features.

• Prediction: Consistent patterns observed from repeated events enable accurate anticipation of outcomes.

• Control: Scientific manipulation of variables results in a reliable change in one event.

• Radical Behaviorism: Encompasses thoughts and feelings alongside observable events in understanding behavior.

• Generality/Generalization: Behavior changes are maintained over time, applicable in various environments, and can influence other behaviors beyond the targeted ones.

• Effective: Behavioral changes should yield practical clinical or social significance.

• Technological: Intervention procedures and research results should be clearly detailed for comprehension and replication.

• Applied: Focused on improving individuals' behaviors to enhance quality of life.

• Conceptually Systematic: Practice procedures must connect to fundamental behavioral principles of analysis.

• Analytic: Establishes a reliable change and functional relationship between manipulated events and target behavior.

• Behavioral: Focuses on observable and measurable behavior necessitating improvement.

Behavioral Terminology

• 7 Dimensions of Behavior: Acronym "GET A CAB" represents the seven dimensions relevant to behavior analysis.

• Behavior: Defined as an organism's interaction with its environment; "Dead man's test" emphasizes an activity's living nature.

• Response: A single, specific instance of behavior.

• Stimulus: Environmental events that influence individual behavior.

• Stimulus Class: Groups of stimuli sharing similar characteristics that affect behavior similarly.

Learning Processes

• Respondent Conditioning: Involves a previously neutral stimulus acquiring the capability to elicit a response through learning.

• Operant Conditioning: Behavior frequency alters based on the consequences (reinforcements or punishments) experienced in similar contexts.

Reinforcement and Punishment Types

• Positive Reinforcement: Increases behavior through the presentation of a stimulus after a response.

• Negative Reinforcement: Increases behavior by removing a stimulus following a response.

• Fixed Ratio (FR): Reinforcement occurs after a set number of responses.

• Fixed Interval (FI): Reinforcement is delivered after a specific time has elapsed.

• Variable Ratio (VR): Reinforcement occurs after an average number of responses, variable in timing.

• Positive Punishment: Presentation of a stimulus following a behavior decreases the behavior's future frequency.

• Negative Punishment: Removal of a stimulus post-response leads to a decrease in future frequency of behavior.

Contingencies

• Automatic Contingencies: Behaviors generate their consequences without external intervention.

• Socially Mediated Contingencies: Contingencies delivered partially or entirely by another individual.

Types of Reinforcers

• Unconditioned Reinforcer: Natural reinforcers required for survival without prior learning.

• Conditioned Reinforcer: Reinforcers that acquire their value through learning or association with unconditioned reinforcers.