Behavior Chapter 2 Flashcards

Behavior Concepts

• Behavior is distinct from being a property of an organism; it reflects actions rather than inherent traits.
• A response is defined as a specific instance of behavior occurring within a particular context.

Response Class and Environment

• Response class refers to varying responses that achieve the same environmental effect, regardless of their physical form.
• The environment encompasses all factual circumstances surrounding an organism, which influences behavior.

Types of Behavior

• Respondent behavior is triggered by antecedent stimuli, forming a direct relation between stimulus and response.

Conditioning Processes

• Respondent conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus (NS) is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US) until the NS itself elicits a conditioned response (CR).
• Stimulus-stimulus pairing involves simultaneous presentation of two stimuli, allowing one to gain the function of the other.

Stimuli Definitions

• Aversive stimulus is described as unpleasant or noxious, potentially leading to behavior modification.
• Conditioned punisher arises from a neutral stimulus becoming punishing due to its association with other punishers.
• Conditioned reinforcer gains its reinforcing properties through association with a primary reinforcer, categorized as a secondary reinforcer.
• A conditioned stimulus (CS) is initially irrelevant but gains significance through pairing with an unconditioned stimulus.

Behavioral Contingencies and Relations

• Contingency denotes the dependency and timing relations between behavior and its controlling factors.
• To be contingent, a behavior must occur for a consequence to follow.

Discrimination and Operants

• Discriminated operant manifests more frequently under certain conditions, influenced by external antecedents.
• Discriminative stimulus is one that reinforces specific responses in its presence while failing to do so in its absence.

Arising Behavior Changes

• Extinction refers to the cessation of reinforcement leading to behavior decrease.
• Motivating operations modify the reinforcing power of a stimulus and impact the frequency of previously reinforced behaviors.

Reinforcement and Punishment

• Negative reinforcement strengthens behaviors through the removal of aversive stimuli.
• A punisher diminishes future behavior frequency by acting as a consequence, while punishment is the process where behavior is decreased by an event that follows it.
• Reinforcement, conversely, enhances behavior frequency through following stimuli or events, while a reinforcer is any stimulus that boosts future behavior frequency.

Extinction and Control

• Respondent extinction involves repeated presentation of the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus, gradually reducing the conditioned response until it ceases.
• Stimulus control occurs when behavior patterns are altered in frequency, latency, duration, or amplitude by the presence or absence of a specific antecedent stimulus.