Key Concepts in Behavior Analysis

Study Notes

Key Concepts in Stimulus Classes and Control

Antecedent Stimulus Class: A group of stimuli that share an inherent relationship, all causing the same operant or respondent behavior.
Arbitrary Stimulus Class: A collection of antecedent stimuli that evoke identical responses but lack physical resemblance or relational aspects, e.g., different food items evoking "sources of protein."
Concept Formation: Involves complex stimulus control requiring both generalization within stimulus classes and discrimination between different classes.
Discriminative Stimulus (SD): A specific stimulus where particular responses have been reinforced, leading to behavior that is context-dependent.
Feature Stimulus Class: Stimuli that have similar physical attributes or relative relationships, such as shape, size, or color.
Matching-to-Sample: A procedure to study conditional relations where participants match a sample stimulus to comparison stimuli, reinforcing matches but not non-matches.
Reflexivity: A stimulus-to-stimulus relation where a learner can match a stimulus to itself without prior training, exemplified by A = A.
Stimulus Control: Occurs when the presence or absence of an antecedent stimulus affects the frequency, timing, or intensity of a behavior.
Stimulus Delta (SΔ): A stimulus where a specific behavior has historically not led to reinforcement.
Stimulus Discrimination Training: Involves training a behavior under two different antecedent conditions, reinforcing responses in the presence of one condition (SD) while not reinforcing in another (SΔ).
Stimulus Equivalence: The ability to respond accurately to untrained stimulus relations after training on specific relations, demonstrated through reflexivity, symmetry, and transitivity.
Stimulus Generalization: Occurs when behaviors evoked in response to a stimuli extend to other stimuli that share similar properties.
Stimulus Generalization Gradient: A visual representation illustrating how behavior reinforced in the presence of a specific stimulus is shown in the presence of various other stimuli, highlighting levels of generalization and discrimination through slope variations.
Symmetry: A stimulus-to-stimulus relation where the learner can reverse a match between stimuli, such that if A = B, then B = A, without prior training.
Transitivity: A relationship that emerges between stimuli based on trained relationships, allowing for the understanding of untrained connections, such as if A = B and B = C, then A = C.