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Applied Behavior Analysis - Chapter 1

Terms in this set (28)

Behaviorism
the philosophy of the science of behavior
Determinism
The assumption that the universe is a lawful and orderly place in which phenomena occur in relation to other events and not in a willy-nilly, accidental fashion.
Empiricism
The objective observation of the phenomena of interest
experiment
A carefully controlled comparison of some measure of the phenomenon of interest under two or more different conditions in which only one factor at a time differs from one condition to another
Experimental Analysis of Behavior
A natural science approach to the study of behavior as a subject matter in its own right founded by B.F. Skinner
explanatory fiction
a fictitious or hypothetical variable that often takes form of another name for the observed phenomenon it claims to explain and contributes nothing to a functional account or understanding of the phenomenon
Functional Relation
A verbal statement summarizing the results of an experiment (or group of related experiments) that describes the occurrence of the phenomena under study as a function of the operation of one or more specified and controlled variables in the experiment in which a specific change in one event (the dependent variable) can be produced by manipulating another event (the independent variable), and that change in the dependent variable was unlikely the result of other factors (confounding variables)
hypothetical construct
a presumed but unobserved process or entity
Mentalism
An approach to explaining behavior that assumes that a mental, or "inner," dimension exists that differs from a behavioral dimension and that phenomena in this dimension either directly cause or at least mediate some forms of behavior, if not all.
methodological behaviorism
A philosophical position that views behavioral events that cannot be publicly observed as outside the realm of science.
parsimony
The practice of ruling out simple, logical explanations, experimentally or conceptually, before considering more complex or abstract explanations.
Philosophic Doubt
an attitude that the truthfulness and validity of all scientific theory and knowledge should be continually questioned.
Radical Behaviorism
A thoroughgoing form of behaviorism that attempts to understand all human behavior, including private events such as thoughts and feelings, in terms of controlling variables in the history of the person (ontogeny) and the species (phylogeny).
Replication
Repeating conditions within an experiment to determine the reliability of effects and increase internal validity; repeating whole experiments to determine the generality of findings of previous experiments to other subjects, settings, and/or behaviors
Science
a systematic approach to the understanding of natural phenomena that relies on determinism as its fundamental assumption, empiricism as its primary rule, experimentation as its basic strategy, replication as a requirement for believability, parsimony as avalue, and philosophic doubt as its guiding conscience
Behaviorism, Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Applied Behavior Analysis
Three branches of behavior analysis:
Watson
Who founded an early form of behaviorism known as stimulus-response psychology
Stimulus Response Theory
This theory did not account for behavior without obvious antecedent causes
Skinner
Who founded the experimental analysis of behavior
Applied, behavioral, analytic, technological, conceptually systematic, effective, generality
Dimensions of ABA:
Applied
investigates socially significant behaviors with immediate importance to the subject(s).
Behavioral
entails precise measurement of the actual behavior in need of improvement and documents that it was the subject's behavior that changed.
Analytic
demonstrates experimental control over the occurrence and nonoccurrence of the behavior—that is, if a functional relation is demonstrated.
technological
the written description of all procedures used in the study is sufficiently complete and detailed to enable others to replicate it.
Conceptually Systematic
behavior change interventions are derived from basic principles of behavior
Effective
improves behavior sufficiently to produce practical results for the participant/client.
Generality
produces behavior changes that last over time, appear in other environments, or spread to other behaviors.
Applied Behavior Analysis
The science in which tactics derived from the principles of behavior are applied to improve socially significant behavior and experimentation is used to identify the variables responsible for the improvement in behavior
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