1. PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIOR
W. Larry Williams Ph.D., BCBA-D
University of Nevada, Reno
Joseph J. Pear The science of Learning
Chapter 3

2. PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIOR
Associative Learning

3. Associative Learning
The result of associating or pairing of 2 events closely in time
They can be two stimuli,
(respondent conditioning)
or a response followed by a stimulus ( operant conditioning)

4. Respondent Behavior
Elicitation of certain responses due to the organism’s evolutionary history
E.G., A dog’s salivation to meat
Neutral stimuli can be made to elicit responses by appropriate pairing with unconditioned stimuli
E.G., UCS Puff of air -> UCR Blink reflex
NS “ good morning” -> UCS puff of air to eye
Results in :
CS Good Morning -> CR Blink

5. Respondent Extinction
Repeated presentation of a conditioned stimulus (CS) without the Unconditioned stimulus ) UCS) until it does not elicit the unconditioned response (UCR).
E.G., CS “Good morning” -- O
Eventually- no blink (CR)

6. Respondent Stimulus Generalization
A stimulus physically similar to the CS also will elicit the Unconditioned response
E.G., “hi” may elicit blinking

7. Respondent Stimulus Discrimination
The tendency for the conditioned response only to occur to the conditioned stimulus
E.G., “Good Morning” and Larry -> blink
“Good Morning’” and Mary = no blink

8. Higher Order Conditioning
Establishing a 2 nd neutral stimulus (NS2) as a conditioned stimulus (CS2) due to pairing with another conditioned stimulus (CS1) but not with the unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
E.G., CS1 “Good Morning” ----> blink
(NS) Wave then precedes “good morning”
This results in:
(CS2) Wave  blink

9. Sensory Pre-Conditioning
A former neutral stimulus (NS1) acquires the ability to elicit a conditioned response due only to prior association between that stimulus and another neutral stimulus NS2, prior to NS2 being paired with an unconditioned stimulus

10. Sensory Pre-Conditioning
E.G., Before any conditioning we Pair a hand wave(NS2) and “good Morning”(NS1)
Then we pair “good Morning with a Puff of air (UCS)
Now we observe that the (CS2)
Wave -----> blink

11. Operant Behavior
An association between a response and a stimulus (after the behavior) causes operant behavior. If a given response is consistently followed by a certain consequence (a reinforcer) that response ( and the class of all such responses) will show an increased probability of occurrence in that situation in the future (reinforcement has occurred)

12. OPERANT BEHAVIOR operant class of all possible responses
Behavior that is susceptible to contingencies of reinforcement is called ________ behavior.
Operant conditioning is the name for the results of contingencies on operant (voluntary) behavior.
“Response” may be referred to as an “operant”.
Actually the operant is the
_____ __ __ _________ ___________ that satisfy a given four term relation
EO--(AntecedentResponse Reinforcer)
operant
class of all possible responses

13. Positive and Negative Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement: An increase in the future occurrence of a response ( the class of all such responses) due to occurrences of the response being followed by a Positive Reinforcer.
Negative reinforcement: An increase in the future occurrence of a response ( the class of all such responses) due to occurrences of the response being followed by the removal, postponement or avoidance of an aversive stimulus (event)

14. Positive Reinforcer
An event, that when presented immediately following a behavior, causes an ________ in the occurrence of that behavior in that situation in the future
Similar to REWARD but is __________ upon behavior
increase
CONTINGENT

15. Positive Reinforcement
An increase in the future probability of occurrence of a specific response, in a given situation, due to its current occurrence being followed by a ______________
If, in a given situation, somebody does something that is followed immediately by a positive reinforcer, then that person is more likely to do the same thing, in that and similar situations, in the future.
reinforcer.

16. Factors influencing the effectiveness of Positive Reinforcement
1. Selecting the behavior to be increased
Be specific to (a) increase reliability of measurement, (b) increase likelihood of program being applied consistently

17. Factors influencing the effectiveness of Positive Reinforcement
2.  Choosing Reinforcers
(“Different Strokes”)
Effective, Positive, Consumable, Activity, Manipulative, Possessional, Social
Premack principle

18. PREMACK PRINCIPLE Grandma’s Rule
You get to do what you want…after you do what Grandma wants
What is immediately wanted is referred to as a “High probability” response
What Grandma wants is a lower probability response

19. Factors influencing the effectiveness of Positive Reinforcement
3_______________ _________________
1. temporarily alters ____________ of a Sr+
2. increases the ________ __________of behaviors that have been reinforced in the past by that reinforcer
Unconditioned - Deprivation & Satiation
Conditioned – Social settings
Establishing Operations
effectiveness
strength/ frequency

20. Factors influencing the effectiveness of Positive Reinforcement
Amount or Magnitude of SR+
Typically the more the better until….satiation
4. REINFORCER SIZE

21. Factors influencing the effectiveness of Positive Reinforcement5.
Direct acting effect, Indirect acting effect
Immediacy

22. Factors influencing the effectiveness of Positive Reinforcement
6. Instructions: make use of rules
Speed up learning process
Influence work for delayed Sr+
Teaches instruction following
Self control/management, health related, improving / decreasing habits

23. Factors influencing the effectiveness of Positive Reinforcement
7. Contingent vs Non-Contingent
The concept of “contingency”
A logical “If…Then “ arrangement

24. Factors influencing the effectiveness of Positive Reinforcement
8. Weaning to natural Reinforcers
“Natural environment” in context”

25. Pitfalls of SR+
The principle can be misused by someone who is unaware they are using it
A person may know the principle but not the details of its proper application.
(E.G., non-attending of an Autistic child)
A principle can be inaccurately used as an oversimplified explanation of a behavior change
(E.G., working all week because we get paid Friday)

26. Pitfalls of SR+
4. Individuals without behavioral knowledge sometimes attempt to explain behavior or the lack of it by inappropriately giving people a label. (“lazy” teen) 5. Some principles are not applied because they are complex, requiring special knowledge or training (E.G., catch’ em being good)

27. Conditioned Reinforcement
Conditioned Reinforcer: a stimulus that functions as a reinforcer due to appropriate pairings with other unconditioned or conditioned reinforcers.
E.G., Money, Praise/recognition

28. Unconditioned reinforcers
Unconditioned reinforcers that can effect our behavior with no prior experience are referred to as _________or __________ reinforcers.
Examples of these are:
Food when we are hungry
Warmth when we are cold
Liquid when we are thirsty
PRIMARY
unlearned

29. Conditioned Reinforcers
Secondary
Conditioned or __________ reinforcers are stimuli that acquire their reinforcing properties through being _____ or __________with other existing reinforcers.
These existing reinforcers can be ________ or __________
paired
associated
Learned.
Primary

30. Conditioned Reinforcers
 Praise, Favorite TV show, clothes that make us look good, grades on a quiz, tickets to the show, Favorite books, …….
$$MONEY$$

31. Conditioned Reinforcers
Reinforcers that are paired with formerly neutral stimuli such that the neutral stimuli become conditioned reinforcers are referred to as “__________ ” reinforcers
BACK –UP

32. Conditioned Reinforcers
Conditioned reinforcers that are ________ can be accumulated over time and exchanged for back-up reinforcement. Sometimes these are referred to as “______ ”
Tangible
Tokens

33. Punishment
A decrease in the frequency of occurrence of a response due to the presentation of an aversive event immediately following the occurrence of the behavior. May decrease responding to zero.

34. Conditioned Punisher
Conditioned Punisher. A stimulus that functions as an aversive stimulus due to it signaling a primary (unconditioned) aversive event, or another conditioned punisher.
E.G., “NO”, Time out

35. Operant Stimulus Generalization & Discrimination
Discriminative Stimuli
“S Dee” (SD) A stimulus in the presence of which a certain response is always reinforced.
“S Delta” (SΔ) A stimulus in the presence of which a certain response is never reinforced.

36. Operant Stimulus Generalization & Discrimination
Operant discrimination: If a given response is characteristically reinforced in the presence of a specific stimulus or event, that response will come to occur reliably whenever that event or stimulus is present. In the extreme condition where the response is only reinforced in the presence of the event and never in its absence, Stimulus control is said to have occurred, and the event is said to have stimulus control over the response
E.G., stop at red light, go at Green light

37. Operant Stimulus Generalization
A response comes to occur in the presence of a given stimulus or event due to being reinforced for occurring to another stimulus or event. There is typically a physical ( formal) similarity in the two stimuli
E.G., Identifying a German Shepherd as a “dog” after being reinforced for naming a Collie as a “dog”

38. Operant Extinction
A decrease in the frequency of occurrence of a response to pre conditioning levels ( free operant), due to the non=occurrence of either a positive or negative reinforcing consequence
May be associated with aggression, emotional responding, and an extinction Burst ( responding at levels higher than those observed just prior to extinction)
Establishing Operations ..Later