Behaviour Basics
What is behaviour?
an action or response an organism does. it interacts with and can change the physical or social environment
what does ABA stand for?
Applied Behaviour Analysis.
Which researcher is associated with classical conditioning and the famous bell-and-food example?
Ivan Pavlov
What do the letters ABC stand for in behaviour analysis?
A: Antecedent
B: Behaviour
C: Consequence
Which measurement dimension answers the question, “How long did the behaviour last?”
Duration
What is the difference between overt and covert behaviour?
Overt --> directly observed by others.
Covert --> private event, experienced by the person but not directly observed by others
Which dimension asks whether a procedure can be replicated by another trained person?
technological
What do NS, US, UR, CS, and CR stand for?
NS: Neutral Stimulus
US: Unconditioned Stimulus
UR: Unconditioned Response
CS: Conditioned Stimulus
CR: Conditioned Response
A teacher praises a student for answering a question. Answering becomes more frequent. Identify the process.
Positive reinforcement. Something is added after the behaviour, and the behaviour increases in the future
A student says 48 words in two minutes. Calculate the rate
Rate = Frequency ÷ Time
48 ÷ 2 = 24 words per minute
a student continues to check their phone/fidget over and over in class. name that behavioural pattern!
a behavioural excess (occurs too often for too long with too little delay)
Name all seven dimensions of ABA using the mnemonic GET A CAB.
Generality
Effective
Technological
Applied
Conceptually Systematic
Analytic
Behavioural
Food naturally causes salivation. Identify the US and UR.
Food is the unconditioned stimulus, and salivation in response to food is the unconditioned response
A seatbelt alarm stops when the driver buckles up. Buckling up becomes more frequent. What is this?
Negative reinforcement. Something unpleasant is removed, and the behaviour increases
What is one limitation of partial-interval recording and one limitation of momentary time sampling?
Partial-interval recording may overestimate how much behaviour occurred. Momentary time sampling may miss brief behaviours that happen between observation checks
explain the difference between methodological and radical behaviourism
methodological: focuses on publicly observable behaviour
radical: treats thoughts and feelings as behaviour and examines their relation to environment and learning history
A student learns a routine at school and continues using it at home weeks later. Which dimension is demonstrated?
generality. the behaviour change lasts over time or transfers to other people, settings, or relevant behaviours
A person becomes nauseated by a food smell after becoming ill when eating that food. Identify the CS and CR.
The food smell becomes the conditioned stimulus, and the learned nausea or dislike is the conditioned response
A fine is added after speeding, and speeding later decreases. What type of consequence is this?
Positive punishment. Something is added after the behaviour, and the behaviour decreases in the future
Observer A records 17 calls, and Observer B records 20 calls. Calculate total-count inter-observer agreement (IOA)
IOA = Smaller count ÷ Larger count × 100
17 ÷ 20 × 100 = 85%
rewrite "the student is lazy" as an operational description. what makes yours betteer?
"the student opens the assignment, writes for less than one minute then looks at their phone for five minutes". Specifies observable actions rather than a label
A student's behaviour improves after an intervention, but no data show that the intervention caused the improvement. Which dimension has not been established?
analytic. evidence must support the conclusion that the intervention produced the change. analytic evidence shows that the intervention caused the improvement.
After extinction, a learned response briefly returns following a pause. What is this called, and how does it differ from stimulus generalization?
Spontaneous recovery is the return of an extinguished conditioned response after a pause. Stimulus generalization occurs when similar cues also trigger the learned response
Positive punishment. Something is added after the behaviour, and the behaviour decreases in the future.
Reinforcement is defined by its effect on future behaviour. The behaviour must increase for the consequence to count as reinforcement. The consequence's intended or perceived pleasantness is not enough
What are the four components of a well-written behavioural objective, and what does each component describe?
ABCD stands for Audience (who will perform the behaviour), Behaviour (the observable action), Condition (the circumstances under which it occurs), and Degree (the expected level of performance or accuracy)