Terms
Add something after a behavior to decrease it.
Positive Punishment
Stop providing the reinforcement that has been maintaining a behavior, causing the behavior to decrease over time.
Extinction
A temporary increase in the behavior when extinction first begins.
Extinction Burst
Remove something after a behavior to decrease it.
Negative Punishment
A behavior occurs because it has been reinforced in the presence of a specific stimulus.
Stimulus Control
A punisher that is naturally aversive and does not need to be learned.
Unconditioned Punisher
A punisher that becomes aversive through learning.
Conditioned Punisher
Another person delivers the punishing consequence.
Socially Mediated Punishment
The behavior itself produces an unpleasant consequence, so the behavior decreases.
Automatic Punishment
A behavior that decreased during extinction briefly returns after it hasn't occurred for a while.
Spontaneous Recovery
An old behavior returns because a newer replacement behavior is no longer reinforced.
Resurgence
A behavior returns because the environment changes.
Renewal
Behavior changes in one setting because reinforcement changed in another setting.
Behavioral Contrast
An event that changes the value of a reinforcer or punisher and changes the likelihood of a behavior.
Motivating Operation (MO)
Makes a reinforcer more valuable and increases the behavior that has produced that reinforcer in the past.
Establishing Operation (EO)
Makes a reinforcer less valuable and decreases the behavior that has produced that reinforcer.
Abolishing Operation (AO)
Changes how valuable a consequence is.
Hunger increases the value of food.
Value-Altering Effect
Changes how likely a behavior is to occur.
Example: Hunger increases requesting food.
Behavior-Altering Effect
A conditioned MO that makes removing or avoiding something more valuable.
Example: A teacher says, "If you don't finish this, you'll stay in from recess." The student works faster to avoid missing recess.
CMO-R (Reflexive)
A neutral stimulus becomes an MO because it has been paired with another MO.
Example: Every day the lunch bell rings right before lunch. Eventually, the bell itself makes food seem more valuable.
CMO-S (Surrogate)
A conditioned MO that makes another item valuable because it's needed to complete a task.
Example: You're given a locked box with a prize inside. Suddenly, the key becomes very valuable.
CMO-T (Transitive)
A stimulus that signals reinforcement is available.
Discriminative Stimulus (SD)
A stimulus that signals reinforcement is not available.
Stimulus Delta (SΔ)
Responding only to the correct stimulus (SD), not similar ones.
Example: A child says "dog" only when they see a dog, not every furry animal.
Stimulus Discrimination
A behavior occurs with similar stimuli.
Example: A child learns to greet one teacher, then greets other teachers too.
Stimulus Generalization