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adjunctive behaviors
acquisition
behavior-systems analysis
conditioned reinforcer
discrimination
discriminative stimulus
extinction
free-operant procedure
generalization
generalized reinforcer
instinctive drift
interim behavior
Law of Effect
percentile schedule of reinforcement
positive reinforcement
primary reinforcer
prompt
puzzle box
reinforcer
response chain
shaping
spontaneous recovery
stimulus control
stop-action principle
superstition experiment
superstitious behavior
terminal behavior
three-term contingency
adjunctive behaviors
Stereotyped behaviors that arise when food or some other reinforcer is
delivered at regular intervals.
acquisition The learning of a new behavior or skill, or the time period over which this learning
occurs.
behavior-systems analysis The view that different reinforcers evoke different systems or
collections of species-typical behaviors, which can account for the types of behaviors seen in
autoshaping, classical conditioning, and some operant conditioning situations.
conditioned reinforcer
A previously neutral stimulus that has acquired the capacity to
strengthen responses because it has been repeatedly paired with a primary reinforcer.
discrimination
In either classical or operant conditioning, learning to respond to one stimulus
but not to another, similar stimulus.
discriminative stimulus
In operant conditioning, a stimulus that indicates whether or not
responding will lead to reinforcement.
extinction
In classical conditioning, presenting the conditioned stimulus without the
unconditioned stimulus. In operant conditioning, no longer presenting the reinforcer when the
operant response is made. In both cases, responding decreases and eventually disappears.
free-operant procedure
A procedure developed by Skinner in which, unlike a discrete trial
procedure, the operant response can occur at any time and can occur repeatedly for as long as the
subject remains in the experimental chamber.
generalization
The transfer of a learned response from one stimulus to another, similar
stimulus.
generalized reinforcer
A conditioned reinforcer that has been associated with a large number
of different primary reinforcers.
instinctive drift
In operant conditioning, innate behaviors that are related to the type of
reinforcer being used that cause an animal’s performance to drift away from the reinforced
behavior and toward instinctive behaviors.
interim behavior A behavior pattern that occurs in the early parts of each interval when food or
some other primary reinforce is delivered at regular intervals.
Law of Effect
Thorndike’s version of the principle of reinforcement, which states that
responses that are followed by pleasant or satisfying stimuli will be strengthened and will occur
more often in the future.
percentile schedule of reinforcement
A reinforcement schedule in which a given response is
reinforced if it is better than a certain percentage of the last several responses the learner has
made.
positive reinforcement A behavior-strengthening procedure in which the occurrence of a
behavior is followed by a desired stimulus, or reinforcer.
primary reinforcer
A stimulus that naturally strengthens any response it follows (e.g., food,
water, sexual pleasure, and comfort).
prompt
In behavior modification, a stimulus that makes a desired response very likely to
occur, and is gradually removed (faded out) as training proceeds.
puzzle box
A type of experimental chamber used by Thorndike in which an animal had to
make a certain response in order to open the door and obtain food that was available outside.
reinforcer A stimulus that strengthens behavior if it is delivered after the behavior occurs.
response chain
A sequence of learned behaviors that must occur in a specific order, with a
primary reinforcer delivered only after the final response.
shaping (or method of successive approximations)
A procedure for teaching a new behavior
in which closer and closer approximations to the desired behavior are reinforced.
In classical or operant conditioning, the reappearance of a response that
spontaneous recovery
has undergone extinction after a passage of time without further conditioning trials.
stimulus control The general topic of how behaviors can be controlled by the stimuli that
precede them.
stop-action principle
A principle of reinforcement that states that the precise movements
being performed at the moment of reinforcer delivery will be strengthened and be more likely to
occur in the future.
superstition experiment
Skinner’s classic experiment in which food was delivered to pigeons
every 15 seconds no matter what they were doing, and most pigeons developed distinctive
behaviors that they performed repeatedly between food presentations.
superstitious behavior A behavior that occurs because, by accident or coincidence, it has
previously been followed by a reinforcer.
terminal behavior A behavior pattern that occurs near the end of each interval when food or
some other primary reinforce is delivered at regular intervals.
three-term contingency
A contingency involving a discriminative stimulus, a response, and a
reinforcer or punisher. The contingency states that in the presence of a specific discriminative
stimulus, a specific response will lead to specific consequences.