AB539 S&HB Study Guide Unit 6 Ch 11-14 Fall 2013

Study guide for “ Science and Human Behavior ”, Skinner, 1953 Unit 3, Ch 11-14, Items 78- 129. Place your original answer immediately following each numbered item below and use red or blue font for your answers. SECTION II: THE ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR XI AVERSION, AVOIDANCE, ANXIETY (p. 171) 78.Skinner points out that aversive stimuli in general and conditioned aversive stimuli in particular, are “especially __ Unlikely to posses identifying physical properties. 79.The only distinguishing criterion for identifying an aversive stimulus is to demonstrate that its removal is reinforcing. 80.Behavior followed by withdrawal of an aversive stimulus is called __ escape . 81.Provide a personal example of your own escape behavior. Be sure you have labeled the aversive stimulus and the behavior that terminates it. a. The aversive stimulus is the presence of my boss at work. When I see her, I generally walk the other direction or walk right by her. My avoidant behavior terminates the stimulus because if I turn the other way or walk right passed her then I can no longer see her or need to interact with her. 82.How does Skinner deal with the difficulty of distinguishing between positive and negative reinforcement on the top of page 172? Do you think he adequately deals with this issue here? a. He states that it is the “reduction of a condition” that precedes the reinforcement that distinguishes the two. b. I think this simple response is adequate, however I have been doing this for 5 years. Perhaps someone new to the field would require more information. 83.Give two reasons why aversive stimuli are often used in both the laboratory and in practical affairs. a. The immediacy of the result. 84.Why are the stimuli used in presenting a positive reinforcer or withdrawing a negative reinforcer not defined in terms of their pleasant or annoying effects on the emotions of the organism? a. It’s difficult to determine these things if the inner behavior cannot be observed. 85.How might a wide range of stimuli come to operate as conditioned aversive stimuli? a. Through pairing the stimuli with aversive stimuli (operant conditioning). 86.Give an original/personal example of “peer pressure” functioning to motivate the occurrence of an escape response. Name the behavior that occurs, and what stimuli are terminated by its occurrence. a. At work, when I was asked questions of a sexual nature surrounded by other “professionals” I felt anxiety coming and I giggled and made a rude

comment of towards the person that asked and that person stopped asking, laughed and walked away and the rest of the group dispersed. 87.Give an original (not the prostitute) example of how culture (society) may arrange to condition a neutral stimulus to have conditioned aversive properties in order to increase the probablility that an individual will engage in a behavior considered “socially appropriate”. (This can be with respect to an avoidance or reduction of certain practices or to establish an increase in other practices.) a. A perfect example is the guise of heteronormative societal constructs. Society will condition innocent behaviors such as playing with toys into aversive stimuli if a boy if playing dress up or with dolls and a girl is playing in the mud or with toy trucks. The use of derogatory statements paired with punishment can make the behavior of playing with dolls aversive for boys and playing with trucks aversive for young girls. 88.Skinner states that an important example of aversive conditioning is the “practice of branding an act wrong or sinful”---and moreover, that a very small amount of this type of conditioning may have long lasting effects….explain, using an example from your own experience or observation. a. When I came out to my friends and family, I was met with harsh words, belittling, harassment, and isolation. This conditioning caused me to have issues trusting others and also created a period of time where I did not tell anyone about my sexuality, and I would lie just to avoid that feeling again. 89.Define avoidance. a. The behavior prevents the aversive stimulus from occurring. 90.Compare and contrast escape and avoidance in terms of definitions and procedures. a. Both seek to terminate behavior, but escape terminates it as it is occurring, and avoidance terminates the possibility of it occurring. 91.Compare and contrast escape and avoidance with an example of each. a. when a client is given a demand for work, they begin to engage in property destruction- escape b. when I have to go to work and I know someone that makes me uncomfortable is there, I call out sick-avoidance 92.Why does effective avoidance behavior often result in its own extinction? What then is likely to happen when the behavior is partially or entirely weakened? a. If the occasion to engage in avoidance behavior happens often enough, eventually the situation that evokes behavior weakens . 93.What is “anxiety” and how does it become established? a. When a situation happens that elicits a severe emotional reaction when a stimulus happens before the aversive situation based on a certain time frame anxiety is what happens. 94.Given your understanding of respondent and operant conditioning, how might the condition known as anxiety quickly become chronic? a. skinner states that when aversive stimuli condition avoidance behavior, then incidental stimuli could control or reinforce anxiety. 95.What is the difference between avoidance and anxiety in terms of the relative adaptive or functional significance of each?

b. Condition incompatible behavior through positive reinforcement XII FUNCTION VERSUS ASPECT (p 194) 107. If we combine terms available in the English language that refer to enduring traits and terms referring to more temporary conditions, about how many can be listed? a. 4,500 108. Many trait terms provide a means for “representing the repertoire of an organism, and with some indication of the relative Strength of its parts and with certain inferences regarding relevant variables .” 109. Other trait terms are invoked when referring to the difference in rate at which behavioral processes take place. 110. Identify one possible advantage and a key disadvantage of using trait psychology to predict the probability that an individual will be suited to, say, a particular job. a. Disadvantage- the trait measurement does not allow us to manipulate behavior. b. Advantage- can make better use of relevant variables. 111. Why is trait psychology, in the final analysis, inadequate to the meeting the needs of a functional analysis? a. Doesn’t control behavior. b. The measurement of the trait doesn’t lead to intervention. 112. Although trait names are extensively embedded in our daily discourse, why is our familiarity with those terms misleading in terms of prediction and control? a. The trait name tells us little about behavior. b. Offers no control of behavior. 113. Are traits causes? Explain. a. No. Skinner states that these characteristics do not contact the outside event that can be controlled for proof of causation. XIV THE ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX CASES (p 204) 114. Why does a laboratory analysis deliberately simplify a situation when the scientist knows the “real world” is not that simple? a. To be able to analyze the variables scientifically. 115. How does an initial laboratory oversimplification come to gradually approximate more complex situations? a. As they begin to use the science gleaned from the simplified process to test on real-life situations. 116. “A given event may have two or more kinds of effects upon behavior at the same time .” 117. Give an example of four effects of a single aversive stimulus made contingent upon a response. a. Elicits emotional reflexes- angry outbursts, crying. b. Alters emotional predispositions to act in various ways- fighting when angry or crying. c. Reinforces respondent conditioning- fighting eliminates the aversive stimulus.

d. Reinforces escape behavior- fighting terminates the aversive stimulus therefore allowing the organism to escape the aversive situation. 118. Provide an original example of the multiple effects of a single stimulus presentation in your life. a. A positive effect of using social media is that it enables me to connect with my friends and family. When my friends or family like a picture or post of mine, it elicits a smiling reflex and feelings of happiness. My behavior of posting is then altered by positive feedback from friends and family, motivating me to post similar content or more of that content. This leads me to being more active on their posts and showing love and support (reinforcing respondent conditioning). However, when my friends or family do not show love or support on my posts, this elicits an emotional reflex in which I may feel bitter or upset, altering my posting habits (abolishing operation) and causes a decrease in my responding to their posts. I will then log off of Facebook and stay logged off or hide someone’s posts so as to end the aversive stimulus (seeing the family member or friend that didn't show support on my post) negatively reinforcing my behavior (avoiding seeing them or avoiding seeing their posts). 119. Another way in which independent variables may interact is that “two or more operations may combine in a common effect. 120. For someone with a history of getting drunk at singles bars and picking up a partner for a one-night stand, why might a recent deprivation history of no sexual contact and no alcoholic consumption increase the probability of “hitting the bar” more than if the person had gotten drunk or gotten laid the night before? a. Because deprivation increases the behavior due to the lack of engagement or access to the reinforcing effect. 121. Provide an original example of a verbal utterance of yours that could be interpreted as being under multiple control; provide your interpretation of those sources of control. a. When I say, “let’s go.” This is under multiple control because it is reinforced when I tell my wife “Let’s go to dinner” or “let’s go home” or “let’s go swimming.” This utterance is used to go to pleasurable places and also to terminate aversive situations. The verbal utterance can also be under control of a textual prompt such as copying a phrase down, it can be under the control of cue or echoic, intraverbal and a tact. 122. Give an original or personal example of a formal prompt for a verbal utterance. a. When my wife whispers to me to remind me to say hello to our guests. 123. Give an original or personal example of a thematic prompt for a verbal utterance. a. When I am working with my therapist to uncover some issues and she gently guides me toward a response or reflection by asking leading questions. 124. Distinguish between formal and thematic prompts and probes. a. A formal prompt gives you the answer a thematic prompt leads you to the answer by dropping hints. b. Formal probes use a direct teaching technique to lead to the answer, thematic probes use intraverbal behavior to surmise associations