CH 1 Flashcards
The science in which tactics derived from the principles of behavior are applied to improve socially significant behavior and experimentation is used to identify the variable responsible for the improvement in the behavior
applied behavior analysis
The philosophy of a science of behavior
behaviorism
The assumption that the universe is a lawful and orderly place in which phenomena occur in relation to other events and not a willy-nilly, accidental fashion
determinism
the objective observation of the phenomena of interest
empiricism
A carefully controlled comparison of some measure of the phenomenon of interest (the dependent variable) under two or more different conditions in which only one factor at a time (the independent variable) differs from one condition to another.
experiment
A natural science approach to the study of behavior as a subject matter in its own right founded by BF Skinner; methodological features include rates of response as a basic dependent variable, repeated or continuous measurement of clearly defined response class, within-subject experimental comparisons instead of group design, visual analysis of graphed data instead of statistical inference, and an emphasis on describing functional relations between behavior and controlling variable in the environment over formal theory testing.
experimental analysis of behavior (EAB)
A fictitious or hypothetical variable that often takes the form of another name for the observed phenomenon it claims to explain and contributes nothing to a functional account or understanding of the phenomenon, such as intelligence or cognitive awareness as explanations for why an organism pushes the lever when the light is on and food in available but does not push the level when the light is off and no food is available.
explanatory fiction
A verbal statement summarizing the results of an experiment (or group of related experiments) that describes the occurrence of the phenomena under study as a function of the operation of one or more specified and controlled variable in the experiment in which a specific change in one event (the dependent variable) can be produced by manipulating another event (the independent variable) and that the change in the dependent variable was unlikely the result of other factors (confounding viable)
functional relation
a presumed but unobserved process or entity
hypothetical construct
An approach to explaining behavior that assumes that a mental or inner dimension exists that differs from a behavioral dimension and that phenomena in this dimension either directly cause or at lease mediate some forms of behavior, if not all
mentalism
a philosophical position that views behavioral events that cannot be publicly observed as outside the realm of science
methodological behaviorism
The practice of ruling out simple, logical explanations, experimentally or conceptually, before considering more complex or abstract explanations
parsimony
An attitude that the truthfulness and validity of all scientific theory and knowledge should be continually questioned
philosophic doubt
A thoroughgoing form of behaviorism that attempts to understand all human behavior, including private events such as thoughts and feelings, in terms of controlling variable in the history of the person and the species
radical behaviorism
Repeating conditions within an experiment to determine the reliability of effect and increase internal validity.
replication
