Establishing a new behaviour

Question 1

What does recursive behaviour mean?

Answer 1

Much of our behaviour is recursive: engage in the same behaviour over and over again until we get a desired consequence.

Question 2

Why is complexity hard to define?

Answer 2

It exists as a relative comparison between behaviours both within and across individuals and over time.

Question 3

What are some factors that make behaviour complex?

Answer 3

Ambiguous antecedent.
Behave differently to the same SD depending on context.
Sequencing behaviours: behaviours often happen in multiple sequences, one after another.
Variability in responding: needed in order to identify what part of our behaviour works and make modifications accordingly.

Question 4

What is shaping used for?

Answer 4

To develop a behaviour that a person does not currently exhibit.

Question 5

What does shaping involve?

Answer 5

Differentially reinforcing successive approximations toward a target/terminal behaviour until the person exhibits the target behaviour.

Question 6

What happens to earlier steps in successive approximations once the individual moves up?

Answer 6

The new step is reinforced and the prior steps are put under extinction.

Question 7

What are the 4 dimensions of behaviour targeted by shaping?

Answer 7

Topography = form of behaviour.
Frequency = number of responses per unit time.
Latency = time between onset of antecedent stimulus and the occurrence of the behaviour.
Duration = total elapsed time for occurrence of the behaviour.

Question 8

How did Ghaemmaghami et al. (2018) using shaping? What dimensions did they target?

Answer 8

Helped children use communication responses instead of aggression.
Targeted topography (as the response got more complex from “my way” to “excuse me…please may I have my way”) and latency (getting them to say something that takes longer so the immediate aggressive action does not occur instantly).

Question 9

What is chaining?

Answer 9

Series of responses combined to form a chain of SDs, where each response serves as an SD for the next step, and each step serves as the conditioned reinforcer for that step.

Question 10

What do responses serve as in behaviour chains?

Answer 10

Each response serves as an SD for the next step; and each response also serves as a conditioned reinforcer for that step.

Question 11

What is a task analysis?

Answer 11

Breaking a complex skill into smaller, individual stimulus-response components.

Question 12

What are the 3 types of training using chaining?

Answer 12

Forward chaining, backwards chaining, total task chaining/presentation.

Question 13

What is forward chaining?

Answer 13

Begin with the first step and train in the chronological order in which the events would typically occur. Train each step to mastery.

Question 14

How is prompting used in forward chaining?

Answer 14

Prompting starts on the first step and until each step is performed independently the rest of the chain is fully prompted.

Question 15

What is backward chaining and how is prompting used?

Answer 15

The last step in the chain is the first training step (to independent stability), then the second last, third last, etc., until the entire chain has been taught.
Prompting starts at the last step and until each step is performed independently the rest of the chain is fully prompted.

Question 16

What is an advantage of backward chaining?

Answer 16

Provides immediate access to the terminal reinforcer.

Question 17

What is total task presentation?

Answer 17

Teach each step of the chain during each trial.

Question 18

How did Moore & Quintero (2018) apply chaining?

Answer 18

Compared clean and snatch responses using forward and backward chaining. One response assigned to each chaining procedure first. Forward chaining seemed to work better - informs what training to use to give people the best outcomes without wasting instruction.

Question 19

What is generalisation?

Answer 19

The occurrence of relevant behaviour under different, non-training conditions (i.e., across subjects, settings, people, behaviours, and/or time) without the scheduling of the same events in those conditions (Stokes & Baer, 1977).

Question 20

What are the 3 types of generalisation?

Answer 20

Stimulus generalisation, response generalisation, and response maintenance.

Question 21

What is stimulus generalisation?

Answer 21

The target behaviour emitted in the presence of similar but non-identical stimuli.

Question 22

What is setting generalisation?

Answer 22

A form of stimulus generalisation where the target behaviour is emitted in a setting that is different from the training setting.

Question 23

What is response generalisation?

Answer 23

Untrained responses that are functionally equivalent to the target behaviour.

Question 24

What is response maintenance?

Answer 24

The learner continues to perform the target behaviour after the intervention has been terminated.

Question 25

What are the 7 guidelines for generalisation (Stokes & Baer, 1977)?

Answer 25

1. Train and hope.
2. Sequential modification.
3. Introduce to naturally maintaining contingencies.
4. Training sufficient exemplars.
5. Train loosely.
6. Use indiscriminable contingencies.
7. Program common stimuli.

Question 26

What does “introduce to naturally maintaining contingencies” mean?

Answer 26

Making sure the behaviour is established under contingencies that are as close as possible to the natural environment (natural antecedents and consequences).

Question 27

What does “training sufficient exemplars” mean?

Answer 27

Need to train the behaviour under a variety of different situations/antecedents (exemplars) to ensure the behaviour doesn’t only occur under one condition.

Question 28

How did Reeve et al. (2007) apply guidelines 3 and 4 for generalisation?

Answer 28

Establishing a generalised repertoire for helping people.
3. Introduce to naturally maintaining contingencies: identified conditions under which children typically offer to help and broke these down into SDs; used a combination of these to show the child that this is a situation adults may need help in.
4. Train sufficient exemplars: identified several categories of situations where someone might need help and trained under each of these using different exemplars.

Question 29

What is a probe?

Answer 29

Specific conditions not trained in the training circumstances but kept aside to probe to see if the skill you are teaching generalises beyond these situations.

Question 30

In Reeves et al. (2007) what did the non-helping stage allow?

Answer 30

Allowed them to ensure that children could correctly discriminate between the SD and S-delta – ensures that correct responding only occurs under the condition of the SD and not under a random condition.