Overview of Conditioning
Need to Examine Behavior
• Look at the behavior of an organism’s interaction with
its environment
• Displacements in space through time
• Temporal locus
• Temporal extent
• Repeatability
• Results in a measurable change in some aspect of the
environment
Response Class
• Are a group of responses with the same function
• Each response in the group produces the same
effect on the environment
Repertoire of Responses
• Are all behaviors a person can do in a situation
• Usually are knowledge and skills an organism
has learned that are relevant to a particular
setting or tasks
• Are very relevant to ABA
Environment
• Behavior occurs within an environmental context
• Cannot be emitted in an environmental void or
vacuum
Stimulus events
• Formal
• Are the physical features of the stimulus
• Temporal
• Occur with respect to a behavior of interest
• Functionally
• What are the stimulus effects on behavior
Stimulus Class
• Groups of stimuli sharing a predetermined set of
common elements
• Occur in one of more of these dimensions
• Formal dimensions
• Temporal locus
• Behavioral functions of stimulus changes
Formal Dimensions of Stimuli
• Are descriptions, measurements, or manipulations of
the stimulus
• Can be based on size, color, intensity, etc.
• Stimuli can be
• Social
• Nonsocial
Temporal Locus of Stimuli
• Behavior is affected by stimulus changes that:
• Occur prior to (Antecedent)
• Are provided after the behavior (Consequent)
Antecedent Stimuli
• Conditions or stimulus changes that exist or
occur prior to the behavior
• Learners do not need to be aware of them to
effect behavior
• Play a critical part in learning and motivation
Consequent Stimuli
• Are stimuli that follow a behavior of interest
• Immediate consequent stimuli are very important
• Influence motivational states
• Influence future behavior
• Usually have greater impact than later larger
consequent stimuli
• Relate to self-management issues
Functions of Stimulus Changes
• Impacts behavior
• Are best understood through a functional analysis
• Immediate control
• Delayed control
• No apparent effect
Behavior from Stimulus Changes
• Can be immediate but are temporary
• Increases or decreases the current behavior
• Can be delayed and become relatively permanent
Examples
Types of Behavior
1. Respondent Behavior
• Behavior that is elicited by antecedent stimuli
• Occurs because of the stimulus that precedes it
• Something in your eye - blink Tap on the knee –
Jerk knee
• Often are designed to protect against harmful
stimuli
• Are often reflexive in nature
• Habituation
• Gradually diminishing response strength
Example
• Pavlov
• Digestive systems of dogs
• Animals salivated every time lab assistant
opened the cage door to feed them
2. Operant Behavior
• Behavior whose frequency is determined primarily by
consequent stimuli
• Stimuli are selected
• Behavior can be shaped
• Behavior is maintained by consequence stimuli and
schedule of reinforcement or punishment
• Can occur with any organism and in any
environment.
Points to Note
• Consequences only affect future behavior
• Consequences select response classes, no
individual responses
• Can narrow the response class
• Immediate consequences have the greatest
impact vs. delayed consequences
• Self-management issue
Consequences Select Any Behavior
• Reinforcement and punishment are equal opportunity
selectors
• Importance of temporal relations
• Operant conditioning occurs automatically and in all
environments
• Occurs constantly
What is Reinforcement and Punishment
• Are procedures
• Can be used to increase or decrease a behavior
• Uses reinforcers and punishers
• Are things – STIMULI
• Use results in changes in behavior
• Four types
Reinforcement and Punishment
• Reinforcement
• Is the most important principle of behavior
• Is the key element to most behavior change
programs
• Punishment
• Can be very effective if used correctly
• Often is not used correctly
• Often creates numerous ethical concerns
• Can have side effects
• Reason Reinforcement is used more often
Reinforcement
• Positive
• Add a stimulus following a response and beh. Increases
• Good behavior followed by CCC, more good beh.
• Negative
• Remove a stimulus following a response and the
beh. increases
• Take oxycodone to stop pain, next time, take
oxycodone again. Result, cycle increases use
PUNISHMENT
• Positive
• Give a stimulus following a response and beh. Decrease
• Stick finger in light socket – get zapped, don’t repeat
• Negative
• Remove a positive stimulus following a response and beh.
decreases
• Speeding down road – cop gives you a ticket, don’t speed
anymore
Motivation to Behave
• Motivation can alter the current value of stimulus
changes as reinforcement or punishment
• Results from
• Satiation
• Deprivation
Discriminated Operants
• Behavior occurs more frequently under some
antecedent conditions than other conditions
• Relates to Stimulus Control
• Are differential rates of operant responding observed in the
presence or absence of antecedent stimuli
• Occurs due to pairings from the past
• Ultimately, antecedents acquire the ability to control
operant behavior
Principles of Behavior
• Describes functional relations between behavior and
one or more of its controlling variables (b = fx)
• Occurs through:
• Thorough generality across individual organisms,
species, settings, behaviors
• Empirical generalization inferred from many
experiments
• Describe how behavior works
• Reinforcement, punishment, extinction
Behavior Change Tactics
• Are research-based
• Are consistent methods for changing behavior
• Are derived from basic principles of behavior
• Are general across subjects, settings, and or
behaviors
• Ultimately warrant codification & dissemination
• Are the technological aspects of ABA
Points to Note
• Principles
• Describe how behavior works
• Are lawful relationships
• Behavior change tactics
• Are how ABA professionals use the principles
• Used to help people learn and use socially
significant behaviors
Three-Term Contingency
• Antecedent (A) – Behavior (B) – Consequence (C)
• Is the basic unit of analysis in the analysis of
operant behavior
• All ABA procedures involve the manipulation of
one or more components
Human Behavior
• Is highly complex
• Use large repertoires of response chains, verbal
behavior
• Analysis of control complicated by
• Individual differences in histories of reinforcement
• Practical, ethical, logistical, etc. issues
Summary and Conclusions
• Lots of variables are related to conditioning
• Need to understand the principles of
conditioning to modify behavior in any
environment.
• Techniques are very powerful
• Must use ethical principles