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