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Experimental Analysis Of Behavior
The experimental analysis of behavior is a science that studies the behavior of individuals across a variety of species. A key early scientist was B. F. Skinner who discovered operant behavior, reinforcers, secondary reinforcers, contingencies of reinforcement, stimulus control, shaping, intermittent schedules, discrimination, and generalization. A central method was the examination of functional relations between environment and behavior, as opposed to hypothetico-deductive learning theory that had grown up in the comparative psychology of the 1920–1950 period. Skinner's approach was characterized by observation of measurable behavior which could be predicted and controlled. It owed its early success to the effectiveness of Skinner's procedures of operant conditioning, both in the laboratory and in behavior therapy. Basic learning processes in behavior analysis Classical (or respondent) conditioning In classical or respondent conditioning, a neutral stimulus (''conditione ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypothetico-deductive Model
The hypothetico-deductive model or method is a proposed description of the scientific method. According to it, scientific inquiry proceeds by formulating a hypothesis in a form that can be falsifiable, using a test on observable data where the outcome is not yet known. A test outcome that could have and does run contrary to predictions of the hypothesis is taken as a falsification of the hypothesis. A test outcome that could have, but does not run contrary to the hypothesis corroborates the theory. It is then proposed to compare the explanatory value of competing hypotheses by testing how stringently they are corroborated by their predictions. Example One example of an algorithmic statement of the hypothetico-deductive method is as follows: :''1''. Use your experience: Consider the problem and try to make sense of it. Gather data and look for previous explanations. If this is a new problem to you, then move to step ''2''. :''2''. Form a conjecture (hypothesis): When not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Functional Analysis (psychology)
Functional analysis in behavioral psychology is the application of the laws of operant and respondent conditioning to establish the relationships between stimuli and responses. To establish the function of operant behavior, one typically examines the "four-term contingency": first by identifying the motivating operations (EO or AO), then identifying the antecedent or trigger of the behavior, identifying the behavior itself as it has been operationalized, and identifying the consequence of the behavior which continues to maintain it. Functional assessment in behavior analysis employs principles derived from the natural science of behavior analysis to determine the "reason", purpose, or motivation for a behavior. The most robust form of functional assessment is functional analysis, which involves the direct manipulation, using some experimental design (e.g., a multielement design or a reversal design) of various antecedent and consequent events and measurement of their effects o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bell Curve
''The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life'' is a 1994 book by the psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein and the political scientist Charles Murray in which the authors argue that human intelligence is substantially influenced by both inherited and environmental factors and that it is a better predictor of many personal outcomes, including financial income, job performance, birth out of wedlock, and involvement in crime, than is an individual's parental socioeconomic status. They also argue that those with high intelligence, the "cognitive elite", are becoming separated from those of average and below-average intelligence, and that this separation is a source of social division within the United States. The book has been, and remains, highly controversial, especially where the authors discussed purported connections between race and intelligence and suggested policy implications based on these purported connections. The authors claimed that average intell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decision Making
In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. It could be either rational or irrational. The decision-making process is a reasoning process based on assumptions of values, preferences and beliefs of the decision-maker. Every decision-making process produces a final choice, which may or may not prompt action. Research about decision-making is also published under the label problem solving, particularly in European psychological research. Overview Decision-making can be regarded as a problem-solving activity yielding a solution deemed to be optimal, or at least satisfactory. It is therefore a process which can be more or less rational or irrational and can be based on explicit or tacit knowledge and beliefs. Tacit knowledge is often used to fill the gaps in complex decision-making processes. Usua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matching Law
In operant conditioning, the matching law is a quantitative relationship that holds between the relative rates of response and the relative rates of reinforcement in concurrent schedules of reinforcement. For example, if two response alternatives A and B are offered to an organism, the ratio of response rates to A and B equals the ratio of reinforcements yielded by each response.Poling, A., Edwards, T. L., Weeden, M., & Foster, T. (2011). The matching law. ''Psychological Record'', 61(2), 313-322. This law applies fairly well when non-human subjects are exposed to concurrent reinforcement, variable interval schedules (but see below); its applicability in other situations is less clear, depending on the assumptions made and the details of the experimental situation. The generality of applicability of the matching law is subject of current debate. The matching law can be applied to situations involving a single response maintained by a single schedule of reinforcement if one assumes t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Herrnstein
Richard Julius Herrnstein (May 20, 1930 – September 13, 1994) was an American psychologist at Harvard University. He was an active researcher in animal learning in the Skinnerian tradition. Herrnstein was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology until his death, and previously chaired the Harvard Department of Psychology for five years. With political scientist Charles Murray, he co-wrote ''The Bell Curve'', a controversial 1994 book on human intelligence. He was one of the founders of the Society for Quantitative Analysis of Behavior. Early life and education Richard Herrnstein was born on May 20, 1930, in New York City, to a family of Hungarian Jewish immigrants; the son of Flora Irene (née Friedman) and Rezso Herrnstein, a housepainter. He was educated at the High School of Music & Art and the City College of New York, receiving a B.A. from the latter in 1952. In 1955, Herrnstein obtained his Ph.D. at Harvard University, with a thesis titled ''Behavioral Consequences ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autism
Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing differences, focused interests, and repetitive behaviors, which may include stimming. Formal diagnosis requires significant challenges in multiple domains of life, with characteristics that are atypical or more pronounced than expected for one's age and sociocultural context.(World Health Organization: International Classification of Diseases version 11 (ICD-11)): https://icd.who.int/browse/2024-01/mms/en#437815624 Motor coordination difficulties are common but not required for diagnosis. Autism is a spectrum disorder, resulting in wide variations in presentation and support needs, such as that between speaking and non-speaking populations. Increased estimates of autism prevalence since the 1990s are primarily attributed to broader c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discrete Trial Training
Discrete trial training (DTT) is a technique used by practitioners of applied behavior analysis (ABA) that was developed by Ole Ivar Lovaas, Ivar Lovaas at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). DTT uses mass instruction and reinforcement (psychology), reinforcers that create clear Three-term contingency, contingencies to shaping (psychology), shape new skills. Often employed as an early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) for up to 25–40 hours per week for autistic children, the technique relies on the use of Applied behavior analysis#Prompting, prompts, observational learning, modeling, and positive reinforcement strategies to facilitate the child's learning. It previously used aversives to Punishment (psychology), punish unwanted behaviors. DTT has also been referred to as the "Lovaas/UCLA model", "rapid motor imitation antecedent", "listener responding", "errorless learning", and "mass trials". Technique Discrete trial training (DTT) is a process whereby an a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Errorless Learning
Errorless learning was an instructional design introduced by psychologist Charles Ferster in the 1950s as part of his studies on what would make the most effective learning environment. B. F. Skinner was also influential in developing the technique, noting that, ...errors are not necessary for learning to occur. Errors are not a function of learning or vice versa nor are they blamed on the learner. Errors are a function of poor analysis of behavior, a poorly designed shaping program, moving too fast from step to step in the program, and the lack of the prerequisite behavior necessary for success in the program. Errorless learning can also be understood at a synaptic level, using the principle of Hebbian learning ("Neurons that fire together wire together"). Many of Skinner's other students and followers continued to test the idea. In 1963, Herbert Terrace wrote a paper describing an experiment with pigeons which allows discrimination learning to occur with few or even with no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Ferster
Charles Bohris Ferster (1 November 1922 – 3 February 1981) was an American behavioral psychologist. A pioneer of applied behavior analysis, he developed errorless learning and was a colleague of B.F. Skinner's at Harvard University, co-authoring the book ''Schedules of Reinforcement'' (1957). Career Ferster received his bachelor's degree at Rutgers University in 1947 followed by his Master's in 1948 and Ph.D. in 1958 from Columbia University. He then worked as a colleague with B. F. Skinner at Harvard University, where they established the '' Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior'' in 1958. While at Harvard, he devised errorless learning to train animals, and used other forms of what was then termed behavior modification for clients with depression and obesity. While serving as an assistant professor of psychology at Indiana University School of Medicine from 1957 to 1962, Ferster employed errorless learning to instruct young autistic children how to speak. Fer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociology was coined in the late 18th century to describe the scientific study of society. Regarded as a part of both the social sciences and humanities, sociology uses various methods of Empirical research, empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about social order and social change. Sociological subject matter ranges from Microsociology, micro-level analyses of individual interaction and agency (sociology), agency to Macrosociology, macro-level analyses of social systems and social structure. Applied sociological research may be applied directly to social policy and welfare, whereas Theory, theoretical approaches may focus on the understanding of social processes and phenomenology (sociology), phenomenologic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds and equivalent gestures in sign languages), phonology (the abstract sound system of a particular language, and analogous systems of sign languages), and pragmatics (how the context of use contributes to meaning). Subdisciplines such as biolinguistics (the study of the biological variables and evolution of language) and psycholinguistics (the study of psychological factors in human language) bridge many of these divisions. Linguistics encompasses Outline of linguistics, many branches and subfields that span both theoretical and practical applications. Theoretical linguistics is concerned with understanding the universal grammar, universal and Philosophy of language#Nature of language, fundamental nature of language and developing a general ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
