Unconditioned Reinforcer is also called a primary reinforcer. These are reinforcers that do not need to be learned, such as food, water, oxygen, warmth and sex. These are all primary drives that we have for basic survival and if they are deprived in any way, gaining access to these reinforcers is very motivating. Conditioned Reinforcer […]
The Premack Principle is also known as “Gradmas’s Law.” Parents (and Grandmas) use it naturally all the time. It is the principle that offering something that happens often in a free operant situation to be contingent upon something else that happens with low frequency. So, for example, “You can watch television after you have finished […]
Quotes by Skinner
“Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.” “A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying.” “The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.” “A person who has been […]
In About Behaviorism, B.F. Skinner says, “Rule-following behavior is said to be the veneer of civilization, whereas behavior shaped by natural contingencies comes from the depth of the personality or mind.” Skinner continues to note, “Doing good because on is reinforced by the good of others (contingency-shaped) is more highly honored than dong good because […]
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) was an English naturalist who developed the theory of biological evolution. Biological evolution states that species develop and change over time through a series small variances that increase the species likelihood of survival and reproduction. These small variances are passed down from one generation to the next with the variances that give […]
Modeling is learning behavior by seeing someone else do the behavior and then copying it.
Imitation is related to modeling.
B. F. Skinner said that there are 3 ways that the environment can apply itself upon a living being: Phylogenic, Ontogenic and Cultural. Phylogenic: Natural evolution of a species (aka Darwinism). By a natural process of survival characteristics, each generation is passed characteristics by its predecessors. Phylogenics is a discipline in biology that is the […]
The application of behavioral techniques requires that the practitioner subscribe to a deterministic philosophy that behavior in and of itself is lawful. The lawful nature of behavior means that all behavior is caused by environmental, external events and is entirely predictable. This means that behavior in the world has a cause and is not by […]
Some behavioral explanations include biophysical, biochemical, developmental, and cognitive.
Antecedent: Something that occurs in the environment right before the behavior of study. Behavior: Any observable and recordable action by a subject. Consequence: The result of the behavior. Positive: When an environmental condition is added to a situation. Negative: When an environmental condition is removed from a situation. Reinforcement: When a behavior has increased due […]