SPCE 611: Exam 1| 232 Questions and
Answers 100% Correct
Selection by consequences - ANSWER-causal mode found only in living things, or in
machines made by living things. It was first recognized in natural selection, but it also
accounts for the shaping and maintenance of the behavior of the individual and the
evolution of cultures.
Skinner proposes that the story presumably began.... - ANSWER-Not with a big bang,
but when a molecule came into existence which had the power to reproduce itself.
*Then the selection by consequences made its appearance as the causal mode.
Reproduction - ANSWER-Was itself a first consequence, and it led, through natural
selection, to the evolution of cells, organs, and organisms which produced themselves
under increasingly diverse conditions.
Behavior - ANSWER-Evolved as a set of functions furthering the interchange between
organism and environment.
*in a fairly stable world it could be as much a part of the genetic endowment of a
species as digestion, respiration, or any other biological function.
Behavior functioned well under conditions fairly similar to which it was selected.
Reproduction under a much wider range of conditions became possible with the
evolution of two processes: - ANSWER-Respondent (Pavlovian conditioning) and
operant conditioning.
Respondent (Pavlovian) conditioning - ANSWER-Responses prepared in advance by
natural selection could come under the control of new stimuli.
Ex. A particular species does not have eyes in order that its members may see better; it
has them because certain members, undergoing variation, were able to see better and
hence were more likely to transmit the variation.
Operant conditioning - ANSWER-New responses could be strengthened (reinforced) by
events which immediately follow them.
*A second kind of selection by consequences. It must have evolved in parallel with two
other products of the same contingencies of natural selection.
*The only type of selection that occurs at a speed in which it can be observed from
moment to moment.
,Most operants are selected from behavior... - ANSWER-which has little or no relation to
such stimuli.
When selecting consequences are the same... - ANSWER-Operant conditioning and
natural selection work together redundantly.
Ex. The behavior of a duckling in following its mother is the produce of not only natural
selection but also of an evolved susceptibility to reinforcement by proximity to such an
object.
Example of behaviors studied by ethologists include - ANSWER-Courtship, mating,
intraspecific aggression, defense of territory, etc.
*they study social behaviors
Innate social repertoires are supplemented by... - ANSWER-Imitation
Selection pressure - ANSWER-This appears to convert selection into something that
forces a change.
Ex. Contingencies of selection lie in the past; they are not acting when their effect is
observed. To provide a current cause it has been assumed that they are stored (used
as information) and later retrieved.
*examples of this are growth and storage
The role of selection by consequences has been particularly resisted because... -
ANSWER-There is no place for the initiating agent suggested by classical mechanics.
An initiating agent can be identified by saying... - ANSWER-(i) That a species adapts to
an environment, rather than the environment selects the adaptive traits.
(ii) That an individual adjusts to a situation, rather than that the situation shapes and
maintains adjusted behavior.
(iii) That a group of people solve a problem raised by certain circumstances, rather than
that the circumstances select the cultural practices that yield a solution.
The three personae of psychoanalytic theory (Freud) - ANSWER-In many ways this
theory is close to the three levels of selection theory.
- the id doe snot adequately represent the enormous contribution of the natural history
of the species.
- the superego does not adequately represent the contribution of the social environment
to language, self-knowledge, and intellectual and ethical self-management.
- the ego is a poor likeness of the personal repertoire acquired under the practical
contingencies of daily life.
,John B Watson - ANSWER-Widely recognized as the spokesman for a new direction in
the field of psychology around 1913 in his influential article "Psychology as the
Behaviorist Views It." He argued that the proper subject matter was not states of mind
or mental processes but observable behavior.
Published the Behavioral Manifesto.
-Was criticized heavily for having a behaviorist viewpoint.
BF Skinner - ANSWER-His most powerful and fundamental contribution to our
understanding of behavior was his discovery of experimental analyses of the effects of
consequences on behavior.
Coined the operant three-term contingency.
Invented the operant chamber (Skinner Box) to investigate different types of
reinforcement schedules in the 1930's.
*His writings have been the most influential in both guiding the practice of the science of
behavior and in proposing the application of the principles of behavior to new areas.
Published "Waldon Two" in 1948.
Published "Science and Human Behavior" in 1953.
Published "About Behaviorism" in 1974.
Radical Behaviorism - ANSWER-Changed the behavior paradigm from "thoughts don't
occur" to making room for emotion, feeling, and thoughts.
By incorporating private events into an overall conceptual system of behavior, Skinner
created this.
It represents a dramatic departure from other conceptual systems in calling for the most
drastic change ever proposed in our way of thinking about man.
The evolution of social environments or cultures - ANSWER-Verbal behavior greatly
increased the importance of this third kind of selection.
The process presumably begins at the level of the individual. A culture evolves when
practices originating in this way contribute to the success of the practicing group in
solving its problems.
What is responsible for the evolution of culture? - ANSWER-The effect on the group
(not the reinforcing consequences for individual members)
Human behavior is a joint product of: - ANSWER-(i) the contingencies of survival
responsible for the natural selection of the species, (ii) the contingencies of
reinforcement responsible for the repertoires required acquired by its members, (iii)
including the special contingencies maintained by an evolved social environment.
*Ultimately it is a matter of natural selection, since operant conditioning is an evolved
process, of which cultural practices are special applications.
, Each of the three levels of variation and selection has its own discipline: - ANSWER-
First-Biology
Second-Psychology
Third-Anthropology
Ivar Lovvas - ANSWER-Was curious about changing the trajectory of young children
with autism using a behaviorist standpoint.
Published book stating you could change the trajectory in a meaningful way.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) - ANSWER-Came out in 1968 and was the
first journal in the US to deal with applied problems that gave researchers using
methodology from the experimental analysis of behavior an outlet for publishing their
findings.
Many early articles published in this became model demonstrations of how to conduct
and interpret ABA, which in turn led to improved applications and experimental
methodology.
Association for Behavior Analysis - ANSWER-Founded in the 1970s.
Iwata and colleagues - ANSWER-First to write about functional analysis as we know it
today.
Applied Behavioral Analysis - ANSWER-A science devoted to understanding and
improving human behavior. It focuses on behaviors of social importance, and involves
intervening with research-based strategies and tactics to improve target behaviors.
Description, Measurement, and Experimentation - ANSWER-Scientific methods used in
ABA to demonstrate reliable relations between interventions and the behavioral
improvements.
Science - ANSWER-A systematic approach to understanding natural phenomena--as
evidenced by description, prediction, and control--that relies on determinism as its
fundamental assumption, empiricism as its prime directive, experimentation as its basic
strategy, replication as its necessary requirement for believability, parsimony as its
conservative value, and philosophical doubt as its guiding conscience.
The overall goal is to achieve a thorough understanding of the phenomena under study
(socially important change in the case of ABA).
Levels of scientific understanding - ANSWER-Description, prediction, and control
Description - ANSWER-Systematic observation enhances the understanding of a given
phenomenon by enabling scientists to describe it accurately.
