Behavior Analysis and Learning, Fourth Edition

Study Questions - Chapter 13

Behavior Analysis and Learning, Fourth Edition is an essential textbook covering the basic principles in the field of behavior analysis and learned behaviors, as pioneered by B. F. Skinner.

  1. What is one rationale for application of behavior principles? (p. 294) Give examples of behavioral applications. (p. 295)
  2. Define the term applied behavior analysis and distinguish it from the experimental analysis of behavior. (p. 296)
  3. Discuss the concentration on research as a characteristic of applied behavior analysis. Describe human behavior as the central focus of applied behavior analysis. What does this mean for treatment of human problems? (p. 296)
  4. How did Dr. Epling help Tammi, the girl who talked of suicide? State how conditioning principles are used in the analysis of Tammi's neurosis. (p. 297)
  5. Explain how staff at an institution could inadvertently condition a child to bang her head repeatedly. How could this behavior be eliminated by conditioning principles? Provide a definition of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO). (p. 297)
  6. Give examples of biological factors that produce behavior change. Can conditioning principles help in these cases? (p. 298)
  7. Explain what is meant by the direct treatment of behavior problems. What is a behavioral contract? State the principles of behavioral contracting as given in Figure 13.1. (p. 298)
  8. In terms of therapy, what do applied behavior analysts focus on? Is there a role for "talk therapy" in applied behavior analysis? (p. 298)
  9. How do applied behavior analysts attempt to ensure lasting change or modification of behavior? In terms of generality of behavior change, what are the roles of stimulus generalization, response generalization, and behavior maintenance? (p. 299)
  10. Outline and analyze Don Baer's example of hypertension and how to program for lasting behavior change. Explain what is meant by behavior trapping. How can it be used to modify hypertension? (p. 299)
  11. Explain what Jim Holland (1978) means when he says, "It takes changed contingencies to change behavior." Discuss changing behavior by changing the social environment. (p. 300)
  12. State some of the practical and ethical difficulties with a reversal design. Name three types of multiple baseline designs. In terms of design, discuss the multiple baseline across stimulus conditions used by Hall, Cristler, Cranston, and Tucker (1970) to modify tardiness. (p. 301)
  13. Outline the multiple baseline across subjects design. How did Hall and associates (1970) use this design to improve academic performance? (p. 302)
  14. What is a multiple baseline across behavior design? Explain how Hall and associates (1970) used this design to modify three target responses of a 10-year-old girl. Are there other designs not detailed in this textbook? Name one. (p. 302)
  15. Discuss problems of definition and measurement of behavior in applied settings. According to Kazdin (1989), what are three criteria for adequate response definition? Even with adequate response definition, how can a modification procedure be unfair and inappropriate? (p. 303)
  16. Distinguish among the various methods of recording behavior. How do applied behavior analysts ensure reliability of observation? (pp. 304-305)
  17. FOCUS ON: What teaching method did Fred Keller invent? Describe the personalized system of instruction. Does PSI work? What method of teaching did Lindsley invent? Define the term celeration, the X- and Y-axes on the Standard Celeration Chart, and the six cycles on this chart? What is mean by ×2 and ÷2 on this chart? (pp. 305-306)
  18. Discuss the basic principles of precision teaching. State what is meant by "the learner knows best." Has precision teaching worked? Describe the place of precision teaching in mainstream education. Why is this? (p. 308)
  19. How did Belles and Bradlyn (1987) use self-control techniques to modify the smoking of a 65-year-old man? Did the modification work? (p. 310)
  20. What is intensive behavioral intervention and who designed this intervention for the treatment of autistic behavior? (p. 311)
  21. FOCUS ON: Discuss autism and how an understanding of the mirror neuron system of the brain could be helpful in treatments using intensive behavior interventions. Are there autistic children who might not benefit from intensive behavioral treatment? (p. 312)
  22. Describe the major behavioral excesses and deficits that distinguish autistic children from other children. Discuss the ABC approach to the treatment of autism. Outline the five levels of the ABC school for autism. How successful has ABC school been in the treatment of autism? (pp. 312-313)
  23. What is activity anorexia and how is it different from anorexia nervosa? Outline the evidence that physical activity is central to the onset of human anorexia. Describe the process of activity anorexia in animals and its motivational basis. (p. 314)
  24. FOCUS ON: Discuss the problem of obesity in children and how taste conditioning could play a role in the mounting levels of obesity in North America. Describe what happens to juvenile rats when tastes have signaled low energy content in foods (Pierce, Heth, Owczarczyk, Russell, Proctor, 2007). What are the implications of this research for conditioning and overeating in children? (pp. 316-317)
  25. What is activity-induced taste aversion and what do we know about it? How does activity anorexia develop in humans, referring to the Mandrusiak (2002) findings? How can activity anorexia in humans be treated and prevented? (p. 317)
  26. ON THE APPLIED SIDE: What is the prevalence of breast cancer? Discuss the importance is early detection, referring to the medical controversy. Who founded the MammaCare program and what was its basic assumption? Outline the behavioral procedures (components) used in the MammaCare program. How effective is the program and how has it been extended to new applications? (pp. 318-320)

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