SPCE 609 COMPREHENSIVE STUDY GUIDE
2026 FULL QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS
GRADED A+
◍ replication (of results).
Answer: used to enhance both internal and external validity
◍ A schedule that is made up of a series of alternately presented fixed-ratio
(FR) schedules with the values FR5, FR10, FR20, FR25, and FR40 would
be best described as.
Answer: A variable-ratio 20 schedule
◍ positive reinforcer.
Answer: any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the
response
◍ learning.
Answer: the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or
behaviors
◍ Analysis of behavior becomes experimental when it involves:.
Answer: The manipulation of a condition to see how behavior is affected
◍ Causality Test.
Answer: Is the outcome caused by the response?
◍ Sixty-second test.
Answer: the outcome must follow the behavior within 60 seconds to be
considered a strict behavioral contingency (i.e. not verbally mediated or
rule-governed)
◍ discriminative function.
Answer: When an organism's behavior isreinforced, those events that
, reliablyprecede responses come to have adiscriminative function. They set
theoccasion for behavior, discriminativestimulus (Sd). Discriminative
stimuliacquire this function because theypredict reinforcement.
◍ direct replication.
Answer: Repeating the procedures and measures of an experiment with
several subjects of the same species
◍ When stimuli vary physically but have a common effect on behavior, they
are part of the same ___________..
Answer: Stimulus class
◍ In order to treat her son's frequent tantrums while out shopping, Ruby put
his tantrum behavior on extinction by refusing to buy any treats when he
tantrums in the store. This works and her son does not tantrum any more
while shopping. Then, suddenly, the tantrum behavior reappears one day
while they are out shopping. This reappearance of the previously
extinguished behavior is an example of:.
Answer: Spontaneous recovery
◍ Applied Behavior Analysis.
Answer: This is a branch of behavior analysis that uses behavior principles
to solve practical problems such as the treatment of autism or improved
teaching methods
◍ conditioned-stimulus function.
Answer: An event or stimulus that has acquired its function to elicit a
response on the basis of respondent conditioning.
◍ For Skinner (1969), rules are:.
Answer: Verbal descriptions of the operating contingencies
◍ Any stimulus (or event) that follows a response and increases its frequency
is said to have:.
Answer: A reinforcement function
◍ Dead Person's Test.
, Answer: If a dead person can "do" it, it is NOT behavior
◍ trial-and-error learning.
Answer: A term coined by Thorndike (1898and 1911) that he used to
describeresults from his puzzle box and mazelearning experiments. Animals
weresaid to make fewer and fewer errorsover repeated trials, learning by
trialand error.
◍ The behavior of an organism:.
Answer: Is everything an organism does, including thinking and feeling
◍ Organisms become _______ in their responding as reinforcement becomes
less frequent or less predictable..
Answer: More variable
◍ Which of the following characteristics is responsible for money being
labeled as a generalized reinforcer:.
Answer: It is exchangeable for a variety of different goods/commodities
◍ The variable manipulated by the experimenter is the ______________ and
the measured effect is the ______________..
Answer: Independent; dependent
◍ Behaviorism.
Answer: a term that refers to the scientific philosophy of behavior analysis
◍ Conditioned reflexes.
Answer: reflexes that are conditional or dependent on the formation of an
association or connection between stimulus and response
◍ Giving an organism another way to obtain reinforcement will:.
Answer: Make punishment more effective
◍ single-subject research.
Answer: participants are compared with themselves rather than with
members of a control group
◍ history of reinforcement.
Answer: An inclusive term referring in general to all of a person's learning
2026 FULL QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS
GRADED A+
◍ replication (of results).
Answer: used to enhance both internal and external validity
◍ A schedule that is made up of a series of alternately presented fixed-ratio
(FR) schedules with the values FR5, FR10, FR20, FR25, and FR40 would
be best described as.
Answer: A variable-ratio 20 schedule
◍ positive reinforcer.
Answer: any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the
response
◍ learning.
Answer: the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or
behaviors
◍ Analysis of behavior becomes experimental when it involves:.
Answer: The manipulation of a condition to see how behavior is affected
◍ Causality Test.
Answer: Is the outcome caused by the response?
◍ Sixty-second test.
Answer: the outcome must follow the behavior within 60 seconds to be
considered a strict behavioral contingency (i.e. not verbally mediated or
rule-governed)
◍ discriminative function.
Answer: When an organism's behavior isreinforced, those events that
, reliablyprecede responses come to have adiscriminative function. They set
theoccasion for behavior, discriminativestimulus (Sd). Discriminative
stimuliacquire this function because theypredict reinforcement.
◍ direct replication.
Answer: Repeating the procedures and measures of an experiment with
several subjects of the same species
◍ When stimuli vary physically but have a common effect on behavior, they
are part of the same ___________..
Answer: Stimulus class
◍ In order to treat her son's frequent tantrums while out shopping, Ruby put
his tantrum behavior on extinction by refusing to buy any treats when he
tantrums in the store. This works and her son does not tantrum any more
while shopping. Then, suddenly, the tantrum behavior reappears one day
while they are out shopping. This reappearance of the previously
extinguished behavior is an example of:.
Answer: Spontaneous recovery
◍ Applied Behavior Analysis.
Answer: This is a branch of behavior analysis that uses behavior principles
to solve practical problems such as the treatment of autism or improved
teaching methods
◍ conditioned-stimulus function.
Answer: An event or stimulus that has acquired its function to elicit a
response on the basis of respondent conditioning.
◍ For Skinner (1969), rules are:.
Answer: Verbal descriptions of the operating contingencies
◍ Any stimulus (or event) that follows a response and increases its frequency
is said to have:.
Answer: A reinforcement function
◍ Dead Person's Test.
, Answer: If a dead person can "do" it, it is NOT behavior
◍ trial-and-error learning.
Answer: A term coined by Thorndike (1898and 1911) that he used to
describeresults from his puzzle box and mazelearning experiments. Animals
weresaid to make fewer and fewer errorsover repeated trials, learning by
trialand error.
◍ The behavior of an organism:.
Answer: Is everything an organism does, including thinking and feeling
◍ Organisms become _______ in their responding as reinforcement becomes
less frequent or less predictable..
Answer: More variable
◍ Which of the following characteristics is responsible for money being
labeled as a generalized reinforcer:.
Answer: It is exchangeable for a variety of different goods/commodities
◍ The variable manipulated by the experimenter is the ______________ and
the measured effect is the ______________..
Answer: Independent; dependent
◍ Behaviorism.
Answer: a term that refers to the scientific philosophy of behavior analysis
◍ Conditioned reflexes.
Answer: reflexes that are conditional or dependent on the formation of an
association or connection between stimulus and response
◍ Giving an organism another way to obtain reinforcement will:.
Answer: Make punishment more effective
◍ single-subject research.
Answer: participants are compared with themselves rather than with
members of a control group
◍ history of reinforcement.
Answer: An inclusive term referring in general to all of a person's learning
