(1) Leave a one inch margin on the left side of your answer sheet

Psyc 4720 Experimental Analysis of Behavior Fall 2010 Unit 1 Exam
selecting which vocal pattern will be repeated in the future.
a) Would you consider this selection at the phylogenic level or the ontogenic level? (1 pt)
Ontogenic
b) Why? (2 pts) It is learning (a behavior change) that is occurring within the lifetime of the child
and not a change in behavioral tendencies across generations of the species.
5) Is the model of causation described in question 4 an example of immediate causation or remote
causation? (1 pt). ____remote_______
a) Explain why you consider it an example of this type of causation. (2 pts) The behavior change
is not elicited by a prior stimulus in an immediate sense but is gradually brought about by a
history of consequences (a history or reinforcement). Past consequences make the speech
patterns of the child that sound like the parent more likely and <strong>one</strong>s that don’t sound like the
parent less likely. There is a longer time period between the causal event and the outcome.
6) What are “establishing operations” (often referred to as motivating operations now)? (2 pts)
Establishing operations make consequences more or less reinforcing and evoke (or inhibit) the
behavior that has produced these consequences in the past.
a) How would you use this to explain why a dog will do tricks for praise and pats at home but will
not do the tricks at the park where they just run around sniffing everything? (2 pts) At home
praise and pats are reinforcing because home environment is familiar and the praise and pats
have been established as reinforcers. At the park the EO has changed because there are other
reinforcers (novel smells) available. Sniffing is the behavior evoked because of the present
strong reinforcer of novel smells and praise or pats are less reinforcing in this environment. If
we could make access to the smells contingent on doing tricks, the dog would do that for the
smells rather than the pats at the park but do it for the pats at home where no new smells are
present.
7) Describe an example of a single-subject research design. Say what changes in the data (trend and
level in the various conditions) are needed to determine the independent variable produced the
effects in the dependent variable. (6 pts) ABAB or Multiple Baseline research design. Include a
baseline where DV is measured for several sessions without intervention of IV. Introduce IV while
holding everything else constant and continue measuring DV for several sessions. In Multiple
baseline do this in a staggered sequence with three settings, three behaviors or three participants. In
ABAB, repeat the baseline and intervention phases. If the data in the baselines are stable (no
trends up or down) at a particular level and then changes quickly to a new level (often trending up
or down) when the IV is present we say we have an effect. If we return to baseline conditions and
the data return to baseline levels (trending back to the previous level) we have evidence that our
intervention caused our DV change. In the Multiple Baseline design we should see changes in
level and trend in each of the graphs ONLY when the intervention was introduced.