EDF 6222 Midterm Guided Notes. Exam
Questions With 100% Verified Answers
"__________ is more than the mere description of events as they occur. It is an attempt to
discover order, to show that certain events stand in _________ to other events (Skinner, 1953,
p.6)." - answer✔Science; lawful relations
Being scientifically skeptical means that until there is ____________ available, assumptions
should not be made. - answer✔evidence
In order to be excellent stewards of science, as behavior analysts, we can follow a few guidelines
when gathering and evaluating evidence. This includes reducing __________ by ensuring
interobserver agreement, examining for actual ___________ (as opposed to effects that could
have produced changes without the intervention), ___________ , and self-correction. -
answer✔observer bias; experimental control; replication
With ___________, we look for the simplest explanation possible, not extensive mentalistic
explanations. - answer✔parsimony
"Behaviorism is not the science of human behavior; it is the ___________ of that science"
(Skinner, 1974. p.3). - answer✔philosophy
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Structuralism relied on __________, which looked inward to describe sensations, images, and
feelings. - answer✔introspection
_____________ behaviorism might be thought of as a psychological version of logical
positivism or operationism. - answer✔Methodological
While some methodological behaviorists accept that there are mental states, they have ruled them
completely out of consideration. This is not a new concept and was once referred to as
____________. - answer✔psychophysical parallelism
In Pavlov's early research, he did not jump to conclusions to suggest that the dog was "thinking"
of food, and therefore salivating. Instead, he carefully controlled conditions that allowed him to
show that particular stimuli can "acquire" the ability to elicit secretion. His careful analysis of the
scientific method allowed him to avoid both __________ and _________ fictions. -
answer✔mentalistic; explanatory
The evolutionary explanation for reflexes indicates that they are for the survival of the organism.
However, we know all too well that sometimes responses can be conditioned that serve no
purpose - even add a ____________ purpose - to our complex lives. - answer✔debilitating
Skinner (1953) informed us "Although the process of [conditioning] greatly extends the scope of
the eliciting stimulus, it does not bring all the behavior of the organism within such
___________ "(p. 56). Conditioning can add numerous different eliciting stimuli, but it will
never fashion a _________ response. - answer✔stimulus control; novel