ERIC Number: EJ861845
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0738-6729
EISSN: N/A
Stimuli, Reinforcers, and Private Events
Nevin, John A.
Behavior Analyst, v31 n2 p113-126 Fall 2008
Radical behaviorism considers private events to be a part of ongoing observable behavior and to share the properties of public events. Although private events cannot be measured directly, their roles in overt action can be inferred from mathematical models that relate private responses to external stimuli and reinforcers according to the same quantitative relations that characterize public operant behavior. This approach is illustrated by a model of attending to stimuli and to anticipated reinforcers in delayed matching to sample, in which the probabilities of attending are related to reinforcer rates by an expression derived from research on behavioral momentum. (Contains 6 figures.)
Descriptors: Animals, Visual Stimuli, Food, Mathematical Models, Reinforcement, Probability, Behavior Modification, Cues, Simulation, Behavioral Science Research, Color, Research Methodology
Association for Behavior Analysis International. 1219 South Park Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49001. Tel: 269-492-9310; Fax: 269-492-9316; e-mail: mail@abainternational.org; Web site: http://www.abainternational.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A