Malott's 2nd question on p. 5 (last sentence) asks what reinforces looking at Eric as he throws a tantrum. After all, watching something - Eric throwing a tantrum, a beautiful sunset, a good-looking person - is a behavior. And all behaviors require explanation.
Malott says that sometimes the sight of the thing we're looking at reinforces the behavior of looking at it. This is an example of a stimulus functioning as a reinforcer. The sight of something, the smell of something, the taste of something - these are all stimuli.
Anyway, Eric is throwing a tantrum & you watch him as he howls & flails about. Your watching is a behavior. Why do you do it? Because it's reinforced by the sight of the thing you're looking at.
Monday, August 23, 2010
When the sight of the thing reinforces looking at it
Labels:
Principles of Behavior: Ch. 01
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I teach courses in the principles and applications of Behavior Analysis, the science and technology of behavior, which is different from other approaches in psychology in that it takes behavior as a subject matter in its own right, rather than as a tool for studying something else, such as the mind. The main purpose of this blog is to be a supplementary means of communication with students who are taking my courses.
0 comments:
Post a Comment