Behavioral Momentum
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Behavioral Momentum
Behavioral momentum is a theory in quantitative analysis of behavior and is a behavioral metaphor based on physical momentum. It describes the general relation between resistance to change (persistence of behavior) and the rate of reinforcement obtained in a given situation. B. F. Skinner (1938) proposed that all behavior is based on a fundamental unit of behavior called the discriminated operant. The discriminated operant, also known as the three-term contingency, has three components: an antecedent discriminative stimulus, a response, and a reinforcing or punishing consequence. The organism responds in the presence of the stimulus because past responses in the presence of that stimulus have produced reinforcement. Resistance to change According to behavioral momentum theory, there are two separable factors that independently govern the rate with which a discriminated operant occurs and the persistence of that response in the face of disruptions such as punishment, extinction, or ...
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Quantitative Analysis Of Behavior
Quantitative analysis of behavior is the application of mathematical models--conceptualized from the robust corpus of environment-behavior-consequence interactions in published behavioral science--to the experimental analysis of behavior. The aim is to describe and/or predict relations between varying levels of independent environmental variables and dependent behavioral variables. The parameters in the models hopefully have theoretical meaning beyond their use in fitting models to data. The field was founded by Richard Herrnstein (1961) when he introduced the matching law to quantify the behavior of organisms working on concurrent schedules of reinforcement. The field has integrated models from economics, zoology, philosophy, political science (including voter behavior) and psychology, especially mathematical psychology of which it is a branch. The field is represented by the Society for Quantitative Analysis of Behavior. Quantitative analysis of behavior addresses the followin ...
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Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to create a likeness or an Analogy, analogy. Analysts group metaphors with other types of figurative language, such as antithesis, hyperbole, metonymy, and simile. According to Grammarly, "Figurative language examples include similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, allusions, and idioms." One of the most commonly cited examples of a metaphor in English literature comes from the "All the world's a stage" monologue from ''As You Like It'': All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances And one man in his time plays many parts, His Acts being seven ages. At first, the infant... :—William Shakespeare, ''As You Like It'', 2/7 This quotation expresses a metaphor because the w ...
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Momentum
In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (: momenta or momentums; more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. If is an object's mass and is its velocity (also a vector quantity), then the object's momentum (from Latin '' pellere'' "push, drive") is: \mathbf = m \mathbf. In the International System of Units (SI), the unit of measurement of momentum is the kilogram metre per second (kg⋅m/s), which is dimensionally equivalent to the newton-second. Newton's second law of motion states that the rate of change of a body's momentum is equal to the net force acting on it. Momentum depends on the frame of reference, but in any inertial frame of reference, it is a ''conserved'' quantity, meaning that if a closed system is not affected by external forces, its total momentum does not change. Momentum is also conserved in special relativity (with a mo ...
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Rate Of Reinforcement
In behaviorism, rate of reinforcement is number of reinforcements per time, usually per minute. Symbol of this rate is usually ''Rf''. Its first major exponent was B.F. Skinner (1939). It is used in the Matching Law. ''Rf'' = ''# of reinforcements/unit of time'' = ''SR+''/''t'' See also * Rate of response References * Herrnstein, R.J. (1961). Relative and absolute strength of responses as a function of frequency of reinforcement. ''Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour'', 4, 267–272. * Herrnstein, R.J. (1970). On the law of effect. ''Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior'', 13, 243–266. * Skinner, B.F. (1938). The behavior of organisms: An experimental analysis. , . Behaviorism Quantitative analysis of behavior Reinforcement In Behaviorism, behavioral psychology, reinforcement refers to consequences that increase the likelihood of an organism's future behavior, typically in the presence of a particular ''Antecedent (behavioral psychology), ...
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Stimulus (physiology)
In physiology, a stimulus is a change in a living thing's internal or external environment. This change can be detected by an organism or organ using sensitivity, and leads to a physiological reaction. Sensory receptors can receive stimuli from outside the body, as in touch receptors found in the skin or light receptors in the eye, as well as from inside the body, as in chemoreceptors and mechanoreceptors. When a stimulus is detected by a sensory receptor, it can elicit a reflex via stimulus transduction. An internal stimulus is often the first component of a homeostatic control system. External stimuli are capable of producing systemic responses throughout the body, as in the fight-or-flight response. In order for a stimulus to be detected with high probability, its level of strength must exceed the absolute threshold; if a signal does reach threshold, the information is transmitted to the central nervous system (CNS), where it is integrated and a decision on how to ...
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John Anthony Nevin
John Anthony Nevin (July 5, 1933 – September 23, 2018) was an American psychologist who was a professor of psychology at the University of New Hampshire. Biography Nevin was born July 5, 1933, in New York City. In 1954, he obtained a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Yale University. From 1954-1959, he served in the US Coast Guard. He obtained an M.A. at Columbia University in 1961, and then a Ph.D. in Psychology in 1963; William N. Schoenfeld was his dissertation advisor. From 1963 to 1968, he was Assistant Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College. In 1968, he was appointed Associate Professor of Psychology at Columbia University, and promoted to professor in 1970. He moved to the University of New Hampshire as Professor of Psychology in 1972, retiring in 1995. He remained active as professor emeritus for over 20 years, authoring and co-authoring many articles with colleagues from around the world. In 2015, he published a retrospective summary of his professional ...
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Matching Law
In operant conditioning, the matching law is a quantitative relationship that holds between the relative rates of response and the relative rates of reinforcement in concurrent schedules of reinforcement. For example, if two response alternatives A and B are offered to an organism, the ratio of response rates to A and B equals the ratio of reinforcements yielded by each response.Poling, A., Edwards, T. L., Weeden, M., & Foster, T. (2011). The matching law. ''Psychological Record'', 61(2), 313-322. This law applies fairly well when non-human subjects are exposed to concurrent reinforcement, variable interval schedules (but see below); its applicability in other situations is less clear, depending on the assumptions made and the details of the experimental situation. The generality of applicability of the matching law is subject of current debate. The matching law can be applied to situations involving a single response maintained by a single schedule of reinforcement if one assumes t ...
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Richard Herrnstein
Richard Julius Herrnstein (May 20, 1930 – September 13, 1994) was an American psychologist at Harvard University. He was an active researcher in animal learning in the Skinnerian tradition. Herrnstein was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology until his death, and previously chaired the Harvard Department of Psychology for five years. With political scientist Charles Murray, he co-wrote ''The Bell Curve'', a controversial 1994 book on human intelligence. He was one of the founders of the Society for Quantitative Analysis of Behavior. Early life and education Richard Herrnstein was born on May 20, 1930, in New York City, to a family of Hungarian Jewish immigrants; the son of Flora Irene (née Friedman) and Rezso Herrnstein, a housepainter. He was educated at the High School of Music & Art and the City College of New York, receiving a B.A. from the latter in 1952. In 1955, Herrnstein obtained his Ph.D. at Harvard University, with a thesis titled ''Behavioral Consequences ...
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Pavlovian
Classical conditioning (also respondent conditioning and Pavlovian conditioning) is a behavioral procedure in which a biologically potent stimulus (e.g. food, a puff of air on the eye, a potential rival) is paired with a neutral stimulus (e.g. the sound of a musical triangle). The term ''classical conditioning'' refers to the process of an automatic, conditioned response that is paired with a specific stimulus. It is essentially equivalent to a signal. The Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov studied classical conditioning with detailed experiments with dogs, and published the experimental results in 1897. In the study of digestion, Pavlov observed that the experimental dogs salivated when fed red meat. Pavlovian conditioning is distinct from operant conditioning (instrumental conditioning), through which the strength of a voluntary behavior is modified, either by reinforcement or by punishment. However, classical conditioning can affect operant conditioning; classically conditione ...
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Velocity
Velocity is a measurement of speed in a certain direction of motion. It is a fundamental concept in kinematics, the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of physical objects. Velocity is a vector (geometry), vector Physical quantity, quantity, meaning that both magnitude and direction are needed to define it. The Scalar (physics), scalar absolute value (Magnitude (mathematics), magnitude) of velocity is called , being a coherent derived unit whose quantity is measured in the International System of Units, SI (metric system) as metres per second (m/s or m⋅s−1). For example, "5 metres per second" is a scalar, whereas "5 metres per second east" is a vector. If there is a change in speed, direction or both, then the object is said to be undergoing an ''acceleration''. Definition Average velocity The average velocity of an object over a period of time is its Displacement (geometry), change in position, \Delta s, divided by the duration of the period, \Delt ...
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Mass
Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementary particle, elementary particles, theoretically with the same amount of matter, have nonetheless different masses. Mass in modern physics has multiple Mass in special relativity, definitions which are conceptually distinct, but physically equivalent. Mass can be experimentally defined as a measure (mathematics), measure of the body's inertia, meaning the resistance to acceleration (change of velocity) when a net force is applied. The object's mass also determines the Force, strength of its gravitational attraction to other bodies. The SI base unit of mass is the kilogram (kg). In physics, mass is Mass versus weight, not the same as weight, even though mass is often determined by ...
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Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed. His book (''Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy''), first published in 1687, achieved the Unification of theories in physics#Unification of gravity and astronomy, first great unification in physics and established classical mechanics. Newton also made seminal contributions to optics, and Leibniz–Newton calculus controversy, shares credit with German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz for formulating calculus, infinitesimal calculus, though he developed calculus years before Leibniz. Newton contributed to and refined the scientific method, and his work is considered the most influential in bringing forth modern science. In the , Newton formulated the Newton's laws of motion, laws of motion and Newton's law of universal g ...
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