Deck 10: Changing the Stimulus Control of a Behavior With Fading

Question 1

Why is establishing a stimulus discrimination without errors advantageous?

Answer 1

(a)Errors consume valuable time; (b)If an error occurs once, it tends to occur many times even though it is being extinguished; (c)The absence of reinforcement when errors are being extinguished often produces emotional side effects (e.g., tantrums, aggressive behavior)and/or attempts to escape from the situation.

Question 2

Define errorless discrimination training.

Answer 2

Errorless discrimination training (errorless learning)is the use of a fading procedure to establish a stimulus discrimination so that no errors occur.

Question 3

Give an example from this chapter in which the general training situation was faded.

Answer 3

Any appropriate example, such as teaching children appropriate "classroom" behavior.The physical characteristics of the classroom (the number and location of desks and chairs and students, etc.)were gradually changed.

Question 4

Which of the prompt-removal procedures fit the definition of fading given at the beginning of this chapter, and which do not? Explain.

Question 5

Define within-stimulus prompt, and give an example that is not from this chapter. Does your example involve a teacher-behavior prompt or an environmental prompt?

Question 6

What is meant by a dimension of a stimulus? Give an example.

Question 7

Define environmental prompt, and give an example that is not from this chapter.[

Question 8

What do we mean by starting stimulus? Give an example.

Question 9

Give an example from this chapter in which the training situation remained constant but a specific stimulus dimension was faded.

Question 10

How many reinforced trials should occur at any given fading step before the stimuli of that particular step are changed? (Hint: What suggestions were made in the examples in this chapter?)

Question 11

Describe how one might use fading to teach a pet to perform a trick.

Question 12

Assume that you have an 18-month-old child who imitates the word chip.Describe in detail how you might use fading to teach your child to correctly identify a chip (e.g., a potato chip)when you point to it and ask, "What's that?"

Question 13

Define the four major categories of teacher-behavior prompts.
Give an example of each.

Question 14

Define fading , and give an example of it.

Question 15

Define extra-stimulus prompt, [and give an example that is not from this chapter. Does your example involve a teacher-behavior prompt or an environmental prompt?

Question 16

Identify three stimulus dimensions along which fading occurred in the examples cited in the first two sections of this chapter.

Question 17

Distinguish between fading and shaping.

Question 18

What do we mean by final target stimulus? Give an example.

Question 19

Define prompt. Give an example that is not from this chapter.