I. Course Information Schedule: Tuesdays/Fridays, 8-9:40 AM Location: Shillman Hall 420 PSYC 3451: Learning Principles and Behavior Analysis II. Instructor Information Instructor: Terri Bright, Ph. D., BCBA-D, CAAB Telephone: 617/842-1182 Email: t.bright@neu.edu Office Hours: Fridays, 3:30-6:30, Room 164 A/B. Please email for an appointment. III. Course Description This course introduces students to the basic concepts and theories of applied behavior analysis as they relate to learning and motivation. Topics include operant and classical conditioning, reinforcement, punishment, extinction, discrimination training, stimulus control, concept formation, and generalization. Throughout the course, students will apply these principles to learning in their own lives, as well as in the lives of other human and non-human animals. IV. Course Objectives Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: 1. Verbalize the history and characteristics of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA); 2. Identify the principles of behavior analysis ; 3. Describe how organisms learn through reinforcement, extinction, and punishment; 4. Apply the principles of behavior analysis to learning through teaching methodologies; 5. Apply the principles of behavior to learning in groups. IV. Required Texts and Readings Miltenberger, R. G. (2012, 2008). Behavior modification: Principles and procedures. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. NB: Fifth edition Additional readings from textbooks and journals will be provided on Blackboard V.Class Format The course consists of interactive lecture, discussion, in-class activities, and quizzes. All students are expected to actively participate during in-class group activities and discussions. As such, students must display easy-to-read name tags during each class. Lectures: Lectures will incorporate active responding (in the form of choral responding), and of assigned reading You should follow along with the slides during lectures, however, test material may not be limited to what is on the slides, so class attendance is strongly recommended. Lectures are interactive; students should be prepared to actively participate and receive immediate feedback 1
There will be 6 cumulative quizzes given throughout the semester; each quiz will be ed during the next class zes will be given out during the 1 st 15 minutes of class and will go until 8:30 am (Please let the instructor know if you have accommodations to start the quiz earlier.) If you must miss a quiz, inform the professor beforehand, as well as the reason for absence. Makeup quizzes are at the discretion of the professor. Each quiz will be comprised of multiple choice and short answer questions There will be a cumulative final for this class composed of material covered in quizzes Attendance and Participation: Students are expected to attend every class and to participate during in-class discussions and group activities, and will be graded as such. Students are also expected to have their names posted in front of them at the start of every class. If you are going to be sick or cannot attend a class due to an emergency please e-mail me prior to the class meeting. Laptops, Tablets, or Cellphones: If you have your laptop or tablet open, it is expected you are using it to take notes, readings, and/or participate in class activities. If you are seen using the laptop or tablet for purposes that do not include classroom activities, you will be asked to put it away for the remainder of the class. A second occurrence of this will result in you being asked to leave class that day and a 0 grade will be given for any missed quiz or assignments. Cellphones are not permitted in the classroom. If there is an emergency and you need to have your cellphone available please notify the instructor prior to class. VI. Grading 80% quizzes 20% final material is cumulative. In other words, on every quiz, there will be questions about material discussed earlier in the semester. The lowest quiz grade will automatically be dropped when calculating your final grade. Policies: This course strictly adheres to the following Northeastern University policies (for any questions refer to your NU student handbook): Incompletes Academic honesty and integrity (http://www.northeastern.edu/osccr/academichonesty.html) Plagiarism Academic Support is available to all students (http://www.advising.neu.ed) Last day to drop class without a W grade is TBA Last day to elect pass/fail for Fall class is TBA This syllabus is subject to change. All changes will be posted on Blackboard, emailed, and/or announced in class. 2
II. Course Outline & Assignments Class Topics Readings Week 1 Fri class 1 9/11 Course Overview; Introductions; Learning Cooper Chapter 1; Miltenberger, Chapter 1 Tues class 2 9/15 Week 2 Behavior Analysis and Science; Pavlov Miltenberger Chapter 8 thru p 150; Spiegler & Guevremont Ch 1 Fri class 3 9/18 Tues class 4 9/22 Week 3 Fri class 5 9/25 Tues class 6 9/29 Week 4 Respondent Conditioning; Phobias and Their Treatment Edward Thorndike, B. F. Skinner, the 3- Term Contingency Cooper Ch 2 Stimulus and Response Classes Jones & Friman, 1999; Friman et al, 1999 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/magazine/aspeck-in-thesea.html?ref=magazine&pagewanted=all&_r=0 Cooper Ch. 2 again Reinforcement, Rulegoverned and Superstitious Behavior Miltenberger ch 4 1 1-3 Fri class 7 10/2 Tues class 8 10/6 Week 5 Motivating operations Miltenberger pp 73-75, 115-116; Cooper pp 261-264; Rispoli et al., 2011 Preference Assessments Fisher et al. 1992; Whitehouse, et al., 2014 Fri class 9 10/9 Punishment Miltenberger Ch. 6 Tues class 10 10/13 Extinction Week 6 Fri class 11 10/16 Miltenberger, Ch. 5, 14 Functional Communication Training, (Carr & Durand) Differential Reinforcement Miltenberger Ch. 15; Lanovaz, et al., 2013 2 1-7 3, 1-10 Tues class 12 10/20 Week 7 Schedules of Reinforcement Cooper Ch. 13 pp 305-314; Effects and Side Effects of DRO (Cowdery et al) Fri class 13 10/23 Shaping Miltenberger Ch. 9; Sokolowski, et al., 2010; Wolf, et al., 1964 3
Tues class 14 10/27 Chaining Miltenberger Ch. 11 Week 8 Fri class 15 10/30 Stimulus Control Miltenberger Ch. 7; Dickenson, et al., 2-15 Tues class 16 11/3 Antecedent Control Miltenberger Ch 16 Week 9 Fri class 17 11/6 Tues class 18 11/10 Week 10 Fri class 19 11/13 Habit Reversal/Self Management Concept Formation/Prompts Miltenberger Ch. 10 Miltenberger Ch 20 & 21, Skinner As Self- Manager, Epstein, 1997 Discrete Trial Training The Discrete Trial Format; Catania et al., 2009 Tues class 20 11/17 Incidental Teaching McGee at al 1985 Week 11 Fri class 21 11/20 Generalization Stokes & Baer 1977 4: class 1-14 5, 1-18 Tues class 22 11/24 FBA/FA humans Miltenberger Ch. 13; Iwata et al. NO CLASS Week 12 11/27 Tues class 23 12/1 FBA/FA non-humans Dorey et al., 2009, Dorey et al,. 2011 Group Contingencies/Verbal Behavior Cooper pp 567-573; Cooper Ch. 25 6, 1-23 Fri class 24 12/4 Week 13 Tues class 25 12/8 Review for Final Fri class 26 12/11 FINAL EXAM FINAL BACB Fouth Edition Task List Items Covered: FK-01 FK-02 FK-03 FK-04 FK-05 FK-06 FK-07 FK-08 FK-09 FK-10 FK-11 Explain and Behave in Accordance with the Philosophical Assumptions of Behavior Analysis Lawfulness of behavior Selectionism (phylogenic, ontogenic, cultural) Determinism Empiricism Parsimony Pragmatism Environmental (as opposed to mentalistic) explanations of behavior. Distinguish between radical and methodological behaviorism. Distinguish between the conceptual analysis of behavior, experimental analysis of behavior, applied behavior analysis, and behavioral service delivery. Define and Provide Examples of: Behavior, response, response class Environment, stimulus, stimulus class 4
FK-12 FK-13 FK-14 FK-15 FK-16 FK-17 FK-18 FK-19 FK-20 FK-21 FK-22 FK-23 FK-24 FK-25 FK-26 FK-27 FK-28 FK-29 FK-30 FK-31 FK-32 FK-33 FK-34 FK-35 FK-36 FK-37 FK-38 FK-39 FK-40 FK-41 FK-42 FK-43 FK-44 FK-45 FK-46 FK-47 FK-48 PSYC 3451: Learning Principles and Behavior Analysis Stimulus equivalence Reflexive relations (US-UR) Respondent conditioning (CS-CR) Operant conditioning Respondent-operant interactions Unconditioned reinforcement Conditioned reinforcement Unconditioned punishment Conditioned punishment Schedules of reinforcement and punishment Extinction Automatic reinforcement and punishment Stimulus control Multiple functions of a single stimulus Unconditioned motivating operations Conditioned motivating operations Transitive, reflexive, surrogate motivating operations Distinguish between the discriminative stimulus and the motivating operation Distinguish between motivating operation and reinforcement effects Behavioral contingencies Contiguity Functional relations Conditional discriminations Stimulus discrimination Response generalization Stimulus generalization Behavioral contrast Behavioral momentum Matching law Contingency-shaped behavior Rule-governed behavior Distinguish between the Verbal Operants Echoics Mands Tacts Intraverbals Measurement Concepts Identify the measurable dimensions of behavior (e.g., rate, duration, latency, interresponse time). State the advantages and disadvantages of using continuous measurement procedures and discontinuous measurement procedures (e.g., partial- and whole-interval recording, momentary time sampling). BACB Course Content Requirements BACB Content Areas and Requirements Course Totals Content Area Task List Items Total Hours Needed PSYC 3451: Learning Principles and Behavior Analysis Total Hours Allocated Ethical and Professional Conduct GRC 15 15 5
Concepts and Principles of Behavior FK 45 40 45 Analysis Measurement (including Data Analysis) A & H 10 10 Experimental Design B 5 5 Identification of the Problem and Assessment Fundamental Elements of BC & Specific BC Procedures Intervention & Behavior Change Considerations I & G 30 30 D & E 45 45 C & J 5 5 Behavior Change Systems F 5 5 Implementation, Management, & Supervision K 5 5 Discretionary DISC 15 5 15 180 45 180 6