Concepts and Principles of Behavior Analysis
The core vocabulary
Every other domain rests on this one. A response is a specific instance of behavior; a response class is a set of responses that produce the same effect on the environment. Reinforcement increases the future frequency of a response class; punishment decreases it. Both are defined by their effect, never by how they feel to the learner. Positive means a stimulus is added; negative means one is removed. Watch for the classic trap: a question describes a reprimand that reduces behavior and labels it "positive reinforcement" because something was added. Addition alone is not enough; the effect must be an increase.
Contingencies and stimulus control
Know the three-term contingency: antecedent, behavior, consequence. Discriminative stimuli signal that reinforcement is available; S-delta signals extinction. Motivating operations alter the value of a consequence and the momentary frequency of behavior; establishing operations increase value, abolishing operations decrease it. Distinguish respondent (elicited, reflexive) from operant (emitted, selected by consequences) behavior, and remember extinction may produce an extinction burst before behavior declines.
Schedules and derived relations
Fixed schedules produce post-reinforcement pauses; variable schedules produce steady rates. Ratio schedules generally yield higher rates than interval schedules. Stimulus generalization and response generalization are distinct from discrimination training. Higher-order concepts include rule-governed behavior, mands and tacts, and relational frame accounts of derived responding.
Rule of thumb
Before answering, ask two questions: did the behavior increase or decrease, and was a stimulus added or removed? Name the contingency from those two answers, not from the story's emotional tone.
Worked example
A teacher stops giving attention to a student's calling out, and calling out eventually drops. Attention was removed (negative) and behavior decreased (punishment), so this is negative punishment by attention withdrawal, not extinction, because extinction requires that the behavior previously produced that reinforcer and now produces it no longer-a subtle distinction examiners test directly.