PSYB45H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Dial Tone, Insomnia, Stimulus Control
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Antecedents stimuli that exist or occur before and set the occasion for particular behaviors. Antecedents lead us to do, think, or feel something. Our behavior happens in a context that includes objects, other people, and internal events, such as feeling hungry, anything in the context that arouses behavior is a stimulus. We can learn to use almost any stimulus as an antecedent for performing or not performing an operant behavior. Antecedents can involve any of our senses. The effects of particular antecedents can differ from one person to the next. Antecedents can be overt, that is open to or directly observable through our senses. Antecedents can be covert, internal and not open to observation. Most antecedents are present shortly before the behavior occurs and are: example: when you hear someone in the building yell (cid:498)fire! (cid:499) and you head toward the exit right away.
