verbal conditioning

the conditioning of a verbal response (such as the use of a specific word) through reinforcement, usually given in the form of attention or praise. For instance, the experimenter might respond “Okay” whenever the participant uses the pronoun I but does not respond to the use of other pronouns. [introduced in 1955 by U.S. behaviorist Joel Greenspoon (1920–2004)]

Browse dictionary by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Psychology term of the day

February 16th 2025

multiple comparison test

any of various statistical procedures used to follow up on a significant result from an analysis of variance by determining which groups in particular differ in their mean values. Examples include Duncan’s multiple range test, the Fisher least significant difference test, the REGWQ test, the Scheffé test, and Tukey’s honestly significant difference test. See also post hoc comparison.