A behavioral cusp is a behavior change that brings a person's or animal's behavior into contact with new contingencies carrying far-reaching consequences, giving the learner access to new reinforcers, new contingencies, new environments and new related behaviors. The concept was first developed by psychologist Sidney W. Bijou, and its modern formulation was set out by Jesus Rosales-Ruiz and Donald Baer in 1997, who defined behavioral cusps as significant behavioral changes that affect a person's subsequent behavioral development. The concept offers developmental psychology a behavioral account of significant change that is distinct from ordinary maturation or developmental milestones attributed simply to the passage of time.
Facts
Core ClaimA behavioral cusp is any behavior change that brings an organism's behavior into contact with new contingencies that have far-reaching consequences. 2 Classification
Education Level FAQs
Are crawling and reading examples of behavioral cusps?
Yes, the 1997 paper names both crawling and fluent reading as cusps, depending on what matters to the child.
Yes, in the 1997 paper by Jesus Rosales-Ruiz and Donald Baer, crawling is a cusp for a baby if walking, safety and the next direction of socialization are important for that baby at that time, and accurate, fluent reading is a cusp if reading matters to the child or the child's future. In their account, what makes a behavior change a cusp is that it exposes the individual's repertoire to new environments, especially new reinforcers and punishers, new contingencies, new responses, new stimulus controls, and new communities of maintaining or destructive contingencies. The authors add that this argument does not deny the many small, sequential skills that lead up to crawling.
Connections
Developed By
Source Behavioral cusp (Wikipedia)
In Approach
Source Behavioral cusp (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Behavioral Cusp (Wikipedia)
any behavior change that brings an organism's behavior into contact with new contingencies that have far-reaching consequencesView the Source 2. Behavioral cusp (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead paragraph, first sentence
A behavioral cusp is any behavior change that brings an organism's behavior into contact with new contingencies that have far-reaching consequences.
History section, second paragraph
A behavioral cusp as conceptualized by Jesus Rosales-Ruiz and Donald Baer in 1997 is an important behavior change that affects future behavior changes.
In Approach: Behaviourism, Lead paragraph
A behavioral cusp is any behavior change that brings an organism's behavior into contact with new contingencies that have far-reaching consequences.
Developed By: Sidney W. Bijou, Body
The concept was first proposed by Sidney W. Bijou, an American developmental psychologist.
In Group: Conditioning and Behavior Analysis Theories, Lead
A behavioral cusp is any behavior change that brings an organism's behavior into contact with new contingencies that have far-reaching consequences.
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