Observing Respose Design and Observing Behavior

The expression observing responses was created by Wyckoff (1952) to indicate re - sponses that produce discriminative stimuli for other responses. The analysis of these respons - es clarifies how discrimination occurs in situations that the exposure to environmental events that may become discriminative stimuli is not assured a priori. Wyckoff 's studies enabled the extension of theories of discrimination based on the action of the environment on individuals to such cases. Subsequently, the design used by the author, known as observing response design, was largely used in research on the origin of the conditioned reinforcer stimulus function. The design requirements cannot be confused with the observing behavior itself, otherwise preclud- ing studies on the installation of behavior observation in practical situations.