Behaviour Modification — Applications Study Notes
Behaviour Modification
Applications — Units 2 & 3
Skill Enhancement Course | Psychology Major | Semester 3
UNIT 2: Applications of Conditioning Theories &
Cognitive Perspectives
A. Punishment
Positive Punishment (Adding something aversive)
• A student who asks the teacher for help is given extra remedial work → stops asking for help.
• A mother shows disapproval every time a child eats house plants → child stops the behaviour.
• Overcorrection for an autistic/hyperactive child who pounds objects — child is guided through
a series of correct arm movements as positive practice.
• A child who marks on the wall is made to erase the marks AND wash the entire wall
(restitutional overcorrection).
• A child who overturns chairs must set them up and straighten all remaining furniture.
Negative Punishment (Removing something desirable)
• A person stuttering causes the TV to turn off → stuttering decreases (response cost).
• Fining tokens for using wrong words in a token system.
• Misbehaving child sent to a screened-off corner for 10 minutes, losing the chance to earn
tokens (time out).
• Sending a child to a non-reinforcing time out area at home — not the child's bedroom, as it is
filled with reinforcers.
Reactions to Punishment (Key Applications)
• Children may develop fear of parents; students may develop school phobia — punishment
conditions fear to the punishing person or setting.
• Workers become less cooperative with supervisors who use frequent punishment.
• Punishing a child's fear (e.g., fear of the dark) may actually increase the fear.
• Punishing agents model aggression — children imitate and learn to hit others when angry.
• Punishment must always be paired with reinforcement of alternative, desirable behaviours.
B. Reinforcement
Positive Reinforcement (Adding something desirable)
• A manager praises workers for submitting reports on time → dramatic increase in punctuality.
• Teacher gives longer recess, field trips, or time in a reward area for completing academic
tasks.
• In businesses: bonuses, recognition, extra privileges, participation in decision-making used to
increase desired work behaviours.
• Praising a child immediately after sharing with a friend → increases sharing behaviour.
• Self-reinforcement: buying yourself a treat or saying 'That was good work' after achieving a
goal.
Negative Reinforcement (Removing something aversive)
• A person uses relaxation skills to reduce anxiety → relief from anxiety reinforces continued
use of relaxation.
• A person leaves a drunk neighbour's house (escape conditioning) → relief reinforces leaving.
• A person learns to avoid going to the neighbour's house altogether (avoidance conditioning).
• Politicians avoid controversial issues to avoid voter anger → avoidance is reinforced by
absence of negative consequences.
C. Schedules of Reinforcement
• Teaching a child to complete homework: reward every instance initially (continuous) → then
reward occasionally (intermittent) to maintain the behaviour long-term.
• A teacher rewards a student for every correct answer during initial learning, then switches to
occasional rewards once the skill is established.
• Gradually introducing longer delays between behaviour and reward prepares clients for real-
world conditions where rewards are not always immediate.
• Token systems solve the delay problem — tokens given immediately after behaviour are
reinforcing even though the actual reward comes later.
D. Respondent Conditioning
Extinction
• A child afraid of water at the beach is gradually brought closer — first playing 20 feet away,
then 10 feet, then touching the edge, then putting feet in.
• Flooding: A child afraid of water is carried directly into the water until fear extinguishes.
• People confronting everyday anxiety situations (talking to a boss, making a presentation)
without anything bad happening → anxiety gradually extinguishes.
Counterconditioning
• Spider phobia treated by pairing relaxation with spider-related stimuli through a hierarchy:
word 'spider' → picture of spider → touching a live spider.
• Systematic Desensitisation: Spider anxiety treated by pairing relaxation responses with
progressively more anxiety-provoking stimuli.
• Aversive Counterconditioning: Used in alcoholism — sight of a bar paired with an aversive
image to reduce craving; similarly applied to drug addiction and overeating.
• The taste of a cigarette leading to another is treated by conditioning an unpleasant response
to smoking stimuli.
E. Cognitive Perspectives on Behaviour Modification
Self-Instructional Training (Meichenbaum, 1977)
• An obese child identifies self-talk like 'just one more bite' and replaces it with 'I've had enough,
I can stop now' → controls unhealthy eating.
• A student with test anxiety replaces 'I'm going to fail' with 'I can take this one question at a
time' → reduces anxiety before exams.
• Applied to addiction, compulsive behaviours, fear, and anxiety disorders.
Stress Inoculation Training — SIT (Meichenbaum, 1985)
• Phase 1 — Conceptual: Educating a client about how certain thinking patterns cause stress;
identifying what can and cannot be changed.
• Phase 2 — Skills Acquisition: Training a client in relaxation, cognitive restructuring, problem
solving, and communication skills tailored to their needs.
• Phase 3 — Application: Client applies skills in real life through visualisation, role play, and
simulated situations; followed up to assess effectiveness.
• Preparing a person for an upcoming job interview, public speech, or exam — builds coping
skills in advance.
• Treatment of phobias, fear of heights, and chronic anger problems.
• Used as both a treatment and preventive measure for high-stress occupations.
Self-Management Technique
Environmental Strategies:
• A person who smokes avoids situations associated with smoking and removes ashtrays from
their environment.
• Changing the social group one spends time with to avoid peer pressure for undesirable
behaviour.
• Changing the time of day for a desirable behaviour to when one is most productive.
Behavioural Strategies:
• A student who rarely studies schedules a specific study time and places visual reminders
about goals around the room.
• Writing a behavioural contract limiting TV viewing hours and rewarding oneself for
compliance.
• Asking others to work toward the same goal for increased social support.
Cognitive Strategies:
• A person with chronic anger substitutes 'I'm going to lose it' with 'I can stay calm and handle
this.'
• A person with diabetes uses self-monitoring to track diet and self-reinforcement for healthy
eating.
• Imagining oneself successfully achieving a goal to build motivation.
• Applied to: gambling, eating disorders, obesity, anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, shyness,
poor study habits.
Problem-Solving Technique
• Problem Definition: A student struggling with peer conflict states the problem specifically — 'I
feel excluded during group work because my ideas are ignored.'
• Problem Analysis: Examines the conflict from both sides — own perspective and peer's
perspective.
• Goal Setting: Establishes goal — 'I want to contribute to the group and feel heard.'
• Generation of Alternatives: Brainstorms all solutions without judging them — speaking up
more, talking to a teacher, changing group roles.
• Decision Making: Evaluates pros and cons of each alternative and chooses the most workable
one.
• Implementation and Verification: Applies the solution and checks if peer conflict reduced. If
not, the cycle restarts.
• Applied to work stress, family conflicts, academic difficulties — client plays an active role
throughout.
UNIT 3: Applications of Techniques in Family, School &
Workplace
A. Token Economy
In Mental Health
• Institutionalised patients with chronic mental illness earn tokens for daily living skills, social
behaviour, and work tasks — exchanged for privileges and desired items.
• Widely used in psychiatric wards to motivate patients who would otherwise be disengaged.
• Developed by Ayllon and Azrin (1968) — still widely used across treatment settings today.
In School
• Students earn check marks on clipboards for appropriate behaviour and academic
accomplishment — cashed in for rewards like recess, field trips, or free activity time.
• Teacher walks around dispensing tokens without disrupting students' work.
• Tokens motivate students throughout the day even though rewards come later — solving the
delay of reinforcement problem.
• Large reinforcement menus prevent satiation — students can always find something they
want.
In Home/Family
• Child earns tokens daily — spends some on small daily rewards (staying up 30 extra minutes)
and saves for a larger reward (new toy) at the weekend.
• Maintains consistent daily behaviour while building toward longer-term goals.
In Workplace
• Recognition, bonuses, extra privileges, and flexible hours function as token-like reinforcers for
meeting performance targets.
• Results in increased productivity, profits, and job satisfaction.
B. Contingency Contracting
In School
• Teacher and students negotiate a contract — students agree to bring supplies, follow rules,
and submit homework; in return they earn specific rewards.
• Results in fewer behaviour problems, students finishing work faster, and students enjoying the
classroom more.
• Frees teachers from disciplining so they can focus on actual teaching.
In Family
• Parents and children negotiate household rules and rewards → child understands exactly
what is expected, reducing conflict and tantrums.
• Used in marriage counseling to establish clear, mutually satisfying reciprocity between
partners — each partner's responsibilities and rewards are explicitly agreed upon.
In Workplace
• Supervisors and workers establish clear performance-reward contracts → prevents feelings of
favoritism and powerlessness.
• Inconsistent management causes low morale and learned helplessness; contracting makes
contingencies transparent and consistent.
• If one party fulfils their part of the contract, the other must fulfil theirs — enforces mutual
accountability.
C. Shaping
In Family
• Teaching a child to speak — reinforcing approximations of correct sounds, guiding lip
movements, gradually shaping clearer pronunciation.
• Shaping bedtime compliance — reinforcing each small step (going to room, putting on
pyjamas, lying down) rather than demanding the full routine at once.
• Shaping a child's table manners one behaviour at a time.
In School
• Teaching a socially withdrawn child to participate — first reinforce sitting near the group, then
eye contact, then one-word responses, then full participation.
• Building longer study/attention spans — starting at short durations and gradually increasing.
• Teaching children with developmental disabilities new functional skills step by step.
• Combined with modelling: client watches a recorded session where a model is reinforced for
certain statements, then the client is reinforced for the same statements — used to increase
career information-seeking in high school students.
In Workplace/Clinical
• Teaching a catatonic patient who hasn't spoken in years to speak — reinforce any vocalisation
first, then approximate words, then full sentences.
• Teaching new employees complex job skills by breaking them into small sequential steps and
reinforcing each one.
D. Premack Principle
High-probability (preferred) behaviour is used as a reinforcer for low-probability (less preferred)
behaviour. In simple terms: do what you must, then do what you want.
In Family
• 'Finish your vegetables, then you can have dessert.'
• 'Complete your homework, then you can play video games.'
• 'Clean your room, then you can watch TV.'
• Used by parents to motivate children for less preferred tasks using preferred activities as
natural reinforcers.
In School
• 'Complete your math worksheet, then you get free reading or art time.'
• 'Finish your assigned classwork, then you can spend time in the reward area.'
• Teachers structure the school day so preferred subjects or activities follow less preferred
ones.
In Workplace
• 'Complete the monthly report, then you can work on your preferred project.'
• Flexible hours or preferred task assignments given after completion of mandatory but less
enjoyed responsibilities.
• Managers allow employees to engage in preferred work activities as a reward for completing
routine tasks.
E. Overall Applications in Family
• Bedwetting (enuresis): Respondent conditioning using a bell-and-pad method.
• Temper tantrums: Extinction — ignoring the tantrum completely so it is no longer reinforced by
attention.
• Noncompliance: Contingency contracting between parent and child with clear rules and
rewards.
• Aggressive behaviour in children: Time out, response cost, overcorrection; always paired with
reinforcing non-aggressive alternative behaviours.
• Nail-biting, stuttering: Habit reversal, negative practice, response cost.
• Excessive TV/screen time: Self-management contract, stimulus control (TV only in specific
room at specific times), Premack principle.
• Parent training: Parents taught shaping, token economies, contingency contracting, and
consistent positive reinforcement to manage child behaviour effectively.
F. Overall Applications in School
• Reducing classroom misbehaviour: Time out, response cost, extinction of attention-seeking
behaviour, contingency contracts.
• Improving study habits: Stimulus control — dedicated study desk used only for studying,
distracting stimuli removed, studying at consistent times.
• Increasing academic output: Token economies, contingency contracting, Premack principle
(free time after work completion).
• Teaching new skills to children with disabilities: Shaping, modelling, fading, guidance.
• Test anxiety: Self-instructional training — replacing anxious self-talk with calm, constructive
statements.
• Social skills training: Modelling by teacher (praising one student publicly → others imitate),
role play, reinforcement.
• Reducing absenteeism: Positive reinforcement for attendance, contingency contracts with
attendance-related rewards.
G. Overall Applications in Workplace
• Increasing productivity: Positive reinforcement through recognition, praise, and bonuses for
meeting targets.
• Reducing tardiness and absenteeism: Response cost for repeated lateness; positive
reinforcement for consistent punctuality.
• Improving job safety: Behavioural contracts specifying safety behaviours and consequences
for violations.
• Supervisor training: Behaviour modification applied to supervisors' own behaviours —
reducing overcritical behaviour, increasing positive feedback to subordinates.
• Organisational self-management: Employees use self-monitoring, self-instruction, and self-
reinforcement to improve time management and productivity.
• Stress at work: Stress Inoculation Training used for employees in high-pressure roles —
builds coping skills before burnout occurs.
• New employee training: Shaping and modelling used to teach complex job skills gradually and
effectively.
Psychology Major | Semester 3 | CCF 2022