COUN 345 - Behaviour Modification

Behavior: behavior involves action.

Examples of behavior are typing on the computer, running, cooking etc.

Characteristics of behavior

1. Behavior is measurable. It can be measured in terms of its frequency of

occurrence, duration of occurrence and its intensity (force involved).

Hence behavior can be observed, described and recorded by self or others.

1. Bchavior has impact on the physical or social environment(it invoves

movement thro space and time)

2. Behavior is lawful. Behavior is a function of the environmental events ie

certain environmental events influence occurrence of a behavior.

3. Behavior can be overt or covert.

Overt; can be observed and recorded.

Covert: not observable and therefore may not be recorded directly. eg thinking is not
observable by others but only by the person involved.

Behavior Modification

Behavior modification is concerned with analyzing and modifying human behavior.

Analyzing: Identifying the functional relationship between the environment and a

particular behavior so as to understand the reasons for behavior.

Modifying: Developing and implementing procedures to help individuals change their

behaviours. This involves altering environmental events so as to influence behavior.
Behavior modification procedures help an individual change socially significant
behaviour so as to improve some aspects of a person’s life. It aims to change behavioral
excesses or behavioral deficits.

A behavioral excess is an undesirable target behavior the person wants to decrease in

frequency, duration or intensity. Example smoking is a behavioral excess.

A behavioral deficit is a desirable target behavior that a person wants to increase in

frequency ,duration or intensity eg exercising, studying etc.

pg. 1
CHARACTERISTICS OF BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION

1. It is based on behavioral principles

2. Emphasises on current environmental events
3. It deals with precise description of procedures.
4. Deals with measurement of behavior change.
5. They emphasizes past events as causes of behavior.
6. Rejects underlying causes of behavior.

HISTORICAL ROOTS OF BCHAVIOR MODIFICATION.

The key figures who made immense contribution in the field of behavior modification
are4 Pavlov: Pairing a conditioned stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to
produce a behavior change.

Edward Thorndike: A behavior that produces a favourable effect on the environment

is likely to be repeated in future.

B.F Skinner: Consequence of behavior influences its occurrence in future.

J.B Watson: All behavior is controlled by environmental events.

AREAS OF APPLICATION OF BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.

Behavior modification has been used in a wide variety of settings such as:

1. Developmental disabilities

B.M is used to help p-ple with serious behavioral deficits to learn functional skills to
overcone their [Link] is also used to help pple with developmental challenges to
control or eliminate self injurious behaviors ,aggressive and destructive behaviors.

2. Mental illnesses

BM has been used in institutional settings on patients with mental illnesses to modify
behaviors such as daily life skills, social behavior, aggressive behavior, treatment
compliance, psychotic behaviors, work skills etc.

3. Education and special Education

BM has been used to improve student-teacher interaction in classroom setting (eg),

teaching Methods and to develop procedures for reducing problem behaviors in the
classrooms.

pg. 2
In special education, BM has played a key role in developing teaching methods,
controlling problem behaviors, improving social behaviors and skills and promoting
self management.

4. Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation is the process of helping individuals regain normal function after an

injury or trauma. BM is used to promote compliance during physical therapy, to teach
new skills, to decrease problem behaviors, to help manage chronic pain and to improve
memory.

5. Community Psychology

BM can be used to influence behaviors such as reducing littering, increasing recycling,

reducing energy consumption, reducing illegal drug use, reducing unsafe driving.
Reducing over speeding etc.

6. Business, Industry and Human Services

The application of behavior modification in organizations is known as organizational

behavior [Link] has been used to improve work performance, job safety,
absenteeism etc, resulting in increased productivity, profits and job satisfaction.

7. Self Management

BM procedures have been used by individuals to manage their personal habits, health
related Behaviors, professional behaviors and personal problems.

8. Child Management

Teachers and parents have used BM procedures to manage child behaviors such as bed
wetting, nail biting, improve academic performance, to reduce aggressive behaviors etc
(Learners to mention some of the ways parents and teachers used to control or change
children’s behavior at home or in school.)

9. Sports Psychology

BM procedures have been used to improve athletic performance during practice and in
competition.

pg. 3
OBSERVING AND RECORDING BEHAVIOR

Measuring of behavior that is targeted for change is one of the key aspects of behavior
modification. Measuring of their target behavior is called behavioral assessment.

Importance of behavioral assessment

1. Measuring the target behavior before assessment provides information that can
help determine whether treatment is necessary.
2. It can provide information that would help one in choosing the best treatment.
3. Measuring the target behavior before and after would help to determine
whether the behavior changed as a result of the treatment.

There are two types of behavioral assessments. These are direct and indirect
assessements.

Direct assessment

In direct assessment. A person observes and records the target behavior as it occurs.
The observer may use a video camera in close proximity to the person exhibiting the
behavior so that the target behavior can be seen or heard. The observer must also have
a precise definition of the target behavior so that it can be recorded cach time it occurs.
Example of direct assessment is when a psychologist records the number of times a
student interacts with others in the field.

Indirect assessment

Indirect assessment uses interviews, questionnaires and rating scales to obtain

information on the target behavior from the person exhibiting the behavior or others.
Example of indirect assessment is when a psychologist asks the teacher the number of
times a student interacts in class.

Direct assessment is usually more reliable that indirect assessment. In direct assessment,
the observe is trained to observe the target behavior and record ot immediately it occurs.
In indirect assessment the information given on the target behavior depends on peoples
memories/biases. The observer may also not be competent in identifying and recording
the target behavior when it occurs.

BASIC BEHAVIORAL PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES

The basic behavioral principles used in behavior modification are;

1. Reinforcement
2. Extinction

pg. 4
 3. Punishment
4. Stimulus Control
5. Respondent conditioning

Reinforcement

Reinforcement is defined as.

1. The occurrence of a particular behavior

2. followed by an immediate consequence
3. results in the strengthening of the behavior

The person is more likely to engage in the behavior in the [Link] can say a behavior
is strengthened when there is:

i. an increase in the frequency

ii. duration
iii. intensity or speed

A behavior that is strengthened through reinforcement is known as an operant

[Link] operant behavior acts on the environment to produce a consequence and
as a result is likely to occur in the future due to is immediate camsequence. The
consequence that strengthens an operant behavior is known as a reinforcer. For
example, when a child answers a question well in class and the tescher praises him or
her, the student is likely to continue answering more questions in the class. The praise
is the reinforcer.

There are two types of reinforcement: positive and negative reinforcement.

Positive reinforcement

It is defined as:

1. the occurence of a behavior

2. the behavior is followed by the addition of a stimulus (reinforcer) or an
increase in the intennty of a stimulus
3. the results in the strengthening of the behaviour

Negative reinforcement is defined as;

i. the occurrence of a behaviour

ii. followed by the removal of a stimmlus (an aversive stimulus or change in
intensity of a stimulus)
iii. results in the strengthening of the behavior

pg. 5
Both positive and negative reinforcement increase the probability of occurence of a
behavior.

A stimulus is an object of event that can be detected through one of the senses and has
the potential to influence the person. In positive reinforcement, the stimulus that is
presented or appears after the behavior has occurred is called a positive reinforcer. A
positive reinforcer is usually something that is pleasant, desirable or valuable that a
person will try to get.

Examples are use of a praise, giving a gift, giving someone attention etc.

In negative reinforcement, the stimulus that is removed or avoided after the behaviour
is called an aversive stimulus. An aversive stimulus is often seen as something
unplensant, painful or annoying and a person will try to get away from ir or avoid it.

Examples are pain, shock.

There is a difference between a positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. In

positive reinforcement, a response produces a stimulus (positive reinforcer) whereas in
negative reinforcement, a response removes an aversive stimulus.

Example of a negative reinforcement: A two year old child has a tantrum in the
grocery store when his mother when he demands candy and his mother says no. His
mother eventually buys him the candy and he stops his tantrum. As a result, the
mother is more likely to give him candy when he demands it and has a tantrum. The
child is also likely to have tantrums in the grocery store because it results in receiving
candy from his mother.

In the above example, the mother’s behavior of buying her child the candy results in
termination of the child’s tantrum (an aversive stimulus) as a result, the mother is more
likely to buy her child candy when he tantrums in a store. This is an example of a
negative reinforcement. At the same time, when the child tantrums, he gets candy
(positive reinforcer); and ts more likely to tantrum in the grocery store. This is an
example of positive reinforcement.

Escape and avoidant behaviors are examples of negative reinforcement. In escape, the
occurrence of a behavior results in termination of aversive stimulus that was presented
when the behavior occurred. In avoidance, the occurrence of the behavior prevents the
aversive stimulus by engaging in a particular behavior and the behavior is strengthened.

pg. 6
CONDITIONED AND UNCONDITIONED REINFORCERS

Natural reinforcers such as food, water, sexual stimulation, escape from painful or
extreme levels of stimulation are examples of Unconditioned reinforcers. They
function as reinforcers, the first are because they serve the biological or survival value
to an organism. No previous experience with these stimuli is required for them to
function as reinforcers.

Unconditioned reinforcers are also known as primary reinforcers.

A conditioned reinforcer is a stimulus that was once neutral but became a reinforcer as
a result of pairing it with an already established conditioned reinforcer. For example: a
parent’s attention to a child is a conditioned reinforcer because attention is paired with
delivery of food, warmth and other reinforcers. Money is an example of the most
common conditioned reinforcer. It is a conditioned reinforcer as it can buy a wide
variety of unconditioned and conditioned reinforcers.

When a conditioned reinforcer can be paired with a variety of other reinforcers it

becomes a generalized conditioned reinforcers. Money, praise etc are good examples of
generalized conditioned reinforcers.

Factors influencing the effectiveness of a reinforcement.

Effectiveness of reinforcement is influenced by a number of factors such as:

1. The reinforcer immediacy

The time between occurrence of a behavior and the reinforcing consequence (reinforcer)
is very important. For a consequence to act as a reinforcer, it should occur immediately
after the [Link] longer the time between behavior occurrence and the reinforcer,
the less effective the consequence will be because the connection between the two is
weakened.

For example if you are training a dog to sit on command, if you give the treat
ummedisately the dog sits down, the sitting down behavior is likely to be reinforced.

2. Contigency

When a behavior must occur before a reinforcer is presented, we say that the reinforcer
is contigent on that behavior. For example, every time you turn a car key on the car
starts. The behavior of turning the key is contigent on the engine starting. A behavior is
likely to be strengthened any time a reinforcer is contigent on the behavior.

pg. 7
 3. Motivating operations.

There are two types of motivating operations. These are; deprivation and Satiation.

Deprivation:

4. Magnitude of the reinforcer

Generally, the effectiveness of reinforcer is greater if the amount or magnitude of the

stimulus is great. A larger positive or negative reinforcer strengthens the behavior and
produces it to a greater extent than a smaller amount of the same reinforcer. For
example, a person would work longer and harder for a larger amount of money than for
a small amount. In negative reinforcement, termination of a more intense aversive
stimulus strengthens the behavior that terminates it more than termination of a lower
magnitude of the same stimulus would. Eg: a person would a lot harder to escape from
burning house than from a scorching sun.

5. Instructions: Make use of rules

Instructions are specific guidelines that indicate the specific behavior will pay off in
particular situations. For example: if your instructor suggests a rule that “you will
receive an A if you learn the answers to all the questions in a book in a particular
course”. Instructions facilitate behaviour change as they may speed up the learning
process for individuals may influence an individual to work for delayed reinforcement.
Further, instructions may teach individuals to follow instructions for example; in cases
of young children or those with developmental challenges.

SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT

The schedule of reinforcement for a particular behaviour specifies whether every

response is followed by a reinforcer or only some responses are followed by a
reinforcer. There are two types of schedules of reinforcement. These are;

1. Continous Reinforcement Schedule

2. Intermittent Renforcement Schedule

In a continuous reinforcement schedule (CRS), each occurrence of a response is

reinforced.

In an Intermittent reinforcement schedule (IRS), each occurrence of the response is

not followed reinforcement.

pg. 8
Example of (CRS): Maria is hired by a furniture company to do the job of screwing
knobs on cabinet doors. The first day on the job, the supervisor watched Maria do the
job. Each time she screwed the knobs well, the supervisor praised her of CRS.

Example of (IRS): After Maria’s first few hours on the job, the supervisor left and came
beck occasionally, watched Maria screw the knobs on the door and praised her when
she did her job well. In this example, Maria’s behavior of putting knobs correctly on
the doors was reinforced only sometimes. The supervisor used an intermittent
reinforcement schedule.

A CRF schedule is used when a person is learning or engaging in a behavior for the first
time. This is called acquisition. Once a person has acquired or learned the behavior, an
intermittent reinforcement schedule is used so that the person continues to engage in
the behavior. This is called maintainance. Hence, a behavior is maintained over time by
the use of an Intermittent Reinforcement Schedule (IRS).

PRINCIPLE TWO: EXTINCTION

Reinforcement is responsible for the acquisition and maintainance of operant behavior.

On the other hand, extinction is a process which weakens operant behavior.

Example:

Each time Kamau gets home, he uses the emergency exit at the back of the apartment
because that door is close to the apartment and that saves him a lot of walking. The
apartment manager does not want people to use the back door except in emergencies,
so he installs a new lock on the door. When Kamau comes in the evening he tries to
open the door but it does not open. He turns the knob even harder but the door doesn’t
open. A week later, Kamau passes by and tries to open the door but it doesn’t open.
Finally Kamau quits trying to use the emergency door.

The above example illustrates the basic principle of extinction. In the example, a
behavior which had been reinforced for a long period was no longer being reinforced.
Therefore the behaviour stopped occurring. Kamau’s behavior of turning the door knob
and opening the emergency door was reinforced by entering his apartment at a point
closer to the apartment this behavior was reinforced on a continuous reinforcement
schedule. Once the reinforcement stopped, Kamau stopped engaging in the behavior of
using the emergency door.

Hence, extinction occurs when;

1. A behavior that has been previously reinforced.

pg. 9
 2. The behavior no longer results in the reinforcing consequences
3. Therefore the behavior stops occurring in the future.

When a behavior stops occurring because it is no longer being reinforced, we say the
behavior has undergone extinction or it has been extinguished.

In the Skinner’s experiment, when the pigeon no longer received food as a reinforcer.
The pigeon’s key pecking behavior stopped. When the laboratory rats no longer
received food pallets, their lever pressing behavior decreased and finally stopped.

The principle of extinction is also used with human behaviors. For example, a child
who throws tantrums at the grocery shop because the mothers has refused to buy candy,
was being reinforced by the mother finally buying the candy. The child could be helped
to decrease the tantrums through extinction by the mother refusing to buy the candy
when the child engaged in the tantrum behavior at the grocery store. The tantrums would
gradually decrease and finally disappear.

Extinction outburst

One characteristic of extinction is that once a behavior is not reinforced, it increases

briefly in intensity, duration or frequency before it decreases and and eventually stops.

For example:

1. When Kamau found the apartment emergency door closed, he he tumed the door
handle and pulled harder on the doorknob before finally giving up. This increase
in frequency, duration or intensity of the unreinforced behavior during the
extinction process is called an extinction outburst.

2. When a parent refuses to give attention to a crying child at night, the child cries
longer and louder (increased duration and intensity) but the crying stopped after
some time. The increased duration and intensity of crying constitutes an
extinction outburst.

Spontaneous recovery

A behavior may reoccur even after it has not occurred for some time. This is called
spontaneous recovery. Spontaneous recovery refers to the natural tendency for behavior
to reoccur in situations in which it occurred and was reinforced before extinction.
However if there is no reinforcement, the behavior will not continue for long. If
spontaneous recovery occurs and the behavior is reinforced, the effect of extinction will
be lost. The old behavior gets relearnt. For example: Kamau may attempt to open the

pg. 10
emergency door occassionally and if the door opens one day, then his behavior of using
the emergency door would be resnforced. This kind of reinforcement would increase
behavioral resistance to the extinction.

Factors that may influence extinction

There are two factors that may influence extinction. These are:

1. The type of reinforcement schedule before extinction

This determines whether extinction results in a rapid decrease in the behaviour or a

more gradual decrease. When a behaviour is continually being reinforced it decreases
drastically when the reinforcement is withdrawn. However if a behaviour is reinforced
intermittently, it decreases more gradually once the reinforcer is terminated.

2. The occurrence of reinforcement after extinction bus occured

If reinforcement occurs in the course of extinction, it takes longer for the behaviour to
decrease. This is because reinforcement of a behaviour ance extacten fees serted
smowsts Ww mm intonnitient reinforcer thes makes the behaviour more resutant to
extinction. Example a child’s crying behaviour can be extinguished by removal of
attention by the mother but the father can decide that is mistreatment and start giving
the child attention. Extinction of such a behavior becomes difficult. Consequently, if a
behavior is reinforced durmg an incidence of spontaneous recovery, it may increase to
its previous level before extinction.

PRINCIPLE 3: PUNISHMENT

Punishment is a principle that weakens operant behaviours.

Examples

1. Cathy sees a friend in her sew neighbourhood. One day when the dog was near
the fence, Cathy reached over to pet the dog. At once the dog bit her hand. After
this episode, she never again tried to pet the deg.

2. On mothers day, Mwema decides to get up early to make breakfast for his
mother. He turned the cooker on and placed the pan on fire. He then mixed a
number of eggs with some milk in a bowl to make scrambled eggs. After about
5 minutes he poured the eggs into the hot pan. Immediately the eggs started to
bun and smoke rose from the pan. Mwema grabbed the handle of the pan to get
it off the burner. As soon as he did that he got burnt by the pan handle, screamed
pg. 11
 and dropped it down. After that incident Mwema never again grabbed the handle
of a hot pan. He started using a hot pad to avoid getting burnt.

The two examples illustrate the principle of punishment whereby a person engages in a
behaviour and there is an immediate outcome that makes it less likely to occur in similar
situations in the future. In example 1, Cathy reached over the fence to pet a dog and the
dog immediately bit herAs a result Cathy is less likely to reach over the fence to pet that
dog or other unfamiliar dogs. In example 2, Mwema grabbed the hot handle of a pan
which resulted in painful stimulation as he burned his hand. Mwema is less likely to
grab the handle of a hot pan on a burner in future.

The two examples demonstrate that there are three parts to the definition of
punishment.

1. A particular behaviour occurs

2. A consequence immediately follows the behaviour.

As a result, the behaviour is less likely to occur in the future. Hence the behaviour gets
weakened.

In punishment use of a punisher (an aversive stimulus) makes a particular behaviour

less likely to occur in the future. In Cathy’s case ,the dog bite was a punisher for her
behaviour of reaching over the fence. For Mwema,the painful stimulus (burning his
hand) was the punisher for grabbing the handle of a hot pan. Hence a stimulus or an
event is a punisher when it decreases the frequency of the behaviour it follows:

Example 3

Mwangi, a 5 year old boy teases his young sisters until they cry. His mother scolds and
spanks him each time he teases or hits his sisters. Although Mwangi stops teasing and
hitting his sisters at the moment his mother scolds him, he continues to engage in these
aggressive behaviors with his sisters day after day.

Q. Is the scolding and spanking by the mother a punisher for Mwangi’s

aggressive behaviour?

No. In the example, spanking and scolding do not function as punishers. They have not
resulted in decrease of Mwangi’s problem behaviour over time. The example illustrates
positive reinforcement. Mwangi’s behaviour of teasing and hitting his sister’s results in
the presentation of a consequence (scolding and spanking by his mother and crying by
his sisters). The outcome is that Mwangi continues to engage in the behaviour day by
day. These three steps define positive reinforcement. This example shows, that
punishment is not defined by whether a consequence appears to be unfavourable,

pg. 12
unpleasant or aversive. A particular consequence acts a punisher only if it decreases the
frequency of occurrence of a behaviour.

More examples of punishment

Positive and negative punishment

There are two types of punishments. These are; positive and negative punishment.

In positive punishment,

1. There is occurrence of a behaviour

2. Followed by an aversive stimulus
3. As a result the behaviour is likely to occur in the future.

Example. In 1971, Corte, Wolf and Locke helped institutionalized adolescents with
intellectual deficits reduce self injurious behaviours by using punishment. When a
subject slapped herself on the face, the researchers immediately applied a brief electric
shock with a handheld shock device. As a result of the discomfort of the shock, the
number of tumes the adolescents engaged in the slapping behaviour reduced gradually
and finally they stopped the [Link] shock is not used today as it has unethical.

This is a positive punishment because each time an adolescent girl slapped her face,
the behaviour decreased as a result of applying the electric shock.

Class to give other examples

In negative punishment,

1. There is socurrence of a behaviver

2. Followed by at the removal of a reinforcing stimulus
3. As a result, the behaviour is less likely to occur in the future

Example: John interrupts his parents and the behaviour is reinforced by his parents
attention. Negative punishment would involve the loss of some other reinforcers such
as pocket money, opportunity to watch a TV each time he interrupted. Note, if extinction
was to be applied in this case it would mean the parents withholding attention each time
John interrupts.

Class to give more examples

pg. 13
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EXTINCTION SAD PUNISHMENT

Though extinction decreases behaviour, it usually takes longer for the behaviour to
decrease and an extinction burst occurs whereby the behaviour increases briefly
before it decreases. With punishment, the decresse in behaviour is immediate and
there is no extinction burst.

Unconditioned and conditioned punishers

Punushinent is a natural process that affects human behaviour. Some events or stimuli
are naturally punishing because avoiding or minimizing contact with these stimuli has
survival value. Painful stimuli or extreme stimulation are dangerous, hence behaviours
that produce such response are naturally weakened. Such stimuli are called
unconditioned punishers. Examples are, extreme heat or cold, extreme levels of
auditory or visual stimulation or painful stimulus such as an electrict shock or a painful
blow. Each of those stimuli naturally weakens the behaviour that produces it.

Conditioned reinforcers: These are stimuli or events that function as punishers only
when paired with unconditioned punishers. For example, the word no is a common
conditioned punisher. When a punisher spells a word wrongly in class and the teacher
says no, the child is less likely to spell the word wrongly in future. The word “no” is
also considered as a generalized conditioned punisher because it has been paired
effectively with a number of unconditioned and conditioned punishers.

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PUNISHMENT.

1. Immediacy

When a punishing stimulus follows a behaviour or when the loss of a reinforcer occurs
immediately after the behaviourthe behaviour is more likely to be weakened. Hence for
punishment to be effective, the consequence must follow [Link] more the
delay between the behaviour and the consequence, the less effective will be the
punisher.

2. Contigency

For punishment to be most [Link] punishing stimulus should occur every time the
behaviour occurs. A punishing consequence is said to be contigent if it occurs each time
the Behaviour occurs.A punisher is most likely to weaken a behaviour when it is
contigent on the behaviour. This means punishment ts less eftective when applied
inconsistently.

pg. 14
 3. Motivating operations

There are two motivating operations: Establishing and abolishing operations. An

establishing operation is an event or condition that makes a consequence more effective
as a punisher. An abolishing operation is an event or a condition that makes a
consequence less effective as a punisher. In —ve punishment, deprivation becomes an
E.O as it makes the loss of reinforcers more effective as a punisher. Satiation is an A.O
as it makes the loss of reinforcers less effective as a punisher.

There are two types of motivating operation: deprivation and satiation.

4. Individual differences and Magnitude of the punisher

The events that function as punishers vary from person to person Some events may act
as conditioned punishers for some people and not others because they have different
experiences. Whether a stimulus functions as a punisher depends on its magnitude.
Generally, a more intense aversive stimulus is more likely to function as a punisher for
most people. For example, a bee sting is a punisher for most people. People will stop
engaging in behaviours that resulted in a bee sting and will engage in other behaviours
to avoid a bee sting. A mosquito bite will make some people stop wearing shorts so as
to avoid the bites while others will remain wearing [Link] the degree to whch a
stimulus acts as a punisher depends on the individual.

CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED WHEN USING PUNISHMEAT

1. Punishment may elicit aggression or other emotional side effects.

In Positive punishment,behavioural and other emotional responses may occur

when painful stimuli are presented as punishers .

2. The use of punishment may result in escape and avoidance

Whenever an aversive stimulus is used as a punishment, an opportunity for

escape and avoidance is created.

3. The use of punishment may be reinforcing for the person using it and is
therefore likely to be misused.

Punishment may be easily misused or overused by those implementing it

because it is negatively reinforcing to them.

4. Use of punishment can be modeled.

People who observe someone making use of frequent punishment may

themselves be more likely to use punishment when in similar situations. This is
pg. 15
 especially common with children. This also applies to individuals whose
behaviours are changed through punishment.

5. Punishment is associated with a number of ethical issues.

There is some controversy surrounding the use of punishments in B.M Some

professionals think it is unethical to use punishment especially painful aversive
stimuli to change behaviour while other argue the use of punishment is justified
if the behaviour is harmful enough and the potential benefits to the individual are
great.

THE PRINCIPLE OF STIMULUS CONTROL

To analyze and modify an operant behaviour, it is important to analyse the antecedents

as well as the consequences of a behaviour. The antecedents of a behaviour are the
simuli, events, situation or circumstances that follow the behaviour or were present just
before the behaviour. Understand the antecedents of operant behaviour gives
information on the circumstances under which the behaviour was reinforced and the
circumstances in which the behaviour was not reinforced or was punished.

Examples

1. When Wairimu wants some extra money to spend. She asks her mum and she
usually gives her. When she asks her Dad, he refuses to give her the money and
asks her to get a job. As a result, she asks her mum for some money and nor her
Dad.

The behaviour of asking for money was reinforced in one situation (with the mother)
but was not reinforced in the other situation (with the Dad). Therefore, the behaviour
continues to occur in the situation in which it was reinforced and stops occuring in the
situation in which it was not reinforced. Therefore we say her mum’s present had some
stimulus control over Wairimu’s behaviour of asking for money. So her mum’s present
is an antecedent for Wairimu’s behaviour of asking for money.

The above example illustrates the principle of stimulus control. A behaviour us said
to be under stimulus control when there is an increased probability that the behaviour
will occur in the presence of a specific antecedent stimulus.

Other examples of stimulus control

2. When the traffic light is red, you stop when it is green, you go.

pg. 16
 Antecedent (Green light) ------------------ Behaviour (Press the accelerator) -----
----Consequence (You move to where you were gueng}

3. Antecedent (Red light) ------------------ Behaviour (Press in the brake pedal)

Behaviour Consequence (You avoid a traffic accident or fine)

The two examples show an antecedent stimulus, a behaviour and a consequence. In each
situation, the behaviour is likely to occur when the antecedent stimulus is present. The
behaviour occurs only when the antecedent stimulus is present as this ts the only time
the behaviour has been reinforced.

Stimulus Discrimination Training

Stimulus control develops because a behaviour is reinforced only in the presence of a

particular antecedent [Link] the behaviour continues to occur in the future only
when the antecedent is present. The antecedent behaviour that is present when a
behaviour is reinforced is known as the discriminative stimulus (SD).The process of rei
forcing a behaviour only when a specific antecedent is present is called stimulus
discrimination training.

Stimulus Discrimination training occurs;

1. When the SD is present, the behaviour is reinforced

2. When any other antecedent stimuli except the SD are [Link] behaviour is
not reinforced. During discrimination training, any antecedent stimulus that is
present when the behaviour is not reinforced is called an S-delta (S

As a result of discrimination training, a behaviour is more likely to occur in the future

when an SD is present but less likely to occur when an Stimulus is is present.

Example of discrimination training:

In an exerpt by Holland and Skinner (1961), a hungry pigeon stands in a small chamber.
The wall in front of the pigeon has a key and two lights, green and [Link] the
pigeon pecks the key, food is presented at some part of the chamber. The food reinforces
the key pecking behaviour.

To bring the key pecking behaviour under stimulus control, they turned the red light
(SD) on and if the pigeon pecked the key. They presented the food. They would also
turn on the green light (S-Delta) and if the pigeon pecked the key, they did not present
the food due to the process of discrimination training, the pigeon is more likely to peck
the key when the red light is on and less likely to peck the key when the light is green).

pg. 17
The red light signaled that the key pecking behaviour will be reinforced while the green
light signals the key pecking behaviour will not be reinforced.

Antecedent Behaviour Consequence

Red Lght(SD) Pigeon pecks the key Food is presented

Green Light (S-Delta) Pigeon pecks the key No food is presented

Outcome: The pigeon pecks the key only when red light is on).

In similar exerpts, a rat leams to press a lever when the lever pressing behaviour is
reinforced by food. Through discrimination training a rat leams to pess the key when a
certain audible tone is presented and not to press the lever when a different tone is
presented.

Developing reading and spelling with Discrimination Training

Reading is a behaviour thast is developed through the process of stimulus discrimination

training. Reading behaviour is under stimulus control of the letters and words we sec.
If we sce the letters, DOG, we say dog. If we say dog after seing any other combination
of letters, our response will be wrong.

Antecedent Behaviour Consequence

Dog(SD) Child says “dog” Praise from the

teacher Another Word(S delta) Child says “dog” No praise by teacher

Outcome: When the letters “DOG” are present, the child says “dog”, but the child does
not say “dog” when any other combination of letters is presented.

Generalization

Antecedent conditions can be specific or broad. When the stimulus control of a

behaviour is broad, that is, the behaviour occurs in a range of antecedent situations, we
say stimulus generalization has occurred. Generalization takes place when behaviour
occurs in the presence of stimuli that are similar in some ways to the SD. The more
similar is the stimulus is to the SD. The more likely that the behaviour will occur in the
presence of that stimulus. As stimuli are less simular to the SD. The behaviour is less
likely to occur in the presence of these stimuli.

pg. 18
Example

Edwin, a preschool child is leaning to read with the use of flash cards. When he sees a
fleshcard with the word “MEN” on it, he says man and gets praised. At the shopping
mall with his parents Edwin sees the word MEN written on the men’s bathrooms and
says, “men”. This is because the word “MEN” on the bathroom door is similar to the
MEN an the flash card that was the original SD. Generalization has occurred because
the response occurred in the presence of a different stimulus that shared the same
properties as the original SD.

RESPONDENT CONDITIONING OR CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Certain types of simuli typically elicit specific types of bodily responses. For example

1. Infants engage in sucking responses when un object such as a nipple touches

their lips.
2. A person blinks when s puff of air is directed at the eye
3. The pupil of the eye constricts on exposure to bright light
4. A person coughs when a foreign object to in the throat.

These are called uncondaioned responess (UR). A UR occurs in all human beings when
an unconditioned stimulus (US) is presented. An unconditioned stimulus elicits an
unconditioned response (UR).

We respond to USs because the URs have survival value. E.g coughing clears the throat
of foreign objects and pupil constriction in response to bright hight helps protect the
eyes and thus prevent the loss of sight.

Respondent conditioning occurs when a previously neutral stimulus (NS) is paired with
a US.

As a result of the pairing, the NS becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) and elicits a
Conditioned Response (CR) similar to the UR. A UR or CR is called a respondent
behaviour. Respondent conditioning is also known as classical conditioning. Ivan
Pavlov was the first to demonstrate aUS causes UR by placing meat powder in the dog’s
mouth which caused salivation. Pavlov then presented a NS (sound of a bell) just
before putting the meat powder in the mouth. He then presented the the sound of
the bell and the meat powder together a number of times. After that he presented the
sound of the bell without the meat powder and the dog salivated. The sound of the bell
became a Conditioned Response (CR) as a result of pairing with the meat powder.

pg. 19
Respondent Conditioning

US (meat powder) UR(Salivation)

US Bell (NS) UR(salivation)

Outcome CS (Bell) CR(salivation)

Conditioned emotional responses(CER)

Watson and Rayner used respondent conditioning procedures to condition a fear

response in a 1-year old baby called Albert. Little Albert did not fear rats initially as he
did not cry or getaway when he saw one. The rat therefore was a NS. They presented
the rat to Albert andimmediately hit a metal bar with a hammer behind his head. The
loud sound that was producedby the metal bar acted as the US that elicited a startle(fear)
response in little Albert. The startleresponse acted as the UR After pairing the rat with
the loud noise for some time, the rat became aCS and the sight of the rat elicited a
conditioned emotional response (CER) which is fear.

In the same manner positive emotional responses can be elicited by a conditioned

stimulus. Forexample, a baby’s response to her mother’s physical contact. The mother
strokes the baby’s faceand the baby smiles. So stroking is a US which elicits happiness
(UR).Eventually the CER(happiness) gets conditioned to the mothers voice or sight.
Give other examples.

Extinction of conditioned responses (respondent extinction)

Extinction of a CR involves repeated presentation of the CS without the presenting the

CS. Evenif the CS continues to occur without the US the CR eventually decreases in
intensity until itstops. Eg if Pavlov continued to ring the bell without presenting the
meat to the dog, salivationwould decrease and finally cease. In the case of little Albert,
if the rat was presented numeroustimes without the loud noise, his fear responses would
have decreased with time and finally cease.

Spontaneous recovery

If the CS is presented without the US later after extinction has occurred, the CR might
occuragain. In the Pavlov’s expt. He presented the sound of the bell repeatedly without
presenting themeat to the dog. Eventually the dog stopped salivating. When
he rang the bell later afterextinction had occurred, the dog again salivated though
to a lesser extent than before extinctionhad occurred. When the CS elicits the CR after
extinction has taken place, we say spontaneousrecovery has occurred. However, the
magnitude of the CR is usually smaller during spontaneousrecovery. The CR should
disappear if the US is not presented with the CS.
pg. 20
Discrimination and generalization of respondent behaviour

Discrimination is the situation in which the CR is elicited by a single CS or a narrow

range ofCSs. When a particular stimulus (SI) is paired with the US but similar stimuli
(SI,S2,S3) arepresented without the US only S1 elicits a CR. This is known as stimulus
discrimination.

Example: Wanja was attacked by a German shepherd. Since the attack, the sight of a
Germanshepherd (CS) elicits autonomic response (fear). However when she walks past
other dogs shedoes not develop the fear response. The sight of the German shepherd
developed into a Csbecause of its pairing with the attack (US). The sight of other dogs
did not develop into a Csbecause they were not associated with attacks. Hence only the
sight of the German shepherdelicits the fear response.

Generalization is the tendency for the CR to occur in the presence of stimuli similar to
the Csthat was initially paired with the US. Generalization occurs when a number of
similar CSs or abroad range of CSs elicit the same CR. For example in the case of little
Albert it was found laterthat he developed fear of any white furry animals and later he
started developing fear of anything that was white in colour. The white furry animals or
colour white were close to the S1(white rat)and acted as the CSs that elicited CR (fear
response) in little Albert.

Factors that influence respondent conditioning

The strength of respondent conditioning depends on

1. The nature of the Us and CS.

2. The temporal relationship between the CS and the US.
3. Contingency between the Cs and US.
4. The number of pairings.
5. Previous exposure to the CS.

1. The nature of the US and CS

The intensity of a stimulus influences its effectiveness as a CS or a US.A more
intense stimulusis more effective as a US. For example a stronger puff of air in
the eyes is more effective than aweak puff of air as a US for an eye blink
response. A more painful stimulus is more effectivethan a less painful stimulus
as a US for autonomic response.

pg. 21
 2. The temporal relationship between the conditioned stimulus and
unconditioned stimulus.
For conditioning to be effective, the CS should precede the US with a short
interval or nointerval in between.

3. Contingency between the CS and the US

If the Cs and the US are presented on every attempt, Conditioning is much more
likely than if theUS is not presented after the CS in some trials.

4. The number of pairings

More pairings between a NS and a US are required to establish the NS as a CS.
For examplemore pairings of the sound of the bell and the meat powder in
Pavlov’s expt was required so as establish the sound of the bell as a CS.
Eventually the sound of the bell would elicit salivation inthe absence of the meat
powder.

5. Previous exposure to the CS

A stimulus is less likely to become a CS when paired with a US if the person has
been exposed tothe stimulus before without the US. For example, a child who is
used to playing with a friendlycow is less likely to develop fear of the cow if it
knocks her down accidentally. However if thesame cow, knocks down a visiting
child in the homestead, that child is likely to develop fear ofthe cow. The cow
will become a CS for a fear response because the visiting child has no
previousexposure to it.

FEAR AND ANXIETY REDUCTION TECHNIQUES

A fear is composed of both operant and respondent behaviour. A person is afraid of a

particularstimulus. When the stimulus is present the person experiences unpleasant
bodily responses andengages in escape or avoidance behaviour. The bodily
responses are respondent behaviours known as anxiety. The autonomic nervous
system arousal involved in anxiety is an establishingoperation that increases the
likelihood of engaging in escape or avoidance behaviour.

Examples respondent and operant behaviours that cause anxiety

1. Respondent. For a person who has fear of spiders, the presence of the spider is
a CS thatelicits a CR of autonomic nervous system arousal involving rapid heart
rate, sweating hands,muscle tension, upset stomach, light headedness and a
flushed face.

pg. 22
 Operant behaviour: the operant behaviour involved in fear of spiders involves
screaming forhelp and running away when one sees the spider. Screaming and
running away is reinforced bythe removal of the spider and escape from the
spider as one gets away from where the spiderwas. When the spider is no longer
present, there is corresponding reduction in anxiety. Thus thebehaviour of
screaming and running away are negatively reinforced by the removal of or
escapefrom the spider and reduction in anxiety.

2. For a person who fears darkness, being in a dark room acts as the CS that elicits
the CR ofanxiety or autonomic arousal.

The operant behaviour may involve turning of the lights or leaving a door open so that
the room gets lit. The outcome is that darkness is decreased or eliminated and thus
anxiety is reduced.

Procedures to reduce fear and anxiety

Some of the procedures used in anxiety reduction are:

1. Relaxation training
2. Systematic desensitization
3. In vivo desensitization
4. Flooding
5. Modeling

1. RELAXATION TRAINING

These are procedures used to decrease the autonomic arousal experienced as a

component of fearand anxiety problems. Bodily responses such as tense muscles,
rapid heart beat rate, cold handsand rapid breathing are part of autonomic
arousal. When a person engages in relaxation exercises,they produce bodily
responses such as decrease in muscle tension, heart rate and warming of
thehands.

Some of the commonly used relaxation exercises are;

a. Progressive muscle relaxationb.

b. Diaphragmatic breathing
c. Attention focusing exercises

pg. 23
Progressive Muscle relaxation (PMR)

In PMR, the person systematically tenses and relaxes each of the major muscles in the
body. Tensing and relaxing the muscles leaves them more relaxed than before. Tensing
and relaxing of the muscles can be done under the instructions of a therapist or from
listening to an audiotape ofthe procedures or from reading.

Let the client sit in a comfortable position chair. The relaxation room should have no
majordistractions. Thirdly, the client should close the eyes while tensing and relaxing
each group ofmuscles. Starting with the first group of dominant muscles, the dominant
hand and arm, Theclient tenses the muscle tightly for about 5 seconds and abruptly
releases the tension allowing theclient to feel the contrast between the tension and
relaxation in that particular muscle group Ttheclient focuses on the decreased tension
level of tension in the muscle group for 5-10 seconds andthen moves to the next muscle
group as in the table below. When the exercise is done with all the muscle groups, The
muscles will more relaxed than they were at the beginning of the relaxation exercise.

S/N MUSCLE GROUP METHOD OF TENSING

1 Dominant hand and arm Make a tight fist, curl towards shoulder,
bend arm to elbow

2 Forehead and eyes Open eyes wide and raise eyebrows. Make
as many wrinkles as possible on your
forehead.

3 Upper cheeks and nose Frown ,squint eyes, wrinkle nose.

4 Jaw, lower face, neck Clench teeth, protrude chin. Corners of

mouth should be pulled down.

5 Shoulders, upper back, chest Shrug shoulders and pull shoulder blades
back as back, chest far as possible as if
trying to have them touch one another.

Diaphragmatic Breathing

This is also called deep breathing. A person breathes deeply in a slow rhythmic fashion
using themuscles of the diaphragm to pull oxygen deep into the lungs. Anxiety involves
shallow rapid breathing, hence diaphragmatic breathing decreases anxiety by replacing
the pattern with a more relaxed pattern.

pg. 24
To practice diaphragmatic breathing, the person should sit,stand or lie in a comfortable
positionwith the eyes closed. Then inhale slowly for 3-5 seconds until the lungs are
comfortably filled with air. The diaphragm extends the andomen as the air is inhaled.
the person then exhales slowly for 3-5 seconds. The diaphragm muscle pulls in the
abdomen as the air is exhaled. During theinhalation and exhalation, the person
should focus attention on the body sensations such asfeelings of the lungs
expanding and contacting,th air flowing in and out and the movement of the abdomen.

Attention Focusing Exercises (AFE)

AFEs produce relaxation by directing attention to a neutral or pleasant stimulus to

remove the person’s concentration from the anxiety-producing stimulus.
Mediation, guided therapy andhypnosis produce relaxation through the mechanism
of attention focusing. In meditation, theperson focuses attention on a visual stimulus,
an auditory stimulus or a kinesthetic stimulus. E.g aperson can gaze at an object, focus
attention on repetitive son or tune or on ones breathing movements.

In guided imagery or visualization, the person visualizes or imagines pleasant scenes or

images. The person listens to an audiotape or to a therapist who describes a scene or
image. The personthen gets into a comfortable position with eyes closed and imagines
the scene. The therapist orthe audiotape describes the sights, sounds and smells when
creating the image. For example, thetherapist may say ”Feel the warmth of the sun on
your skin, feel the warm sand under your feet,hear the waves gently rolling up on to the
beach, smell the sweet scent of……”As the personengages many senses the person is
likely to experience the scene fully and displace any anxietyprovoking thoughts or
images.

2. SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION

Systematic desensitization is a procedure in which a person with a phobia practices

relaxationwhile imagining scenes of the fear –producing stimulus. A phobia is a fear in
which the level ofanxiety or escape and avoidance behaviour is severe to disrupt an
individual’s life.

The use of systematic desensitization has three important steps which are;

1. The client learns relaxation skills using the anxiety reducing techniques.
2. The therapist and the client develop a hierarchy of fear producing stimuli.

pg. 25
 3. The client practices the relaxation skills while the therapist describes anxiety-
producing scenesfrom the hierarchy

A person can be helped to decrease fear responses by learning to relax

while imagining progressively, greater anxiety producing situations. For
example, a person who has fear of spiders can be helped to relax and listen to a
therapist describe a scene in which the spider was 25 feet away. After listening and
maintaining the relaxation, the therapist would describe another scene in which the
spider was 20 feet away. If the person maintained relaxation, the therapist would
continue to describe scenes in which the spider was closer until it reaches a
situationwhereby the spider is very near but the person maintains relaxation. This means
the client hasreached a point whereby he/she can face the anxiety-producing stimulus
in real life.

Developing the hierarchy

Developing the hierarchy of the fear producing stimuli takes place after the client has
learnt the relaxation procedures. The client uses a fear rating scale to identify the amount
of fear that isproduced by a variety of situations related to the feared stimulus. The fear
rating scale is calledsubjective units of discomfort scale (SUDS). On a rating based on
percentage of fear, 0 representsthe absence of fear while 100 represents the maximum
amount of fear or anxiety. Using the caseof fear of spiders, the rating of 100 would
correspond to a situation whereby the client imaginesthe spider on her arm. Seeing the
spider 5 feet away would correspond to a rating of 75 andseeing one 10 feet away would
be rated at 50 ,20 feet away would rate at 25 and sitting in herhouse with no spider
present would rate at 0 signifying the absence of fear.

Progressing through the hierarchy

When a client has shown signs of relaxation, the therapist describes the first step in the
hierarchywhich produces least anxiety. The client imagines the scene while continuing
to relax. If theclient is able to maintain relaxation, the therapist continues describing
more anxiety producingsituations until the most anxiety producing scene is reached.

Systematic desensitization is done through imagination of the feared stimulus ie the

client has nodirect contact with the anxiety producing stimulus.

pg. 26
3. IN VIVO DESENSITIZATION

In vivo desensitization involves exposing the client gradually to the actual

fear producing stimulus. However the client has to learn the relaxation response before
the [Link] the client and the therapist must develop a hierarchy of situations
involving the fear producingstimulus. Give examples

Advantages and disadvantages of Systematic and In Vivo Desensitization

One advantage of in vivo desensitization is that the client is exposed to the feared
[Link] behaviour is demonstrated in real life rather than in
imagination. Thus there is no generalization from imagination to the actual fear
situation. One disadvantage of in vivo is that it is more difficult and more time
consuming and costly thansystematic desensitization. This is because the therapist has
to arrange contact with the fearproducing situations in the hierarchy. The therapist has
to leave the office to accompany theclient where the actual fear producing stimuli are.

The advt of systematic desensitization is that it is easier and more convenient for the
client toimagine the feared stimulus than getting exposed to the real one. For example
it would be mucheasier to imagine a situation where a client has fear of airplane than to
actually board [Link] disadvantage of systematic desensitization is that the results
may not be generalized toactual fear producing situation.

4. FLOODING

Flooding is a technique in which a client is exposed to the fear producing

stimulus at fullintensity for a prolonged period. Initially the person experiences
heightened anxiety in thepresence of the fear producing stimulus but with time the
level of anxiety decreases through extinction. For example a person with fear of dogs
would sit in a room with a therapist with adog for a long period. Initially the person
would have a lot of anxiety but with time the anxiety would reduce and the person would
be more comfortable to stay with the dog in the room. This would happen because when
the CS(dog) is presented without the US over a period of time, theCS no longer elicits
the CR(anxiety).

5. MODELING

Modeling is commonly used among children. The child observes another person
approaching thefeared stimulus or or engaging in a feared activity. The child is more

pg. 27
likely to engage in similarbehaviour. The person with the fear can observe a live model,
a film or a video model.

PROCEDURES TO ESTABLISH NEW BEHAVIOUR

Shaping is used to develop a target behaviour that a person does not currently exhibit.
It isdefined as the differential reinforcement of successive approximations of a target
behaviour until the individual exhibits the target behaviour. Differential reinforcement
involves the principles of reinforcement and extinction. Differential reinforcement
occurs when a particular behaviour isreinforced and other behaviours are not
reinforced. As e result, the reinforced behaviour increases and the ones not
reinforced decrease through extinction.

Using shaping to develop language

Shaping is used to develop language through successive approximations. The

successive approximations include babbling, word sounds, part words, whole words,
strings of words and sentences. Shaping begins with identifying an existing behaviour
that is an approximation of the target behaviour which is called the starting
behaviour or first approximation. The startingbehaviour is reinforced and the
person begins to exhibit this behaviour more often. You then stop reinforcing the
behaviour and as part of the extinction burst the desired behaviour begins to appear.
The desirable behaviour which is an approximation to the target behaviour
is then reinforced until the person begins to exhibit the new behaviour more often
while the previous

Behaviour is exhibited less often. This process of differential reinforcement continues

until theperson exhibits the target behaviour.

Using shaping to get the rat press the lever

First choose the starting behaviour or the first approximation.

The steps would be;

1. The rat moves to the side where the lever is located

2. The rat faces the lever
3. The rat approaches the lever
4. The rat rears up on its hind legs
5. The rat makes a movement toward the lever with a paw
6. The rat touches the lever
7. The rat presses the lever

pg. 28
Using shaping to rehabilitate an accident victim

Shaping can be used in a medical rehabilitation setting as follows.:

Shaping was used in a medical setting to help 75 year old woman, Mrs F, to start
walking after hip replacement surgery. To resume walking she needed physiotherapy.
She had to walk between two parallel bars while supporting herself with her arms.
However she had refused to participate in the therapy. When using shaping the target
behaviour would be to walk independently with herwalker while the starting behaviour
would be to go the room where therapy was to take placeusing a wheelchair. When she
arrived at the therapy room, the therapist received her warmly by massaging her which
acted as a reinforcer. After going to therapy room several times, thetherapist
asked her to stand up between the parallel bars for one second before she could give
hera massage. Standing for one second between the bars acted as a successive
approximation towalking. After standing for one second the therapist massaged
her. The following day, thetherapist increased the duration of standing to 15 seconds
before giving massage to Mrs F. After Mrs F was successfully standing between the
parallel bars, the therapist asked her to take a fewsteps one day and then a few more
steps another day until she was able to walk the full length ofthe parallel bars.
Eventually Mrs F was able to walk independently with her walker and was then
discharged from hospital.

Using shaping to increase the time between toilet visits

Another case reported on shaping was of increasing time between urination

(decreasing thefrequency of urination).

Mrs S, a 32 year woman often interrupted her therapy sessions for toilet visit as she had
once lostbladder control in public and did not want it to happen again. She was visiting
the toilet morethan once an hour. Shaping was used to help her increase the time
between the toilet visits,Hence decrease the frequency of urination. The target
behaviour was to wait for 2 hours beforegoing to the toilet. The starting behaviour was
taken as 1hour as she was able to wait for onehour between the visits. When Mrs S was
able to meet the target for a few days, the therapistapproved and praised her as a
reinforcer. The next approximation was to wait for 70 minutes andafter waiting
successfully for a few days, the therapist increased the duration to 90 minutes, then 105
and finally 120 minutes. Later after discharge Mrs S reported she had been able to
maintain bladder control.

As seen in the above examples, shaping can be used to;

1. Generate a novel behaviour (language in a young child)

2. Reinstating a previously exhibited behaviour such as walking for Mrs F.
pg. 29
 3. Changing some dimension of an existing behaviour (eg time between urination
for Mrs S).

SELF MANAGEMENT

Self management refers to the process of using behaviour modification procedures to

changeone’s own behaviour.

Read the example of Murray and Annete

From the two examples, the two are engaging in behavioural deficits. They fail to
engage indesirable behaviours. The behaviours are said to be desirable because they
will have a positiveimpact on people’s lives in future. A desirable behaviour
may not occur because it is not reinforced immediately when it occurs or there
is a competing behaviour which is reinforced immediately and interferes with the
occurrence of that other behaviour. When the positive outcome of behaviour is
in the future, it does not exert influence on the occurrence of the desirable
behaviour at the present. Murray and Annette were not engaging in the desirable
behaviours though they had positive impact in the future. The competing behaviours
were being reinforced immediately eg instead of exercising, Murray would engage in
competing behaviours; eating snacks and watching the TV that would be reinforced
immediately. Another type of a self management problem is an excess of an
undesirable behaviour. The behaviour is undesirable because it will have a
negative impact in the future. Examples of behavioural excesses include, overeating,
alcohol abuse, smoking, gambling etc. Though it willhave a negative impact on the
persons future, the undesirable behaviour continues because it is reinforced
immediately it occurs or alternative desirable behaviours are not present to competewith
it. Since the negative outcome is in the future, it does not influence occurrence of
theundesirable behaviour in the present.

The goal of self management is

1. To increase the current level of a behavioural deficit so that a positive

outcome may beachieved.
2. To decrease or eliminate the behavioural excess so that the negative outcome
does not occur inthe future.

In reinforcement, it is known that the longer the delay between a behaviour and its
consequence, the less likely that the consequence will function as a reinforcer for the
behaviour. Hence, self management aims to get individuals to take some action to
overcome the influence of immediate reinforcement for undesirable behaviour.

pg. 30