Behaviour Modification: Principles and Procedures PDF

Behaviour Modification: Principles and Procedures **[Chapter 1:]** [Defining Human Behaviour:] - Definition of Behaviour; - Behaviour is what individuals do or say, encompassing their actions, rather than static characteristics. - Action-based Description: Behaviour must be described...

Behaviour Modification: Principles and Procedures **[Chapter 1:]** [Defining Human Behaviour:] - Definition of Behaviour; - Behaviour is what individuals do or say, encompassing their actions, rather than static characteristics. - Action-based Description: Behaviour must be described with action verbs. - For example; Instead of saying, \"Jennifer was angry,\" describe her actions: *\"Jennifer screamed, ran upstairs, and slammed her door.\"* - Measurable Dimensions of Behaviour; - Behaviour has specific dimensions that can be quantified: - Frequency: Count how many times a behaviour occurs - Example: Shane bit his nails *12 times* during class - Duration: Measure the time from when the behaviour starts to when it stops - Example: Rita jogged for *25 minutes* - Intensity: Assess the physicGal force or energy involved in the behaviour. - Example: Garth bench pressed *220 pounds*. - Latency: The time between an event and the start of the behaviour. - Example: The delay between a teacher's question and a student raising their hand. - Observability and Recordability; - Behaviours are observable actions, meaning they can be perceived through the senses (e.g., seen, heard). - They can be described and recorded: - Example: Observers can note that a child claps hands or jumps. - Recording methods are elaborated in behaviour-modification techniques. - Impact on the Environment; - Behaviour always affects the environment, whether: - Physical environment: A light turns on when a switch is flipped. - Social environment: Raising a hand led to the teacher calling on the student. - Personal impact: Reciting a phone number aloud helps with memory - Effects may be obvious or subtle: - Example: A person smiles (visible social effect) or silently remembers a fact (subtle internal effect). - All behaviour operates within space and time, influencing either oneself or others. - Lawfulness of Behaviour; - Behaviour is governed by functional relationships with environmental events. - Example: A child's disruptive behaviour increases when the teacher gives less attention. - Behavioural principles: These describe how behaviour changes in response to environmental triggers and are foundational in behaviour modification. - By understanding these principles, environments can be adjusted to change behaviour. - Example: Increasing teacher attention can reduce disruptive classroom behaviour. - Types of Behaviour; - Overt Behaviour: Visible actions that can be observed and measured by others. - Examples: Walking, talking, or writing. - Covert Behaviour: Internal or private behaviours, observable only by the individual. - Examples: Thinking, dreaming, or imagining. - While behaviour modification focuses on overt behaviour, understanding covert behaviours is also significant in certain contexts. - Behaviour Modification; - Behaviour modification involves identifying environmental causes of behaviour and making adjustments to influence it. - Built on basic behavioural principles like reinforcement, punishment, and stimulus control (covered in later chapters). - Example: Reducing disruptive behaviour by ensuring consistent teacher attention demonstrates how modifying environmental factors alters behaviour. [Examples: ] 1. Martha sits at her computer and types an e-mail to her parents. - This is behaviour because pressing the keys on the keyboard while typing is an action, has physical dimensions (frequency of pressing keys, duration of typing), is observable and measurable, has an impact on the environment (produces letters on the screen), and is lawful (occurs because of previous learning that pressing the keys produces letters on the screen) 2. Samantha is a 6-year-old with an intellectual disability who attends special education classes. When the teacher is helping other students and not paying attention to Samantha, Samantha cries and bangs her head on the table or floor. Whenever Samantha bangs her head, the teacher stops what she is doing and picks Samantha up and comforts her. She tells Samantha to calm down, assures her that everything is all right, gives her a hug, and often lets Samantha sit on her lap. - Samantha's head banging is a behaviour. It is an action that she repeats a number of times each day. The teacher could observe and record the number of occurrences each day. The head banging produces an effect on the social environment: The teacher provides attention each time the behaviour occurs. Finally, the behaviour is lawful; it continues to occur because there is a functional relationship between the head-banging behaviour and the outcome of teacher attention. [Defining Behaviour Modification:] - Concerned with analysing and modifying human behaviour - Analyse; identifying the functional relationship between environmental events and a behaviour to understand the reasons for behaviour - Modifying; developing procedures to help people change their behaviour - Involves altering environmental events so as to influence behaviour - Behaviour modification procedures are developed by professionals and used to change socially significant behaviours with the goal of improving one's life [Characteristics of Behaviour Modification:] 1. Focus on Behaviour; - Behaviour modification procedures are designed to change behaviour therefore it de-emphasises labelling - For e.g., behaviour modification is not used to change autism (a label) it is used to change problem behaviours exhibited by children with autism - The behaviour to be modified is called the target behaviour, a behavioural excess is an undesirable target behaviour the person wants to decrease - E.g., smoking - A behavioural deficit is a desirable target behaviour the person wants to increase - E.g., exercise and studying 2. Procedures Based on Behavioural Principles; - Behaviour modification is the application of basic principles originally derived from experimental research with animals - This study is called experimental analysis of behaviour and it is to help people change behaviour in meaningful ways which is called applied behaviour analysis 3. Emphasis on Current Environmental Events; - Involves assessing and modifying the current environmental events that are related to behaviour - Human behaviour is controlled by events in the immediate environment, and the goal of behaviour modification is to identify those events - Once these controlling variables have been identifying they are altered to modify behaviour and successful behaviour modification procedures alter functional relationships between the behaviour and the controlling variables in the environment - Sometimes labels are mistakenly identified as the causes of behaviour - E.g., a person might say that a child with autism engages in problem behaviours (such as screaming, hitting himself) because the child is autistic. In other words, the person is suggesting that autism causes the child to engage in the behaviour. However, autism is simply a label that describes the pattern of behaviours the child engages in. The label cannot be the cause of the behaviour because the label does not exist as a physical entity or event. The causes of the behaviour must be found in the environment (including the biology of the child) 4. Precise Description of Behaviour Modification Procedures; - Involve specific changes in environmental events that are related to behaviour - For the procedures to be effective, changes in the environment must occur - By describing the procedures clearly, researchers make it more likely that the they will be used correctly each time 5. Treatment Implemented by People in Everyday Life; - Behaviour modifications are done by professionals however, they are often implemented by people such as teachers, parents etc. - People who implement behaviour modifications should do so after training 6. Measurement of Behaviour Change; - It measures the behaviour before and after intervention and ongoing assessment is also done after the point of intervention to see if the behaviour is maintained 7. De-emphasis on Past Events as Causes of Behaviour; - Knowledge of the past provides useful information about environmental events related to behaviour - E.g., learning experiences have shown to influence behaviour 8. Rejection of Hypothetical Underlying Causes of Behaviour; - Behaviour modification rejects hypothetical explanations of behaviour - Skinner has called such explanations "explanatory functions" because they can never be proved nor disproved - These underlying causes can never be measured or manipulated [Historical Roots:] - Ivan P. Pavlov - Conducted experiments that uncovered the basic processes of respondent conditioning - He demonstrated salivation in response to food - Conditioned reflex; the dog salivates to the sound of a bell - Edward L. Thorndike - Major contribution; Law of Effect - Law of effect is a behaviour that produces a favourable effect on the environment and is more likely to be repeated in the future - Experiment; he put a cat in a cage and food near the cage and the cat has to hit a lever to get the food (it produced an effect on the environment as the cat presses the lever every time to eat) - John B. Watson - Asserted that observable behaviour was the proper subject matter of psychology and that all behaviour was controlled by the environment - He described a stimulus-response psychology in which the environment elicited responses - He started behaviourism - B.F. Skinner - Explained the distinction between respondent conditioning and operant conditioning - He elaborated the basic principles of operant behaviour - He applies the principles of behaviour analysis to human behaviour [Areas of Application:] 1. Developmental Disabilities; - People often have serious behavioural deficits and behaviour modification has been used to teach fundamental skills to overcome these deficits - They may exhibit serious problem behaviours such as self-injurious, aggressive and destructive behaviours - These behaviours can be controlled or eliminated with behavioural interventions 2. Mental Illness; - Behaviour modifications has been used with patients with chronic mental illness to modify their daily living skills, social behaviour, aggressive behaviour, treatment compliance, psychotic behaviours and work skills - An important contributions was the development of a motivational procedure for institutional patients called token economy 3. Education and Special Education; - It has improved teaching methods and developed procedures for reducing problem behaviours in the class room - Behaviour modification procedures have been used in higher education to improve instructional techniques 4. Rehabilitation; - The process of helping people regain normal function after an injury or trauma - Behaviour modification is used to promote compliance with routines such as physical therapy, new skills, decrease problem behaviours, help manage chronic pain and improve memory performance 5. Community Psychology; - Behavioural interventions are designed to influence the behaviour of large numbers of people - Some targets of behavioural community interventions include reducing littering, increasing recycling, reducing energy consumptions, unsafe driving, illegal drug use, increase of seat belts, decrease of illegal parking 6. Clinical Psychology; - Psychological principles and procedures are applied to help people with personal problems - Behaviour modification in clinical psychology is called behaviour therapy 7. Business, Industry and Human Services; - The use of behaviour modification here is called organisational behaviour modification or organised behaviour management - It improves work performance and job safety and decreases tardiness, absenteeism and accidents, increases profits and job satisfaction 8. Self-Management; - Use these procedures to control personal habits, health-related behaviours, professional behaviours and personal problems 9. Child Behaviour Management; - Help children overcome bed wetting, nail biting, temper tantrums, noncompliance, aggressive behaviours, bad manners, stuttering and other common problems 10. Prevention; - Behavioural modification procedures have been applies to preventing problems in childhood - They prevent child sexual abuse, child abduction, accidents in the home, child abuse and neglect, poising, infections and sexually transmitted diseases 11. Sports Performance; - Behaviour modification is used widely in the field of sports psychology - Used to improve athletic performance in a wide variety of sports during practice and in competition 12. Health-Related Behaviours; - Used to promote health-related behaviours by increasing healthy lifestyle behaviours (exercise and proper nutrition) - Promote positive behaviours on physical or medical problems 13. Gerontology; - These procedures are applied in nursing homes and other care facilities to help manage behaviours of older adults - Help them deal with their declining physical abilities, help them adjust to nursing homes, promote health-related behaviours and social interactions Behaviour Modification: Principles and Procedures **[Chapter 2:]** [Observing and Recording Behaviour:] - Measurement of the target behaviour in behaviour modification is called behavioural assessment  - Behavioural assessment; - Measuring the behaviour before treatment provides information that can help determine whether treatment is necessary  - Can provide information that helps you choose the best treatment  - Measuring the target behaviour before and after treatment allows to determine whether the behaviour changed after the treatment was implemented  [Direct and Indirect Assessment:] - There are 2 types of behavioural assessment; direct and indirect  - uses interviews, questionnaires and rating scales to obtain information on the target behaviour  - Indirect Assessment; does not occur when the target behaviour occurs but relies on an individual's recall of target behaviour  - Direct Assessment; a person observes and records the target behaviour as it occurs  - Target Behaviour; to observe target behaviour the observe must be in close proximity to the person exhibiting the behaviour so that the target behaviour can be seen  - Observer must have a precise definition of the target behaviour so that its occurrence can be distinguished from occurrences of other behaviour  - To record the observer must register the occurrence of the behaviour when it is observed  - Example 1; when a school psychologist observes a socially withdrawn child and records social interaction with another child, the psychologist is using direct assessment  - Example 2; when the psychologist interviews the student's teacher and asks the teacher how many times the child usually interacts with other children on the playground, the psychologist is using indirect assessment  - Direct assessment is usually more accurate than indirect because in direct assessment the observer is trained properly to observe behaviour while indirect assessment depends on people's memories (may be based on incomplete information) - Direct assessment methods for observing and recording target behaviour are; 1. Defining the target behaviour  2. Determining the logistics of recording  3. Choosing a recording method  4. Choosing a recording instrument  [Defining the Target Behaviour:] - One must identify exactly what the person says or does that constitutes the behavioural excess or deficit targeted for change  - A behavioural definition includes active verbs describing specific behaviours that a person exhibits and it is objective and unambiguous  - Example; unsportsmanlike behaviour for a baseball player may be defined as yelling obscenities, throwing the bat and kicking dirt  - Labels for behaviours are ambiguous, they can mean different things to different people  - For example; unsportsmanlike behaviour might mean fighting with a member of the other team whereas others consider it as cursing, throwing, kicking  - Specific behaviours can be observed and recorded, labels for the behaviour cannot  - Labels can be used incorrectly as explanations of a behaviour  - For example; if a person repeats syllables or words we might label them a stutterer (this is an incorrect use of the label as a cause of the behaviour)  - The main value of labels is that they may be used as convenient shorthand when referring to a target behaviour  - Characteristic of a good behavioural definition; different people can observe the same behaviour and agree that the behaviour is occurring  - Interobserver agreement (IOA) or interobserver reliability; when 2 people observe the same behaviour and both record it  - Behavioural definitions for common target behaviours and the labels associated with those behaviours; Behavioural Definition  Label  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- When Bobby cries and sobs, lies on the floor and kicks the floor or walls, or pounds toys or other objects on the floor, it is defined as a tantrum  Tantrumming  Studying for Rae involves reading pages from a textbook, underlining sentences in the text, completing math or physics workbook exercises, reading notes from class, and outlining chapters from the text Studying  When Pat says no to someone who asks her to do something that is not part of her job, when she asks coworkers not to smoke in her office, and when she asks coworkers to knock before entering her office, it is defined as assertiveness Assertiveness  Stuttering is defined for Joel as repeating a word or a word sound, prolonging the sound when saying a word, or hesitating more than 2 seconds between words in a sentence or between syllables in a word Stuttering  Any time Mark's finger is in his mouth and his teeth are closed together on the finger nail, cuticle, or skin around the nail, it is defined as nail-biting Nail-biting  [Determining the Logistics of Recording:] - The Observer; - Over here the target behaviour typically is observed and recorded by a person other than the one exhibiting the target behaviour  - The observe may be a professional such as a behaviour analyst or a psychologist or a person associated with the client like a teacher, parent etc - The observer must have proximity to the client to observe the target behaviour (exception; observed through video)  - In most cases it is possible to develop a behaviour recording plan such that a person can observe and record the target behaviour without too much disruption to their routine  - In some cases, the observer is the person exhibiting the target behaviour; self-monitoring  - Self-monitoring; is valuable when it is not possible for another observer to record the target behaviour  - Self-monitoring may also be combined with direct observation by another observer  - Example; a psychologist might directly observe and record the behaviour of a person who is receiving treatment for a nervous habit such as hair-pulling. In addition, the client might be asked to self-monitor the target behaviour outside the therapy sessions - If self monitoring is used in a behaviour modification program, the client must be trained to record his or her own behaviour in the same way that an observer would be trained - When and Where to Record; - The observer records the target behaviour in a specific period called the observation period (It is important to choose an observation period at the time when the target behaviour is likely to occur) - Indirect assessment information from the client or others (e.g., interviews) may indicate the best times to schedule the observation period  - For example; if staff members report that a patient in a psychiatric ward is most likely to engage in disruptive behaviour (defined as screaming, pacing, and cursing at other residents) around mealtimes, the observation period would be scheduled during meals - The timing of observation periods is determined by availability of observer and client  - The client or client's parent must give consent before you can observe  - Observation and recording of behaviour take place in a natural setting or in analogue setting  - Natural setting; places where target behaviour typically occurs e.g., classroom  - Analogue setting; observing a target behaviour in a clinic playroom (not part of the client's routine)  - Natural setting provides a more accurate sample of target behaviour while analogue doesn't but analogue setting is more controlled  - Observation of target behaviour can be structured or unstructured  - Structured; observer arranges for specific events to occur during observation period, e.g., observe asks parents to make specific requests of the child during observation period  - Unstructured; no specific events and no instructions are given  - With self-monitoring the client will be able to observe themselves at any time with no specific observation period e.g., smoking  [Choosing a Recording Method:] - There are different types of methods used to record behaviour; continuous recording, product recording, interval recording and time sample recording  - Continuous Recording; - The observer observes the client continuously through out the observation period and records each occurrence of the behaviour  - The observe must be able to identify the onset and offset of the behaviour - The observe can record various dimensions of target behaviour; frequency, duration, intensity and latency  - Frequency; the number of time the behaviour occurs in an observation period, e.g., the number of times someone smokes  - For this target behaviour, onset = lighting the cigarette, offset = putting it out - May be reported as rate which is frequency divided by the time of observation period  - Duration; the total amount of time occupied by the behaviour from start to finish, e.g., the number of minutes a student spends studying  - Some researchers use real-time recording method which is the exact time of each onset and offset of the target behaviour being recorded, they use frequency and duration  - Intensity; is the amount of force, energy or exertion involved, it is harder to measure than the rest and needs a measurement instrument  - Latency; is the time from some stimulus or event to the onset of the behaviour, you measure it by recording how long it takes to initiate the behaviour   - Product Recording; - Also called permanent product recording  - It is an indirect assessment method that can be used when a behaviour results in a certain tangible outcome that you are interested in  - For example; a teacher could record the number of correctly completed homework problems or workbook pages as a product measure of students' academic performance - Advantage; observer does not have to be present when the behaviour occurs  - Example; The teacher probably will not be present when students complete their homework assignments, but they can still measure the product of the behaviour (completed homework problems) - Disadvantage; cannot always determine who engaged in the behaviour that led to the product  - Example; the teacher cannot determine whether the students completed their own homework - Interval Recording; - recording behaviour is to record whether the behaviour occurred during consecutive time periods  - the observer divides the observation period into a number of smaller time intervals, observes the client and then records the behaviour  - 2 types; partial interval recording and whole interval recording  - Partial Interval Recording; you are not interested in the number of times the behaviour occurs (frequency) or how long it lasts (duration) you record whether the behaviour occurred during each interval of time  - Example; teacher is recording whether a child disrupts the class during each 15-minute interval in the class period - Whole Interval Recording; the occurrence of the behaviour is marked in an interval only when the behaviour occurs throughout the entire interval  - In some cases, frequency and interval recording can be combined to produce frequency-within-interval recording; observe records the frequency of behaviour but within consecutive intervals of time in the observation period  - Time Sample Recording; - You divide the observation period into intervals of time, but you observe and record the behaviour during only part of each interval  - The observation period are separated by periods without observation  - For example; record the behaviour for only 1 minute during each 15-minute interval, or you might record the behaviour only if it is occurring at the end of the interval - In interval recording or time sample recording, the level of the behaviour is reported as the percentage of intervals in which the behaviour occurred [Choosing a Recording Instrument:] - Final step in developing a behaviour plan is to choose a recording instrument  - Paper and pencil are used most often to record behaviour  A data sheet with a number of data AI-generated content may be incorrect. - More instruments used for recording data; - Golf stroke counter; to record frequency of a behaviour  - Stopwatch; record the cumulative duration of a behaviour  - Laptop/ PDA; app for data recording to record the frequency and duration  - Barcode technology; sheet of paper with all the barcodes for the behaviours  - Transfer a coin; record the frequency of a behaviour  - Ranger beads; move a bead every time the behaviour happens (frequency of behaviour) - Pedometer; automatic device that records  - Recording must be practical and immediate [Reactivity:] -  Reactivity; recording behaviour causes the behaviour to change even before any treatment is implemented  - Example; when a disruptive child sees that someone is recording his or her behaviour in the classroom, the child may decrease his or her disruptive behaviour while the observer is present - Reduce Reactivity; - Wait until people who are being observed become accustomed to the observer  - Record behaviour without people knowing - Behaviour changes in the desired direction as a result of self-monitoring  - Self-monitoring is sometimes used as a treatment to change target behaviour Behaviour Modification: Principles and Procedures **[Chapter 3:]** [Graphing Behaviour and Measuring Change:] - A graph is a visual representation of the occurrence of a behaviour over time  - It is an efficient way to view the occurrence of the behaviour because it shows the results of recording during observation periods  - We use graphs to identify the level of behaviour before and after treatment  [Components of a Graph:] - A graph tells you when the behaviour was recorded (time) and the level of behaviour at that time  - Time is on the x-axis and behaviour is on the y-axis  - 6 components are necessary for a graph; 1. Y-axis and x-axis  2. The labels for the y and x-axis (y-axis is behaviour, x-axis is time) 3. The number on the y and x-axis (the numbers indicate the units of measurement of time and behaviour)  4. Data points (must be plotted correctly to indicate level of behaviour and time) 5. Phase lines (a vertical line on the graph that indicates a change in treatment  6. Phase labels (each phase in a graph must be labelled  A graph of a number of days AI-generated content may be incorrect. [Purpose of Research in Behaviour Modification: ] - Evaluate the effectiveness of treatment  - Demonstrate a functional relationship between environmental events and behaviour (show that the environmental event caused the behaviour to change) - A functional relationship is established if a target behaviour changes when a procedure is implemented while all other variables are held constant - If the behaviour changes when the procedure is implemented and only when the procedure is implemented, a functional relationship is established Research Designs: - Purpose; is to determine whether the treatment (independent variable) was responsible for the observed change in the target behaviour (dependent variable) and to rule out the possibility that extraneous variables caused the behaviour to change  - Independent Variable; what the researcher manipulates to produce a change in the target behaviour  - Dependent Variable; an extraneous variable, also called a confounding variable, is any event that the researcher didn't plan that may have affected the behaviour  - Functional relationship; a researcher shows that a behaviour modification procedure causes a target behaviour to changes - It is established if (a) a target behaviour changes when an independent variable is manipulated (a procedure is implemented) while all other variables are held constant  - And (b) the process is replicated or repeated one or more times and the behaviour changes each time  - A research design is used to demonstrate a functional relationship which involves both treatment implication and replication  - A-B Design; - Simplest type of design used  - Has 2 phases; base-line and treatment  - A = baseline and B = treatment  - You compare baseline and treatment to determine whether the behaviour changed in the expected way after treatment  - This design doesn't demonstrate a functional relationship because treatment is not replicated  - Therefore, this design is not a true research design it doesn't rule out the possibility that an extraneous variable was responsible for the behaviour change  - For example, although mouth-biting decreased when the competing response treatment was implemented it is possible that some other event (extraneous variable) occurred at the same time as treatment was implemented. In that case, the decrease in mouth-biting may have resulted from the other event or a combination of treatment and the other event - This design is often used in applied, non-research situations  - A-B-A-B Reversal Design; - Baseline and treatment phases are implemented twice  - After the first treatment phase, the research removes the treatment and reverses back to baseline  - This second baseline is followed by replication of the treatment  - Example; - The A-B-A-B graph shows the effect of a teacher's demands on the aggressive behaviour of an adolescent with intellectual disability named Bob - Carr and his colleagues  studied the influence of demands on Bob's aggressive behaviour by alternating phases in which teachers made frequent demands with phases in which teachers made no demands - The behaviour changed three times - In the baseline phase ("Demands"), the aggressive behaviour occurred frequently - When the treatment phase ("No Demands") was first implemented, the behaviour decreased - When the second "Demands" phase occurred, the behaviour returned to its level during the first "Demands" phase - Finally, when the "No Demands" phase was implemented a second time, the behaviour decreased again - The fact that the behaviour changed three times, and only when the phase changed, is evidence that the change in demands (rather than some extraneous variable) caused the behaviour change - When the demands were turned on and off each time, the behaviour changed accordingly - It is highly unlikely that an extraneous variable was turned on and off at exactly the same time as the demands, so it is highly unlikely that any other variable except the independent variable (change in demands) caused the behaviour change - Variations of the A-B-A-B reversal design may be used in which more than one treatment is evaluated  - Considerations to see if this design should be chosen; - If it is ethical to remove treatment in second baseline  - You must be certain that the level of behaviour will reverse when treatment is withdrawn  - You have to see if you can remove the treatment after it is implemented  Behaviour Modification: Principles and Procedures **[Chapter 4:]** [Reinforcement:] - It is one of the first basic principles that were systematically investigated by behavioural scientists  - It is the process in which a behaviour is strengthened by the immediate consequence that reliably follows its occurrence  - Earliest demonstration of reinforcement was by Thorndike - Placed a hungry cat in a cage and put food outside  - B.F. Skinner studied reinforcement in lab animals like rats where they had to press a lever to get food  [Defining Reinforcement:] - When a behaviour results in a favourable outcome that behaviour is more likely to be repeated in the future in similar circumstances  - Reinforcement is a natural process that also influences human behaviour  - Skinner discussed the role of reinforcement in determining a wide variety of human behaviours  - Reinforcement is defined as; 1. The occurrence of a particular behaviour  2. Is followed by an immediate consequence  3. That results in the strengthening of the behaviour  - We can determine that a behaviour is strengthened when there is an increase in its frequency, duration, intensity or speed  - Behaviour is strengthened through operant behaviour  - Operant behaviour; acts on the environment to produce a consequence and is controlled by the future as a result of consequence  - The consequence is called reinforcer  - Example; the child cried at night when her parents put her to bed - The child's crying was an operant behaviour - The reinforcer for her crying was the parents' attention - Because crying at night resulted in this immediate consequence (reinforcer), the child's crying was strengthened; She was more likely to cry at night in the future [Positive and Negative Reinforcement:] - These 2 types both strengthen behaviour  - Positive Reinforcement; 1. The occurrence of a behaviour  2. Is followed by the addition of a stimulus (reinforcer) or an increase in the intensity of a stimulus  3. Which results in the strengthening of the behaviour  - Negative Reinforcement;  1. The occurrence of a behaviour  2. Is followed by the removal of a stimulus or a decrease in the intensity of a stimulus  3. Which results in the strengthening of the behaviour  - Stimulus; an object or event that can be detected by one of the sense and has the potential to influence the person  - In positive reinforcement the stimulus that is presented after the behaviour is called a positive reinforcer  - In negative reinforcement the stimulus that is removed is called an aversive stimulus  - Whenever you have to see if it is positive or negative reinforcement you have to ask yourself; 1. What is the behaviour? 2. What happened immediately after the behaviour? (was a stimulus added or removed?) 3. What happened to the behaviour in the future ? (was the behaviour strengthened? Was it more likely to occur?) - Social versus Automatic Reinforcement; - When a behaviour produces a reinforcing consequence through the actions of another person, the process is social reinforcement  - Example of social positive reinforcement; asking your roommate to bring you a bag of crisps  - Example of social negative reinforcement; asking your roommate to turn down the TV when it is too loud  - In both cases the consequence of the behaviour was produced through the actions of another person  - When the behaviour produces a reinforcing consequence through direct contact with physical environment this is known as automatic reinforcement  - Example of automatic positive reinforcement; went to the kitchen and got the crisps yourself  - Example of automatic negative reinforcement; got the remote and turned down the volume on the TV yourself  - Premack Principle; type of positive reinforcement involving the opportunity to engage in a high-probability behaviour as a consequence for a low-probability behaviour, to increase low-probability behaviour  - Example; parents require their grade 4 son to complete his homework before he can go outside to play with his friends. The opportunity to play (a high-probability behaviour) after the completion of the homework (low-probability behaviour) reinforces the behaviour of doing homework; that is, it makes it more likely that the child will complete his homework [Escape and Avoidance Behaviours:] - When defining negative reinforcement, a distinction is made between escape and avoidance  - Escape Behaviour; occurrence of the behaviour results in the termination of an aversive stimulus that was already present when the behaviour occurred  - The person escapes the aversive stimulus by engaging in a particular behaviour and it is the strengthened  - Avoidance Behaviour; the occurrence of the behaviour prevents an aversive stimulus from occurring  - The person avoids the aversive stimulus by engaging in a particular behaviour and that behaviour is strengthened  - In an avoidance situation a warning stimulus often signals the occurrence of an aversive stimulus and the person engages in an avoidance behaviour  - Both escape and avoidance are types of negative reinforcement therefore both result in an increase in the rate of behaviour terminated  - Example; A rat is placed in a chamber that has two sides separated by a barrier; the rat can jump over the barrier to get from one side to the other. On the floor of the chamber is an electric grid that can be used to deliver a shock. Whenever the shock is presented on the right side of the chamber, the rat jumps to the left side, thus escaping from the shock. Jumping to the left side of the chamber is escape behaviour because the rat escapes from an aversive stimulus (the shock). When the shock is applied to the left side, the rat jumps to the right side.  - Escape; when a shock is given the rat jumps to the other side and escapes the electric shock. Outcome; the rat is more likely to jump to the other side in the future when shock is presented  - Avoidance; when the tone is presented, the rat jumps to the other side and immediately the rat avoids electric shock. Outcome; the rat is more likely to jump to the other side in the future when a tone is presented  [Conditioned and Unconditioned Reinforces:] - Unconditioned Reinforcers; natural reinforcers like food, water, sexual stimulation and escaping from pain because they are presented to most humans, no prior experience with these stimuli is needed for them to function  - Conditioned Reinforcers; a stimulus that was once neutral but became established as a reinforcer by being paired with an unconditioned reinforcer  - Example; a parent's attention is a conditioned reinforcer for most children because attention is paired with the delivery of food, warmth, and other reinforcers many times in the course of a young child's life - Nearly any stimulus may become a conditioned reinforcer if it is paired with an existing reinforcer  - Example 1; when trainers teach dolphins to perform tricks at aquatic parks, they use a handheld clicker to reinforce the dolphin's behaviour. Early in the training process, the trainer delivers a fish as a reinforcer and pairs the sound of the clicker with the delivery of the fish to eat. Eventually, the clicking sound itself becomes a conditioned reinforcer. After that, the trainer occasionally pairs the sound with the unconditioned reinforcer (the fish) so that the clicking sound continues to be a conditioned reinforcer - Example 2; A neutral stimulus such as a plastic poker chip or a small square piece of coloured cardboard can be used as a conditioned reinforcer (or token) to modify human behaviour in a token reinforcement program. In a token reinforcement program, the token is presented to the person after a desirable behaviour, and later the person exchanges the token for other reinforcers (called backup reinforcers). Because the tokens are paired with (exchanged for) the backup reinforcers, the tokens themselves become reinforcers for the desirable behaviour - Generalised Conditioned Reinforcer; when a conditioned reinforcer is paired with a wide variety of other reinforcers  - Example; money because it is paired with an almost unlimited variety of reinforcers  [Factors that Influence the Effectiveness of Reinforcement:] - Effectiveness of reinforcement is influenced by a number of factors which are; immediacy, consistency of the consequence, establishing operations, the magnitude of the reinforcer and individual differences  - Immediacy; - The time between the occurrence of a behaviour and the reinforcing consequence is important  - For a consequence to be effective it should occur immediately after the response  - If the time between the response and the consequence is too long there is no contiguity  - Example; if you wanted to teach your dog to sit on command and you gave the dog a treat 5 minutes after it performed the behaviour, the treat would not function as a reinforcer for sitting - Consistency; - If a response is consistently followed an immediate consequence that consequence is more likely to reinforce the response  - When the response produces the consequence and it doesn't occur unless the response occurs first, it is known that a contingency exists between the response and consequence  - When contingency exists, the consequence is more likely to reinforce the response  - Example; turning the key in your ignition to start your car. This is an example of contingency: Every time you turn the key, the car starts. The behaviour of turning the key is reinforced by the engine starting - Motivating Operations; - Motivating Operations; Some events can make a consequence more or less reinforcing at some times  - There are 2 types;  1. Establishing Operation; makes a reinforcer more effective  2. Abolishing Operation; makes a reinforcer less effective  - MOs have 2 effects; 1. They alter the value of a reinforcer  2. They make the behaviour that produces the reinforcer more or less likely to occur all the time  - Example of EOs; Food is a more powerful reinforcer for a person who hasn't eaten recently. Not having eaten in a while is an EO that makes food more reinforcing at that time and makes the behaviour of getting food more likely to occur - Deprivation is a type of establishing operation that increases the effectiveness of most unconditioned reinforcers and some conditioned reinforcers  - Examples of AOs; Food is not likely to be reinforcing right after a person just finished a large meal. Having just eaten a large meal is an AO that makes food less reinforcing at that time and makes the behaviour of getting food less likely to occur - Satiation is a type of abolishing operation as it occurs when a person has recently consumed a large amount of a particular reinforcer  - EOs and AOs also influence the effectiveness of negative reinforcement  - When an event increases the aversiveness of a stimulus, escape from or removal of the stimulus becomes more reinforcing (EO)  - When an event decreases the aversiveness of a stimulus, escape from or removal of the stimulus becomes less reinforcing (AO) - Example; a headache may be an establishing operation that makes loud music more aversive; therefore, turning off the loud music is more reinforcing when you have a headache (You are more likely to turn off loud music when you have a headache) - Individual Differences; - The likelihood of a consequence being a reinforcer varies from person to person - It is important to determine that a particular consequence is a reinforcer for a particular person  - It is important not to assume that a particular stimulus will be a reinforcer for a person just because it appears to be a reinforcer for most people  - Example; a praise may be meaningless to some people, even though it is a reinforcer for most - Magnitude; - The effectiveness of a stimulus as a reinforcer is greater if the amount or magnitude of a stimulus is greater  - This is true for positive and negative reinforcement  - A larger positive reinforcer strengthens the behaviour that produces it to a greater extent than a smaller magnitude of the same reinforcer does  - Example; person would work longer and harder for a large amount of money than for a small amount [Schedules of Reinforcement:] - It is for a particular behaviour specifies whether every response is followed by a reinforcer or whether only some responses are followed  - Continuous Reinforcement Schedule; each occurrence of a response is reinforced (CRF) - Intermittent Reinforcement Schedule; each occurrence of the response is not reinforced  - Example; Maria was recently hired by a company that makes furniture, and her job involves screwing knobs on cabinet doors. The first day on the job, the supervisor showed Maria how to properly screw on the knobs. The supervisor then watched Maria do the job for the first few minutes and praised her each time she correctly screwed a knob on a cabinet door - This is a CRF schedule because every response (screwing on a knob correctly) was followed by the reinforcing con sequence (praise from the supervisor) - After Maria's first few minutes on the job, the supervisor left and came back occasionally during the day, watched Maria do her job, and praised her when she screwed on a knob correctly. This is an intermittent reinforcement schedule because Maria's behaviour of putting knobs on cabinet doors was reinforced only some of the times that it occurred - Acquisition; a CRF schedule is used when a person is learning a behaviour for the first time  - Maintenance; the person has learned the behaviour, an intermittent reinforcement schedule is used so that the person continues the behaviour  - Fixed Ratio; - The delivery of the reinforcer is based on the number of responses that occur  - In a fixed ratio (FR) schedule a specific number of responses must occur before the reinforcer is delivered  - Example; in a fixed ratio 5 (FR 5) schedule, the reinforcer follows every fifth response - In a FR schedule the number of responses needed before the reinforcer is delivered doesn't change  - FR schedules of reinforcement sometimes are used in academic settings to maintain appropriate behaviour  - Example; 26-year-old adult with severe intellectual disability who works in a factory packaging parts for shipment. As the parts come by on a conveyor belt, Paul picks them up and puts them into boxes. Paul's supervisor delivers a token (conditioned reinforcer) after every 20 parts that Paul packages. This is an example of an FR 20 - Variable Ratio; - In a variable ratio (VR) schedule delivery of a reinforcer is based on the number of responses that occur but if the number of responses varies each time than it is an average number  - A reinforcer is delivered after an average of x responses  - Example; a variable ratio 10 (VR 10) schedule, the reinforcer is provided after an average of 10 responses. The number of responses needed for each reinforcer may range from just 2 or 3 up to 20 or 25, but the average number of responses equals 10 - Some VR schedules exist naturally, others deliberately  - Fixed Interval; - With interval schedules a response is reinforced only if it occurs after an interval of time has passed  - It doesn't matter how many responses occur, the first response that occurs is reinforced  - In a fixed interval schedule the interval of time is fixed or stays the same  - Example; in a fixed interval 20-second schedule of reinforcement, the first response that occurs after 20 seconds has elapsed results in the reinforcer. Responses that occur before the 20 seconds are not reinforced; they have no effect on the subsequent delivery of the reinforcer - Variable Interval; - In a variable interval (VI) schedule the reinforcer is delivered for the first response that occurs after an interval of time has elapsed - The difference is that each time interval is a different length  - The interval varies around an average time  - Example; in a variable interval 20-second schedule, sometimes the interval is more than 20 seconds and other times it is less than 20 seconds. The interval length is not predictable each time, but the average length is 20 seconds Behaviour Modification: Principles and Procedures **[Chapter 5]** [Extinction:] - A behaviour that had been reinforced for a period of time was no longer reinforced and therefore, the behaviour stopped occurring  - Extinction is a basic principle of behaviour  - It occurs when; 1. A behaviour that has been previously reinforced  2. No longer results in the reinforcing consequences  3. The behaviour stops occurring in the future  - If a behaviour is no longer reinforced the person will stop engaging in the behaviour  - Skinner and Ferster demonstrated extinction on lab animals  - When the pigeon in the experimental chamber no longer received food as a reinforcer for pecking the key the behaviour stopped  - Williams illustrated extinction to decrease a problem behaviour - A child having nighttime tantrums  - Williams determined that the child's tantrums was being reinforced by the parent's attention  - Extinction; the parents refrain from providing attention when the child engaged in tantrum behaviours at night  [Extinction Burst:] - One characteristic of extinction is that once the behaviour is no longer reinforced it often increases in frequency, duration or intensity before it decreases and then stops  - Example; when Rae did not get her coffee, she pushed the button on the coffee machine repeatedly (increase in frequency), and then pushed it harder and harder (increase in intensity) before finally giving up - Extinction burst; increase in frequency, duration or intensity of unreinforced behaviour during the extinction process  - Another characteristic of an extinction burst is that novel behaviours (behaviours that don't typically occur), may occur for a brief period when a behaviour is no longer reinforced  - Example; when Amanda's parents no longer reinforced her crying at night, she cried longer and louder (increased duration and intensity), but she also screamed and hit her pillow (novel behaviours) - Sometimes novel behaviours during extinction bursts may include emotional responses  - Example; Rae may act in an angry fashion and curse at the coffee machine or kick it - Azrin, Hutchinson and Hake reported that aggressive behaviour often is seen when extinction is used  - It isn't uncommon when children exhibit emotional responses when their behaviour is no longer being reinforced  - Extinction bursts are a natural reaction to the termination of reinforcement  - The extinction burst is not necessarily a conscious process as a young child is probably not thinking just acting how they feel  [Spontaneous Recovery:] - The behaviour may occur again even after it has not occurred for some time; spontaneous recovery  - It is a natural tendency for the behaviour to occur again in situations that are similar to those in which it occurred and was reinforced before extinction  - If extinction is still in place when spontaneous recovery occurs the behaviour won't continue for long  - Example; Amanda may cry at night long after extinction, but if she gets no attention for the crying, it will not occur often or for very long [Procedural Variations of Extinction:] - Extinction of a positively reinforced behaviour involves withholding the consequence that was previously delivered after the behaviour  - When the behaviour no longer results in the delivery of the reinforcing consequence, the behaviour no longer occurs  - Extinction of a negatively reinforced behaviour therefore involves eliminating the escape or avoidance that was reinforcing the behaviour  - When the behaviour no longer results in escape from or avoidance of an aversive stimulus the behaviour stops  - Example; suppose that you wear earplugs in your job at the factory to decrease the loud noise of the equipment. Wearing earplugs is negatively reinforced by escape from the loud noise. If the earplugs wore out and they no longer decreased the noise, you would stop wearing them. The behaviour of wearing earplugs would be extinguished because wearing them no longer produced escape from the noise - Research by Iwata and colleagues has demonstrated that extinction is different when a behaviour has been maintained by positive reinforcement than by negative - Iwata and colleagues studied self-injurious behaviour exhibited by children who were intellectually disabled  - They found that self-injury was positively reinforced by attention from adults  - They implanted extinction by removing the adult attention after the behaviour  - For some children self-injury was negatively reinforced which was escaping from academic tasks  - That is, a teacher stopped making demands on a child (removed the academic demand) once the child started to engage in self-injurious behaviour - In these cases of negative reinforcement, extinction required the teacher not to remove the academic demand after the self-injury [A Common Misconception about Extinction:] - Misconception; using extinction simply means ignoring the behaviour  - Extinction means removing the reinforcer for a behaviour  - Ignoring the problem behaviour functions as extinction only if attention is the reinforcer  - Example; a person's shoplifting is reinforced by getting merchandise from a store. If the salespeople in the store ignore the shoplifting behaviour, this will not cause that behaviour to stop Factors that Influence Extinction: - 2 factors that influence the extinction process is;  1. The reinforcement schedule before extinction  2. The occurrence whether extinction results in a rapid decrease in behaviour or a more gradual decrease  - Every occurrence of a behaviour is followed by a reinforcer, in intermittent reinforcement, not every occurrence of a behaviour results in a reinforcer instead the behaviour is only occasionally reinforced  - When a behaviour is continuously reinforced it decreases rapidly  - When a behaviour is intermittently reinforced it often decreases  - This happens because the change from reinforcement to extinction is more discriminable when a behaviour is reinforced every time  - Example of continuous reinforcement; if you put money into a vending machine and push the button, you always get the item you want. You would not continue to put money into a vending machine if you no longer got the item you paid for  - Example of intermittent reinforcement; Contrast this with what happens when you put money into a slot machine or a video gambling machine. Putting money into the slot machine is only occasionally reinforced by hitting the jackpot and winning money from the machine. If the machine was broken and never again produced a jackpot (no reinforcement), you might put many more coins into the machine before finally giving up - Intermittent reinforcement before extinction produced resistance to extinction (the behaviour persists once extinction is implemented) - Because of resistance to extinction the reinforcement schedule before extinction has implications for the successful use of extinction  - Occurrence of reinforcement after extinction; if reinforcement occurs it takes longer for the behaviour to decrease  - This is because reinforcement of the behaviour amounts to intermittent reinforcement which makes the behaviour more resistant to extinction  - If the behaviour is reinforced during spontaneous recovery the behaviour may then increase to its level before extinction  Behaviour Modification: Principles and Procedures **[Chapter 6:]** [Defining Punishment:] - A person engages in a behaviour and there was an immediate consequence that made it less likely that the person would repeat the behaviour in the future  - Example; Kathy reached over the fence to pet the dog, and the dog immediately bit her. As a result, Kathy is less likely to reach over the fence to pet that dog or other unfamiliar dogs - Punishment; 1. A particular behaviour occurs  2. A consequence immediately follows the behaviour  3. As a result, the behaviour is less likely to occur again in the future  - A punisher (or an aversive stimulus) is a consequence that makes a particular behaviour less likely to occur in the future  - Example; For Kathy, the dog bite was a punisher for her behaviour of reaching over the fence - A punisher is defined by its effect on the behaviour it follows  - A stimulus is a punisher when it decreases the frequency of the behaviour it follows - Example; Juan teases and hits his sisters until they cry. His mother scolds him and spanks him each time he teases or hits his sisters. Although Juan stops teasing and hitting his sisters at the moment that his mother scolds him and spanks him, he continues to engage in these aggressive and disruptive behaviours with his sister's day after day - No, the scolding and spanking do not function as punishers. They have not resulted in a decrease in Juan's problem behaviour over time. This example actually illustrates positive reinforcement. Juan's behaviour (teasing and hitting) results in the presentation of a consequence (scolding and spanking by his mother and crying by his sisters), and the outcome is that Juan continues to engage in the behaviour day after day - You cannot define punishment by whether the consequence appears unfavourable, unpleasant or aversive  - In Juan's case, scolding and spanking appear to be unfavourable consequences  [A Common Misconception about Punishment:] - When behaviour analysts speak of punishment they are referring to a process in which the consequence of a behaviour results in a future decrease in the occurrence of that behaviour  - People define punishment as someone who has committed a crime or inappropriate behaviour  - Punishment involves the hope that the behaviour will stop and elements of retribution or retaliation  - Punishment has moral or ethical connotations  - Authority figures impose punishment to inhibit inappropriate behaviour  [Positive and Negative Punishment:] - Positive; 1. The occurrence of a behaviour  2. Is followed by the presentation of an aversive stimulus  3. And as a result, the behaviour is less likely to occur in the future  - Negative; 1. The occurrence of a behaviour  2. Is followed by the removal of a reinforcing stimulus  3. And as a result, the behaviour is less likely to occur in the future  - The critical difference is that reinforcement strengthens a behaviour whereas punishment weakens a behaviour - Example of positive punishment; - Sajwaj, Libet, and Agras used positive punishment to decrease life-threatening rumination behaviour in a 6-month-old infant - Rumination in infants involves repeatedly regurgitating food into the mouth and swallowing it again - It can result in dehydration, malnutrition, and even death - In this study, each time the infant engaged in rumination, the researchers squirted a small amount of lemon juice into her mouth - As a result, the rumination behaviour immediately decreased, and the infant began to gain weight - Negative punishment splits up into time-out from positive reinforcement and response cost  - Both involves the loss of a reinforcing stimulus after the occurrence of a problem behaviour  - Example; Johnny interrupts his parents and the behaviour is rein forced by his parents' attention. (They scold him each time he interrupts.) In this case, extinction would involve withholding the parents' attention each time Johnny interrupts. Negative punishment would involve the loss of some other reinforcer---such as allowance money or the opportunity to watch TV---each time he interrupted. Both procedures would result in a decrease in the frequency of interrupting [Unconditioned and Conditioned Punishers:] - Some events are naturally punishing because avoiding or minimising contact with these stimuli has survival value  - Behaviours that produce painful or extreme stimulation are naturally weakened, and behaviours that result in escape or avoidance of such stimulation are naturally strengthened - Painful stimuli or extreme levels of stimulation have biological importance and these are called unconditioned punishers  - Example; extreme heat or cold, extreme levels of auditory or visual stimulation, or any painful stimulus (e.g., from electric shock, a sharp object, or a forceful blow) naturally weakens the behaviour that produces it - If there were not unconditioned punishers we would do dangerous behaviours like touch fire - Conditioned punisher; stimuli that function as punishers only after being paired with conditioned punishers or existing conditioned punishers   - The word no is a common conditioned punisher as it is often paired with many other punishing stimuli  - Example; if a child reaches for an electrical outlet and the parent says "no," the child may be less likely to reach for the outlet in the future - The word no is considered a generalised conditioned punisher because it has been paired with a variety of other unconditioned and conditioned punishers  - Stimuli that are associated with the loss of reinforcers may become conditioned punishers - A parking ticket or a speeding ticket is associated with the loss of money (paying a fine), so the ticket is a conditioned punisher for many people. In reality, whether speeding tickets or parking tickets function as conditioned punishers depends on a number of factors, including the schedule of punishment and the magnitude of the punishing stimulus [Factors that Influence the Effectiveness of Punishment:] - The factors are; 1. Immediacy; - When a punishing stimulus immediately follows a behaviour, the behaviour is more likely to be weakened - For punishment to be most effective the consequence must follow the behaviour immediately  - Example; A student makes a sarcastic comment in class and the teacher immediately gives her an angry look. As a result, the student is less likely to make a sarcastic comment in class 2. Contingency;  - For punishment to be most effective the punishing stimulus should occur every time the behaviour occurs  - the punishing consequence is contingent on the behaviour when the punisher follows the behaviour each time the behaviour occurs - the punishment is less effective when it is applied inconsistently  3. Motivating Operations;  - Establishing operations (EOs) and abolishing operations (AOs) may influence the effectiveness of punishers - Establishing operation; an event that makes a consequence more effective as a punisher  - Abolishing operation; an event that makes a consequence less effective as a punisher  - In negative punishment, deprivation is an EO that makes the loss of reinforcers more effective as a punisher and satiation is an AO that makes the loss of reinforcers less effective as a punisher - Example; telling a child who misbehaves at the dinner table that dessert will be taken away will: a) be a more effective punisher if the child has not eaten any dessert yet and is still hungry (EO), b) be a less effective punisher if the child has had two or three helpings of the dessert already and is no longer hungry (AO) - In positive punishment, any event that enhances the aversiveness of a stimulus makes that event a more effective punisher (EO), whereas events that minimize the aversiveness of a stimulus event make it less effective as a punisher (AO) - Example; some drugs (e.g., morphine) minimize the effectiveness of a painful stimulus as a punisher. Other drugs (e.g., alcohol) may reduce the effectiveness of social stimuli (e.g., peer disapproval) as punishers 4. Magnitude; - It is the nature of the punishing consequence  - Some events may be established as conditioned punishers for some people and not for others because people have different experiences - A more intense aversive stimulus is more likely to function as a punisher - Example; a mosquito bite is a mildly aversive stimulus for most people; thus, the behaviour of wearing shorts in the woods may be punished by mosquito bites on the legs, and wearing long pants may be negatively reinforced by the avoidance of mosquito bites. However, some people refuse to go outside at all when the mosquitoes are biting, whereas others go outside and do not seem to be bothered by mosquito bites [Problems with Punishment:] 1. Emotional Reactions to Punishment; - Aggressive behaviour and other emotional responses may occur when painful stimuli are presented as punishers  - Example; Azrin, Hutchinson, and Hake showed when one monkey received a shock, it immediately attacked another monkey that was present when the shock was delivered. When such aggressive behaviours or other emotional responses result in the termination of the painful or aversive stimulus, they are negatively reinforced. Thus, the tendency to engage in aggressive behaviour may have survival value 2. Escape and Avoidance; - Whenever an aversive stimulus is used in a punishment procedure, an opportunity for escape and avoidance behaviour is created - Any behaviour that functions to avoid or escape from the presentation of an aversive stimulus is strengthened through negative reinforcement - Example; a child might run away or hide from a parent who is about to spank the child 3. Negative Reinforcement for the use of Punishment; - Some people might argue that punishment may be too easily misused or overused because its negatively reinforcing to the person implanting it  - When punishment is used, it results in an immediate decrease in the problem behaviour - If the behaviour decreased by punishment is aversive to the person using punishment, the use of punishment is negatively reinforced by the termination of the aversive behaviour - As a result, the person is more likely to use punishment in the future in similar circumstances - Example; Dr. Hopkins hated it when her students talked in class while she was teaching. Whenever someone talked in class, Dr. Hopkins stopped teaching and stared at the student with her meanest look. When she did this, the student immediately stopped talking in class 4. Punishment and Modelling; - People who observe someone making frequent use of punishment may themselves be more likely to use punishment when they are in similar situations - Example; children who experience frequent spanking or observe aggressive behaviour may be more likely to engage in aggressive behaviour themselves 5. Ethical Issues; - Some argue that the use of punishment cannot be justified  - Others argue that the use of punishment may be justified if the behaviour is harmful or serious enough and, therefore, the potential benefits to the individual are great - Professionals must consider a number of issues before they decide to use behaviour modification procedures based on punishment - Punishment procedures are always used in conjunction with positive reinforcement procedures to strengthen the desirable behaviour Behaviour Modification: Principles and Procedures **[Chapter 7]** - (book chapter 13) [Defining Functional Assessment:] - Behaviour is lawful regardless if it is desirable or undesirable  - Behaviour occurs as a function of environmental variables  - Respondent behaviour is controlled by antecedent stimuli - Operant behaviour is controlled by antecedents and consequences that make up three-term contingencies of reinforcement and punishment - Functional Assessment; the process of gathering information by antecedents and consequences that are functionally related to the occurrence of a problem behaviour  - It provides information that helps determine why a problem behaviour occurs  - Functional assessments also provide, detailed information about antecedent stimuli, including time and place of the behaviour, people present when the behaviour occurs, any environmental events immediately preceding the behaviour, and the frequency (or other dimensions) of the target behaviour - Functional assessment also provides other types o\`f information that are important for developing appropriate treatments for problems behaviours  [Functions of Problem Behaviours:] - There are 4 classes of reinforcing consequences or functions of problem behaviours  1. Social Positive Reinforcement; - When a positively reinforcing consequence is delivered by another person after the target behaviour  - It may involve attention, access to activities, or tangibles provided by another person  - Example; Anna received attention from her mother as a reinforcer for her problem behaviour 2. Social Negative Reinforcement; - When another person terminates an aversive interaction, task, or activity after the occurrence of a target behaviour and as a result the behaviour is more likely to occur  - Example; a child who complains to his parent when asked to do a chore may get out of doing the chore as a result of complaining, being allowed to escape from the chore or task strengthens or reinforces the problem behaviour 3. Automatic Positive Reinforcement; - When a behaviour produces a reinforcing consequence automatically and the behaviour is strengthened - Some behaviours produce sensory stimulation that reinforces the behaviour - Example; A child with autism who spins objects, rocks in his seat, or flaps his fingers in front of his face may do so because the behaviours produce reinforcing sensory stimulation. In this case, the reinforcing consequence for the behaviour is not mediated by another person 4. Automatic Negative Reinforcement; - Occurs when the target behaviour automatically reduces an aversive stimulus as a consequence of the behaviour and it is strengthened  - With automatic negative reinforcement, escape from the aversive stimulus is not mediated by the actions of another person - Example; a problem behaviour that may be maintained by automatic negative reinforcement is binge eating - Binge eating has been found to be maintained by the reduction in unpleasant emotional responses that were present before binge eating [Functional Assessment Methods:] - Divided into 3 categories; indirect assessment methods, direct observation methods and experimental methods  1. Indirect Methods; - Indirect functional assessment methods, behavioural interviews or questionnaires are used to gather information from the person exhibiting problem behaviour or from others who know the person well  - They are also known as informant assessment methods as an informant is providing information in response to assessment questions  - Advantage; are easy to conduct and do not take much time  - Disadvantage; informants must rely on their memory of the events thus information may be incorrect due to forgetting or biasness  - They are used commonly  - Goal; to generate information on the problem behaviours, antecedents, consequences and other variables that will permit you to form a hypothesis about the controlling variables for the problem  - Examples of Antecedents; - When does the problem behaviour usually occur? - Where does the problem behaviour usually occur? - Who is present when the problem behaviour occurs? - Examples of Consequences; - What happens after the problem behaviour occurs? - What do you do when the problem behaviour occurs? - What do other people do when the problem behaviour occurs? - Once the interviewer can see a reliable pattern of antecedents and consequences, the interviewer can develop a hypothesis about the antecedents that have stimulus control over the problem behaviour and the reinforcer that maintains it - Example of lists of questions to generate thorough functional assessment information in a behavioural interview   2. Direct Observation Methods; - A person observes and records the antecedents and consequences each time the problem behaviour occurs  - The person conducting the direct observation assessment may be the person exhibiting the problem behaviour or another person associated with the client  - The antecedents and consequences are observed and recorded in the natural environment where the problem behaviour typically takes place - An exception would be when observations occur while a person is in a treatment setting - Example; hospital or clinic  - It can also be called ABC observation  - Goal; to record the immediate antecedents and consequences typically associated with the problem behaviour under normal conditions  - Advantage; an observer is recording the antecedents and consequences as they occur rather than reporting the antecedents and consequences from memory (more likely to be accurate)  - Disadvantage; takes more time and effort than interview or questionnaire methods  - To demonstrate that a functional relationship exists, experimental methods (functional analysis) must be used  - The information allows you to develop a hypothesis about the antecedents that evoke the behaviour and the reinforcer that maintains the behaviour  - A strong hypothesis about the controlling antecedents and consequences often is sufficient to develop effective treatment strategies - Your hypothesis about the controlling variables is strengthened when the information from indirect assessments is consistent with information from the ABC direct observation assessment - To conduct ABC observations, the observer should be present in the client's natural environment when the problem behaviour is most likely to occur - Example; if a student has problem behaviours in one class but not in others, the observer should be present in that particular class to observe and record the ABCs - Touchette and his colleagues a method to assess the time of day that the problem occurs most often by using a scatter plot - Someone in the client's natural environment records once each half hour whether the problem, behaviour occurred  - It is an interval recording method but not ABC observation method (antecedents and consequences are not observed) - After recording for several days, you may be able to see the time of day that the problem behaviour most often occurs  - The observer must be trained to observe and record correctly  - They must be able to record objectively in terms of specific behaviour of other people and changes in physical stimuli  - ABC observations can be conducted in 3 ways; 1. Descriptive Method;  - Observer writes a brief description of the behaviour (antecedent and consequent event) each time the behaviour occurs  - Observer uses a 3-column sheet  - Is an open-ended method and results in descriptions of all events that were contiguous to the behaviour  - Because it is open-ended and the observer describes everything this assessment method may be conducted before indirect methods are used  2. Checklist Method; - Involves a checklist with columns for possible antecedents, behaviours and consequences  - It is developed after the problem behaviours, potential antecedents and consequences are identified in an interview or observation the observer records the problem behaviour, antecedents and consequences each time it occurs by putting a check mark in the relevant columns  3. Interval (or Real-Time) Recording Method; - Divide an observation period into brief time intervals and mark a data sheet at the end of each interval to record whether the behaviour occurred in that interval  - In real-time recording you record the exact time of each occurrence of the behaviour  - You identify the specific events to record from an interview or other indirect assessment methods or direct observation  - Noncompliance; refusing to complete a task requested by the parents  - Descriptive Assessments; indirect and direct functional assessment methods together  - As the antecedents and consequences are described either from memory or from direct observation of the events  3\. Experimental Methods (Functional Analysis); - They manipulate antecedent or consequent variables to demonstrate their influence on the problem behaviour  - They are also called experimental analysis or functional analysis  - They reflect a functional relationship between antecedents, consequences and the problem behaviour  - In functional analysis, you follow the problem behaviour with potential reinforcers to see which consequences increase (strengthen) the behaviour, and/or you present different antecedent events (possible EOs) to see which ones evoke the behaviour - Some researchers have manipulated both antecedents and consequences to evaluate the possible functions of a problem behaviour - For example, Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, and Richman conducted experiments to evaluate the function of self-injurious behaviour (SIB) exhibited by people with intellectual disabilities - In the experimental conditions, Iwata arranged possible establishing operations as an antecedent and possible reinforcing consequences for the SIB - To evaluate attention as a possible reinforcing consequence for SIB, Iwata arranged a condition in which the child did not receive any attention from the adult who was present (EO), and then when SIB occurred, the adult provided attention in the form of social disapproval - To evaluate escape from tasks as a possible reinforcer, Iwata presented difficult tasks (EO), and then when SIB occurred, allowed the individual to briefly escape from the task - Other researchers have conducted functional analyses in which antecedents were manipulated to determine their influence on the problem behaviour - The function of the problem behaviour was then inferred from the resulting behaviour changes associated with the antecedent manipulations - Sometime functional analyses are designed to evaluate a range of possible functions for the problem behaviour  - Exploratory Functional Analysis; the behaviour analyst may not have a hypothesis about the reinforcing consequence maintaining the problem behaviour and is exploring possibilities in the functional analysis  - It typically includes 3 or 4 test conditions and a control condition  - In each test condition you present an EO and a possible reinforcer  - In a control condition you present an AO and withhold the possible reinforcers  - Can identify a particular function of a problem behaviour while ruling out other functions  - In some cases, a functional analysis may involve fewer experimental conditions because the behaviour analyst is basing the conditions on a specific hypothesis about the functions of the problem behaviour  - Hypothesis-Testing Functional Analysis; the goal is to not evaluate all possible functions but to confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis  - In this analysis one condition (test condition) presents the hypothesised EO and when the problem behaviour occurs, presents the hypothesised reinforcer  - The other condition (control condition) presents the hypothesised AO and if the problem behaviour occurs, does not provided the hypothesised reinforcer  [Conducting a Functional Assessment:] - You should always conduct some form of functional assessment before you develop treatment for a problem behaviour  - To develop a treatment, you should understand the environmental events (antecedents and consequences) that control the behaviour  - Information on antecedents and consequences is important because treatment will involve manipulating antecedents or consequences to produce a change in the behaviour  - You need to know; - The antecedents that evoke the problem behaviour to use antecedent control procedures  - What the reinforcing consequence for the behaviour is to use extinction and differential reinforcement procedures effectively  1. Behavioural Interview; - Functional assessment of a problem behaviour should start with an interview with the client or other informant  2. Hypothesis; - Develop a hypothesis about the ABCs of the problem behaviour  - The outcome of the interview should be a clear definition of the problem behaviours and the development of hypotheses about antecedents that evoke behaviours and consequences  3. Direct Observation Assessment; - Next is to conduct direct observations of the ABCs in the natural context  - May be conducted by the client, a professional consultant or people in the client's environment who are trained by consultant  - It is important to take steps to reduce reactivity of the observations so that the information reflects the typical level of behaviour  - Reactivity can be reduced through unobtrusive observation, by participant or by allowing time to pass  4. Confirm;  - Confirm your initial hypothesis about the ABCs of the problem behaviour  - With a firm hypothesis you can develop functional treatments that address the antecedents and consequences identified in the functional assessment  5. Conduct Further Assessments; - If information is not consistent with the interview another interview and observation is needed to clarify  6. Conduct a Functional Analysis; - If information is still inconsistent after further assessment, a functional analysis is necessary  [Functional Interventions:] - Once conducted the functional assessment process, you use the information to develop interventions  - Interventions should be designed to alter the antecedents and consequences to decrease the problem behaviour and increase desirable alternative behaviours  - These include extinction, differential reinforcements and antecedent manipulations  - They are non-aversive because they don't rely on punishment Behaviour Modification: Principles and Procedures **[Chapter 8]** -- (book chapter 7) [Stimulus Control:] - Example 1; Whenever Jake wants some extra cash to spend, he asks his mom and she usually gives him some money. When he asks his dad, his dad usually refuses to give him any money and tells him to get a job. As a result, he usually asks his mom for money instead of his dad - Example 2; Ginny decides she will go out back and pick a few strawberries from the bushes in her backyard. When she picks a bright red strawberry, it is sweet and juicy and tastes great. When she picks one that is still slightly green, however, it is sour and hard and doesn't taste very good. As she continues to pick the strawberries and eat them, she chooses only the red ones - A behaviour was more likely to occur when a specific antecedent stimulus was present  - For Jake, the antecedent stimulus that was present when he asked for money was his mum  - For Ginny, the antecedent stimulus when she was eating strawberries was the presence of red strawberries  - A behaviour is 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 or a stimulus from a specific stimulus class [Developing Stimulus Control: Stimulus Discrimination Training ] - The antecedent stimulus that is present when a behaviour is reinforced is known as the discriminative stimulus (S^D^) - The process of reinforcing a behaviour only when a specific antecedent stimulus (S^D^) is present is called stimulus discrimination training  - 2 steps in this training;  1. When the S^D^ is present, the behaviour is reinforced  2. When any other antecedent stimuli except the S^D^ are the present the behaviour is not reinforced  - During discrimination training, any antecedent stimulus that is present when the behaviour is not reinforced is S-delta - Definition of Stimulus Control; As a result of discrimination training, a behaviour is more likely to occur in the future when an S^D^ is present but is less likely to occur when an is present  - S^D^ does not cause a behaviour to occur it increase the likelihood of the behaviour in the present situation  - Discrimination Training in the Laboratory; - In the experiment reported by Holland and Skinner, a hungry pigeon stands in a small experimental chamber - The wall in front of the pigeon features a round disk (called a key) and two lights, green and red - A pigeon has a natural tendency to peck at objects - When it pecks at the key, a small amount of food is delivered to an opening in the chamber - The food reinforces the behaviour of pecking the key - They turned on the red light (S^D^), and then whenever the pigeon pecked the key, they delivered food (reinforcement) - Sometimes they turned on the green light , and when the pigeon pecked the key, they did not deliver food (extinction) - Because of the process of discrimination training, the pigeon is more likely to peck the key when the light is red and less likely to peck the key when the light is green - The red light signals that key-pecking will be reinforced; the green light signals that key-pecking will not be reinforced - Developing Reading and Spelling with Discrimination Training; - Reading is a behaviour that is developed through the process of stimulus discrimination training - Our reading behaviour is under the stimulus control of the letters and words we see on the page - If we see the letters DOG, we say "dog"  - If we said "dog" after seeing any other combination of letters, our response would be incorrect - We learn to make correct reading responses through discrimination training, typically when we are children - In this example, the adult's response "Wrong!" is a conditioned punisher - As we learn to read, we are able to discriminate the sound of each letter in the alphabet, and we learn to read thousands of words - In each case, a particular letter is associated with one sound, and a particular string of letters is associated with one word - When we see a letter and make the correct sound, or see a written word and say the correct word, our behaviour is reinforced by praise from teachers or parents - Thus, the letter or the written word develops stimulus control over our reading behaviour - In the case of spelling, the spoken word is the S^D^, and our response involves writing or saying the letters that spell the word - When we write or say the letters correctly, our spelling behaviour is reinforced  - Stimulus Discrimination Training and Punishment; - If a behaviour is punished in the presence of one antecedent stimulus, the behaviour will decrease and stop occurring in the future when that stimulus is present - The behaviour may continue to occur when other antecedent stimuli are present - Example; suppose that when your soup is boiling, you put a spoonful in your mouth to taste it. You burn your mouth, and as a result, you are less likely to put a spoonful of boiling soup in your mouth in the future. However, you might still put soup in your mouth before it is boiling or after it cools off, without burning yourself - The boiling soup is a S^D^; it signals that tasting the soup will be punished - Stimulus control has developed when you no longer try to taste soup that is boiling [The Three-Term Contingency:] - The consequence (reinforcer or punisher) is contingent on the occurrence of the behaviour only in the presence of the specific antecedent stimulus called S^D  ^ - It involves a relationship among an antecedent stimulus, a behaviour and the consequence of the behaviour  - Behaviour analysts call this three-term contingency the ABCs (antecedents, behaviour, consequences) of a behaviour  - The notation used to describe the contingency involving reinforcement is;  - S^D^  = discriminative stimulus, R = response (an instance of the behaviour) and S^R^  = reinforcer (or reinforcing stimulus)  - The notation for a three-term contingency punishment is;  - S^P^  = punisher (or punishing stimulus)  - An antecedent stimulus develops stimulus control over a behaviour because the behaviour is reinforced or punished only in the presence of that particular antecedent stimulus - The same holds true for extinction - When a behaviour is no longer reinforced in a particular situation (in the presence of a particular antecedent stimulus), the behaviour decreases in the future only in that particular situation [Generalisation:] - When the stimulus control of a behaviour is more broad (when the behaviour occurs in a range of antecedent situations) we say that stimulus generalisation has occurred  - Generalisation; takes place when a behaviour occurs in the presence of stimuli that are similar in some way to the S^D^ that was present during stimulus discrimination training  - Generalisation Gradient; The more similar another stimulus is to the S^D^, the more likely it is that the behaviour will occur in the presence of that stimulus - As stimuli are less and less similar to the S^D^, the behaviour is less and less likely to occur in the presence of these stimuli - Example; They showed that the head-hitting of a 10-year-old girl with intellectual disability was reinforced by adult attention. The presence of an adult was an S^D^ for the behaviour. In this case, the generalization gradient was the distance of the adult from the child. When the adult was right next to the child, she was more likely to engage in head hitting. The farther away the adult was from the child, the less likely she was to engage in head-hitting - Stimulus generalisation has also occurred when a response occurs in different circumstances, in a different context, at a different time or with different people from those in which it was originally learned  - Example; parents may teach their young child to follow their instructions or comply with their requests. When the parents make a request (S^D^), the child complies with the request (R), and the parents praise the child (S^R^). When the child complies with novel requests the parents make, stimulus generalization has occurred. The specific request may be new, but it shares the relevant features of the S^D^ present during discrimination training; It is a request or instruction made by the parent - Requests make by the parents are part of a stimulus class antecedent stimuli that share similar features and have the same functional effect on a particular behaviour  Behaviour Modification: Principles and Procedures **[Chapter 9]** -- (book chapter 10) [What is Prompting?] - Prompts are used to increase the likelihood that a person will engage in the correct behaviour at the correct time  - Are used during discrimination training to help the person engage in the correct behaviour in the presence of the discriminative stimulus (S^D^ ) - Example; S^D^ is the ball approaching the batter, the correct response is swinging the bat to connect with the ball and the reinforcer is hitting the ball and getting praise from the coach  A blue box with black text AI-generated content may be incorrect. - If the correct behaviour is not occurring (the player is not correctly swinging the bat), the behaviour cannot be reinforced  - The function of prompts is to produce an instance of the correct behaviour so that it can be reinforced  - The teacher provides supplemental stimuli (prompts) together with the S^D^ so that the student will exhibit the correct behaviour  - The teacher then reinforces the correct behaviour so that it will occur whenever the S^D^ is present   [What is Fading?] - Fading is the gradual elimination of the prompt as the behaviour continues to occur in the presence of the S^D ^ - It is one way to transfer stimulus control from the prompts to the S^D ^ - Example; Coach McCall gradually removed the prompts until the batters hit the ball without any further assistance. He stopped giving instruction and he no longer had to model the behaviour or provide physical assistance to help the players hit the ball. Once the prompts were removed, the behaviour was under the stimulus control of the S^D ^ - What types of prompt is the teacher using? - When the teacher says the word on the flash card, this is a verbal prompt  - The verbal prompt is also a modelling prompt  - Written word on the flash card is S^D ^ - The verbal prompt helps the student make the correct response in the presence of S^D ^ - The student must be able to make the correct response when she sees the word without the prompt  - To accomplish this the teacher begins the fade the verbal prompts - The second time through the set of flash cards, the student sees a flash card and, if she does not respond, the teacher says part of the word as a prompt and the student says the whole word - The teacher shows her the flash card again and the student then reads the word without the prompt - The teacher provides praise for each correct response - The next time through the flash cards, if the student cannot read a word, the teacher makes the sound of the first letter in the word as a verbal prompt  - Eventually, the student will read the words on the flash cards without any prompts  - At this point, her reading behaviour is under the stimulus control of the written words, not the verbal prompts [Types of Prompts:] - 2 main prompts are used in behaviour modification; response and stimulus prompts 1. Response Prompts; - It is the behaviour of another person that evokes the desired response in the presence of the S^D ^ - Response prompts split up into; verbal, gestural, modelling and physical prompts - Verbal Prompts