BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION-

MANAGEMENT,OPERANT PRINCIPLES
 Behavior modification refers to behavior-change procedures that were
employed based on methodological behaviorism
 Overt behavior was modified with presumed consequences, including artificial
positive and negative reinforcement contingencies to increase desirable behavior,
or administering positive and negative punishment and/or extinction to reduce
problematic behavior.
 The first use of the term behavior modification appears to have been used by
Edward Thorndike in 1911.
 Behavior modification is the field of psychology concerned with analyzing and
modifying human behavior.
 ■ Analyzing means identifying the functional relationship between environmental
events and a particular behavior to understand the reasons for behavior or to
determine why a person behaved as he or she did.
 ■ Modifying means developing and implementing procedures to help people
change their behavior. It involves altering environmental events so as to influence
behavior.
 Behavior modification procedures are developed by professionals and used to
change socially significant behaviors, with the goal of improving some aspect of a
person’s life.
CHARACTERISTICS OF BEHAVIOR
MODIFICATION
 ■ Focus on behavior: Behavior modification procedures are designed
to change behavior, not a personal characteristic or trait. Therefore,
behavior modification deemphasizes labeling. For example, behavior
modification is not used to change autism (a label); rather, behavior
modification is used to change problem behaviors exhibited by
children with autism.

 ■ Procedures based on behavioral principles: Behavior modification is

the application of basic principles originally derived from
experimental research with laboratory animals (Skinner, 1938). The
scientific study of behavior is called the experimental analysis of
behavior, or behavior analysis.
 ■ Emphasis on current environmental events: Behavior modification
involves assessing and modifying the current environmental events that
are functionally related to the behavior. Human behavior is controlled
by events in the immediate environment, and the goal of behavior
modification is to identify those events. Once these controlling variables
have been identified, they are altered to modify the behavior.
 ■ Precise description of behavior modification procedures (Baer et al.,
1968). Behavior modification procedures involve specific changes in
environmental events that are functionally related to the behavior.
 ■ Measurement of behavior change. One of the hallmarks of behavior
modification is its emphasis on measuring the behavior before and after
intervention to document the behavior change resulting from the
behavior modification procedures.
 ■ De-emphasis on past events as causes of behavior. As stated
earlier, behavior modification places emphasis on recent
environmental events as the causes of behavior. However, knowledge
of the past also provides useful information about environmental
events related to the current behavior. For example, previous learning
experiences have been shown to influence current behavior.
AREAS OF APPLICATION

 Developmental Disabilities
 Mental Illness
 Education and Special Education
 Rehabilitation
 Self-Management
 Health-Related Behaviors
Principles of Behavior Modification
 Reinforcement (positive and negative)
 Punishment (positive and negative)
 Extinction
 Shaping
 Fading
 Chaining
 Reinforcement

 Reinforcement is the process in which a behavior is strengthened by

the immediate consequence that reliably follows its occurrence. When
a behavior is strengthened, it is more likely to occur again in the
future.
 POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT:
 Positive reinforcement is defined as follows:
1. The occurrence of a behavior
2. Behavior is followed by the addition of a stimulus (a reinforcer) or an
increase
in the intensity of a stimulus
3. which results in the strengthening of the behavior
 NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT:
1. The occurrence of a behavior
2. is followed by the removal of a stimulus (an aversive stimulus) or a
decrease
in the intensity of a stimulus
3. which results in the strengthening of the behavior
Example: The mother’s behavior of buying her child candy results in
termination of the child’s tantrum (an aversive stimulus is removed). As a
result, the mother is more likely to buy her child candy when he tantrums in a
store. This is an example of negative reinforcement. On the other hand, when
the child tantrums, he gets candy (a positive reinforcer is presented). As a
result, he is more likely to tantrum in the store. This is an example of positive
reinforcement.
 Factors Affecting Reinforcement

 Immediacy
 Contingencey
 Establishing Operations:
Deprivation: is a type of establishing operation that increases the effectiveness of
most unconditioned reinforcers and some conditioned reinforcers. A particular
reinforcer (such as food or water) is more powerful if a person has gone without it for
some time.
Satiation :Satiation occurs when a person has recently consumed a large amount of
a particular reinforcer
Schedules of Reinforcement

 Fixed Ration schedule

 Variable Ratio Schedule
 Fixed Interval Schedule
 Variable Interval Schedule
Extinction

 Extinction is a basic principle of behavior. The behavioral definition of

extinction is as follows:
Extinction occurs when
 1. A behavior that has been previously reinforced
 2. no longer results in the reinforcing consequences
 3. and, therefore, the behavior stops occurring in the future
EXTINCTION BURST:
One characteristic of the extinction process is that once the behavior is
no longer reinforced, it often increases briefly in frequency, duration, or
intensity before it decreases and ultimately stops (Lerman & Iwata,
1995)
 Spontaneous Recovery: One other characteristic of extinction is that
the behavior may occur again even after it has not occurred for some
time. This is called spontaneous recovery. Spontaneous recovery is
the natural tendency for the behavior to occur again in situations that
are similar to those in which it occurred before extinction
Punishment

 Definition of punishment:
1. A particular behavior occurs.
2. A consequence immediately follows the behavior.
3. As a result, the behavior is less likely to occur again in the future.
(The behavior is weakened)
A punisher (also called an aversive stimulus) is a consequence that
makes a particular behavior less likely to occur in the future.
 Positive Punishment:
Positive punishment is defined as follows:
1. The occurrence of a behavior
2. is followed by the presentation of an aversive stimulus
3. and as a result, the behavior is less likely to occur in the future.
 Example: child with self injurious behavior slapped herself in the face. Each
time she did so, she was given a brief electric shock with a handheld shock
device.
 Premack Principle: When a person is made to engage in a low-probability
behavior contingent on a high-probability behavior, the high-probability
behavior will decrease in frequency. That is, if, after engaging in a problem
behavior, a person has to do something he or she doesn’t want to do, the
person will be less likely to engage in the problem behavior in the future
Negative Punishment:
Negative punishment is defined as follows:
1. The occurrence of a behavior
2. is followed by the removal of a reinforcing stimulus
3. and as a result, the behavior is less likely to occur in the future

 Two examples of negative punishment are : time-out from positive

reinforcement and response cost Both involve the loss of a reinforcing
stimulus or activity after the occurrence of a problem behavior
SHAPING

 Shaping is used to develop a target behavior that a person does not

currently exhibit. Shaping is defined as the differential reinforcement
of successive approximations of a target behavior until the person
exhibits the target behavior.
 Differential reinforcement involves the basic principles of
reinforcement and extinction. Differential reinforcement occurs when
one particular behavior is reinforced and all other behaviors are not
reinforced in a particular situation. As a result, the behavior that is
reinforced increases and the behaviors that are not reinforced
decrease through extinction.
Example 1:
Language Acquisition in Children :
When shaping is used to develop language, the successive
approximations or shaping steps include babbling, word sounds, part
words, whole words, strings of words, and sentences. To begin shaping,
you identify an existing behavior that is an approximation of the target
behavior. This is called the starting behavior, or first approximation. You
reinforce this behavior and, as a result, the person starts to exhibit this
behavior more often
 Example 2: Successive Approximations To Lever-pressing In Rats
 1. The rat moves to the side where the lever is located.
 2. The rat faces the lever.
 3. The rat approaches the lever.
 4. The rat rears up on its hind legs.
 5. The rat makes a movement toward the lever with a paw.
 6. The rat touches the lever.
 7. The rat presses the lever.
 SHAPING GUIDELINES
1. Define the target behavior.
2. Determine whether shaping is the most appropriate procedure.
3. Identify the starting behavior.
4. Choose the shaping steps.
5. Choose the reinforcer.
6. Differentially reinforce successive approximations.
7. Move through the shaping steps at a proper pace.
CHAINING

 Many situations call for complex behaviors that have multiple

component responses. A complex behavior consisting of many
component behaviors that occur together in a sequence is called a
behavioral chain.
 Types of Chaining:
1.Backward Chaining
2.Forward Chaining
 Stimulus-Response Chain: Each behavioral chain consists of a number of
individual stimulus–response components that occur together in a sequence.
For this reason, a behavioral chain is often called a stimulus–response chain.

 The sequence of stimulus and response components involved in the behavioral

chain of getting a piece of gum is as follows:
 1. SD1 (pack of gum in your pocket) R1 (reach into your pocket)
 2. SD2 (your hand in your pocket) R2 (pull out the pack of gum)
 3. SD3 (pack of gum in your hand) R3 (pull out one stick of gum)
 4. SD4 (one stick of gum in your hand) R4 (unwrap stick of gum)
 5. SD5 (unwrapped stick of gum in your hand) R5 (put the gum in your mouth)
reinforcer (chewing the gum)
Analyzing the seven stimulus–response components involved in Mr.X’s
job of folding a towel and putting it into the box.
1. SD1 (a bin full of towels) R1 (grab a towel from the bin)
2. SD2 (towel in hand) R2 (lay towel flat on the table)
3. SD3 (towel flat on the table) R3 (fold towel in half)
4. SD4 (half-folded towel on table) R4 (fold towel in half again)
5. SD5 (quarter-folded towel on table) R5 (fold towel in half again)
6. SD6 (folded towel on table) R6 (pick up folded towel)
7. SD7 (folded towel in hand) R7 (place towel in box) reinforcer (folded
towel in box
 Backward chaining is an intensive training procedure typically used
with learners with limited abilities. With backward chaining, you use
prompting and fading to teach the last behavior in the chain first. By
starting with the last behavior in the chain, the learner completes the
chain on every learning trial. Once the last behavior is mastered
(once the learner exhibits the behavior on presentation of the SD,
without any prompts), you teach the next to last behavior. Once this
behavior is mastered and the learner engages in the last two
behaviors in the chain without any prompts, the next behavior up the
chain is taught. This continues until the learner can exhibit the whole
chain of behaviors when presented with the first SD, without any
prompts.
 Forward chaining is similar to backward chaining in that you teach
one component of the chain at a time and then chain the components
together, and you use prompting and fading to teach the behavior
associated with the SD at each step in the chain. The difference
between forward chaining and backward chaining is the point at
which you begin training.
 SIMILARITIES BETWEEN FORWARD CHAINING AND BACKWARD
CHAINING
 ■ Both are used to teach a chain of behaviors.
 ■ To use both procedures, you first have to conduct a task analysis
that breaks down the chain into stimulus–response components.
 ■ Both teach one behavior (one component of the chain) at a time
and chain the behaviors together.
 ■ Both procedures use prompting and fading to teach each
component.
 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FORWARD CHAINING AND BACKWARD
CHAINING
 ■ Forward chaining teaches the first component first, whereas
backward chaining teaches the last component first.
 ■ With backward chaining, because you teach the last component
first, the learner completes the chain in every learning trial and
receives the natural reinforcer in every learning trial. In forward
chaining, the learner does not complete the chain in every learning
trial; artificial reinforcers are used until the last component of the
chain is taught. The natural reinforcer occurs after the last behavior
of the chain.
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