Behavior Principles In Everyday Life

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Behavior Principles In Everyday Life

• Chapter 6
• Behavior Modification

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Behavior Modification

• Learning is central First, we need to learn
  useful behavior modification techniques, then
  learn to apply them to the task of changing
  behavior. The behavior we wish to change is
  called the target behavior.
• The target behavior is given objective behavioral
  definitions that are designed to make it easy to
  measure the behavior in numerical units.
• To understand the behavior as its starting point,
  we begin with baseline measurements of the target
  behavior before initiating behavior modification.
  

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Behavior Modification Cont.

• Behavior modification involves changing the most
  important antecedents and consequences that
  control behavior.
• Behavior modification involves systematically
  applying behavior principles to the task of
  changing someones target behavior be it our
  own or someone elses behavior.

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Goal Setting

• How is a behavior selected to be a target for
  behavior modification?
• There are two general classes of problems
  behavioral excesses and deficits. Behavioral
  modification is usually used to help people
  reduce behavioral excesses and learn desirable
  skills needed to overcome deficits.

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Goal Setting Cont.

• (1.) First, behavioral excesses are often more
  obvious than deficits, hence more likely to be
  noticed and targeted for change.
• Excessive drug and alcohol use can create untold
  harm to a person and his or her family and
  friends.
• Even less obvious behavior such as excessive
  nail biting can cause problems, damaging and
  disfiguring the nails and skin sometimes
  affecting a persons self-concept and social
  relations.

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Goal Setting Cont.

• (2.) Second, serious behavioral deficits are
  sometimes painfully obvious.
• People who lack social skills often stand out in
  social groups awkward, fumbling, embarrassed.
  People who cannot read may suddenly catch our
  attention due to their lack of a basic skill.
  However, people with behavioral deficits often
  learn to avoid situations where deficiencies
  would be noticed. People who cannot read can act
  as if they have no problem and we may fail to
  notice.
• Hence behavioral deficits are often less
  conspicuous than excesses.

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Goal Setting Cont.

• (3.) Third is something that applies to all
  people, even if they have no noticeable
  behavioral excesses or deficits. Increasingly,
  people are using behavior modification as a tool
  for developing their human potential learning
  skills that broaden their life experiences.

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Behavioral Definitions

• Behavioral research has benefited enormously from
  its focus on creating behavioral definitions,
  which are careful, detailed and objective
  definitions of behavior. Vague definitions make
  it difficult to identify behaviors clearly and
  change them effectively.
• There are three benefits from using objective
  definitions.

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Behavioral Definitions Cont.

• (1.) First, objective data give us the basis for
  rewarding a job well done and not rewarding
  suboptimal behavior.
• (2.) Second, objective records help us ask
  questions and create rules for correcting
  problems we may encounter during behavior
  modification.
• (3.) Third, objective data help people evaluate
  the relative merits of different behavior
  modification programs.

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Defining Chains of Behavior

• Often it is useful to define a target behavior in
  terms of several smaller operant links that are
  joined together in a chain of activities.
• Few things of great value are created by one unit
  of behavior. Many tasks that we wish to master
  consist of dozens, if not hundreds of small
  skills, and these must then be chained together
  to create the whole graceful act of a successful
  pole vault or a captivating song or a
  beautiful dance.

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Target Behaviors

• Define describe with ACTIVE verbs, avoid
  ambiguous terms. Saying a child or client was
  aggressive is too vague, describe specific
  observable behaviors seen when the misbehavior
  occurred hitting, pushing, throwing, yelling,
  etc.
• Instead of saying client was defiant or
  confrontational, list specific body
  language/movements, talking back, etc.
• Could someone who reads your target behavior
  description understand what you observed?

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Defining Chains of Behavior Cont.

• Careful behavioral observations help us attend to
  both the units of behavior and their place in the
  whole performance.
• Using an ATM is a chain of behavior. Cooking a
  meal is a chain of behavior.

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Functional Assessment

• Both the antecedents and consequences that
  explain why a person does a behavior are called
  the controlling variables of the behavior.
• Functional assessment is the technique used to
  identify the antecedents and consequences that
  control any given target behavior.

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Functional Assessment Cont.

• Functional assessment is useful in helping create
  powerful behavioral interventions.
• In behavioral modification, the goal of reducing
  maladaptive and undesirable behaviors is almost
  always coupled with the goal of reinforcing
  alternative behaviors that are healthier and more
  useful, adaptive, and prosocial.

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Functional Assessment Cont.

• Functional assessment involves asking questions
  about antecedents and consequences, then
  observing or experimenting to see which of many
  possible hypotheses might be correct. What
  antecedent events have stimulus control over
  behavior? What outcomes (reinforcers or
  punishers) are contingent on the behavior?

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• Context of a behavior
• The behavior
• The Functions/Goals of a behavior

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Context Questions

• Who was involved?
• When did the behavior occur?
• Where did the behavior occur?

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The Target Behavior

• Defined/described in active, observable,
  unambiguous terms, using ACTIVE VERBS, talking,
  walking, hitting, shouting, smoking, etc., not
  described using nouns or adjectives, addiction,
  happiness, depressed/depression, etc.
• Instead of saying client was defiant or
  confrontational, list specific body
  language/movements, talking back, etc.
• Could someone who reads your target behavior
  description understand/recognize what you
  observed?

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Function/Goal Questions

• What happened as a result of the behavior?
• Why do you think the behavior occurred? The
  function/goal of the behavior was?

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The functions a behavior serves

• With children in a typical classroom setting,
  most behaviors can be classified as one or more
  of the following functions
• Gains interaction with peers
• Escapes interaction with a peer or peers
• Gains interactions from an adult
• Gains an object or is allowed to do some activity
• Escapes a teacher-directed activity

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In other settings, some other possible behavioral
functions become likely
Gain adult attention Escape/avoid
task/event Escape/avoid adult attention Obtain
tangible reward Sensory stimulation Gain access
to peers or adults Gain access to activities Gain
access to objects Escape an activity Escape from
peers
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Functional Assessment Cont.

• (1.) First, we examine the entire the entire
  stimulus collage in search of any stimuli that
  regularly precede and predict the target
  behavior, since these are most likely to be the
  ones that have stimulus control over the
  behavior.
• (2.) Second, we search for the consequences that
  are contingent on the target behavior, be they
  reinforces or punishers, since contingent
  consequences have the most powerful control over
  behavior.

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Functional Assessment Cont.

• (3.) Third, we experiment to see if we can change
  the behavior in predictable ways by altering the
  antecedents and consequences we have identified.
  Does removing the SD we think causes excess
  snacking reduce calorie intake? Does removing
  social attention reduce whining or self-pity? We
  may need to ask dozens of questions and
  experiment with several alternative hypotheses
  before we find the antecedents and consequences
  that control a behavior.

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Functional Assessment
Systematically manipulating behaviors related to
identified functions and environmental factors
believed to prompt and maintain a behavior.
1. The target behavior must be operationally
defined 2. A recording technique must be selected
for observing and counting the target
behavior 3. The target behavior must be observed
before and after manipulating
variables 4. The results of behavioral
observations are placed on a graph to provide a
visual representation of the effects of the
manipulations.
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A more detailed example from video

• Manipulation of environmental events to test
  whether those events serve as motivation
  (reinforcers) for problem behavior

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Steps in Functional Assessment

• Indirect Assessment Attempts to gather
  information about challenging behavior w/o use of
  direct observation
• Questionnaires, rating scales, etc.
• Want to identify potential triggers (antecedent
  events) and incentives (reinforcers) for
  challenging behavior

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Func. Assessment contd.

• Descriptive Assessment the direct observation of
  problem behavior and its antecedents and
  consequences under naturally occurring conditions
• Identify environmental events correlated with
  onset of problem behavior (antecedents) and that
  occur as a result of problem behavior
  (consequences)

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• Experimental or functional analysis Involves the
  manipulation of environmental events to test
  whether these events serve as incentive
  (reinforcers) for the challenging behavior.
• FOUR putative reinforcers tested
• Attention, Access to a preferred tangible item,
  Escape, Sensory Stimulation
• Under what conditions does the problem behavior
  become more probable?

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Contextual Manipulation(moving child)
Baseline A
Manipulation B
100
90
80
Percentage of intervals talking to child across
aisle
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10
15-Minute Observation Sessions
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Curricular Manipulation(high preference/easy
work)
Baseline A
Manipulation B
100
90
80
Percentage of intervals talking to child across
aisle
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10
15-Minute Observation Sessions
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Functional Manipulation(asking for help and
requesting a break)
Baseline A
Manipulation B
100
90
80
Percentage of intervals talking to child across
aisle
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10
15-Minute Observation Sessions
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Objective Measures

• Keeping objective records of the form, frequency,
  and timing of behavior is essential for knowing
  how a behavior appeared during baseline
  conditions (before behavior modification) and how
  it changes after starting behavioral
  interventions.

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Various Objective Measures Cont.

• (1.) First, the number of times that a behavior
  occurs is a very useful measure.
• (2.) Second, frequency data can be calculated by
  dividing count data by the length of the
  observation period.
• (3.) Third, the time of a behaviors duration may
  be a valuable measure.
• (4.) Fourth, useful measure is the percentage of
  some task that is completed.
• (5.) Fifth, rating scales are useful in measuring
  some of the more subtle and elusive features of
  behavior.

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Data Collection

• Data needs to be collected in ways that allow
  them to be recorded on graphs, checklists,
  notebooks, ABC diaries, computers, or other such
  devices.
• Direct Observation. When we can observe a
  behavior easily, we may be able to count or
  measure it by any of the five methods just
  described.

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Data Collection Cont.

• Indirect Observation. Sometimes data on behavior
  come from indirect observations We observe the
  results of the behavior, not the behavior itself.
• Questionnaires and Their Variations. Sometimes
  questionnaires and interviews that are given to
  individuals who have experiences with the target
  behavior can yield valuable information about the
  ABCs of behavior.

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Experimental Designs

• There are several different experimental designs
  or scientific procedures that are useful in
  testing our hypotheses about the possible
  controlling variables that may influence a target
  behavior.

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Reversal Designs

• The most basic and important of experimental
  designs is called the reversal design, because it
  allows various types of behavioral interventions
  to be introduced and then removed or reversed
  under the experimenters control.
• This simple reversal design is an ABA design
  where A indicates baseline, B is the experimental
  intervention, and the second A is the reversal to
  baseline. If the behavioral intervention proves
  to be useful, we may want to reinstate the
  intervention (B) a second time, creating an ABAB
  design.

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Reversal Designs Cont.

• Sometimes behavioral changes that appear in a
  successful intervention do not disappear in the
  reversal phase (the second A of the ABAB design).
• If an intervention helps a person learn valuable
  skills that yield high levels of natural
  reinforcement such as riding without painful
  falls that reinforcement can sustain high rates
  of success during the reversal (phase 3, the
  second A), even though the behavioral
  intervention has ended.

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Reversal Designs Cont.

• The same is true for many behaviors - such as
  being polite, doing arithmetic, catching
  baseballs, and so on. Once learned, valuable
  skills may never be lost. Therefore, when
  behavioral interventions produce changes that are
  not lost during the reversal phase, we know
  something valuable was learned during the
  intervention. In addition, the absence of a
  decline in behavior during the reversal phase
  indicates the intervention does not have total
  control over the behavior. Natural reinforcers
  have taken control, making the behavioral
  intervention no longer necessary.

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Reversal Designs Cont.

• Some ethical issues can emerge when using
  reversal designs.

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Multiple-Baseline Designs

• Multiple-baseline designs begin baseline
  observations on any of the four things being
  studied be they people, behaviors, settings, or
  time then gradually shift each one, one at a
  time, to the experimental intervention.
• Multiple-baseline design across different people.
  
• Multiple-baseline design can be used across
  different behaviors.

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Multiple-Baseline Designs Cont.

• Multiple-baseline design can be used to study one
  behavioral intervention across different
  settings.
• Finally, multiple-baseline design can be used
  across different times.
• A major advantage of multiple-baseline design is
  that it allows us to study behaviors that we may
  not want to put on reversal.

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Alternating-Treatment Designs

• Alternating-treatment designs test the efficacy
  of two or more treatments by alternating among
  them in clearly different stimulus situations.

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Group Experimental Designs

• Group experimental designs allow us to evaluate
  the effectiveness of a behavioral intervention
  with an experimental group by comparing that
  group with a similar group of people called the
  control group that does not receive the
  intervention.
• Group experimental designs differ in several ways
  from all the preceding designs, which are called
  single-subject designs.

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Group Experimental Designs Cont.

• Both group and single-subject designs are
  valuable, though for different reasons.
• Group designs reveal average scores, which can be
  very useful in predicting how the average person
  would respond to various interventions.
• In contrast, single-subject designs allow us to
  assess the behavior of each unique individual, by
  himself or herself, to see what kind of
  behavioral interventions help that individual
  attain desirable behavioral changes.

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Group Experimental Designs Cont.

• Group designs have been used in many branches of
  science, and they are invaluable when we need to
  see how an intervention will affect large numbers
  or special types of people.
• However, studying data on group averages can
  obscure the fact that a given behavioral
  intervention may not help certain individuals
  change, even though it helped many.

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Evaluation

• The visual inspection of behavioral graphs offer
  us three ways to identify which behavioral
  changes are meaningful or not.
• (1.) First, when every response during
  intervention is higher (or lower) than all the
  baseline responses, a major change has occurred.

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Evaluation Cont.

• (2.) Second, when dealing with behaviors that
  change slowly, behavior modification is
  considered effective if there is a clear trend
  for the behavior to improve during behavioral
  intervention.
• (3.) Third, the weakest test, is to see if the
  frequency of the target behavior at the end of
  behavior modification is clearly different from
  baseline.

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Evaluation Cont.

• Arnold Lazarus (1997, p. 369) suggests that it
  may soon be unethical, unprofessional, and
  perhaps illegal to by-pass scientifically
  established treatments of choice for specific
  disorders.