Behaviour Modification (OC) Flashcards
What is behaviour modification?
Field of psychology concerned
with:
- Analysing human behaviour
- Modifying human behaviour
What are the characteristics of BM (9).
• Focus on behaviour
• Emphasis on current environmental events and stimuli
• Precise description of methods and procedures
• Implemented by people in everyday life
• Measurement of behaviour change
• Use of behavioural principles
• Scientific demonstration of the efficacy of an intervention in
behaviour change
• De-emphasis on past events as causes of behaviour (current
events more helpful for change)
• Rejection of hypothetical underlying causes of behaviour
What are some applications of BM?
• Developmental disabilities • Mental illness • Education • Rehabilitation • Community psychology • Clinical psychology • Business, industry & human services • Self-management • Child behaviour management • Prevention • Sports performance • Health related behaviours • Gerontology
What is a target behaviour?
• The focus of a behaviour modification program
• Defined specifically in order to be measured and
monitored to assess change
What are the steps in BM assessment
Collect and analyse information and data
1. Identify and describe target behaviours
2. Identify possible causes of the behaviour
3. Guide the selection of an appropriate behavioural
treatment
4. Evaluate treatment outcome
What are the three branches of BM?
- Behaviourism
- Experimental behaviour analysis
- Applied behaviour analysis (ABA)
What are the six components of behaviour?
- Is what people do and say
- Has dimensions that can be measured
- Can be observed, described and recorded
- Has an impact on the environment
- Is lawful (i.e. functionally impacts environment)
- May be overt and covert
What two questions do functional assessments require?
Relies on two questions to understand cause of
problem behaviour:
• What are the antecedents?
• What are the immediate consequences?
What is Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)?
- ABA is a clinical discipline
* General principles of learning and behaviour are employed to solve or reduce social problems
What are the seven dimensions of ABA?
- Applied
- Behavioural
- Analytic
- Technological
- Conceptually systematic
- Effective
- Generalisable
What do we mean by Applied?
• Selected behaviours need to be socially acceptable • They need to be important to the individual whose behaviour is being modified • They need to be important to the individual’s family
What do we mean by Behavioural?
• If there are several target behaviours, it is important
to prioritise the behaviours in order of importance
• Control of behaviour is a key focus of ABA
• Identifying the function of a behaviour = manipulation
of environmental events + observation of changes in
behaviour
What do we mean by Analytic?
• The aim is to demonstrate a functional relation
between the treatment and any observed changes in
the target behaviour
• This may be achieved by selecting a design that is
best suited for the experimental question
What do we mean by Technological?
•When conducting experiments and implementing behavioural interventions, procedures need
to be thoroughly and accurately
described
What do we mean by Conceptually systematic?
• Interventions need to be based on basic behaviour
principles derived from empirically validated
research
• Examples include extinction and schedules of
reinforcement