Chapter 21: Habit Reversal Procedures Flashcards
Habit Reversal
Used to decrease the frequency of undesirable habit behaviors
_ Azrin & Nunn
Habit behaviors
Something that a person engages in that does not necessarily affect their day to day living but is more of an annoyance
ex: nail biting, motor tics and stuttering
Nervous Habits
Repetitive, manipulative behaviors that are believed to be most likely to occur when the person experiences heightened nervous tensions
ex: nail biting, twirling hair, chewing the end of a pencil, popping knuckles, taping end of a pencil
Body-focused repetitive behavior problems
refer to nervous habits that result in physical damage or negative social evaluations
Motor Tic
- (textbook) Head-jerking or facial grimaces that are repetitive involving the muscles
- associated with heightened muscle tension
Facial Tic
includes squinting, forceful blinking, eyebrow-raising, grimacing or some combination
- associated with heightened muscle tension
Vocal Tic
A repetitive vocal sound that does not serve a social function
ex: when a person constantly clears their throat throughout the day
Tourette’s disorder
A tic disorder involving multiple motor and vocal tics cause by a complex interaction of genetic and neurobiological factors as well as environmental factors
- lifelong disorder
- onset in childhood
When is Habit Reversal Procedure Implemented?
Implemented in a therapy session with the client who exhibits the habit disorder. The client then implements the procedures learned in the session to control the habit as it occurs outside the session
Awareness training
After a client learns to define the habit, they then identify when the habit occurs or when it is about to occur
Competing response
A behavior incompatible with the habit behavior and practices the competing response in session after each occurrence of the next habit
Competing Response Training
When they are allowed to use the competing response in situations outside the session to inhibit the habit from occurring
Motivation Strategy
Increases the likelihood that the client will use the competing response outside the treatment session to control the habit
What two basic skills does a client learn in the habit reversal therapy session?
- To discriminate each occurrence of the habit (awareness training)
- To use the competing response contingent on the occurrence of the habit or in anticipation of the occurrence of the habit (competing response training)
What are the competing behaviors for stuttering?
- Regulated breathing
- Diaphragmatic breathing
What functions do the use of competing response serve?
- To inhibit the habit behavior and provide an alternative behavior to replace it
- The competing response may serve as a punisher, as in the application of aversive activities such as overcorrection and contingent exercise
Does habit reversal always work?
- NO.
- It does not work in adults with intellectual disabilities who participate in nail-biting, hair pulling or thumb-sucking
- Hair-pulling - awareness enhancement device
- nail-biting, thumb-sucking, hair-pulling - DRO, response interruption and brief restraint
Awareness Enhancement Device
Used for adults and intellectually disabled by providing an alarm when a person engages in trying to pull their hair and turns off when they move their hand away from their neck
Bruxism
Grinding teeth together out of nervous habit
Controlling behavior
The antecedents and consequences of a target behavior and/or alternative behaviors are modified
Controlled behavior
The target behavior that is influenced
