Chapter 23: Behavioral Contracts Flashcards
Behavioral Contract
“contingency contract” - a written agreement between two parties in which one or both parties agree to engage in a specified level of a target behavior or behaviors
- Type of antecedent manipulation
What are the six essential components of a behavioral contract?
- Identifying the target behaviors
- Stating how the target behaviors will be measured
- Stating when the behavior must be performed
- Identifying the reinforcement or punishment contingency
- Identifying who will implement the contingency
- Signatures
One-Party Contract
“unilateral contract” - One person seeks to change a target behavior and arranges reinforcement or punishment contingencies with a contract manager, who implements the contingencies
- in this type of contract the manager must not stand to gain from the contract contingencies
Two-Party Contract
“bilateral contract” - Both parties identify target behaviors for change and the contingencies that will be implemented for the target behaviors. Written between two people who have some relationship with each other and are typically displeased with some sort of behavior from the other party
Quid pro quo contract
- Type of two-party contract
- one thing is given in return for another
- problems may arise if one party doesn’t do the desired behavior
ex: “you didn’t do the dishes so i’m not doing the laundry”
Parallel Contracts
- More successful than Quid Pro Quo
- Each party does their own desired behavior in order to get their own reinforcer
ex: if sally does the dishes, laundry and vacuums then she can go play golf with her friends. If Dave takes out the trash, mows the lawn and cleans the living room then he can go bowling with his friends. One persons lack of changed behavior does not effect the other
Why do behavioral contracts work?
- Behavioral consequences
- Public commitment
- Rule-governed behavior
- Establishing Operations
