Introduction to Behaviour Modification

Question 1

Behaviour is an action that can be…

Answer 1

Overt or covert

Question 2

What are overt and covert?

Answer 2

Overt = objectively measurable (verbal or motor behaviour)

Covert = not observable by others “private event” (thoughts and feelings)

Question 3

What is a target behaviour

Answer 3

Behaviour to be modified (not a goal)

Question 4

What is a response

Answer 4

One instance/occurrence of a specific behaviour

Question 5

What is a response class

Answer 5

Group of responses with the same function, each response in the group has the same effect on the environment (consequence)

Question 6

Example of a response class

Answer 6

Drinking one cup of water from a glass vs a bottle vs a water fountain
Consequence is always decreased thirst

Question 7

Repertoire

Answer 7

Collection of all behaviours a person can perform

Question 8

Behaviour is not…

Answer 8

A description of a personality trait (e.g. honest, introverted)

A diagnostic label (e.g. depression)

Products of a behaviour (e.g. weight loss)

Question 9

Who came up with the dead man test, what is it?

Answer 9

Ogden Lindsley
“If a dead man can do it, then it ain’t behaviour, and if a dead man can’t do it, then it is behaviour”

Question 10

How do behaviour and the environment interact?

Answer 10

Environment can lead to certain behaviours

Behaviours can affect one’s environment

Environmental consequences of a behaviour can affect subsequent behaviours

Question 11

How did cluttered classrooms affect students?

Answer 11

Higher rate of distraction, lower test scores in decorated classrooms

Decorated classrooms produce more off-task behaviour and decreased learning (environment affects behaviour which affects learning)

Question 12

What is psychology

Answer 12

Scientific study of human behaviour (and mental processing)

Question 13

What are the three aspects of psychology

Answer 13

Theoretical: conceptual thinking, done at a computer, desk, in an office

Experimental: basic research, often with animals in a lab

Applied: practical research and treatments to solve a problem, usually on people, in the real world

Question 14

What is behaviourism

Answer 14

Philosophy of the science of behaviour

Question 15

What is the experimental analysis of behaviour

Answer 15

Basic scientific research on the functional relationship between environmental events and resulting behaviour

Question 16

What is behaviour modification (“b-mod”)

Answer 16

Application of experimentally derived laws of learning to human behaviour, and providing behaviour analytic services to consumers

Question 17

Definition of behaviour modification

Answer 17

Analyzing the relationship between environment and behaviour. Changing the environment to help people modify their behaviour. Reach goal of changing a person’s life.

Question 18

Characteristics of b-mod (6)

Answer 18

• problems are measurable behaviours
• solutions evaluated in terms of problem beh
• treatments work by affecting an individual’s environment comprised of stimuli
• all aspects defined
• based on scientific study of learning, and two kinds of conditioning
• places importance on accountability

Question 19

Some common myths/misconceptions about behaviour mod (8)

Answer 19

• bribery
• ignores root cause
• does not deal with thoughts/feelings
• cannot be applied to complex problems
• makes ppl depend on incentives
• only works in children/ppl with disabilities
• outdated
• treatments are dehumanizing

Question 20

What is ABA

Answer 20

Applied behaviour analysis
Using knowledge about human behaviour to reduce socially undesirable behaviours and/or increase desirable ones

Question 21

What was psychology in the 19th century? What were the criticisms

Answer 21

Scientific study of conscious experiences
Introspection is unreliable, invalid, not objective

Question 22

What is introspection

Answer 22

the examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional processes.

Question 23

What was psychology in the 20th century

Answer 23

The science of observable behaviour

Question 24

What did Ivan Pavlov do

Answer 24

Conditioned reflexes (1927)
Respondent behaviours are involuntary, elicited by stimuli that precede them
S-R psychology
Stimulus and response form a reflex

Question 25

What did E.L. Thorndike do

Answer 25

Described the law of effect
Discussed how an animal can modify its behaviour
Cat in box

Question 26

What is the law of effect

Answer 26

Behaviour that has a favourable outcome is more likely to occur again in that situation

Question 27

What did J.B. Watson do

Answer 27

Founded behaviourism
Developed methodological behaviourism
S-R model

Question 28

What is methodological behaviourism? What is the rationale behind it?

Answer 28

The study of behaviour alone - not of any internal, mental state or event
Mental events cannot be objectively observed or studied

Question 29

What did B.F. Skinner do

Answer 29

Developed radical behaviourism
S-R-S model (three-term contingency)
- antecedent (stimulus)
- behaviour (response)
- consequence (+/-)

Question 30

What is radical behaviourism

Answer 30

Goal is to understand and explain all behaviour
Includes “private events” that occur “inside the skin”

Question 31

How are private events and public events different

Answer 31

Private events are not directly accessible to others
Both are influenced by same kinds of variables

Question 32

Areas of application for b-mod (10)

Answer 32

• autism and intellectual/developmental disabilities
• clinical behaviour analysis
• environmental sustainability
• parenting
• medical care
• health
• education
• sport psychology
• employment settings
• self management

Question 33

Three branches of psychology

Answer 33

Behaviourism
Experimental analysis of behaviour
Behaviour modification