Introduction to Behaviour Modification Flashcards
Behaviour is an action that can be…
Overt or covert
What are overt and covert?
Overt = objectively measurable (verbal or motor behaviour)
Covert = not observable by others “private event” (thoughts and feelings)
What is a target behaviour
Behaviour to be modified (not a goal)
What is a response
One instance/occurrence of a specific behaviour
What is a response class
Group of responses with the same function, each response in the group has the same effect on the environment (consequence)
Example of a response class
Drinking one cup of water from a glass vs a bottle vs a water fountain
Consequence is always decreased thirst
Repertoire
Collection of all behaviours a person can perform
Behaviour is not…
A description of a personality trait (e.g. honest, introverted)
A diagnostic label (e.g. depression)
Products of a behaviour (e.g. weight loss)
Who came up with the dead man test, what is it?
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”
How do behaviour and the environment interact?
Environment can lead to certain behaviours
Behaviours can affect one’s environment
Environmental consequences of a behaviour can affect subsequent behaviours
How did cluttered classrooms affect students?
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)
What is psychology
Scientific study of human behaviour (and mental processing)
What are the three aspects of psychology
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
What is behaviourism
Philosophy of the science of behaviour
What is the experimental analysis of behaviour
Basic scientific research on the functional relationship between environmental events and resulting behaviour
What is behaviour modification (“b-mod”)
Application of experimentally derived laws of learning to human behaviour, and providing behaviour analytic services to consumers
Definition of behaviour modification
Analyzing the relationship between environment and behaviour. Changing the environment to help people modify their behaviour. Reach goal of changing a person’s life.
Characteristics of b-mod (6)
- 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
Some common myths/misconceptions about behaviour mod (8)
- 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
What is ABA
Applied behaviour analysis
Using knowledge about human behaviour to reduce socially undesirable behaviours and/or increase desirable ones
What was psychology in the 19th century? What were the criticisms
Scientific study of conscious experiences
Introspection is unreliable, invalid, not objective
What is introspection
the examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional processes.
What was psychology in the 20th century
The science of observable behaviour
What did Ivan Pavlov do
Conditioned reflexes (1927)
Respondent behaviours are involuntary, elicited by stimuli that precede them
S-R psychology
Stimulus and response form a reflex
What did E.L. Thorndike do
Described the law of effect
Discussed how an animal can modify its behaviour
Cat in box
What is the law of effect
Behaviour that has a favourable outcome is more likely to occur again in that situation
What did J.B. Watson do
Founded behaviourism
Developed methodological behaviourism
S-R model
What is methodological behaviourism? What is the rationale behind it?
The study of behaviour alone - not of any internal, mental state or event
Mental events cannot be objectively observed or studied
What did B.F. Skinner do
Developed radical behaviourism
S-R-S model (three-term contingency)
- antecedent (stimulus)
- behaviour (response)
- consequence (+/-)
What is radical behaviourism
Goal is to understand and explain all behaviour
Includes “private events” that occur “inside the skin”
How are private events and public events different
Private events are not directly accessible to others
Both are influenced by same kinds of variables
Areas of application for b-mod (10)
- autism and intellectual/developmental disabilities
- clinical behaviour analysis
- environmental sustainability
- parenting
- medical care
- health
- education
- sport psychology
- employment settings
- self management
Three branches of psychology
Behaviourism
Experimental analysis of behaviour
Behaviour modification
