Lecture 5: Self-Management Flashcards
Self-management of a skill is the ultimate test for _____
generalisation.
Self-management strategies are sometimes called ____ or _____
cognitive training or metacognitive strategies.
Theoretical Underpinnings of Self-Management
Principles of social learning theory
Self-control and Self-management
Operant conditioning vs. Cognitive Models (internal behaviours)
Skinner on Self Control & Self-Management
Self-control is not just willpower.
You control yourself by controlling
the environment and other people.
Conspicuous positive reinforcer is
better than punishment to teach
“problem children” to behave.
Token system implemented with
him to stop pouting and temper
tantrums and increase socially
appropriate play (tokens and social
approval traded in for trips with
dad and toys). At first the staff
administer tokens and then he
learns to monitor his behaviour
(interactive play, expressing
aggression, temper tantrum) and
record it hourly before self-
administering tokens. Once
successful, the token system was
transferred/generalised from the
institution to the home.
Parents attitudes towards helping
their child improved and learning
parenting with reinforcement is
better than punishment to
decrease the rate of challenging
behaviour.
It’s the contingency and not the
child which is the problem.
Define Self-Control and Self-Management
Self-Control involves two
responses:
o the target behaviour to be
controlled or changed and
o the behaviour displayed to control
or change the target behaviour (i.e.,
mindfulness skills).
Self-Management refers to a range
of activities (overt and covert) in
which students may engage that
increases or decreases the
probability of appropriate
behaviours occurring.
Self-Control is a part of Self-Management
Self-management is the term used
because it is not helpful to tell
children to control their behaviour
through willpower. You must
manage yourself and the
environment in order to
increase/decrease future rate of
behaviours (contingencies between
behaviour and the environment).
Self-management avoids circular
thinking.
Self-management focuses on
learning to delay gratification.
Operant Conditioning Model of Self-Management
From an operant conditioning
perspective, the key issues in
teaching students self-management
is to take delayed consequences
and turning them into more
immediate consequences.
You need to teach self-
management; it is not innate.
Many problems students (and
everyone) experiences are because
their behaviour is controlled by
long-term rather than short-term
consequences.
For example, climate change,
smoking, dieting, or school
suspension.
Components of Self-Management
Three main components of self-
management. There are different
skills sets required to teach each of
these components.
o Self-monitoring
o Self-evaluation
o Self-administered consequences
(A) Self-Monitoring
Students learn to record the
frequency of a specific behaviour(s).
Components:
o Accuracy in self-monitoring
(confirmation of accuracy of
recording is made before
administering consequences)
o Reinforcement for accurate self-
monitoring
o Teaching students to self-monitor
(systems to maintain accuracy;
sheets to fill out or watches that
beep at intervals)
This sometimes takes the form of
cued self- monitoring, when
students are given a signal, such as
a recorded tone or tactile cue, and
asked to indicate whether they
were performing the behaviour
when they heard the tone or felt
the cue; and it sometimes takes the
form of non-cued self-monitoring,
when students are asked to make a
notation each time they perform
the target behaviour.
Self-monitoring provides the
student and teacher with concrete
feedback regarding behaviour. This
information may be used to
determine what reinforcers are
available. In some cases, collecting
data on a behaviour may have a
reactive effect on the behaviour.
The behaviour may change in the
desired direction as a function of
the self-monitoring process alone.
In this capacity, self-monitoring, in
and of itself, functions as a
behaviour-change technique.
When teachers reinforce the
accuracy of self-monitoring, the
target behaviours improve.
Most self-instructional procedures
are taught in combination with self-
monitoring and self-reinforcement.
Thus, students provide for
themselves both antecedents to
behaviour and consequences for
correct performance.
Components of Self-Monitoring
Self-observation – this occurs when
students become aware of their
own target behaviour. (self-
awareness of own behaviour)
Self-recording – this requires
students to record the frequency or
duration of a target behaviour or
situation under with the behaviour
occurs.
Self-graphing – Involves having the
students take the data from the
self-recording card and chart them
on graphs (e.g., story elements).
Effects of Self-Monitoring and Feedback on Residential Electricity Consumption (Winett et al., 1979)
Groups: feedback only (written
feedback on their electricity
consumption), self-monitor (taught
to monitor electricity consumption
with meter), control group (outside
person monitored electricity
consumption on their meter).
Self-monitoring (7%) and feedback
only (13%) reductions in energy
consumption over a couple of
months relative to
control/comparison group.
People changed their behaviour
based on the feedback they were
given (i.e., the thermostat
temperature).
Steps for Self-Monitoring
- Operationally define the target
behaviour - Collect baseline data (select data
collection system; event recording,
time sampling, permanent-product
recording, notation methods such
as tally sheets, wrist counters,
graphs, charts, and handheld
devices) - Meet with the student (get buy in
and set the contingencies for their
behaviour). - Provide instruction in the
procedures
a. What will be self-monitored?
b. What’s the criteria?
c. How will the results be counted?
(what is the criteria for
achievement)
d. How will the data be graphed?
e. When is the self-monitoring
performance to be completed?
(timeline or goal)
Considerations for Self-Monitoring
How accurate should the self-
monitoring be? (set up reliable
recording systems to help students
be accurate)
What should I do if reactivity does
not occur?
What is the best target variable for
self-monitoring?
Should students self-monitor the
challenging behaviour or the
desired behaviour? (for some
students focusing on the bad is
counterproductive)
How long should the self-
monitoring intervention last? (long
enough for habits to form)
Why is self-monitoring an effective behaviour change strategy?
It appears that self-monitoring
forces students to record their
behaviour and may lead to
students’ covertly rewarding or
punishing themselves. Self-
monitoring provides environmental
cues that increase the students’
awareness of potential
consequences. This is why so many
weight-loss and smoking- cessation
programs require that adults write
down every morsel they eat and
every cigarette they smoke. As the
preceding examples show, self-
monitoring alone has some
reinforcing qualities if there is a
behaviour change in the desired
direction. However, we should
always ensure positive
reinforcement for engaging in the
self-monitoring behaviour, as well
as making improvements in the
target behaviour.
Worried about cheating?
The accuracy of students’ self-recording does not impact the positive effects on behaviour. However, teachers may still want to reward the accuracy of self-recording to further improve behaviours.
(B) Self-Evaluation
Guidelines:
1. Student must be able to be
accurate in their self-monitoring.
2. Teacher and student should set a
goal. (criteria; teacher helps
students determine realistic goals
to reach)
3. Feedback from the teacher should
be given (how often and what form
of feedback)
4. Teacher should fade their presents
so the student can be
independent.
Self-evaluation may include:
1. Comparing answers to an answer
key
2. Self-correction (spelling, maths,
handwriting)
3. Spot checking
4. Recording accuracy and
productivity
5. Graphing scores
Self-evaluation provides immediate
feedback to improve student
learning without waiting for
feedback from their teacher.
Self-evaluation requires students to
learn to discriminate between
appropriate and inappropriate
behaviour which may need to be
trained or modelled by
peers/teachers/videos.
Start with teacher contingencies
and transfer to students.
Develop a Rating System
Rating scales may have a range for
self-recording
For younger student keep it simple
(yes/no or 0/1/2)
Clearly define each point on the
scale. Simplicity is key.
Advantages:
1. It gives the student immediate
feedback on their performance.
Disadvantage:
1. May be difficult to visual their
overall performance.
Setting Daily Goals
Set a specific goal
Set realistic and challenging goals
(intermittent goals)
Make goals public (public goals
creates a sense of community/peer
support to improve performance)
Include deadlines
Provide feedback
(C) Self-administered consequences
An individual arranges a specific
consequence to follow the
occurrence or non-occurrence of a
target behaviour
(individualised/personalised).
Contingencies (if… then…
statements) students set
themselves may be more effective
than those set by teachers.
Students may be involved in
contingency management in a
number of ways. They may be
allowed to choose reinforcers, to
assist in determining the cost of the
reinforcers in relation to behaviour,
or even to choose behaviours to be
modified.
As with self-monitoring, the
transition from teacher-managed to
student-managed programs must
be gradual, and students must be
explicitly taught to use self-
reinforcement or self-punishment.
Self-reinforcement
1. External self-reinforcement
2. Internal self-reinforcement
Self-punishment (mild forms of
punishment such as a swear jar)
1. External self-punishment
2. Internal self-punishment
Steps for self-reinforcement: (a)
teacher contingencies; and then (b)
student contingencies.
External Self-Reinforcement
The student (rather than the
teacher) must determine the
evaluation criteria.
The student (rather than the
teacher) must control access to
reinforcement.
The student (rather than the
teacher) must administer
reinforcement.
The student is the best person to
know what will be reinforcing and
how it can be realistically self-
administered.
Internal Self-Reinforcement
Student should develop positive
self-statements that are
age/culture/demographically
appropriate.
E.g., self-reflection journal for
positive self-talk.
Self-Punishment
The most common form of self-punishment is response cost within a token economy.
Self-Instructional Teaching
Students are taught a generic set of
statements that they say to
themselves when confronted with
various situations.
Self-instruction is a process of
providing one’s own verbal prompts
to reduce dependency on others.
Prompts are often supplied by
others; self-instruction involves
providing prompts for oneself.
Is the use of personal verbal
prompts (self-talk) to complete the
steps of a task.
For example, singing the ABCs
when thinking about organising
things in alphabetical order.
Self-Instruction Steps
Training in self-instruction occurs
before students are given problems
to solve, questions to answer, or
tasks to perform. Self-instruction
may generalise across settings and
tasks.
1. Problem definition Instruction
a. The student learns to define the
problem
- Problem approach instructions
a. The student verbalizes potential
strategies for solving the problem - Attention focusing instructions
a. The student focuses on his or her
attention on the problem - Coping statement instructions
a. If a mistake is made, the student
uses statements to cope with the
error and encourage another try. - Self-reinforcement instructions
a. The student reinforces him/herself
for doing a good job.
