Lecture 6 - Behaviour Modification and Functional Behavioural Assessment

Question 1

Behaviour Modification

Answer 1

➢Classical conditioning
▫Reflexive responses elicited by a new stimulus
Ex: Pavlov’s dogs
➢Operant conditioning
▫Behaviours that are influenced by consequences .. reinforcement or punishment
Skinner and pigeons
➢Observational learning
▫Learning through observation of another’s behaviour
Bandura and bobo doll experiments. Model aggressive behavior if saw others with aggressive behavior towards doll
➢Rational behaviourism
▫Learning and performance of responses that have not been directly trained
Learn from cause and effect in natural environment, learn from THEIR OWN behaviour
When I do this this happens, so I won’t or I will

Question 2

Behaviour Modification Principles

Answer 2

Operant conditioning
➢Reinforcement and punishment serve to change behaviour

Reinforcement: increases likelihood of behaviour
Punishment: decreases likelihood of behaviour
Positive = we add something
Negative = we remove something

➢Two types of negative reinforcement
▫Escape conditioning
Immediate, response contingent removal of aversive condition that increases frequency of future behaviour
Example?
Feel anxious in a setting, leave setting (removal, negative), then feel better. So more likely to leave/escape a setting again when feel anxious (reinforcement)
Other example: studying for stressful exam makes you anxious so you close your book and go on your phone to procrastinate and avoid this stress. Removing stressful studying reinforces your procrastinating behaviour
▫Avoidance conditioning
Immediate, response-contingent prevention of aversive condition that increases frequency of future behaviour
Example?
Ex: So anxious about studying you don’t even open your book and go straight to your phone.

➢Extinction
▫Stop reinforcing the behaviour
Ex: if grandparents stop rewarding Tasha’s bad behaviour, bad behaviour will decrease
➢Differential reinforcement
▫Reinforce some behaviours and not others, or reinforce behaviours under some conditions but not others
Some behaviours u don’t want to reinforce so u avoid reinforcing them and some u do want to continue so u reinforce them…. A mix
➢Schedules of reinforcement
▫Fixed versus variable: time based vs. variable
▫Ratio versus interval: number of times an event has to happen vs. interval
Ex: Gambling addictive because variable and interval… hard to predict when will win

➢Shaping
▫Reinforcement of successive approximations of final response
When can’t reinforce goal behaviour, gotta reinforce little parts at a time until you get closer to desired behaviour
Ex: babies can’t say ‘mom’ right away. So they say bbb and u reinforce them, then they say mmm and u reinforce, then ma and reinforce, then mama and reinforce until can say ‘mom’
➢Chaining
▫Create a series of behaviours from distinct behaviours
Ex: how to do laundry. Put clothes in washer, put soap in, close door…
Each behaviour separately taught but then put together as a series, a chain
Making sure they can do all the individual behaviours before putting together
Ex: potty training for kids. Teach them to pull down their pants. Practice sitting on the toilet… etc.
➢Discrimination
▫Different responses under different stimulus conditions
we respond differently in different environments
understand different conditions
➢Generalization
▫Stimulus generalization: Same response to different stimuli.
Ex: conditioned little Albert to fear response of a bunch of furry objects
▫Response generalization: different responses to same stimulus
Ex: with stimulus ex: adults, involves being polite (saying please, thank you, sorry… multiple responses)

➢ABCs of Behaviour
▫Antecedents: Stimuli, settings, and context that occur before and influence behaviours
▫Behaviour: Behaviours that individuals do OR do not do
▫Consequences: Events that follow behaviour and may or may not influence future behaviour
Ex:
A. Phone rings B. Answer phone C. Hear voice on other end
If didn’t hear voice on end because prank called, eventually would stop answering the phone

Question 3

Functional behavioural assessment

Answer 3

➢Application of scientific approach to human behaviour
➢What behaviour do you want to change?▫Operational definition: Objectivity (observable, someone can count), clarity (unambiguous, understandable), completeness (boundary of conditions to be or not included)
➢Assess behaviour at baseline
▫Frequency; Yes/No; Duration; Latency (how long did it take for behaviour to happen before It did); Intensity
➢Determine function(s) of behaviour
▫What is the purpose of the behaviour? What are the maintaining contingencies?
➢Use information on functions to develop intervention

Key steps (see details of each on slide 11!!):
1. systematically collect information
2. generate hypotheses
3. test the hypotheses
4. devise an intervention

➢Assess ABC relations
▫Indirect assessments (self-report, interview)
▫Direct assessments (naturalistic, analog)
➢Functional analysis
▫Testing, through experimental manipulation, the consequences that control the behaviour
▫Each hypothesized function is tested one by one
▫Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T2R8pTpcoo12
➢Example: ▫Peter is a 5 yoboy who acts out when his parents pay attention to his younger sister▫While everyone was at his sister’s birthday party and singing Happy Birthday, Peter ran up and grabbed his sister’s cake and threw it on the floor▫Peter’s parents took Peter aside and yelled at him
➢Behaviour?➢Antecedent?➢Consequence?➢What is the function of Peter’s behaviour?➢How are the consequences maintaining Peter’s behaviour?