Behavior Modification

Behavior modification is happening more frequently than not in today’s society. It enforces and recognizes good behavior in many different circumstances, whether it is used on prison inmates which good behavior is rewarded with incentives, giving your animal a treat for doing a trick or if it is a golden star for a child’s good work done. The famous works of B.F Skinner is heavily involved with behavior modification and the idea that you can condition a human being to have favorable behavioral traits. The carrot and the stick analogy used regarding reward and punishment. Modifying behavior can be a beneficial tool to changing how one acts and thinks, but there will always be an opposing view point that raises controversy if it is ok to ‘train’ someone to behave a certain way or not. Behavioral modification is a part of everyday lives whether we know it or not. The way people will act in a given circumstance will vary. An example would consist of a child and an parent at the grocery store, the child is acting in an inappropriate manner. The parent may offer some kind of incentive for the child to change their behavior for the time being and they will learn that good behavior pays off. There is also the prison example on how incentives work with inmates, perhaps an inmate who is behaving well and not stirring up commotion; they may receive some kind of reward as in having television privileges or have the opportunity to have a prison job or more free time.

Burrhus Frederic Skinner graduated from Hamilton College and Harvard University and received a National Medal of Science for Biological Studies. He is an American Psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, social philosopher and he was one of the many men who focused on psyc...

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... concepts that he came to know are still used in modern psychology.

I will use this resource because it has a lot of raw material that is valid in psychology today and a lot of the concepts are used and still being experimented with to show validity. It is full of useful information that involves manipulating behavior.

Wade, C., & Tavris, C. (2011) Psychology. Upper Saddle, NJ: Prentice Hall.

This is a college level text book that has an excellent excerpt of what behavioral conditioning really entails. It also touches base on behavior in social and cultural context and as well as the conditioning aspect of the mind in a psychological manner.

I have had psychology class where I have used this text book and I believe it is very beneficial and a reliable resource to strengthen my argument that conditioning or modifying behavior is not a bad thing what so ever.