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Behavior modification application
The approach of behavior modification essay
The approach of behavior modification essay
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Behavior Modification
Yvonne Gardea
Clovis Community College
Behavior modification enlists several techniques to obtain a behavior as well as principles of operant conditioning. Behavior definitely can be modified to an individual’s desires, through specific techniques resulting in either good or bad consequences. There are two primary modifiers of behavior which include reinforcement and punishment. Behavior modifications has been used in situations ranging from teaching people with severe retardation basic language to helping people with self-control problems stick to diets (Matson & LoVullo, 2008; Wupperman et al., 2012);(Feldman, 2015, p.16).
The father of operant conditioning is Burrhus Frederic Skinner, more commonly known as B.
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Skinners theory for operant conditioning has been created upon the idea that learning is a purposeful change in obvious behavior. The diverse types of operant conditioning are positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, and becoming extinguished. Positive reinforcement happens when a behavior is revealed, and the outcome becomes more common to future actions. An example of this type of behavior is when feeding time comes around for my dog, Grimm; he has learned to sit when I raise my hand in order to receive his food. This behavior has been learned through positive reinforcement in order to receive what he is wanting in the end. As for negative reinforcement behavior becomes stronger as a result of removing, avoiding, or stopping a negative outcome. My daughter tends to whine when a certain food she dislikes is on her plate at meal times. Note: She is fine before she realizes the food she dislikes is placed in front of her. Her whining then causes me to remove this food she does not like; therefore the whining is being negatively reinforced by the removal of the food which is an example of …show more content…
As we grow a foundation of rules are applied to us to help guide our behavior in the choices we make as we age. A certain modification is exerted, and we learn what we want by having our consequences corrected due to this behavior. A choice to spank a child, slap, pinch, hit with an object nearby, or make them eat unpleasant substances to curb their behavior are types of physical punishment. Surveys have documented majority of parents whom were physically punished growing up to punished their own children as they were. Research also indicates short-term consequences within a child from being physically punished which may cause the child to begin bullying other children, aggressiveness is shown, behavioral problems, enduring low self-esteem, becoming petrified of their own parents, and believing it is okay to lay a hand on another. The abuse of physical punishment can get a person arrested with a jail sentence, loss of custody, and in extreme cases horrifying injuries cause death to an individual (“Physical Punishment”, 2012). Two-thirds of Americans still approve of spanking their children, even after studies have shown this type of physical punishment can lead to increased aggression, antisocial behavior, physical injury and mental health problems for children (Smith,
Swat! The entire store tries not to stare at the overwhelmed mother spanking her three-year-old whaling son. As if the screaming tantrum wasn't enough of a side show at the supermarket. This method, or technique perhaps, has been around for decades, even centuries. Generations have sat on grandpa’s lap and listened to the stories of picking their own switch or getting the belt after pulling off a devilish trick. So why then has it become a major controversy in the past few decades? The newest claim is that spanking and other forms of physical punishment can lead to increased aggression, antisocial behavior, physical injury and mental health problems for children. Brendan L. Smith uses many case studies and psychologists findings in his article “The Case Against Spanking” to suggest that parents refrain from physically punishing their children due to lasting harmful effects.
Behavior modification is based on the principles of operant conditioning, which were developed by American behaviorist B.F. Skinner. In his research, he put a rat in a cage later known as the Skinner Box, in which the rat could receive a food pellet by pressing on a bar. The food reward acted as a reinforcement by strengthening the rat's bar-pressing behavior. Skinner studied how the rat's behavior changed in response to differing patterns of reinforcement. By studying the way the rats operated on their environment, Skinner formulated the concept of operant conditioning, through which behavior could be shaped by reinforcement or lack of it. Skinner considered his discovery applicable to a wide range of both human and animal behaviors(“Behavior,” 2001).
Skinner developed operant conditioning, another style that can explain how people get and manage voluntary behaviors (Hockenbury and Hockenbury, 2014, pg.199). Operant conditioning is the learning development that associates with changing the probability that a response will be done again by shaping the consequences of that response. One likely outcome of a behavior is reinforcement. Reinforcement is a stimulus that increases the behavior to be repeated in the future. There is two types of reinforcement; positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Both are processes that increase a particular behavior. Both of this ways can affect future behavior, but they do it in different ways. In operant conditioning positive means adding something and negative means removing something. people can know if positive reinforcement has occur if a reinforcing stimulus makes them more possible to repeat a behavior in a similar situation in the future. According to Hockenbury and Hockenbu...
Operant conditioning is changing behavior through the use of reinforcement after the desired action is given; a behavior that is rewarded positively is more likely to continue and a behavior that is rewarded negatively would likely stop occurring (Santrock,2014). In addition to reinforcement, Skinner also talks about punishment. Reinforcement increases the probability an action or behavior will be repeated, while punishment is intended to decrease a behavior (McLeod, 2015). When Laurie was younger, she thought she was being sent to school every day to socialize with her friends and that learning was a secondary, unintentional happenstance. In third grade, compared to the other students in her class, she was falling short in reading and math.
When describing a physical altercation between two adults, the term is assault and battery. Assault on an individual has more than immediate effects; the effects can last a lifetime in severe cases. In all fifty states, it is a crime to hit, strike or use corporal punishment in any deliberate manner towards any person over the age of eighteen. However, this law does not apply to physical force being used on minors. Spanking, whipping, and paddling are among a few common references to this form of punishment. Physically disciplining children has had many names over the years. No matter which term is used, corporal punishment has a negative impact on every party involved. It is a widely used, socially accepted method of discipline. “Approximately 94% of three and four-year old children have been spanked in the past year (Slade & Winssow 1321). Although spanking is a widespread practice, it is becoming more controversial. The negative effects of spanking greatly outweigh the benefits. Spanking is a socially tolerated view promoting abusive patterns, and has a negative psychological impact in teaching children that pain, fear, and confusion promote conformability.
F. Skinner, and Albert Bandura, focuses on changing the behavior of clients. This type of therapy “aims to decrease the frequency of maladaptive behaviors, and increase the frequency of adaptive or helpful behaviors” (Corsini & Wedding, 2014, p 194). Behavior therapy does this by using trait theories of personality and assuming that “each individual has unique, enduring patterns of behavior that can be observed across a wide range of situations and that these patterns can be understood in terms of specific personality characteristics – traits – that vary in intensity from low to high” (Corsini & Weddin, 2014, p 199). Behavior therapy also uses concepts such as classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning “is a form of learning in which one stimulus, a conditioned stimulus, comes to signal the occurrence of a second stimulus, an unconditioned stimulus…[an unconditioned stimulus] is typically a stimulus that naturally causes a characteristic response, known as an unconditioned response” and operant conditioning “is a form of learning in which the frequency, form, or strength of a behavior is influenced by its consequences” (Corsini & Wedding, 2014, p 200-201). Concepts like these, including reinforcement and punishment, can be wide spread and used in various types of situations which is why this therapy is a good one to use with other
The use of spanking is one of the most controversial parenting practices and also one of the oldest, spanning throughout many generations. Spanking is a discipline method in which a supervising adult deliberately inflicts pain upon a child in response to a child’s unacceptable behaviour. Although spanking exists in nearly every country and family, its expression is heterogeneous. First of all the act of administering a spanking varies between families and cultures. As Gershoff (2002) pointed out, some parents plan when a spanking would be the most effective discipline whereas some parents spank impulsively (Holden, 2002). Parents also differ in their moods when delivering this controversial punishment, some parents are livid and others try and be loving and reason with the child. Another source of variation is the fact that spanking is often paired with other parenting behaviours such as, scolding, yelling, or perhaps raging and subsequently reasoning. A third source of variation concerns parental characteristics. Darling and Steinberg (1993) distinguished between the content of parental acts and the style in which it was administered (Holden, 2002). With all this variation researchers cannot definitively isolate the singular effects of spanking.
In order to understand Skinner’s theory, one must first understand the theory of classical conditioning. Classical conditioning, most notably theorized
Violence within families often reflects behaviours learned by children from their parents. A theory is that violent behaviour is passed down from generation to generation through families (Cole & Flanagin, Pg. 2). The majority of Americans are subjected to corporal punishment at one point or another during their lifetime(Kandel, Pg. 4). Surveys suggested that almost all American parents used physical punishment at one point or another and the punishment was regared as an appropriate child rearing technique. Another survey also suggested that some psychologists belive physical punishment to be an effective and useful socialization tool(Kandel, Pg. 2). Aggression is commonly conceived as existing on a continuum, ranging from very severe parental aggression to much milder and normal parental aggression, such as use of corporal or physical punishment(Kandel, Pg. 1). A common concern is that parental use of physical punishment will lead to aggressive behaviour in children.
Applying behaviorist theories in the classroom is called direct instruction (Campana, 2011). As Campana’s (2011) video explains, these forms of direct instruction include breaking down tasks into smaller and easier steps, modeling by the instructor, repetition and review, and structured/systematic planning. There are many proven advantages to using behaviorist techniques in the classroom. As in Skinner’s theory of learning, the implementation of reinforcements can improve behavior, increase motivation, and raise self-esteem in students.
There are two types of learning, one is operant conditioning, and the other is classical conditioning. Operant behaviour is behaviour that is controlled through consequences. Operant conditioning consists of a behaviour, consequence (reinforcement or punishment) and likelihood of (staddon & cerutti, 2003). Skinner, who came up with this theory based his ideologies on the work of Thorndike, who had studied learning on animals using a puzzle box. He proposed the theory known as ‘the law of effect’ (Catania, 1999). From this skinner developed operant conditioning as he had set out to identify the processes which made certain behaviours more or less likely to occur.
It is very straight-forward: Extinguish an undesirable behaviour (by removing the reinforcer) and replace it with a desirable behaviour by reinforcement. It has been used on all sorts of psychological problems such as addictions, neuroses, shyness, autism, even schizophrenia and it works particularly well with children. There are examples of back-ward psychotics who haven’t communicated with others for years who have been conditioned to behave themselves in fairly normal ways, such as eating with a knife and fork, taking care of their own hygiene needs, dressing themselves, and so
There is a lot of violence in the world today, but think about this: what if these people were once beaten and physically abused as children? In the article, Parents and Experts Split on Spanking, an expert, Dr. Spock, states that the reason there is a lot of violence in the world could be because of all the spanking that the parents do to their children (1). This statement could possibly be true. As children grow up, they’re always told that it is not nice to hit others. Furthermore, they’re told that if they do, there will be consequences. But if you think about it, how are these children suppose to follow the “no hitting” rule if they are constantly being spanked for their misbehaviors? In the end, it leads me to believe that if children are spanked after misbehaving, they will continue to grow up believing that violence is ultimately the answer.
Corporal punishment is the physical disciplinary method used by parents, teachers, and school administrators in an effort to correct a child’s undesirable behaviors. The use of physical force is one that is often times controversial and usually evokes very strong reactions. These feelings surface, and opposing views clash, when scandals surrounding corporal punishment hit the media and heated arguments in the comments section of articles emerge. While corporal punishment occasionally makes its way into the limelight, it is a decision all parents are faced with eventually and often times daily. For example, when a toddler is sprawled out on the grocery store floor kicking, hitting, and flinging
Punishment is a process through which “the consequence of a response decreases the likelihood that the response will recur” (Gray, 2002, pp.115). Further, punishment can be seen as an effort to decrease the response rate to stimuli by either removing a desired stimulus or presenting one which is undesired (Gray, 2002). Recent studies suggest that punishment can be an effective method of behaviour modification. However, as reported in Lerman and Vorndran (2002), there are a number of limitations to punishment as an intervention and subsequent negative side effects. For this reason, certain principles upon which the implementation of a successful punishment is dependent must be adhered to. In accordance to these findings, this essay will contend that whilst there are alternative means to operant conditioning, certain punishment techniques have been proven to be effectual and in some aspects advantageous.