Behavior Modification Essay

According to behaviorist principles, adults can increase their capacity for modifying the behavior of children by:

In chapter 1, Opening Skinner’s Box, Slater talks about a psychologist named B. F. Skinner. Skinner shows us how easily operant conditioning can be done. He believed that you have a better outcome if you study observable behavior instead of studying mental events. Skinner’s work focused on operant conditioning. People and animals were the subjects of his studies.

Most contemporary psychological treatment approaches are predecessors of the ancient and medieval philosophies and theories. Cognitive behavioural therapy as one of the modern treatment method in not an independently formed treatment, different theories have contributed to its present shape and application.

This essay will compare and contrast two theories of behaviour management by Carl Rogers and BF Skinner and argue ways in which one of these theories could be implemented for a particular context and practice. Roger’s theory is based on a humanistic approach, while Skinner’s theory takes a behaviourist approach; each theory has both benefits and shortcomings. Their views form opposite ends of the learning spectrum. These theories will be examined as their respective works address the underlying issue of how children learn to behave.

*Since Week 1 was unsuccessful in going to sleep around that specific goal time I changed my project by pushing my sleep goals back 30 minutes for the remaining 4 weeks.

Applied behavioral analysis (ABA) is the leading scientific method that helps patients with Autism to overcome their condition. In order to improve their condition, ABA specialists focus on a system of reward, which encourages positive actions like speech, social activity and life skill improvements. This works mostly with children as they are more likely to absorb and accept new challenges; this is commonly referred to as "positive reinforcement" in the literature and has become one of the leading directions for treatment. ABA therapy was devised and implemented by Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas at UCLA in 1987. Since then, ABA therapy has become a leading branch of psychology - behaviorism.

The behaviour modified for this self-directed behaviour change project is smoking. Smoking was selected as the behaviour I wish to change because it is known that tobacco use is the leading cause of premature, preventable death and disease (Edwards, Bondy, Callaghan, & Mann, 2014). Smoking is a behaviour that has been recently initiated; I started smoking occasionally in August 2013 (one cigarette a few times a week) and intended to buy only the one pack. However over a period of several months, my smoking has increased. The rationale for this choosing this target behaviour is that it is still a relatively

The third major development in the evolution of behavior modification was the publication in 1953 of B. F. Skinner's Science and Human Behavior. This work heralded a philosophical shift from the search for inner causes of behavior to an emphasis on the measurement and modification of observable behavior.

very hard to cope with a change, so it is important to let the child

Behavior is reinforced when one or more of the following Guidelines for Success (G.F.S.) are met:

Listen to the child and make a record of any key information with names, dates and times.

Skinner’s theory observes individuals from the point of view of the behavior that they demonstrate. The key weakness of this theory is its attempt to explain the behaviors of an individual solely through visible phenomena. Critics sometimes accuse behaviorists of denying that ideas and thoughts exist (Jensen & Burgess, 1997). The major opposition that behaviorists face is that behavior of a person cannot be understood without including the mental activity of the individual. Critics have accused behaviorists of focusing only on behavior and ignoring the role of physiology, neuroscience, and genetics (Weiss & Rosales-Ruiz, 2014). Sometimes the reactions that people demonstrate have are not related their experience and therefore they have another

According to Gewirtz and Peláez-Nogueras (1992), “B. F. Skinner contributed a great deal to advancing an understanding of basic psychological processes and to the applications of science-based interventions to problems of individual and social importance.” He contributed to “human and nonhuman behavior, including human behavioral development, and to various segments of the life span, including human infancy” (p. 1411). One of Skinner's greatest scientific discoveries was “single reinforcement” which became sufficient for “operant conditioning, the role of extinction in the discovery of intermittent schedules, the development of the method of shaping by successive approximation, and Skinner's break with and rejection of stimulus-response

Behavior Psychology Psychology is defined as a science that focuses on the study of and to

lives with is grandparents, parents and one younger sister. Grandparents speak Spanish. Parents and children speak Spanish and English. had been ill frequently during first grade and missed a number of days of school. Parents indicated enjoys school.