Sanders Reflection and Application Paper #5
Within the realm of behavior modification the techniques of shaping, chaining, prompting and fading, and behavioral skills training procedures are employed to establish new and desired behaviors for a variety of different people for various reasons. Deciding which technique to utilize is dependent on such variables as context, situation, target goal behavior, intellectual ability or disability, and individual skill level. Miltenberger (2016) discusses each of the above mentioned techniques in chapters 9 – 12. He delivers clear definitions for each technique and associated key terms as well as providing ample scenarios and areas where they may be seen and used.
At one time or another everyone engages in the shaping technique, whether as the object of behavior modification or as the discriminative stimulus. This may occur as an intentional overt process or covertly beyond a person’s scope of understanding or even happen without them being fully aware, but nonetheless shaping still takes place. The shaping technique operates from the premise that a desired target behavior can be reached by using reinforcement which is “a procedure for increasing the frequency of a desirable behavior” (Miltenberger, 2016, p. 163). An example of a behavior frequently shaped is a baby’s ability to speak. It goes without saying that to employ the shaping technique some type of behavior has to exist to be shaped. That is, you cannot teach (shape) a
Development of an intervention is the final step in the functional behavior assessment (FBA) process. In the completion of the FBA antecedent and reinforcing contingencies are identified which can be manipulated to prevent the behavior from occurring, remove reinforcement for engaging in the undesired behavior, or be utilized to reinforce alternate behaviors (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007). An FBA is a necessary component of the intervention process in that it provides the necessary information with regard to the function of the behavior through the systematic manipulation of environmental variables thought to maintain the problem under controlled conditions; yielding a clear demonstration of the interaction between the independent variable
According to behaviorist principles, adults can increase their capacity for modifying the behavior of children by:
Acceleration and deceleration of target behaviors are central to behavior therapy. Acceleration a behavior is to make a behavior occur more frequently or intensely, whereas decelerating a behavior is to decrease the frequently or intensity of a behavior. By employing methods that serve to either accelerate or decelerate a behavior, an individual can overcome acting out maladaptive or undesirable behaviors and promote the occurrence of adaptive or desirable behaviors. Acceleration behavior therapy employs two general mechanisms to accelerate target behaviors; stimulus control and reinforcement. Although these two distinct methods of accelerating target behaviors work to accomplish the same goal (i.e., increasing the frequency of the
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.
Behavior Modification, a psychological theory of human behavior. It evolved from the application of experimentally derived principles of learning to the modification of problem behaviors. The theory is based on a psychological model of human behavior that rejects the psychoanalytic or quasi-disease model of mental illness. Approaches to behavior modification assume that abnormal behavior is acquired and maintained in the same manner as normal behavior and can be changed directly through the application of social-learning principles. Assessment procedures focus on describing how an individual behaves, thinks, and feels in specific situations. Treatment methods are derived from the theories and findings of
In operant conditioning, it is possible to strengthen responses by either presenting positive reinforcement or by the removal of negative reinforces. "New responses can be learned by organisms by gradually reinforcing closer and closer approximations of the desired response" (Weiten p. 238). This is what is meant by shaping, It is the gradual use of reinforcement until the desired response has been reached.
A question Skinner had to deal with was how we get to more complex sorts of behaviors. He responded with the idea of shaping, or “the method of successive approximations.” Basically, it involves first reinforcing a behavior only vaguely similar to the one desired. Once that is established, you look out for variations that come a little closer to what you want, and so on, until you have the animal performing a behavior that would never show up in ordinary life. Skinner and his students have been quite successful in teaching simple animals to do some quite extraordinary things.
Classical and operant conditioning are two important concepts central to behavioral psychology. While both result in learning, the processes are quite different. In order to understand how each of these behavior modification techniques can be used, it is also essential to understand how classical conditioning and operant conditioning differ from one another. Both classical and operant learning are psychological processes that lead to learning. Here learning refers to the process by which changes in behavior, including actions, emotions, thoughts, and the responses of muscles and glands,
can be used to strengthen existing behaviors, as well as learn new ones. Principles of behaviorism can be
Dicky needed to wear glasses due to a series of eye operations, but his parents failed to make him wear glasses after more than a year of trying. The experimenters used shaping as the procedure to train Dicky to wear his glasses. An attendant ran two or three twenty-minute sessions every day with Dicky in his room. The first several sessions were spent establishing a conditioned reinforcer by having the clicks of a toy noisemaker follow Dicky receiving small bites of candy or fruit. Once the click began a discrimination stimulus, Dicky would go to the bowl where to reinforcers were placed after each click.
Applied Behavioral Analysis is a natural science that aims to systematically apply intervention processes using the behavior learning theory in order to remove or change undesirable socially significant behaviors (Cooper, Heron, Heward, 2007). Applied behavioral analysis can be applied in many setting and situations and the intervention process and techniques depend on those settings and individual situations. Applied behavioral analysis is used to modify target behaviors that can occur in
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is one of the most misunderstood methods of reinforcement. ABA also is referred to as ‘behavior modification’, which is the main contributor of the negative connotation with this method. ABA is the application of behavioral learning principles to change behavior (Woolfolk 256). Applied Behavior Analysis can be very successful in the classroom if done correctly. However, to begin this, one must study a student to decide what reinforcers will best work to modify the behavior.
Our behavior depends much on our environment. Lauren Slater author of Opening Skinner’s Box states “You are operating on your environment. If one can condition a reflex, would it not be too much to try to go one step further and condition cart wheels, or other supposedly freeform movements?” (11) Slater’s point is that humans have the ability to improve their human characteristics. We need to focus on improving our selves instead of focusing on improving the
In applied behavior analysis behaviorists use techniques such as functional behavior assessment (FBA), to create functionally-based interventions that target maladaptive behavior. The goal of an FBA is to identify the conditions that predict behavior and the consequences that maintain behavior (Carr et al., 2002). If the link between antecedent, behavior, and consequence can be established, it will be possible to alter a behavior by changing its predictive stimuli and maintaining consequences (Bender, 2015). After forming this link by collecting data, a behavior intervention plan (BIP) will be created to diminish problem behavior (Bender, 2015). This BIP must target the function of the behavior and
For students in a self-contained classroom, cueing and behavior modification are frequently used components of behaviorism. Cueing is using a method other than a verbal reminder as a way to encourage appropriate behavior, or discourage inappropriate behavior (Standridge, 2002). Behavior modification, as outlined in Foundations of Workforce Education, is used “to elicit better classroom performance from reluctant students” (Brewer, Campbell, & Petty, 2000, p.17). Behavior modification involves several components, such as determining what is desired, creating specifics within the environment, identifying appropriate rewards, reinforcing behavior patterns,