A Technique for Controlling Behavior in Natural Life Settings'
- Submitted by: qinyi88
- Views: 650
- Category: Other
- Date Submitted: 03/15/2011 07:03 AM
- Pages: 11
- Report this Essay
JOURNAL OF APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS
1968, 1, 263-266
NUMBER
3
(FALL 1968)
A TECHNIQUE FOR CONTROLLING BEHAVIOR IN NATURAL LIFE SETTINGS' THOMAS J. TIGHE AND ROGERS ELLIOTT2
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
A behavior control technique is presented, consisting primarily of having a patient give up some portion of his reinforcers (usually money) with the understanding that he must behave in therapeutically prescribed ways in his natural environment to re-earn the reinforcers. The critical features and requirements of the technique are discussed, various applications are suggested, and implications for research are drawn.
A behavior modification program is likely to be successful to the degree to which it provides control over the relevant response-reinforcement contingencies. That human behavior may be readily modified under conditions which permit precise control of reinforcement variables, as in the laboratory, the clinic, or the institution, has been abundantly demonstrated. Yet, in the usual form of out-patient behavior therapy the therapist has little if any control over the major reinforcements and punishments for the patient's behavior. Direct contact with the patient is typically intermittent and brief, and when it does occur, the therapist's attempts to change behavior often consist of verbal persuasion rather than the direct manipulation of reinforcement. During much of therapy, furthermore, the patient usually remains in his natural environment and is thus continually exposed to the reinforcement contingencies which presumably maintain his behavior problem. Under such conditions it may be difficult, if not impossible, to modify the subject's behavior. Even if adequate control is achieved over the relevant variables through some form of institutionalized therapy, the ultimate goal of the treatment remains the modification of the individual's behavior in his normal environment. To the degree that the natural and institutional environments differ, the...
1968, 1, 263-266
NUMBER
3
(FALL 1968)
A TECHNIQUE FOR CONTROLLING BEHAVIOR IN NATURAL LIFE SETTINGS' THOMAS J. TIGHE AND ROGERS ELLIOTT2
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
A behavior control technique is presented, consisting primarily of having a patient give up some portion of his reinforcers (usually money) with the understanding that he must behave in therapeutically prescribed ways in his natural environment to re-earn the reinforcers. The critical features and requirements of the technique are discussed, various applications are suggested, and implications for research are drawn.
A behavior modification program is likely to be successful to the degree to which it provides control over the relevant response-reinforcement contingencies. That human behavior may be readily modified under conditions which permit precise control of reinforcement variables, as in the laboratory, the clinic, or the institution, has been abundantly demonstrated. Yet, in the usual form of out-patient behavior therapy the therapist has little if any control over the major reinforcements and punishments for the patient's behavior. Direct contact with the patient is typically intermittent and brief, and when it does occur, the therapist's attempts to change behavior often consist of verbal persuasion rather than the direct manipulation of reinforcement. During much of therapy, furthermore, the patient usually remains in his natural environment and is thus continually exposed to the reinforcement contingencies which presumably maintain his behavior problem. Under such conditions it may be difficult, if not impossible, to modify the subject's behavior. Even if adequate control is achieved over the relevant variables through some form of institutionalized therapy, the ultimate goal of the treatment remains the modification of the individual's behavior in his normal environment. To the degree that the natural and institutional environments differ, the...