Chapter 17

Capitalizing on Existing Stimulus Control:

Rules and Goals

Rules A description of a three-term contingency of

reinforcement (antecedent-behavior-consequences)

Examples: Any If-then statement.

“If you clean up your room now you can go out with your friends”

Antecedent Behavior Consequence

Room Clean Go out with friends

Rules (cont.) Partial Rule: Missing one of the three terms Examples: NO PARKING (missing antecedent

“location” and consequence “parking ticket” SALE (missing antecedent “at our store” and

behavior “buy”) CROSSWALK ( missing behavior “stop the car”

and consequence “hitting a pedestrian…”)

Rules (cont.) Contingency-Shaped Behavior: behavior

under the control of direct-acting consequences. Immediate consequences gradual behavior change.

Rule-Governed Behavior: Behavior controlled by the statement of a rule.Delayed consequences (if rule is used) Immediate behavior change.

Explains effects of indirect-acting consequences

When To Use Rules? ALWAYS, even with those with limited verbal skills.

Rules are especially effective:

When rapid behavior change is desirable.

When consequences that you might provide for a behavior are too delayed to directly reinforce that behavior.

When you would like to maintain a behavior for which natural

reinforcers are immediate but highly intermittent (to motivate salespeople, athletes, students).

When a specific behavior will lead to immediate and severe punishment

Why are Rules so Effective?

They may involve interim reinforcers if rule is followed (praise for sticking to a program leading to a larger reinforcer).

The individual may make self-reinforcing statements in the interim.

Following rules itself may be reinforcing due to our history of reinforcement for following rules in general or punishment for not following rules.

So in general, rules capitalize on existing stimulus control that is already in effect in people’s lives.

Effectiveness of Rules Depends on… Specific descriptions of behavior.

Specific descriptions of when to do the behavior (say please when…).

Probability of consequences (helmets, lifejackets).

Size and immediacy of consequences (diets, exercise).

Deadlines (effective even if reinforcer is delayed far after the deadline!).

Goals A level of performance to work toward.

Goals ARE rules, but usually partial ones, identifying the desired behavior, while the antecedents and consequences are implied.

Goals (cont.) Effectiveness of Goals depends on…

IF specific mastery criteria are used. IF circumstances are identified. IF they are realistic, challenging. IF they are public. IF deadlines are included. IF feedback is given throughout. IF individuals express commitment.

REVIEW SO FAR…

What tools do we have and when do we use them?

Review

Positive reinforcement (to increase behavior using primary, secondary, backup reinforcers)

Intermittent schedules to increase behavior (fixed, interval, ratio, interval, limited hold, duration)

Intermittent schedules to decrease behavior (DRL,DRO, DRI, pg. 90)

Extinction

Review (cont.)

Stimulus discrimination training (do something in this situation but not in another situation).

Fading (the stimulus prompt) Shaping (the behavior) Chaining (linking behaviors together) Punishment (to decrease behavior)

Review (cont.)

Avoidance Conditioning (to avoid an anticipated punisher)

Escape Conditioning (to escape a punisher that has already been introduced)

Respondent Conditioning (Classical conditioning of automatic involuntary responses such as emotions)

Stimulus Generalization (one response in many situations)

Response Generalization (many responses in the same situation)

Rules (A-B-C statement) Goals (Performance standard)

Chapter 18

Capitalizing on Existing Stimulus Control:Modeling, Guidance and Situational Inducement

Modeling Effectiveness of models depends on:

Similarity (peers best).

Symbolic modeling (pictures, movies) can sometimes be as effective as live modeling.

Modeling of behavior AND its effects.

Use of multiple models (everyone’s doing it).

Use of rules (behavioral rehearsal/role rehearsal can help here).

Physical Guidance

Guide with touch to teach behavior.

(see pg 229 guidelines)

Situational Inducement

Rearranging the Surroundings

Moving the Activity to a New Location

Relocating People

Changing the Time of the Activity.

See Guidelines pg. 234…

Chapter 19

Motivation and

Behavior Modification

What is “Motivation”?

Traditional definition:

“Inner drive” that causes behavior. (Circular reasoning problem: Drive causes the

behavior, but we infer the existence of the drive because of the behavior).

What is “Motivation”?

Practical limitations of traditional definition:

Leads us to ignore principles of behavior change by:

Ascribing cause of behavior to a “drive”.

Blaming an individual’s “lack of drive”.

Blame our own “lack of drive”.

What is “Motivation”?

Behavioral View of Motivation:

Motivating Operations (MOs):

“Events or operations that (a) temporarily alter the effectiveness of consequences as reinforcers or punishers (value altering effect), and (b) influence behaviors that normally lead to those reinforcers or punishers (behavior-altering effect).”

Examples: Food deprivation and satiation.

Motivating Operations (MOs)

Motivating Establishing Operations (MEOs): Increase reinforcer effectiveness (ex. Deprivation).

Motivating Abolishing Operations (MAOs): Decrease reinforcer effectiveness (ex. Satiation).

Motivating Operations (MOs)

MOs affects punishers in the same way…ex. Effectiveness of time-out as a punisher is increased when it takes away opportunity to earn reinforcers.

Motivating Operations (MOs)

Unconditioned MOs (UMO’s) effect unconditioned reinforcers (deprivation/satiation of water, sleep, activity, air…)

Conditioned MO’s (CMO’s) effect conditioned reinforcers (desirability of earning points based on the what the points can be redeemed for).

CMEOs and SDs

SDs are cues that tell you what to do to get what you already want.

CMEOs are cues that change what you want and tell you what to do to get what you now want.

CMAOs and SDeltas

SDelta is a cue that tells you that doing a particular behavior will not lead to a reinforcer that you already want.

CMAO is a cue that influences you to no longer want a particular consequence.