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Behavior modification was a treatment approach that used respondent and operant conditioning to change behavior. Based on methodological behaviorism, [1] overt behavior was modified with (antecedent) stimulus control and consequences, including positive and negative reinforcement contingencies to increase desirable behavior, as well as positive and negative punishment, and extinction to reduce problematic behavior. [2] [3] [4]
Contemporary applications of behavior modification include applied behavior analysis (ABA), behavior therapy, exposure therapy, and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Since the inception of behavior modification, significant and substantial advancements have been made to focus on the function of behavior, choice, cultural sensitivity, compassion, equity, and quality of life (QoL). [5] Paradigm shifts have been made since the inception of behavior modification, and these changes are focused on the dignity of the individual receiving treatment, [6] and found in today's graduate training programs. [7]
The first use of the term behavior modification appears to have been by Edward Thorndike in 1911. His article Provisional Laws of Acquired Behavior or Learning makes frequent use of the term "modifying behavior". [8] Through early research in the 1940s and the 1950s the term was used by Joseph Wolpe's research group. [9] The experimental tradition in clinical psychology used it to refer to psycho-therapeutic techniques derived from empirical research. [10] In the 1960s, behavior modification operated on stimulus-response-reinforcement framework (S-R-SR), emphasizing the concept of 'transactional' explanations of behavior. [11] It has since come to refer mainly to techniques for increasing adaptive behavior through reinforcement and decreasing maladaptive behavior through extinction or punishment (with emphasis on the former).
In recent years, the concept of punishment has had many critics, though these criticisms tend not to apply to negative punishment (time-outs) and usually apply to the addition of some aversive event. The use of positive punishment by board certified behavior analysts is restricted to extreme circumstances when all other forms of treatment have failed and when the behavior to be modified is a danger to the person or to others (see professional practice of behavior analysis). In clinical settings positive punishment is usually restricted to using a spray bottle filled with water as an aversive event. When misused, more aversive punishment can lead to affective (emotional) disorders, as well as to the receiver of the punishment increasingly trying to avoid the punishment (i.e., "not get caught")..
Behavior modification relies on the following:
Functional behavior assessment forms the core of applied behavior analysis, and this technology was not part of behavior modification. A Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) is a systematic process used to identify the underlying causes and functions of challenging behaviors. Unlike traditional behavior modification, which often focused solely on altering the behavior itself, FBA seeks to understand the reasons behind a behavior by examining the environmental, social, and psychological factors that contribute to it. The FBA process involves several steps: defining the problematic behavior in observable and measurable terms, collecting data through direct observation, interviews, and review of records, identifying patterns and triggers, hypothesizing the function of the behavior, and developing intervention strategies based on these hypotheses.
The importance of FBA lies in its comprehensive and individualized approach. By understanding the function of a behavior, interventions can be tailored to address the root cause rather than just the symptoms. This leads to more effective and lasting behavior change. For example, if a behavior is identified as a way for an individual to escape a difficult task, the intervention might include teaching more appropriate ways to request a break or modifying the task to make it more manageable. In contrast, traditional behavior modification might only attempt to suppress the escape behavior without addressing the underlying issue, which could lead to frustration and the emergence of other problematic behaviors.
Additionally, FBA emphasizes a positive and proactive approach, focusing on teaching alternative, contextually appropriate behaviors and modifying the environment to support these behaviors design to support QoL. This stands in contrast to the often punitive nature of previous behavior modification techniques. Overall, FBA represents a more humane and effective method for understanding and addressing challenging behaviors, leading to improved outcomes for individuals.
Professionals use this science of behavior modification often with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The purpose of behavior modification for these people is to work on increasing socially significant behavior such as academic skills, adaptive skills, social skills, and vocational skills, while decreasing problem behaviors. [12] One of the main issues behavior modification addresses is deficits in communication skills that cause problem behaviors such as crying, screaming, falling, and hitting in those with autism. [13]
One of the main forms of behavior modification used with people who have ASD is applied behavior analysis (ABA). [14] Applied behavior analysis is a form of behavior modification that has a specific framework and ethical rules, and it has gained popularity in the field of psychology over the past 50 years. [15]
For children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), one study showed that over a several-year period, children in the behavior modification group had half the number of felony arrests as children in the medication group. [16] [17] These findings have yet to be replicated, but are considered encouraging for the use of behavior modification for children with ADHD. There is strong and consistent evidence that behavioral treatments are effective for treating ADHD. A 2008 meta-analysis found that the use of behavior modification for ADHD resulted in effect sizes in between group studies (.83), pre-post studies (.70), within group studies (2.64), and single subject studies (3.78) indicating behavioral treatments are highly effective. [18]
Drawing upon Bandura's self-efficacy theory, which has proven effective in programs aimed at promoting health-related behavioral modifications in adults with diabetes, various interventions have been implemented. These interventions incorporate group counseling, group discussions, and an empowerment process, all geared towards encouraging individuals to adopt healthy dietary practices, adhere to medication regimens, and engage in regular exercise, with the goal of improving glycemic levels. Notably, the outcomes of these programs have demonstrated promising advancements, with improvements observed in self-efficacy and trends towards significance in hemoglobin A1c levels. [19]
Behavior modification programs form the core of many residential treatment facility programs. They have shown success in reducing recidivism for adolescents with conduct problems and adult offenders. One particular program that is of interest is teaching-family homes (see Teaching Family Model), which is based on a social learning model that emerged from radical behaviorism. These particular homes use a family style approach to residential treatment, which has been carefully replicated over 700 times. [20] Recent efforts have seen a push for the inclusion of more behavior modification programs in residential re-entry programs in the U.S. to aid prisoners in re-adjusting after release.
Research has shown effectiveness for obese people who binge eat. One program called the Trevose Behavior Modification Program (TBMP) is an accessible self-help weight loss program that emphasizes ongoing care. TBMP, administered and directed by non-professionals, has demonstrated remarkable success in facilitating substantial and lasting weight loss. This program not only offers the advantage of being cost-effective but also provides continuous support. Notably, individuals with and without frequent binge eating have achieved significant long-term weight loss through TBMP's continuing care approach. [21]
One area that has repeatedly shown effectiveness has been the work of behaviorists working in the area of community reinforcement for addictions. [22]
Another area of research that has been strongly supported has been behavioral activation for depression. [23]
One way of giving positive reinforcement in behavior modification is in providing compliments, approval, encouragement, and affirmation; a ratio of five compliments for every one complaint is generally seen as being effective in altering behavior in a desired manner [24] and even in producing stable marriages. [25]
Behavior modification is critiqued in person-centered psychotherapeutic approaches such as Rogerian Counseling and Re-evaluation Counseling, [26] which involve "connecting with the human qualities of the person to promote healing", while behaviorism is "denigrating to the human spirit". [27] B.F. Skinner argues in Beyond Freedom and Dignity that unrestricted reinforcement is what led to the "feeling of freedom", thus removal of aversive events allows people to "feel freer". [28] Further criticism extends to the presumption that behavior increases only when it is reinforced. This premise is at odds with research conducted by Albert Bandura at Stanford University. His findings indicate that violent behavior is imitated, without being reinforced, in studies conducted with children watching films showing various individuals "beating the daylights out of Bobo". Bandura believes that human personality and learning is the result of the interaction between environment, behavior and psychological process. There is evidence, however, that imitation is a class of behavior that can be learned just like anything else. Children have been shown to imitate behavior that they have never displayed before and are never reinforced for, after being taught to imitate in general. [29]
Based on the early improper use of behavior modification techniques, substantial emphasis has been placed on the importance of ethics and licensure. [30] Ethics is paramount because it ensures that practitioners prioritize the well-being, dignity, and rights of their clients. Given the vulnerable populations often served by ABA professionals, such as individuals with developmental disabilities, maintaining high ethical standards helps prevent exploitation, harm, and abuse. In today's era, The Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) Code of Ethics is a comprehensive framework that guides behavior analysts in their professional conduct. For instance, Code 1.04 emphasizes the importance of integrity, urging behavior analysts to be honest and truthful in their professional dealings. Code 2.01 mandates the prioritization of client dignity and welfare, ensuring that the client's needs come first. Code 2.06 requires informed consent, meaning clients must be fully aware of and agree to the interventions used. Confidentiality is protected under Code 2.07, which ensures that all client information is kept private and secure. Additionally, Code 3.01 stresses the necessity of providing evidence-based treatments, ensuring interventions are scientifically supported and effective. By adhering to these and other ethical guidelines, behavior analysts foster trust, promote positive outcomes, and uphold the integrity of the field.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by executive dysfunction occasioning symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and developmentally-inappropriate.
Operant conditioning, also called instrumental conditioning, is a learning process where voluntary behaviors are modified by association with the addition of reward or aversive stimuli. The frequency or duration of the behavior may increase through reinforcement or decrease through punishment or extinction.
Developmental disorders comprise a group of psychiatric conditions originating in childhood that involve serious impairment in different areas. There are several ways of using this term. The most narrow concept is used in the category "Specific Disorders of Psychological Development" in the ICD-10. These disorders comprise developmental language disorder, learning disorders, developmental coordination disorders, and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In broader definitions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is included, and the term used is neurodevelopmental disorders. Yet others include antisocial behavior and schizophrenia that begins in childhood and continues through life. However, these two latter conditions are not as stable as the other developmental disorders, and there is not the same evidence of a shared genetic liability.
Behaviorism is a systematic approach to understand the behavior of humans and other animals. It assumes that behavior is either a reflex elicited by the pairing of certain antecedent stimuli in the environment, or a consequence of that individual's history, including especially reinforcement and punishment contingencies, together with the individual's current motivational state and controlling stimuli. Although behaviorists generally accept the important role of heredity in determining behavior, deriving from Skinner's three levels of selection: phylogeny, ontogeny, and culture, they focus primarily on environmental events. The cognitive revolution of the late 20th century largely replaced behaviorism as an explanatory theory with cognitive psychology, which unlike behaviorism views internal mental states as explanations for observable behavior.
A social skill is any competence facilitating interaction and communication with others where social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called socialization. Lack of such skills can cause social awkwardness.
In psychology, aversives are unpleasant stimuli that induce changes in behavior via negative reinforcement or positive punishment. By applying an aversive immediately before or after a behavior, the likelihood of the target behavior occurring in the future may be reduced. Aversives can vary from being slightly unpleasant or irritating to physically, psychologically and/or emotionally damaging.
Ole Ivar Løvaas was a Norwegian-American clinical psychologist and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is most well known for his research on what is now called applied behavior analysis (ABA) to teach autistic children through prompts, modeling, and positive reinforcement. His application of the science was also noted for its use of aversives (punishment) to reduce undesired behavior, which are no longer supported as a part of most ABA treatment plans.
A behavior modification facility is a residential educational and treatment institution enrolling adolescents who are perceived as displaying antisocial behavior, in an attempt to alter their conduct.
Discrete trial training (DTT) is a technique used by practitioners of applied behavior analysis (ABA) that was developed by Ivar Lovaas at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). DTT uses mass instruction and reinforcers that create clear contingencies to shape new skills. Often employed as an early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) for up to 25–40 hours per week for children with autism, the technique relies on the use of prompts, modeling, and positive reinforcement strategies to facilitate the child's learning. It previously used aversives to punish unwanted behaviors. DTT has also been referred to as the "Lovaas/UCLA model", "rapid motor imitation antecedent", "listener responding", "errorless learning", and "mass trials".
Applied behavior analysis (ABA), also referred to as behavioral engineering, is a psychological discipline that utilizes the principles of learning based upon respondent and operant conditioning to change socially significant behavior. ABA is the applied form of behavior analysis. The impact ABA has on meaningful behaviors is a defining feature, and what differentiates it from experimental analysis of behavior, which focuses on basic experimental research.
Behaviour therapy or behavioural psychotherapy is a broad term referring to clinical psychotherapy that uses techniques derived from behaviourism and/or cognitive psychology. It looks at specific, learned behaviours and how the environment, or other people's mental states, influences those behaviours, and consists of techniques based on behaviorism's theory of learning: respondent or operant conditioning. Behaviourists who practice these techniques are either behaviour analysts or cognitive-behavioural therapists. They tend to look for treatment outcomes that are objectively measurable. Behaviour therapy does not involve one specific method, but it has a wide range of techniques that can be used to treat a person's psychological problems.
Autism therapies include a wide variety of therapies that help people with autism, or their families. Such methods of therapy seek to aid autistic people in dealing with difficulties and increase their functional independence.
Contingency management (CM) is the application of the three-term contingency, which uses stimulus control and consequences to change behavior. CM originally derived from the science of applied behavior analysis (ABA), but it is sometimes implemented from a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) framework as well.
Emotional and behavioral disorders refer to a disability classification used in educational settings that allows educational institutions to provide special education and related services to students who have displayed poor social and/or academic progress.
Punishment is any change in a human or animal's surroundings which, occurring after a given behavior or response, reduces the likelihood of that behavior occurring again in the future. Reinforcement, referring to any behavior that increases the likelihood that a response will occurs, plays a large role in punishment. Motivating operations (MO) can be categorized in abolishing operations, decrease the effectiveness of the stimuli and establishing, increase the effectiveness of the stimuli. For example, a painful stimulus which would act as a punisher for most people may actually reinforce some behaviors of masochistic individuals.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder management options are evidence-based practices with established treatment efficacy for ADHD. Approaches that have been evaluated in the management of ADHD symptoms include FDA-approved pharmacologic treatment and other pharmaceutical agents, psychological or behavioral approaches, combined pharmacological and behavioral approaches, cognitive training, neurofeedback, neurostimulation, physical exercise, nutrition and supplements, integrative medicine, parent support, and school interventions. Based on two 2024 systematic reviews of the literature, FDA-approved medications and to a lesser extent psychosocial interventions have been shown to improve core ADHD symptoms compared to control groups.
A residential treatment center (RTC), sometimes called a rehab, is a live-in health care facility providing therapy for substance use disorders, mental illness, or other behavioral problems. Residential treatment may be considered the "last-ditch" approach to treating abnormal psychology or psychopathology.
The professional practice of behavior analysis is a domain of behavior analysis, the others being radical behaviorism, experimental analysis of behavior and applied behavior analysis. The practice of behavior analysis is the delivery of interventions to consumers that are guided by the principles of radical behaviorism and the research of both experimental and applied behavior analysis. Professional practice seeks to change specific behavior through the implementation of these principles. In many states, practicing behavior analysts hold a license, certificate, or registration. In other states, there are no laws governing their practice and, as such, the practice may be prohibited as falling under the practice definition of other mental health professionals. This is rapidly changing as behavior analysts are becoming more and more common.
Parent management training (PMT), also known as behavioral parent training (BPT) or simply parent training, is a family of treatment programs that aims to change parenting behaviors, teaching parents positive reinforcement methods for improving pre-school and school-age children's behavior problems.
Functional behavior assessment (FBA) is an ongoing process of collecting information with a goal of identifying the environmental variables that control a problem or target behavior. The purpose of the assessment is to prove and aid the effectiveness of the interventions or treatments used to help eliminate the problem behavior. Through functional behavior assessments, we have learned that there are complex patterns to people's seemingly unproductive behaviors. It is important to not only pay attention to consequences that follow the behavior but also the antecedent that evokes the behavior. More work needs to be done in the future with functional assessment including balancing precision and efficiency, being more specific with variables involved and a more smooth transition from assessment to intervention.