Behavior Modification Research Paper
Abstract
Reinforcing positive behavior is critical in many aspects. It helps parents, school teachers and managers seek positive behavioral responses from the subject whether it’s a child, adult or even an employee. “Reinforcement was first studied by Thorndike (1911), who illustrated that reinforcement is a process where the behavior is increased by the immediate consequence that follows. Thorndike placed a hungry cat in a cage and food outside the cage and the cat eventually learned to press the lever again and again to gain access to the food that was placed outside the cage. Thorndike called this “Law of Effect”, simply, because the cage-cat illustration showed how the animal learned (stimulus-response) through operant conditioning” (Thorndike 1911).
Reinforcement can be either positive or negative (Miltenberger, 2011). Both have their own merits and demerits. Positive reinforcement is often considered as more desirable, especially, since the negative reinforcement cannot be sustained for too long and also it has chances of revoking resistance. Positive reinforcement through both primary and secondary methods helps win the respect and loyalty of the subject most of the times. Sustainable reinforcement is a mixture of the two types: positive and negative. For personal behavioral modification, people mostly choose to get positive stimuli. They do not like to be hurt or punished in order to perform a task. Likewise, I also chose the positive methods and would prefer that I am given appreciation at home, school and/or my workplace because that will help me to demonstrate increased productivity, dedication and commitment and it will also reduce the level of stress. These positive factors of reinforcement may include improving the work environment, improving timings and/or offering conveyance services.
Introduction
Behaviors are equally important at work as well as in our social lives. This is because positive behavior is connected to good performance
Reinforcing positive behavior is critical in many aspects. It helps parents, school teachers and managers seek positive behavioral responses from the subject whether it’s a child, adult or even an employee. “Reinforcement was first studied by Thorndike (1911), who illustrated that reinforcement is a process where the behavior is increased by the immediate consequence that follows. Thorndike placed a hungry cat in a cage and food outside the cage and the cat eventually learned to press the lever again and again to gain access to the food that was placed outside the cage. Thorndike called this “Law of Effect”, simply, because the cage-cat illustration showed how the animal learned (stimulus-response) through operant conditioning” (Thorndike 1911).
Reinforcement can be either positive or negative (Miltenberger, 2011). Both have their own merits and demerits. Positive reinforcement is often considered as more desirable, especially, since the negative reinforcement cannot be sustained for too long and also it has chances of revoking resistance. Positive reinforcement through both primary and secondary methods helps win the respect and loyalty of the subject most of the times. Sustainable reinforcement is a mixture of the two types: positive and negative. For personal behavioral modification, people mostly choose to get positive stimuli. They do not like to be hurt or punished in order to perform a task. Likewise, I also chose the positive methods and would prefer that I am given appreciation at home, school and/or my workplace because that will help me to demonstrate increased productivity, dedication and commitment and it will also reduce the level of stress. These positive factors of reinforcement may include improving the work environment, improving timings and/or offering conveyance services.
Introduction
Behaviors are equally important at work as well as in our social lives. This is because positive behavior is connected to good performance
References: 1. Miltenberger, R.G., (2011). Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures. 5th Ed. 2. Thorndike, E.L. (1911). Animal Intelligence: Experimental Studies. NewYork:Macmillan 3. Cosgrave, G., (2007), “Negative Reinforcement”, Retrieved from: http://www.educateautism.com/behavioural-principles/negative-reinforcement.html#.U4XAT2dZrIU 4. Daymut, J. A., (2009), “Positive Reinforcement: A Behavior-Management Strategy”, Retrieved from: http://www.superduperinc.com/handouts/pdf/238_PositiveReinforcement.pdf 5. DeLeon, I. G., Neidert, P. L., Anders, B. M., Rodriguez, C. V., (2001), “Choices between positive and negative reinforcement during treatment for escape-maintained behaviour”, Journal of Applied Behaviour Analysis, 34(4):521-525 6. Tuten, L. M., Jones, H. E., Schaeffer, C. M., Stitzer, M. L., (2014), “Reinforcement-Based Treatment for Substance Use Disorders: A Comprehensive Behavioural Approach”, ISBN: 978-1-4338-1024-4