Principles Of Behavior Modification Research Articles

Increasing the Duration of On-Task Behavior in Children with Borderline Intellectual Functioning through Shaping Techniques

This study aims to investigate and apply behavior modification principles, specifically using shaping techniques, to increase the duration of on-task behavior in children with Borderline Intellectual Functioning (BIF). The techniques used include antecedent control, reinforcement through token economy, and providing prompts to the participant. This study uses a single-subject design conducted over a total of 22 intervention sessions. The participant in this study is an 8-year and 7-month-old boy with BIF. The results of the study indicate an increase in the average duration of on-task behavior from 19 minutes in the initial measurement (pre-test) to 64 minutes in the final measurement (post-test) and 54 minutes in the follow-up measurement. It can be concluded that behavior modification principles, specifically using shaping techniques, can help to improve on-task behavior duration in children with Borderline Intellectual Functioning.

Preservice Special Education Teachers’ Levels of Knowledge of Behavior Modification Principles

The current study investigated preservice special education teachers’ levels of knowledge of fundamental principles of behavior modification (BM), and its connection with some variables. The study’s sample was (171) preservice special education teacher. Researchers developed a (50) item instrument in order to assess participants’ levels of knowledge. The instrument was found to be valid and reliable. Results indicate the preservice special education teachers’ levels of knowledge of behavior modification fundamental principles were low, in general. Further, female participants were more knowledgeable than male ones. Additionally, statistical significant differences were found between participant on university, GPA rating, and semester students have had taken BM course variables, while there were no statically significant differences were found on type of disability preservice teacher teaching variable.

A Glossary of Behavior Analytic Terms for Speech-Language Pathologists' Considerations for Augmentative and Alternative Communication

At its core, productive collaboration between speech-language pathologists and behavior analysts requires effective communication between both parties. Successful communication can be gained in par...

Parallels and Incongruities between Musical and Verbal Behaviors

The study of music in behavior analytic accounts constitutes a poorly addressed area of application due to conceptual incongruities in the field and a general lack of common ground between the disciplines of music and behavior analysis. This paper will examine the suitability of Skinner’s (1957) analysis of verbal behavior in describing various musical behaviors and propose clarifications of verbal behavior constructs to account for the conceptual similarities and differences between musical and verbal behaviors. The musical concepts of mimicry, relative pitch, and absolute pitch are also discussed from the perspective of a verbal behavior analysis. These are presented as examples of how presumably innate musical abilities remain subject to operant principles of behavior modification and how certain conventions of music may suggest novel functional relations that could expand the existing categorization of operants.

Students Can Give Psychology Away: Oral Presentations on YouTube

This article describes a novel assignment involving students giving a presentation on YouTube about how to apply behavior-modification principles to change a specific type of behavior, chosen by each student. The presentations covered topics such as how to end nail biting and how to reduce anxiety about public speaking. Giving an oral presentation on YouTube rather than in the classroom has advantages in (1) being feasible for large classes and for students in online-only courses, (2) saving class time, (3) allowing students to view their own performance, (4) allowing easier grading, and (5) creating an opportunity for students to ‘give psychology away’ to the public. Submission of links to YouTube videos by almost every student in the course, with no significant technical problems, demonstrated the feasibility of requiring video presentations. Evaluations of the assignment by 48 students, responding anonymously, indicated that students viewed the experience as helping them increase their public-speaking skills and confidence and improve their knowledge of the presentation topic. Other psychology courses could use a similar assignment.

Changing Times Call for Changing Methods: Introduction to the Special Issue on Innovative Treatments and Prevention Programs for Pediatric Obesity

According to recent survey results, approximately 17% of children and adolescents (ages 2 through 19) in the United States are obese (body mass index >95th percentile for sex and age) and about 32% are overweight (body mass index >85th percentile; Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2012). Ogden et al., also reported that the prevalence of ‘‘high weight-for-recumbent length’’ among infants (ages 0–2) was just under 10%. These data taken from the 2009– 2010 National Health and Nutrition Evaluation Survey reflect increasing rates of obesity over the past 12 years in boys (ages 2 through 19) and relatively stable rates of obesity among girls over this span. Overall, the prevalence of obesity is approximately three times greater than it was in 1980. Although alarming, these summary statistics mask important differences in obesity across demographic categories, including racial/ethnic group, sex, income range, and urbanicity. For example, among both African American girls (ages 2–19) and Mexican American boys (ages 2–19), the prevalence of obesity approaches 25% and the prevalence of overweight exceeds 40%. Further, emerging evidence indicates that childhood obesity is more prevalent in households with lower income, lower education, and higher unemployment, as well as among those in rural (vs. urban) settings (Hearst, Biskborn, Christensen, & Cushing, 2013; Lutfiyya, Lipsky, Wisdom-Behounek, & Inpanbutr-Martinkus, 2007; Singh, Siahpush, & Kogan, 2010, Voss, Masuoka, Webber, Scher, & Atkinson, 2013). Internationally, childhood obesity prevalence rates vary widely, but appear to be increasing among economically advantaged countries as well as in developing countries (Gupta, Goel, Shs, & Misra, 2012; Jackson-Leach & Lobstein, 2006; Knai, Lobstein, Darmon, Rutter, & McKee, 2012). It is well-known that pediatric obesity is associated with numerous health and mental health conditions, including insulin resistance, hypertension, abnormal glucose intolerance, sleep apnea, peer victimization, decreased health-related quality of life, and increased risk for internalizing problems (see Jelalian & Hart, 2009; Vivier & Tomkins, 2008; Zeller & Modi, 2008 for reviews). Further, obesity in childhood is associated with increased likelihood for sustained obesity and overweight (and their attendant health risks) into adulthood (Singh, Mulder, Twisk, van Mechelen, & Chinapaw, 2008). Because of these health risks, pediatric weight-related health—including active living and healthy eating—remains a priority area for Healthy People 2020 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010) as well as the National Prevention Council’s (2011) National Prevention Strategy. Recent reviews of the literature (Kitzmann et al., 2010; Oude Luttikhuis et al., 2009; Wilfley et al., 2007) indicate that behaviorally based individual and family interventions can be efficacious. Such therapies typically include behavior modification principles such as reinforcement for healthy behaviors, stimulus control, and modeling. However, effect sizes for such treatments remain relatively modest, and post-treatment outcome assessments frequently suggest poor maintenance of treatment effects over time (Epstein, Paluch, Roemmich, & Beecher, 2007). Further, issues such as nonor incomplete Defined as weight-for-recumbent length at or above the 95th percentile on the 2000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts.

Psychosocial Issues in Diabetes Self-Management: Strategies for Healthcare Providers

Education and training for diabetes mellitus self-management is widely available and an essential part of many diabetes centres. Nonetheless, the majority of individuals with diabetes do not adhere to optimal self-management recommendations. It is believed that psychosocial issues play an important role in individuals' ability to undertake the extensive behavioural demands involved in managing diabetes. The goal of the present article is to provide an overview of psychosocial issues and suggest strategies for healthcare providers in supporting patients with the challenges of diabetes self-management. First, motivational enhancement strategies have the potential to augment patients' own motivation to engage in health behaviours. Second, behavior modification principles can increase patients' self-efficacy and their experiences of success. Third, managing distressing emotions, including anxiety, depression, distress specifically related to diabetes care, and fear of hypoglycemia, can facilitate motivation and ability to undertake diabetes self-management efforts. Recognizing and addressing psychosocial challenges allows healthcare providers to better support their patients in the demanding tasks of diabetes self- management.

Original Research

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of adolescents within an inpatient behavioral program for the treatment of anorexia nervosa, as well as those of the nurses who cared for them. In particular, the study focused on the effects of the program's behavior modification principles on the relationship between patient and nurse. Using a qualitative, naturalistic design, the investigator (LMR) conducted in-depth, face-to-face, semistructured interviews with adolescent patients being treated for anorexia in an acute care setting and the pediatric nurses working there. She invited all patients and nurses involved in the program to participate in the study, and then conducted interviews up until the point of saturation (when responses ceased to reveal any new information or themes). She interviewed 10 adolescent patients and 10 pediatric nurses in total. Study findings illuminated the challenges nurses and patients face in forming therapeutic relationships within an environment the patient often experiences as a de facto prison, with nurses taking on the role of prison warden. In interviews, both patients and nurses frequently used language suggestive of incarceration, and from their accounts of life within the program, three major themes emerged: "entering the system," "'doing time' within the system," and "on parole or release." Thematic analysis revealed that an oppressive prison metaphor colored the experiences of both patients and nurses within this program and negatively affected the development of therapeutic relationships between them. Findings suggest that policy changes regarding length of stay, nurse training, visitation, initiation of psychological therapy, and mealtime may improve therapeutic relationships within such programs.

SODIUM restriction in hypertension.

Hypertensive patients, treated or untreated, benefit from sodium restriction. Need for fewer drugs, less hypokalemia if thiazide-diuretic treated, and lower blood pressures should result from successful reduction of sodium intake. A planned program using behavior modification principles can help patients make the necessary changes in their eating habits. Monitoring blood pressure and urinary sodium excretion will give evidence of adherence to the diet.

Treasure Hunt - a serious game to support psychotherapeutic treatment of children.

Computer and video games for children have gained negative publicity due to reported associations between intensive gaming and aggressive behaviour, school failure, and overweight. While most studies centre upon negative consequences of video games, their innovative potentials tend to be overlooked. One field for the innovative use of computer games is child psychotherapy. By including therapeutic concepts into a video game, children can be offered attractive electronic homework assignments that enable them to rehearse and repeat basic psychoeducational concepts they have learned during therapy sessions. Moreover, therapeutic games can help therapists to structure therapy sessions. Psychotherapeutic computer games translated into foreign languages could form a useful tool in the treatment of migrant children. 'Treasure Hunt' is the first serious game based on principles of cognitive behaviour modification. It is developed for eight to twelve year old children who are in cognitive-behavioural treatment for various disorders. Reactions of children and therapists to experimental versions of the game are positive. Serious games might prove a useful tool to support psychotherapeutic treatment of children.

An Educational Schoolbag System for Providing an Object Reminder Service

Embedding educational functions into devices in the everyday environment is an important task for advocates of ubiquitous learning. In this paper, we discuss how to add a reminder service to a schoolbag. An educational function would be added to the device to help pupils remember belongings. Reminding oneself of things is a difficult task and reminder services have been an important subject of computer applications. However, most reminding tools are used for business, not education. Most such services use PDAs as terminals and require the user to create the reminder list by him or herself, making it too complex for some pupils to use. The systems also seldom pay attention to helping users learn how to avoid forgetting. In this research, a ubiquitous learning support system that makes use of schoolbags is presented to assist pupils in managing their personal items. With RFID and infrared sensors, a microcontroller embedded in a schoolbag can monitor what has been put in or taken out of the schoolbag and automatically maintain a schoolbag's items list. Such a bag also enables teachers to make up a schedule that specifies required items for given days. The microcontroller then compares the schedule with the items list in the schoolbag and provides a reminder service for the pupil. In addition to the reminder service, which is based on principles of behavior modification, the paper also proposes a series of methods to help pupils form good personal management habits and reduce their dependence on outside machines.

Training parents and professionals to help children with autism in China: The contribution of behaviour analysis

Atraining programme is presented with two parts. (1) Professional training is received by graduate students at the Institute for Mental Health of Beijing University, based on the principles of behaviour assessment and modification, radical behaviourism, and applied research methods. (2) Parent training focused on parents with autistic children, using the behaviour analysis and modification methods. China has between 400,000 and 800,000 children with autism. In comparison to its fast economic growth the development of social welfare and social insurance systems are far behind. Once the child is diagnosed with autism, the parents or the primary caregivers of the child, not the government or the community, take the responsibility for the child's rehabilitation. The diagnosis of autism was first introduced in China in 1982, and for years the work was based on clinical appearances and diagnosis. The main mission of child psychiatrists was early diagnosis, but there was little change obtained with autistic children. From the year 2000 more people were interested in rehabilitation rather than in diagnosis and medical treatments. Behaviour analysis methods are now extensively used in interventions in children with autism in this country. There is a great need in China for this kind of work, but there are few professionals with the appropriate scientific knowledge and skills to work with autistic children. These professionals will help to further develop the area of behaviour analysis in China.

Operant conditioning and programmed instruction in aphasia rehabilitation.

Abstract Behavior theory has fallen from favor as a foundation for aphasia rehabilitation. Once a robust basis for experimental and clinical examination of communication disorders in adults, behavior modification has been largely absent in the literature of the past 25 years. This paper advocates a return to the application of a behavioral framework for the treatment of aphasia, with particular attention to the principles of reinforcement, and punishment, including overcorrection. It also advocates a return to such programs of instruction as melodic intonation therapy and to the application of contemporary alternate augmentative communication systems (AAC). The language of sets provides an overall framework for approaching aphasia therapy. Key Words: Programmed instruction, aphasia, rehabilitation, behavioral speech interventions Introduction Behavior theory presents a set of principles by which a person's performance be observed, analyzed and modified to support the development of socially valued adaptive skills. These principles are rules or laws which describe behavior and its relationship to environmental consequences and motivating stimuli. It is important for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to understand behavioral principles, because clinical treatment involves the modification of communicative behavior. When clinical treatment is effective, there is behavioral change. Principles of behavior modification have been described as they relate to aphasia rehabilitation (Brookshire, 1969; Goldfarb, 1981; Holland, 1970; Holland & Harris, 1968). These principles refer to a Skinnerian or operant model, not a Pavlovian or reflexive model. Systematic reinforcement of operant behaviors lead to new responses that expand a person's interactive repertoires communicatively, socially, and verbally. New reflexes cannot be learned, but operant procedures be used to inhibit or shape infantile oral reflexes, such as suckling and biting, which may be exhibited following brain damage in adults. While there was a flurry of activity in operant-based aphasia research more than 25 years ago (Albert, Sparks, & Helm, 1973; Brookshire, 1968; Goldfarb & Scharf, 1980; Keenan, 1966; Keith & Darley, 1967; Rosenberg & Edwards, 1965; Sarno, Silverman, & Sands, 1970; Tikofsky & Reynolds, 1962; 1963), there has been much less recent interest. One recent non-language study (Goldenberg, Hodges, Hershe, & Jinich, 1980) reported efficacy of operant conditioning in reducing fecal incontinence in 12 patients (ages 12-78 years) with medical and surgical conditions using biofeedback. An auditory language comprehension program for persons with severe aphasia (Bastiaanse, Nijboer, & Taconis, 1993) was applied in a case study involving a participant who learned to discriminate a target word from one, two, and then three distracters. Two other studies used filmed or videotaped programmed instruction to examine reading recognition and comprehension (Di Carlo, 1980) and comprehension of indirect requests such as can and should (Levey & Goldfarb, 2003) with participants who had aphasia. However, the generalizability of recent studies is limited due to the small number of subjects and low statistical power. Consequences of Ignoring Behavioral Principles SLPs with a limited understanding of applied behavior analysis (ABA) are at risk for attempting to modify maladaptive communicative behavior ineffectively. Consider the following vignette: Several adults with aphasia are seated in a small group during a speech-language therapy session. One of the adult clients points to the door and says, Go, go. When this request is ignored by the SLP, the client repeats the gesture and the utterance with greater intensity. Without turning to the client, the SLP says, Just a minute, I'm helping John now. The client then unlocks his wheelchair and rolls back and forth, ramming the chairs of other group members. …

Behavioral Interventions for Obesity

Because of the increased risk of comorbid conditions such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and osteoarthritis, and the high health care costs associated with obesity, researchers and clinicians continually search for low-cost and effective treatments for weight loss and weight maintenance. In this article we provide an overview of the principles of behavior modification as applied to the treatment of obesity, examine the benefits of augmenting behavioral interventions with pharmacotherapy, and review the use of less-traditional applications of behavior modification in the treatment of obesity, specifically Internet interventions, meal replacements, and telephone interventions. Based on our review, we conclude that these less-traditional approaches can be used effectively to apply the principles of behavior modification, specifically stimulus control and self-monitoring, to obese patients. Future directions for research are outlined, which include examining the use of nontraditional behavioral interventions with children and the development of culturally sensitive interventions for racial and ethnic minority populations.

The burden of obesity in Asia: Challenges in assessment, prevention and management

Overweight and obesity have started to emerge as a significant public health problem in Asia. As a whole, the situation has arisen from the changing dietary pattern towards energy‐dense and high fat diets, together with a more sedentary lifestyle arising from increasing urbanization. Obesity's threat to the health and economy of the population gives urgency to meeting the problem headlong before it gets any worse. Fundamental knowledge gaps, however, constrain the institution of appropriate measures to prevent and manage this growing problem. Foremost is the paucity of national prevalence and epidemiological data in many countries in the region, coupled with a lack of uniformity in reference standards and cut‐off points. While the principles of dietary management, physical activity and behaviour modification are well known, integrating these strategies into a national policy and program in the face of competing priorities is the greatest challenge of all. This requires the collaboration of government, academia, the food industry, the private sector, NGOs and the community, with the assistance of international and bilateral aid agencies, to develop and implement such policies and programs.

The current status and future direction of clinical behavior analysis: Introduction to the special section.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, when Skinnerian behaviorism had reached its apogee, many behavior therapists in clinical practice employed operant principles in their work with the range of clinical disorders. Behavior therapists prided themselves in the utilization of principles that were derived from well-controlled laboratory experiments. Their empirically based approach commanded a far greater scientific respectability than the rather vaguely defined interventions of psychodynamic and humanistic therapists. However, starting in the early 1970s, cognitive psychology began to develop momentum and many behavior therapists gradually began to shift from a behavioral to a cognitive stance. This movement eventually resulted in a split between two types of behaviorally oriented practitioners. On the one hand, there were the applied behavior analysts who faithfully carried on the operant tradition. They worked mainly with developmentally disabled children and adults or employed behavior modification principles in relatively closed systems such as educational, correctional, and organizational settings. On the other hand, there were the behavior therapists who worked with the range of problems presented by adult outpatients. In their majority, these therapists began to embrace the new cognitive-behavioral perspective, whereas psychotherapists employing Skinnerian principles in the treatment of adult outpatients all but disappeared. This situation changed when in the late 1980s two approaches to adult outpatient psychotherapy were introduced which were both based on Skinner's radical behaviorism: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes, 1987) and Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP; Kohlenberg & Tsai, 1987). With the advent of these therapies, a novel form of operant based behavior therapy was born, which during the early 1990s eventually established itself as 'clinical behavior analysis' (CBA). CBA has its philosophical roots in a modernized version of radical behaviorism termed 'functional contextualism' (Biglan & Hayes, 1996) and is geared toward the amelioration of emotional problems that more typically have been the purview of traditional adult psychotherapy. A number of writers have shown how CBA based approaches can be extended to the treatment of a wide spectrum of psychological disorders, including problems as complex as personality, mood, sexual, or substance use disorders (Dougher, 1999; Hayes, Jacobson, Follette, & Dougher, 1994). The beauty of CBA is that it deals effectively with the fundamental theoretical problem of how talking within the therapy session helps ameliorate clients' problems that occur in their everyday lives. By carefully examining the verbal interactions between therapists and clients within a conceptual framework that brings to bear the principles of verbal behavior (Skinner, 1957), rule-governed behavior (Skinner, 1969), and stimulus equivalence (Sidman, 1994), clinical behavior analysts have developed a theoretical basis for adult psychotherapy that is consistent with contemporary radical behaviorism. Thus, for the first time in a long time there is evidence of a renewed rapprochement between basic behavioral science and its application. Over the past several decades, behavior therapy has gradually separated itself from its theoretical and philosophical foundation in behaviorism, which during its beginnings had been its greatest strength. With the advent of CBA, the gap between the basic and the applied branch of the behavioral approach is closing. Thus, CBA holds the clear promise of reestablishing the conceptual integrity of the behavioral approach to psychotherapy. …

Treatment of attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder: the impact of comorbidity

AbstractA significant percentage of children with attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have comorbid, associated problems, such as learning disabilities, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and internalizing disorders. However, it will be argued that comorbid diagnoses are not useful in treatment planning. In order to effectively treat the problematic behaviours associated with these comorbidities, clinicians must systematically assess for the impairment related to these comorbidities and implement treatment aimed to reduce impaired functioning and increase competencies in important functional domains. Clinicians who utilize this approach will find (1) that diagnosis matters little for treatment planning, while functional impairment matters a great deal, and (2) that the systematic application of behaviour modification principles improves functioning across diagnostic categories. A case study of a multiply comorbid child with ADHD is presented to illustrate effective treatment for ADHD and comorbid disorders. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Where do diets, exercise, and behavior modification fit in the treatment of obesity?

Obesity is a significant public health concern that affects a growing number of people in the United States and throughout the world. While substantial advances have been made in the development of new pharmacotherapies and in understanding the biological underpinnings (e.g., genetics and physiology) of obesity, lifestyle modification, which involves the application of behavior modification principles to alter eating and activity patterns, is the foundation of any comprehensive obesity management. The purpose of this article is to provide a practical overview of the benefits of dietary and activity change and to review behavior modification principles that have been used successfully in obesity management.

Addressing behavior problems among school-aged children: traditional and controversial approaches.

Managing children's behaviors is primarily the responsibility of parents, but pediatricians can help parents be more effective managers, especially when the child involved is presenting a particular challenge. Such help can range from providing reading material and brief counseling to referring the family to mental health clinicians. First, the pediatrician must be able to identify and judge the severity of the problems to refer appropriately. Behavioral interventions, commonly based on the principles of behavior modification with an emphasis on improving the positive and reinforcing aspects of parent-child relationships, can be effective. In addition, pediatricians need to be aware of unconventional therapies in the categories of dietary and exercise interventions. They need to know what motivates parents to seek such therapies, how to judge the efficacy of these approaches, and how to help parents become better-informed consumers.

Use of a modified version of the Overt Aggression Scale in the measurement and assessment of aggressive behaviours following brain injury

Aggressive behaviour creates a significant challenge in neurorehabilitation. Despite the success in using behaviour modification principles in the treatment of post acute behavioural problems, psychopharmacological approaches to the management of aggression are more frequently reported. However, inconsistencies apparent in the literature hinder inter study comparisons of treatment methods. These include severity of brain injury, neuropsychological status and rigour of experimental methodology used. Data about aggression is also inconsistently reported, especially with regard to classification and severity. Descriptions of how aggressive behaviour responded to pre treatment is also generally absent. In this paper an observational rating scale is described in an attempt to address these inconsistencies. The Overt Aggression Scale has been modified by increasing the range of interventions to reflect current practice in neurorehabilitation, and by changing the language to make it suitable for UK users. A range of antecedents has also been added to make the scale useful in behavioural analysis. Preliminary results indicate inter rater reliability is good, and it is a valid indicator of type and severity of aggression. Antecedents and interventions used in the management of aggressive behaviours in neurorehabilitation are also illustrated. Clinical use of the scale is also discussed.