Behavior Modification
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Behavior Modification Chapter
Everyone wants to change his or her behaviour. People are constantly trying to eat less, exercise more and quit smoking. These are all examples of behavior change.
Key characteristics of behavior modification include (1) focusing on behavior, (2) focusing on current determinants of the behavior, (3) focus on learning, (4) assessment and evaluation of behavior change and (5) application of the principles to everyday life (Kazdin, 2001).
When people hear the words "behavior modification" they tend to think cruel punishment-based procedures.
There are several different learning techniques subsumed under behavior modification techniques including classical conditioning, operant conditioning, modeling/observational learning and social learning.
Classical Conditioning
Some of the first animal experiments took place in the 1800s. One of the most influential scientists emerging from this area was Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936). He noticed that when the dogs in his experiments heard their food being prepared they began to salivate reflexively. He found this process to be very significant, as the dogs were able to associate noises with food, without seeing the food itself...