Modified from: 09-19-06
Reference: Watson, D. L. & Tharp, R. G. (1997) Self-directed behavior:
Self-modification for personal adjustment (7th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA:
Brooks/Cole.
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Specific behavior to be changed (concrete and
observable)
Specific situations in which the behavior
occurs
Choose a behavior that you are motivated to
change.
Short-term vs. long-term goals
1.
2.
3.
4.
Make a list of concrete examples.
List the details of your problem.
Become an observer of yourself.
Your strategy should always be to increase
some desirable behavior.
My goal is _________________
(what you want to do)
when_____________________.
(the situation)
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I want to quit goofing off and study
more; or
I want to increase studying in those
situations in which I should study.
5. Specify the chain of events that will lead to
your goal.
6. Observe other people who are successful at
what you are trying to do, and then try their
tactics yourself.
7. Think of alternative solutions.
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Expect mistakes.
Don’t blame mistakes on your personality.
Prepare for temptations.
 Antecedents
 Behavior
 Consequences
Antecedents
Behaviors –
Consequences
When did it happen?
Whom were you with?
What were you doing?
Where were you?
What were you saying
to yourself?
What thoughts were
you having?
What feelings were
you having?
What were you
saying to yourself?
What thoughts did
you have?
What feelings were
you having?
What actions were
you performing?
What happened as a
result?
Was it pleasant or
unpleasant?
actions, thoughts,
or emotions
Antecedents
Behaviors
Consequences
Waiting for the bus
Nail biting
Sitting in class
Lying in bed thinking
Reading
Stressed
Nail
Nail
Nail
Nail
Embarrassed that others
might see
Same
Just wish I would quit
Same
Gives me something to do
biting
biting
biting
biting
Antecedents
Behaviors –
April 3. Saturday
morning at breakfast.
I spanked both of Made them even more
them.
cross.
Kids argued a lot.
April 6. Came home
from work feeling
tired. My boy talked
back to me.
April 10. Had an
argument with my
wife. Then in the car
the kids started
quarreling.
Started to spank
him but stopped.
Grounded him for
an hour instead.
Spanked them –
actually slapped
them.
Consequences
Felt pretty good about
that. Was glad I didn’t
hit him. He calmed
down while he was
grounded.
It spoiled our whole
outing. I felt guilty.
They felt rotten.
feeling stressed
spanking
feeling bad
kids’ misbehavior
But if instead:
substitute
kids’ misbehavior
punishment
(no spanking)
feeling good
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Number of cookies per day
Number of text messages per day
Minutes studying per day
Number of days jogging per week
Number of times biting nails per day
Hours slept per night
Money spent on junk food per day
1.
2.
3.
4.
Do the counting when the behavior
occurs, not later.
Be accurate and strict in your counting.
Try to include all instances of the
behavior.
Keep written records.
Keep the recording system as simple as
possible. Try to fit it into your usual
habits.
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Throughout life, regulation by others and
the self (particularly through verbal
instructions) acts as a powerful guide to
behavior.
Operant behavior is a function of its
consequences.
A positive reinforcer is a consequence
that maintains and strengthens behavior
by its added presence.
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A negative reinforcer is a consequence
that strengthens behavior by being
subtracted from the situation.
Behavior that is punished will occur less
often.
An act that was reinforced but no longer
is will begin to weaken.
Intermittent reinforcement increases
resistance to extinction.
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Most operant behavior is eventually
guided by antecedent stimuli, or cues,
the most important of which are often
self-directed statements.
An antecedent can be a cue or signal that
an unpleasant event may be imminent.
This is likely to produce avoidance
behavior.
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Through conditioning, antecedents come
to elicit automatic reactions that are
often emotional.
Many behaviors are learned by observing
someone else (a model) perform the
actions, which are then imitated.
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What stimuli seem to control the
behavior? In what situations does the
behavior occur?
Do you react automatically to some cue
with undesirable behavior?
Do you react to some cue with an
unwanted emotion? What is the
conditioned stimulus for it?
What are you saying to yourself before
the behavior?
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Is it strong and quite frequent, or is it
weak and not very frequent?
Is any element of your problem due to
something you are avoiding, perhaps
unnecessarily?
Are you aware of models in your past
whose behavior you may have copied?
Is the behavior resistant to extinction
either because it is intermittently
reinforced or because it is an avoidance
behavior?
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Are your desired behaviors positively
reinforced?
What actions make the desired behavior
difficult? Are they reinforced?
Is it possible that the desired behavior is
being punished?
Is your own self-speech rewarding or
punishing your behavior?
Are the consequences for some behaviors
difficult to identify, perhaps because of
intermittent reinforcement?
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Rules that state the techniques to use in
specific situations
Goals and subgoals
Feedback about your behavior based on
your self-observations
A comparison of the feedback to your goals
to see if you are progressing
Adjustments in the plan as conditions
change
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Literature review – surf the web find out how popular the
behavior you wish to change is . For example if you want
to stop text messaging so much, find out “What is too
much? What are the averages for someone my age. What
have been some successful ways to stop.”
Observe the behavior and record the frequency and
antecedents for the behavior
Baseline data of target behavior (graph or chart, 1 week).
Apply the positive reinforcement goal you set up for
yourself. Reward positive behavior.
Write up your experiences in an APA format paper of 2
pages minimum in length. Paper should include
background information, hypothesis, procedure, charts,
data and conclusion. Feel free to contact me at any point
to discuss the paper. Due Jan13th. See blog for APA
format.