Operant Applications and Interpretations Chapter 8 http www behavior org resources 458 pdf Animal Husbandry Used in zoos to provide veterinary care with less intrusion or aversive methods Less risky and more humane method of care Zoo enrichment Markowitz let animals forage for food Operant Applications Zoo Life Operant Applications Education Reinforcement praise of good behaviors and extinction ignoring of disruptive behaviors to control the classroom Learning and Behavior Sixth Edition by Paul Chance Copyright 2009 Wadsworth Publishing a division of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Operant Applications Education http www morningsideacademy org about indepth html Helps students that are getting behind Shown to advance students two academic years in one school year Key element is reinforcement in the form of feedback and praise for good work Click on heading to go to website Click on heading to go to website Operant Applications Education Athletic training Click on heading to go to website http www tagteach com Operant Applications OBM Theoretical and Conceptual Background Organizational Behavior Management OBM is a sub discipline of ABA which is the application of the science of behavior ABA emphasizes the use of operant and respondent procedures to produce behavior change OBM is guided by a single theory of human behavior and has historically emphasized identification and modification of the environmental variables that affect directly observable or verifiable employee performance Bucklin Alvero Dickinson Austin Jackson 2000 Areas of OBM application Performance Management Behavior Systems Analysis Behavior based Safety http www obmnetwork com what is obm definition description common applications Operant Applications Self Injurious Behaviors Treating Autism Lovaas 1969 Found that painful harmless punishment could quickly suppress long standing injurious behavior Demonstrates Lovaas s theory Hughes Tarpley Stephen 1979 Differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior DRI can reduce self injurious behavior SIB Accomplished w o punishment Carr McDowell 1980 Reduced attention maintained scratching by having the parents combine punishment time out from positive reinforcement and rewards weekly for reduction in sores on body This is a video showing how Applied Behavior Analysis is used to teach autistic children verbal skills Operant Applications Self Control Self control The tendency to do things now that affect our later behavior Immediate vs Delayed Consequences Physical restraint Physically preventing the unwanted behavior from occurring Distancing Monitoring Behavior Inform others of your goal Staying away from circumstances and environments that will prompt undesired behavior Recording instances of undesired behavior will often lead to a reduction in that behavior Elicits social support and may change other peoples behavior in a way that will change our behavior Operant Applications Delusions Delusions Sometimes organic other times may be a function of reinforcement A persistent false psychotic belief that is maintained despite evidence to the contrary Merriam Webster Layng Andronis Patient complained her head was falling off Staff would sit and calm her Had trouble with conversation with staff otherwise Woman learned appropriate ways to staff without a negative reaction and delusion disappeared Operant Applications Awareness Self awareness Observing one s own behavior Allows us to behave more effectively Operant Applications Insightful Problem Solving How do new solutions arise if they have never been reinforced Is an ah ha moment really a moment or a process Harlow demonstrated that insight was an evolutionary process In his research with children and chimps there was no sudden bursts of insight instead a gradual improvement in performance due to reinforcement of correct choices Learning and Behavior Sixth Edition by Paul Chance Copyright 2009 Wadsworth Publishing a division of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Operant Applications Creativity Creativity To be creative it must be novel Pryor Shaped creativity in a dolphin s performance Chambers Studied kids creativity with blocks Reinforced originality Praise resulted in twice as many different constructional forms being produced by children in the experimental group If you want creative behavior then reward creative behavior not merely the performance of a task Operant Applications Learned Helplessness Operant Applications Learned Helplessness Operant Applications Excessive Gambling Gambling habits are maintained on intermittent schedules of reinforcement Operant Applications Superstition Superstitious Behavior Adventitious coincidental reinforcement Any behavior that occurs even though it does not produce its intended consequences Skinner When the first reinforcer arrived the bird had to be doing something which got reinforced Operant Applications Verbal Behavior Verbal Behavior Governed by the Law of Effect To understand verbal behavior you must examine the effects of verbal behavior on the environment Skinner The behavior of other people shape and maintain verbal behavior Language in babies begins as nonsense sounds and is shaped into meaningful conversations through extended sessions of training with the parents and other people in the child s environment Learning and Behavior Sixth Edition by Paul Chance Copyright 2009 Wadsworth Publishing a division of Cengage Learning All rights reserved