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| The Basics of
Behavior Analysis
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| Parents
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| Love & Sexuality
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| OneScience
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Behavior Analysis
Consequences
Consequences exert the most influence on
behavior. If you put money in that soda
machine, pushed the button and no soda fell
out, how often would you keep putting money
in soda machines? It doesn't matter nearly as much
how thirsty you are. If your behavior doesn't produce
the right consequence, you will stop engaging in that behavior.
There are different kinds of consequences. Some consequences strengthen
the behavior that produced them. When that happens, it's called
reinforcement.
Reinforcement is a process in which a behavior
results in a consequence and, as a result, that behavior is more
likely to occur again in the future under similar circumstances. For
example, a kid in math class gets a little bored so he tells a joke. The
result of the joke (the consequence) is that all the kids laugh. If the kid
tells jokes in the future when he gets a little bored, then we know that his
joke-telling behavior has been reinforced.
Another kind of consequence weakens behavior, or makes it happen less
often. This is called punishment.
Punishment is a process in
which a behavior results in a consequence and, as a result, the
behavior is less likely to occur again in the future under similar
circumstances. For example, a man is cooking dinner and happens to
touch a glowing red stove burner. The result of touching the hot stove
(the consequence) is that the man gets burned. If the man avoids touching
hot stoves in the future, then we know that this behavior has been
punished.
The only way to know how consequences effect behavior is by watching
what happens to the behavior in the future. If the behavior happens more
often, then we know that the behavior is being reinforced. If it happens
less often in the future, then we know that the behavior is being punished,
or that it is undergoing extinction.
Extinction is a process in which a behavior occurs less often in
the future because it fails to result in a reinforcer. For example, if
I want to know what my daughter is up to, I might attempt to read
her diary, but every time I try to read it, I fail to pick the lock. The diary
is not punishing my attempts to open it, but my attempts are simply failing
to get me what I am after. So if I eventually stop trying, this behavior has
been extinguished.
Now it gets a little tricky. Consequences occur after the behavior occurs.
So, technically, you can't know what consequence your behavior will result
in until you do the behavior and see what happens. But you don't have to
go through trial and error every time you behave. You don't have to
wonder whether or not a soda machine has anything to do with quenching
your thirst every time you see a soda machine. Somehow you already
"know" what consequences to expect for your behavior. It's obviously
based on your history of learning experiences, but there are processes that
determine how that happens. So what are these processes?
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An easy to follow discussion on the basics.
How does BA affect your life? |
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