Antecedent Control Procedures
Nonaversive Intervention
Involves altering the environment
Directly addresses antecedents
Increases the probability of the target behavior and decreases the probability of the undesirable alternative behavior
Nonaversive Interventions
Extinction, antecedent control, reinforcement
Present the S^D for desirable behavior
Presenting Discriminative Stimuli
Presenting EOs for desirable behavior
Presenting EOs
Examples
Decrease response effort for desirable behavior
Decreasing response effort examples
Remove SDs for competing undesirable behaviors
In the absence of the SD for the competing behavior, the
competing behavior is less likely
Examples of Removing SDs
Get junk food out of the house (undesirable: eating junk food)
* Keep partying friends out of your place at study time (undesirable:
partying)
* Separate fighting kids at the restaurant (undesirable: fighting)
* Don’t drive past McDonald’s after
school (undesirable: eating McDonald’s)
Examples of increasing response effort
Using antecedent control procedures(three term contingency)
Present Abolishing Operation for Competing Behaviors
Present an AO(or eliminate the EO) and the reinforcer for the competing behavior will not be potent
- competing behavior is less likely to occur
Examples of Presenting AOs for competing behaviors
Noncontingent attention to a child when his problematic behavior is
maintained by attention from others (undesirable: problematic behavior)
* Food shopping only after eating so less junk food is purchased
(undesirable: eating junk food)
* Low-sodium levels to drink less water (undesirable: drinking water)
Increase response effort for competing behavior
Fear
fear is understood in terms of operant and respondent behavior
* Operant behavior: escape and avoidance
responses
* Respondent behavior: bodily responses, called
anxiety
Example of Operant and
Respondent Behavior in
Feared Context: Fear of
dogs
Procedures to Reduce Fear and Anxiety
Relaxation Training
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Systematically tense and relax each muscle group
Diaphragmatic Breathing
Deep, slow, rhythmic breathing
Attention-Focusing Exercises
Focus attention on words or images to remove attention
hypnosis, visual imagery
Behavioral Relaxation Training
Assume relaxed postures in all parts of the body
Similar to PMR, except that the person DOES NOT tense and relax each muscle group
Systematic Desensitization
Goal: replace anxiety with relaxation as the person imagines the fear situation
* Relaxation should generalize to the actual fear situation
* Pro: It is easier and more convenient to carry out
* Con: The results may not fully generalize to the actual fear-producing situation