Dr. Burrhus Skinner was a pioneering scientist who believed that behavior could be substantially increased. With the use of punishment, certain unwanted behavior can also be diminished. Later, Albert Bandura invented a social learning theory that states people learn from one another through imitation. Behavioral modification methods are still actively used in a variety of ways. Parents use them with healthy children and educators apply them to different clinical groups.
Positive Reinforcement
According to Dr. Skinner, if a certain behavior is rewarded, it tends to increase. Yet, before rewards can be used, it is essential to determine what a person finds rewarding. Food is typically used as a reward in the beginning, but as time passes, an educator or parent should aim to use other methods, such as praise or playtime. It is also beneficial to understand that if a certain behavior is rewarded constantly, it tends to increase rapidly, but when the reward is removed, this behavior also drops dramatically. This makes rewarding behavior on certain occasions generally more beneficial.
Punishment
If a certain behavior results in punishment, a person is less likely to repeat it, says Dr. Skinner. Again, it is useful to determine what an appropriate punishment is for every patient. For example, not letting a child play computer games might be a punishment for one child, but other children uninterested in them are likely to be apathetic about this type of punishment. The University of Texas in Austin states that punishments are seldom as effective as behavior modification techniques are. The fear of punishment tends to decrease over time and when the threat of punishment is removed, negative behavior is likely to increase again.
Modeling
Dr. Bandura discovered that when a person observes other people being rewarded for certain behavior, he tends to begin to act in the same manner. Thus, a parent of a child who does not want to do his homework may start rewarding the behavior of a hard-working sibling. According to Bandura's theory, this will make the other sibling do his homework as well. Dr. Bandura pointed out that in order for a person to pay attention to the behavior of another person, the rewards should fall on someone that the person likes or respects. This explains why the behavior of pop stars is often imitated by teenagers.
