Talk:Behavior modification

Disambiguation

This article is about the behavioralist technique. For the Cognitive therapy, see behavior therapy

Does anyone know what this is supposed to mean? According to my dictionary, "behavior therapy" and "behavior modification" are the same thing, yet "behavior therapy" redirects to "cognitive therapy". -- Antaeus Feldspar 15:57, 28 September 2005 (UTC)

just a point to raise- there is a spelling error in the text. "ambition" is spelt "ambitiion"

In my idiolect 'behaviour therapy' comprises two branches - 'behaviour modification' (changing behaviour by using reinforcement and punishment - mainly based on operant conditioning) and 'behavioural psychotherapy' (changing emotional responses using behaviour change, eg practice, exposure etc. - mainly based on classical conditioning). CBT is the union of cognitive psychotherapy and behavioural psychotherapy. -- Alec.brady 19:27, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

Title

Why is the title capitalized instead of "Behavior modification"? Elf | Talk 16:33, 28 September 2005 (UTC)

A style/content issue

What's with all the stuff about "ancient wisdom" in here? It seems very un-encyclopedic. --Adam Atlas 02:22, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

Removed NPOV content

The following section seemed really out of place as well as NPOV - more of an argument/rant. I removed it, but I will copy here for reference if somebody feels it belongs in the article and can be fixed. I'm leaving the NPOV tag there for now, but I don't see any NPOV content still there. If nobody has any objections I'll remove that soon.

There is a cost associated with caretakers having more breaks and longer breaks, but not to do this has a cost too. We have to consider false economy. It is very costly to our societies if people are treated badly by those in authority. It is very costly if Corrections officers are over-stressed. Similarly, those that work in our psychiatric in-patient institutions need to be well-chosen by human resource departments. In addition, they also need to have frequent breaks and need to have sufficient manpower to control their patients without resorting to detrimental behaviors, that might be a bad example to the patients, who might propagate these bad behaviors to society upon their eventual release.

Rahulchandra 04:20, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

Deleted paragraph

I have deleted the following paragraph, since I didn't see any conexion between it and the article.

"In nature

fasciola hepatica and Dicrocoelium dendriticum modify ant behavior so they can be transmitted to their host ruminant.

toxoplasma gondii can modify rodent behavior so they are attracted to cats, resulting in their transmission to the host feline."

GRAMMATICAL ERRORS: This article is very poorly written with a number of grammatical mistakes. In fact, it sounds as if the person who wrote it is not a native English speaker. I do not have time now to correct the entire article but I will return to do so at a later time. It is difficult to understand as it is now written. Also, is there any support for the assertions about social illness?

Also removed this 'in nature' again -- it doesn't belong. Josh.Pritchard.DBA (talk) 04:48, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Content Errors

There are basic errors in some of the fundamental concepts referenced. For example, extinction is not at all the same as punishment. It's not a type of punishment, either. Milktoast 06:59, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Oxymoronic definition?

The definition "Behavior modification is a technique of altering an individual's behaviors and reactions to stimuli through positive and negative reinforcement of adaptive behavior and/or the extinction of maladaptive behavior through positive and negative punishment" read as a double oxymoron to my unprejudiced eye.

Would not "Behavior modification is a technique of altering an individual's behaviors and reactions to stimuli through positive reinforcement of adaptive behavior and/or the extinction of maladaptive behavior through negative punishment" be more accurate?

I mean, "negative reinforcement of adaptive behavior" and "extinction of maladaptive behavior through positive ... punishment" both seem counterproductive to me.

131.81.200.158 18:12, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Negative and positive reinforcement BOTH will result in an increase in a behavior (thus -- should be used for adaptive behavior) and negative and positive punishment (as well as extinction) will result in a decrease in a a behavior -- so should be used to decrease maladaptive behavior. I do agree that the definition you posted is incorrect -- instead of extinction, it should have reduction.Josh.Pritchard.DBA (talk) 19:53, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

behavioral reinforcement

The paragraph describing "time out" needs to be changed. Time out is not "punishment" (which is quite ineffective in the long run); it is "negative reinforcement." Essentially, the activity of playing with other children is taken away. Thus, the caregiver removes (negative) something the child desires when he/she acts in an undesirable way. The child's learned behavior becomes to not perform the undesirable behavior in order to keep what he/she desires. Annalisa579 18:12, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

Actually, time out would typically be considered a type of punishment -- negative reinforcement refers to an increase in the probability of a behavior as a result of taking away an aversive stimulus -- for example, removing your hand (behavior) from a hot stove (aversive stimulus). Punishment refers to a decrease in a behavior, and time out would usually be considered negative punishment (taking away a reinforcer with a resultant decrease in behavior) although 'negative punishment' is a term not typically used anymore. In any case, the main point is that someone with some time and at least a basic understanding of the fundamental concepts and principles needs to rewrite this article. Milktoast 00:24, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

Origin of the Term

I believe that Joseph Wolpe was the first person to use the term behavior modification. I could be wrong but I will look it up. He did in his book on Neurosis. J.C. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.94.212.130 (talk) 17:18, 31 December 2007 (UTC)