Adult11 Wiki: Skinner's Exhaustive Survey of Self-Control Techniques

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In B.F. Skinner's Science and Human Behavior he provides a survey of nine categories of self control methods.

Physical Restraint and physical aid

The manipulation of the environment to make some response easier to physically execute and others physically more difficult illustrates this principle. Clapping one's hand over your own mouth, placing your hands in your pockets to prevent fidgeting, using a 'bridge' hand position to steady a pool shot all represent physical methods to affect behavior.

Changing the stimulus

Manipulating the occasion for behavior may change behavior as well. Removing distractions that induce undesired actions or adding a prompt to induce it are examples. Hiding temptation and reminders are two more.

Depriving and satiating

One may manipulate one's own behavior by affecting states of deprivation or satiation. By skipping a meal before a free dinner one may more effectively capitalize on the free meal. By eating a healthy snack beforehand the temptation to eat free "junk food" is reduced.

Manipulating emotional conditions

Going for a 'change of scene' may remove emotional stimuli, as may rehearsing injustice to motivate a strong response later.

Using aversive stimulation

Setting an alarm clock to awake ourselves later is a form of aversive control. By doing this we arrange something that will only be escapable by awakening ourselves.

Drugs=

The use of self-administered drugs allows us to simulate changes in our conditioning history. The ingestion of caffeine allows us to simulate a state of wakefulness which may be useful for various reasons.[26]

Operant conditioning

The use of a token economy, or other methods or techniques unique to operant conditioning may be seen as a special form of self-control.

Punishment

Self-punishment of responses would include the arranging of punishment contingent upon undesired responses. This might be seen in the behavior of whipping oneself which some monks and religious persons do. This is different from aversive stimulation in that, for example, the alarm clock generates escape from the alarm, while self-punishment presents stimulation after the fact to reduce the probability of future behavior.

"Doing something else"

Skinner notes that Jesus exemplified this principle in loving his enemies. When we are filled with rage or hatred we might control ourselves by 'doing something else' or more specifically something that is incompatible with our response. When we give three miles of service to someone who compels us one, or submit tenderly a cheek after the other is slapped, we may find ourselves less enraged and so able to control our responses.

References:

Skinner, B.F. Science and Human Behavior, Chapter XV

Operant Conditioning

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Adult11 Wiki: Skinner's Exhaustive Survey of Self-Control Techniques

A HiveWiki enables web pages to be written collectively in a simple markup language using a web browser. A single page in a HiveWiki is referred to as a "wiki page", while the entire body of pages, which are usually highly interconnected via hyperlinks, is "the wiki"; in effect, a HiveWiki is actually a very simple, easy-to-use user-maintained database for searching or even creating information. Get Fresh Gratis Hive Wiki Today! Home \| Edit \| Index \| Recent Changes Just visited: Responsibility \| Self-control \| Self control in Western Society \| Self control research \| Seriousness In B.F. Skinner's Science and Human Behavior he provides a survey of nine categories of self control methods. Physical Restraint and physical aid The manipulation of the environment to make some response easier to physically execute and others physically more difficult illustrates this principle. Clapping one's hand over your own mouth, placing your hands in your pockets to prevent fidgeting, using a 'bridge' hand position to steady a pool shot all represent physical methods to affect behavior. Changing the stimulus Manipulating the occasion for behavior may change behavior as well. Removing distractions that induce undesired actions or adding a prompt to induce it are examples. Hiding temptation and reminders are two more. Depriving and satiating One may manipulate one's own behavior by affecting states of deprivation or satiation. By skipping a meal before a free dinner one may more effectively capitalize on the free meal. By eating a healthy snack beforehand the temptation to eat free "junk food" is reduced. Manipulating emotional conditions Going for a 'change of scene' may remove emotional stimuli, as may rehearsing injustice to motivate a strong response later. Using aversive stimulation Setting an alarm clock to awake ourselves later is a form of aversive control. By doing this we arrange something that will only be escapable by awakening ourselves. Drugs= The use of self-administered drugs allows us to simulate changes in our conditioning history. The ingestion of caffeine allows us to simulate a state of wakefulness which may be useful for various reasons.[26] Operant conditioning The use of a token economy, or other methods or techniques unique to operant conditioning may be seen as a special form of self-control. Punishment Self-punishment of responses would include the arranging of punishment contingent upon undesired responses. This might be seen in the behavior of whipping oneself which some monks and religious persons do. This is different from aversive stimulation in that, for example, the alarm clock generates escape from the alarm, while self-punishment presents stimulation after the fact to reduce the probability of future behavior. "Doing something else" Skinner notes that Jesus exemplified this principle in loving his enemies. When we are filled with rage or hatred we might control ourselves by 'doing something else' or more specifically something that is incompatible with our response. When we give three miles of service to someone who compels us one, or submit tenderly a cheek after the other is slapped, we may find ourselves less enraged and so able to control our responses. References: Skinner, B.F. Science and Human Behavior, Chapter XV Operant Conditioning From Self-control Fresh copy to be cached until 5:50:44 AM 482 hits This Page: Edit \| History This Wiki: Home \| Related To Skinner's_Exhaustive_Survey_of_Self-Control_Techniques \| Index \| Recent Changes \| Random Page \| Search Login \| Create New Wiki \| Wiki List 5/17/2012 9:50 PM v0.61.106 ADBEFEED
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