Avoidance The Elements of Behavior Module #7 We talked about escape (one form of negative reinforcement) earlier, and indicated that there is a related process called "avoidance". And it turns out we can't avoid that subject any longer. As an example, when you learned to light a match, you found that if you carefully light it away from yourself (the behavior) you avoid getting burned. A lot of your behavior is shaped by avoidance, but that doesn't mean you like it. You get up when the alarm goes off to avoid getting fired; useful, but aversive. The basic avoidance paradigm is: there is a risk of pain--you take an action--you avoid that pain. There's not much fun in that; it's a form of aversive control. Much of what we rats do in the day-to-day rat race we do to avoid paying the price of not doing it. On the other hand, small penalties that are fairly easy to avoid (especially if self-chosen) may sometimes be helpful. And if it's possible to get positive reinforcement for "doing the right thing" too, the combination can work pretty well. Let's say you make a New Year's resolution to say (or do) something pleasant to your significant other more often this year, specially when s/he does something you like (right, reinforcement). This graph shows real data for someone who did something vaguely like this (not exactly, we're maintaining confidentiality here!): The first few weeks, we see some effort. Over time, though, being sweet simply fades away; by the middle of May, this back-slider stops even keeping track; as Malott says, "the natural contingencies are simply devastating". Recognizing the severity of the situation, our heroine set a criterion level of positives to give per week (30), and arranged to pay a fine of $1 to a monitor (AKA friend) for each warm fuzzy less than 30 that she actually provided. What happened? 30 became too easy, and the criterion was bumped up after a few months. The penalty (usually avoided), the reciprocation of positives from her partner, social reinforcement from the--rigidly enforced--weekly session with her monitor, and probably escape from embarrassment all probably contributed to a rather successful outcome. Is the included avoidance contingency an example of aversive control? Yeah. Was it undesirable or masochistic? You decide . . . Was the positive reinforcement important? I think so. Technical details: Avoidance among humans is often heavily rule-governed. Once rule-governance ("pliance") is well learned, people often don't need to experience the actual contingencies. As with most forms of aversive control, avoidance contingencies can result in emotional side-effects (especially if avoidance is difficult), as well as in efforts to escape from the contingency ("cheating"), or the person who implements it. So caution is in order. Please complete the following: 1. Many people think a salary is a positive reinforcer for going to work (if you go to work, you get $). In most cases, what's really happening is an avoidance contingency: Of course, this doesn't ensure that a person will actually work . . . What additional contingencies might you add to be sure she does? 2. Give an example from your own life of a condition or event you have learned to avoid by doing something. (WARNING: BE CAREFUL! MAKE SURE THE BEHAVIOR IS SOMETHING THAT IS INCREASED BY THE CONTINGENCY, NOT SOMETHING THAT IS DECREASED! CONFUSION REIGNS HERE!) At risk of ... Your behavior Risk of X avoided (Type over general prompts in boxes above with your own example) For further information, see: Malott R. W. (1993). I'll stop procrastinating when I get around to it. Kalamazoo: Behaviordelia. Malott, R. W., Whaley, D. L., & Malott, M. E. (1997). Elementary principles of behavior (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. If you would like feedback on your answers, provide your email address and click on the submit button! Email Address: Cancel and Return to BFSR Home Page Copyright 1999 Walden Fellowship, Inc.
The Elements of Behavior Module #7
On the other hand, small penalties that are fairly easy to avoid (especially if self-chosen) may sometimes be helpful. And if it's possible to get positive reinforcement for "doing the right thing" too, the combination can work pretty well. Let's say you make a New Year's resolution to say (or do) something pleasant to your significant other more often this year, specially when s/he does something you like (right, reinforcement). This graph shows real data for someone who did something vaguely like this (not exactly, we're maintaining confidentiality here!):
The first few weeks, we see some effort. Over time, though, being sweet simply fades away; by the middle of May, this back-slider stops even keeping track; as Malott says, "the natural contingencies are simply devastating". Recognizing the severity of the situation, our heroine set a criterion level of positives to give per week (30), and arranged to pay a fine of $1 to a monitor (AKA friend) for each warm fuzzy less than 30 that she actually provided. What happened? 30 became too easy, and the criterion was bumped up after a few months. The penalty (usually avoided), the reciprocation of positives from her partner, social reinforcement from the--rigidly enforced--weekly session with her monitor, and probably escape from embarrassment all probably contributed to a rather successful outcome. Is the included avoidance contingency an example of aversive control? Yeah. Was it undesirable or masochistic? You decide . . . Was the positive reinforcement important? I think so.
Technical details: Avoidance among humans is often heavily rule-governed. Once rule-governance ("pliance") is well learned, people often don't need to experience the actual contingencies. As with most forms of aversive control, avoidance contingencies can result in emotional side-effects (especially if avoidance is difficult), as well as in efforts to escape from the contingency ("cheating"), or the person who implements it. So caution is in order.
Please complete the following:
1. Many people think a salary is a positive reinforcer for going to work (if you go to work, you get $). In most cases, what's really happening is an avoidance contingency:
Of course, this doesn't ensure that a person will actually work . . . What additional contingencies might you add to be sure she does?
2. Give an example from your own life of a condition or event you have learned to avoid by doing something. (WARNING: BE CAREFUL! MAKE SURE THE BEHAVIOR IS SOMETHING THAT IS INCREASED BY THE CONTINGENCY, NOT SOMETHING THAT IS DECREASED! CONFUSION REIGNS HERE!)
At risk of ... Your behavior Risk of X avoided (Type over general prompts in boxes above with your own example)
Malott R. W. (1993). I'll stop procrastinating when I get around to it. Kalamazoo: Behaviordelia. Malott, R. W., Whaley, D. L., & Malott, M. E. (1997). Elementary principles of behavior (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
If you would like feedback on your answers, provide your email address and click on the submit button!
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