Overview: Behavioral theory is used to changes a person’s behavior. There are several ways to do this such as setting goals or using different tools like rewards/re-enforcers. If goals are the way one decides to change their behavior then they need to be S.M.A.R.T.: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and trackable. Goals can have immediate, intermittent or long-term rewards. There are also internal rewards for achieving goals as well.
Problem: Billy has a problem with his behavior in class. He disrupts class everyday by getting out of his seat when he isn’t supposed to or talking while the teacher is talking. He gets the other students to join him many times and then the classroom is completely out of control. The teacher doesn’t know what else to do with him so she asked me to work with him. He seems to have a hard time following rules at home as well.
What I do: I started out by finding out if Billy thought he had a problem. Then as I was able to show him how his behavior was affecting the other students and the teacher we started to set some goals. First it was just one a week like not talking while the teacher was talking. If he did that for a whole day he got a sticker. By the end of the week he got a pencil if he was able to do it for the whole week. Then we moved on to the other aspects of his behavior and were able to slowly change it week by week- behavior by behavior.
