“The principle modus operandi of [environmental] organizations is to frighten people rather than offer them a world to which they will turn because of the reinforcing consequences of doing so”. B.F. Skinner Chapter 5 ~ Behavioral Psychology~ Contingency management Amber Gilewski Tompkins Cortland Community College

Behaviorism or behavioral psychology: Focuses on the ways in which behavior is controlled by the environment Environment: The total physical, social, political, and economic situation in which a person behaves The total environment cues behaviors, which then are followed by consequences: –Rewards –Punishers

Schedules of Reinforcement Continuous reinforcement schedule: People’s actions tend to change more quickly when consequences are consistently administered Portlandia: No Grocery BagPortlandia: No Grocery Bag Intermittent reinforcement schedule: Behaviors will last longer when reinforcers are withdrawn, and will extinguish more slowly Behaviors developed under optimal reinforcement schedules can become habitual and thus very durable (i.e. charging for bags)

Contingency trap: Occurs when immediate short-term reinforcers are more powerful than long- term ones Behavioral engineering: Involves altering the contingencies that create or maintain destructive actions to motivate pro-environmental behaviors

People are more likely to act in environmentally responsible ways when reinforcers are intrinsic In other words, when the activity is enjoyable or in alignment with the person’s values Values aren’t typically sufficient to motivate behavior However, the opportunity to reduce cognitive dissonance – the disconnect between attitudes and behavior – is reinforcing

Community Based Social Marketing (CBSM): Focuses on interventions that reduce or remove punishing aspects of behavioral change, in four ways: 1.Recognizing the barriers to environmentally appropriate behaviors 2.Selecting particular behaviors to promote 3.Designing programs that effectively address specific barriers 4.Following-up after the intervention to evaluate success

Attempts to curtail environmentally destructive behavior are likely to extinguish if not consistently prompted (using S D s) or reinforced Humans deplete resources because the real costs of consumption are not yet contingent on actions Social dilemmas or social traps : Happen when there is an inherent conflict between an individual’s self-interest and the interest of the larger group

Steps of a self-control project: Define the problem Set a goal Make a public commitment Observe baseline behavior Design a stimulus control Formulate a contract Check on changed behavior Consider ways of generalizing the change to related behaviors

Addiction: The Stages of Change Model. Reprinted from DiClemente, C. (2003). Addiction and Change: How Addictions Develop and Addicted People Recover, New York: Guilford, Figure 3, p. 30. With permission.