Self-Directed Behavior Summary

Self-Directed Behavior Summary

The Self-Directed Behavior Self-Modification for Personal Adjustment TENTH EDITION is a book written by David L Watson and Roland G. Tharp (L Watson, and G. Tharp). The book was published in 2012 by Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Both the authors of the book were from the University of Hawaii at Manoa (L Watson, and G. Tharp). The primary purpose of the paper is to find out three or more points that stood out on Watson chapter five on Antecedents. The paper will identify some of the main points in the identification of Antecedents, modifying old antecedents, arranging new antecedents and tips for typical topics.

The main issue of the Watson chapter five on Antecedents is on the A issues that are ways of arranging antecedents so that desired behaviours become more likely (L Watson, and G. Tharp). The first evident argument in the identification of precursors is that even logically unrelated antecedents can become discriminative stimuli or conditioned stimuli (L Watson, and G. Tharp). In the discussion, the authors identified cases to support the argument. The example used involved a married couple that often quarrelled.

The couple had tried constructive arguments to solve their differences (L Watson, and G. Tharp). The current observations by the human-made him discover that a recurring antecedent of his anger which was an expression on his wife’s face during arguments (L Watson, and G. Tharp). In the case, the authors concluded that the unwanted behaviour was caused by a single stimulus, which was the expression on the wife’s face (L Watson, and G. Tharp).

The second argument in chapter five is about avoiding antecedents. The authors argued that the first task of self-modification is to be influenced by antecedents to achieve predetermined goals (L Watson, and G. Tharp). The authors indicated that various strategies could be used to accomplish the tasks. The policies divided into two that are modifying old antecedents and arranging new antecedents (L Watson and G. Tharp). In avoiding precursors, the authors utilized the use of case studies to relate to how some of the unwanted behaviours (L Watson, and G. Tharp). The authors argued that people who avoid smoking cigarettes or people who can change their drinking habits do so by never confronting the crucial antecedent of the practice, which is the first smoke or the first drink, respectively (L Watson, and G. Tharp).

The third argument by the authors in the read is that undesired behaviour can deliberately be linked to a gradually narrower range of antecedents (L Watson, and G. Tharp). The argument was made in the subtopic concerning narrowing antecedent control. The authors indicated that a variety of situations that control the behaviours down to an affine point or to close the reactions that occur in a position (L Watson, and G. Tharp). Furthermore, the authors utilized the use of case studies to clarify further the argument made. The case used was in the issue of controlling insomnia. The authors cited Bootzin and Nicassio (1979), who recommended narrowing the stimulus control of the bed. Bootzin and Nicassio (1979) meant that all the activities other than sex should not be performed on the bed (L Watson, and G. Tharp).

The research methods used in the book is the use of a quantitative approach. The article utilized information from other scholarly sources such as journals and research papers by various authors. In the quantitative research method, Watson used secondary sources in achieving the purposes and thesis of his study.

The authors concluded that newly developed behaviours would require special attention to be maintained over time and transferred to new situations. They further indicated that maintenance transfer could be strengthened by planning for natural reinforcements to occur by finding locations in which the new behaviour could be valued or become successful (L Watson, and G. Tharp). Besides, the article concluded that self-direction is a lifelong practice in which the techniques acquired and learned from situations could be used when needed (L Watson, and G. Tharp). Watson, in his conclusion, provided a procedure on how to terminate unwanted behaviour stimuli. The technique he offered is your self-direction project. The method by Watson has eight steps in which individuals could use in considering termination of the antecedent stimuli (L Watson, and G. Tharp). The report did not indicate any limitations in the research study.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work Cited

L Watson, David, and Roland G. Tharp. “The Self-Directed Behavior Self-Modification For

Personal Adjustment”. No. Tenth edition, 2012, p. 434., Accessed 3 Mar 2020.