BEHAVIOR AND ITS

MODIFICATION
TECHNIQUES

Presented by: Rangarajan MSW 1st year Shift II

Introduction

Aims to understand self and others

To determine how and why people behave

the way they do and to plan for solution in

case of problems
Is a complicated phenomenon influenced
by many factors
A collection of activities influenced by
culture, attitude, emotions, values, ethics,
authority, rapport, hypnosis, persuasion
and coercion (co-er-sion)

Cultural behavior

17 Year old Tagenarine Chanderpaul,

son of Shivnarine Chanderpaul
taking guard like his father, its a

Attitudinal behavior

Psychologists define attitudes as a

learned tendency to evaluate and
behaviour things in a certain way

Social psychologists have found that

attitudes and actual behaviour are
not always perfectly aligned. After
all, plenty of people support a
particular candidate or political party
and yet fail to go out and vote.

Emotional behavior

The
outward
expression
or display
of mood or
feeling
states.

Values behavior (Personal)

Ethical behavior
(Institutional)

Authority behavior

Rapport behavior

Hypnosis behavior

The induction of a state of consciousness

in which a person apparently loses the
power of voluntary action and is highly
responsive to...
Example: mesmerism - trance hypnotism

Persuasion behavior

Persuasionis underneath the umbrella

term of Influence. In other words,
persuasion is influence, but it requires
communication, whereas influence
doesn't necessarily

I don't care if I fall as long as someone else picks up my gun and keeps on

shooting Che Guevara

In a gentle way, you can shake the world.
Mahatma Gandhi

Coercion behavior

the act of compelling by force of

authority.

Innate behaviour (God

element?)

Instinctorinnate behaviouris the

inherent inclination of alivingorganism
toward a particular complexbehaviour

Human needs and behaviour

Physical needs: The human being has

needs, related to the structure and
processes of the physical organism, for
food, drink, sex, sleep, warmth and
shelter, activity, sensory stimulation.
Personal needs: The need to love and
be loved, The need to understand and
be understood, The need to be selfdirecting and to be freely engaged with
the directions of a greater whole.

Classifications of Human
Behavior
Conscious - State of awareness of thoughts, feelings,
perception and what is going on in the environment.
Unconscious is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and
memories that outside of our conscious awareness. Most of
the contents of the unconscious are unacceptable or
unpleasant, such as feelings of pain, anxiety, or conflict.
According to Freud, the unconscious continues to influence
our behaviour and experience, even though we are
unaware of these underlying influences.
Overt - Open to public observation.
Covert - Unseen objects such as thoughts, feelings or
responses which are not easily seen.
Rational - Pertaining to reason, influenced or guided by reason
rather than emotion.
Irrational - Illogical

Cont.

Voluntary - Intentional
Involuntary Doing something against your
will, action made without intent or carried
out despite an attempt to prevent them
(disorders)
Simple ex. What you see is what you get.
Complex - compound complicated behavior.
ex. Drinking alcohol and using drugs

Psychoanalytic Theory

This theory explained that human behavior is motivated by an

inner force called the human mind. This theory was introduced
by SIGMUND FREUD
SIGMUND FREUD (1856-1939) was an Austrian physician who
worked as an neurologist. Early in his career, he used hypnosis
to treat people with physical and emotional problem. From his
work with these patients, he began to conceptualize a theory of
human behavior
Freud theorized that people have two (2) basic instincts
SEXUAL and AGGRESSION. These two (2) basic instincts are
not always socially acceptable. When people exhibit behavior
that is nor acceptable, they often experience punishment, guilt
and anxiety
Freuds theory describes a conflict between a persons
instinctual needs for gratification and the demands of society for
socialization. For Freud, a persons core tendency is to maximize
instinctual gratification while minimizing punishment and guilt

Addresses the relationship among inner experience, behavior, social

roles & functioning. This theory proposes that conflicts among
unconscious motivating factors affect behavior

Description of Human Behavior

Human behavior is motivated

Motivation driving force behind all action of an
organism
Human behavior has multiple causes
- Influenced by culture
Human behavior can be adaptive and maladaptive
o
Human are social beings
o
Any person depend upon each other for survival
o
People need interaction
People play an integral part in creating their experience
Human lives are continuous process of change
Every person is different yet the same
Individual is a unique person

Theoretical approaches about the factors that cause,

maintain, alter behavior, and mental process:

1.

PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH
Is based on the belief that childhood experiences greatly influence
the development of late personality traits and psychological
problems. It also stresses the influence of unconscious fears, desires
and motivations on thoughts and behavior.

2.

HUMANISTIC APPROACH
Emphasizes that each individual has great freedom in directing
his/her future, a large capacity for personal growth, a considerable
amount of intrinsic worth & enormous potential for self-fulfillment.

3.

BEHAVIORAL APPROACH
Studies how organism learn new behavior or modify existing ones,
depending on whether events in their environment reward or punish
these behavior.

4.

COGNITIVE APPROACH
Examines how we process, store, and use information, and how
this information influences what we attend to, perceive, learn,
remember believe and feel.

5.

BIOLOGICAL APPROACH

list of some of the universal behaviors (behaviors

shared among all cultures) that you can think of

Communicate both verbally and

nonverbally
Enforce rules of etiquette
Avoid incest
Fear snakes / heights
Exchange gifts
Modesty in sexual behavior and bodily
functions
Labor divided by age and sex
Men- more aggressive than women
Women provide more child care
Tools for work
Belief systems- death, disease
Plan for the future
Taboos- crimes and legal punishments
Marriage
Laugh / smile / mimic / joke / flirt /
sympathize / tease / dance /
Music /Myths / folklore / poetry
Games
War

Every
person is
different yet
the same

What ultimately shapes our behavior?

Genetics and Evolutionary Psychology

Parents

Gender

Culture

Social environment

Environmental Influence

what traits does environment influence?

Values
Manners
Faith / religion
Politics
Social views

Rat Studies

Rosenzweig and Krech

Isolated, impoverished vs. social, enriched environment

Young rats

Findings:

Obvious differences in behavioral activity and curiosity

Heavier, thicker brain cortex (brain weight increased 710 percent and # of synapses increased 20%!)

Impoverished
environment

Rat brain
cell

Enriched
environment

Rat brain
cell

Social modification techniques

Behaviour modification has been successfully

used to treat anxiety, obsessive-compulsive
disorder (OCD) and enuresis (bed-wetting). Some
methods of behaviour modification require
preparation and attention, where others are just
common sense. Find out what you can do to
shake your nasty habit today.

Techniques:
Positive Reinforcement

Some of us want to know, What do I get out of

this? Positive reinforcement answers this
question. This practice involves the addition of a
gratifying experience in reaction to something
someone has done. Many adults respond to
praise and recognition. Treat yourself to a night
out every time you avoid the behaviour you are
trying to modify.

Negative Reinforcement

With negative reinforcement, the method of

training involves a negative reinforce. This could
be a behaviour or event with which the
reinforcing properties are associated with its
removal. Opposing behaviour is shunned by
performing an action, and as a result of this, the
action is repeated prior to the adverse reaction.

Punishment

One of the toughest things we can do as

adults is to punish ourselves.
Punishment is a form of behaviour
modification that discourages the
unwanted act by application of an
unpleasant stimulus in reaction to the
behaviour.

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

Also known as Meridian Tapping, EFT is

based on the premise that negative
emotions or behaviours stem from short
circuits in the bodys energy system.
These techniques are done by drumming
on certain areas on the body to balance
and release the short circuit.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)

The NLP technique is a study of

communication; how we communicate
with others and ourselves, and how that
affects the way we react and behave.
This communication can be altered
through sub modalities, metaprograms,
etc. to change a behaviour.

Meditation

Meditation has been used for centuries to help

the brain make physiological changes for the
better. Not only does it improve brain function
and memory, it enables whole brain
synchronization, a process that allows the left
brain portion to interact and be in focus with
the right brain hemisphere. Meditation is one
of the best behaviour modification systems in
existence. It alleviates anxiety and depression,
causing a remarkable improvement in a
persons sense of well-being.

Dont Give it Attention !

You can modify a behaviour through

ignoring the act. By ignoring the
behaviour you will often reduce its
tendency for appearing again. Dont give
someone attention who is engaging in a
behaviour that needs stopped.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a psychotherapeutic approach

that addresses maladaptive behaviours
through a number of goal-oriented
systematic procedures. The common
hallmarks of CBT are the focus on the
here and now, a structuring of the
sessions and path, a guidance role by
the therapist, and on alleviating both the
patients vulnerability and worrisome
symptoms.

Change is the only thing that is

constant

Human Behavior is complex and it

changes
by experience
Good Luck !

Thanks for the time and

patience !