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Shane HaynesShane Haynes

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Now Showing : Wait!! Its not my fault Im performing this behavior! I am experiencing symptoms of an underlying psychological condition!

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My Wolf Biting is really a symptom of my underlying Obsessive Compulsive Disorder! I cant help it! Oh, really?

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Yes! Ive read it on the internet. I suffer from what is called Dermatophagia- a form of OCD that causes me to bite the skin around my nails! Your falling for the medical model myth! Tsk tsk. You should get off your computer and pick up a book. Principles of Behavior, perhaps? Any behavior analyst could tell you Because of my psychological condition, I can t be helped. Ill have to live the rest of my life with this behavior in my repertoire. Ill always be a wolf biter. Woe is me.

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So I really can be helped? Please Mr. Analyst, help me get rid of this unwanted behavior! Ill do anything! Okay! But first, lets look at the contingencies behind the behavior. Ive done a functional assessment of your behavior.

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Reinforcement The easiest to observe is the natural reinforcement contingency behind the biting behavior. No biting feeling. Bites nail/around nails. Biting feeling. Reinforcement huh? That doesnt seem right. There are times when tearing loose skin off my fingers is painful! BEFORE:BEHAVIOR: AFTER:

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Punishment No finger pain. Bites nail/around nails. Finger pain. Its not just the pain, doc. Biting my nails all the time makes them look icky! Its embarrassing! That would be punishment. But pain isnt serving as a great enough aversive stimulus to prevent the behavior. BEFORE: BEHAVIOR: AFTER:

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Well, you see, Ive gotten used to sort of hiding it. I dont even know if anyone else but me knows I perform this behavior! I can see how that embarrassment would be pretty aversive. But tell me, when was the last time someone else nagged you about your behavior? Then youve rendered that punishment contingency ineffective. Because theres a chance you wont deal with embarrassment, the outcome is to improbable, and because you dont perform the behavior in front of others, its delayed.

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Hey doc, I picked up that book you were talking about, Principles of Behavior. I think you forgot about an important contingency at work here. And it proves I really do suffer from an underlying psychological condition! This oughta be good

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Escape And I suppose you think if we remove it from your repertoire, you will be doomed to live a life of anxiety forever, huh? Feelings of stress and anxiety Bites nail/ around nails. No feeling of stress and anxiety See, doc? Because of my conditon, the only way I can reduce my stress is to perform this behavior! BEFORE: AFTER: BEHAVIOR:

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Escape Excuses like that for performing inappropriate behavior are why we must combat the medical model myth. Feelings of stress and anxiety Bites nail/ around nails. No feeling of stress and anxiety But my performance of this behavior really does increase when Im stressed out! BEFORE: AFTER: BEHAVIOR:

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WellI guess not. That may be true, but does biting your nails really remove the aversive condition? Lets say Van Helsing is pointing his silver tipped crossbow right between your eyes. A pretty stressful situation. Do you think biting your nails is gonna make him go away?

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False Escape In a stressful situation Bites nail/ around nails. Still in a stressful situation Heres the contingency you propose by falling for the medical model myth. Doesnt seem too reinforcing does it? I suppose its not. Im glad Im getting educated about the real cause of my behavior. But how is all this going to help me anyway? BEFORE: BEHAVIOR: AFTER:

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Ah, yes. I think its time we performed the intervention. Uhhintervention!?!

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You can relax my furry friend. Well, at least for now. The first step in the intervention is to measure a baseline of your behavior. I want you to relax for a week, and do everything you would normally do, except that I want you to strike a tally every time you perform the biting behavior. Here, take this: Gee, thanks doc.

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In the meantime, Im going to gather the supplies well need for your intervention. A pair of latex gloves, and a rubber band. Yeah, whatever you say Macgyver. I just hope this works. Ill see you in a week.

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Hey Doc! I got that- WHOA!! Doc! You aint lookin too good. Everything alright? Yea, yea, yea Im fine. Tried to perform a behavioral intervention on a possum that kept getting into the trash out back. I should be ok in a couple days, no sense wasting time going to the doctor when theres behavior analysis to do! Lemme see that data!

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HmmI see What's the verdict, doc? It seems that in one week you made 65 biting responses. Now that we have this information, I want you to record your responses again for the next seven days, but this time Ive implemented for you a specially designed punishment contingency.

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Punishment Wear this rubber band around your wrist. Every time you respond, I want you to pull that baby back and give yourself a big welt-inducing snap. No stinging wrist pain Bites nail/ around nails. Stinging wrist pain This is gonna hurt. I thought you were supposed to be helpin me doc not forcing me to torture myself. Oh well, no pain no gain I suppose. BEFORE: BEHAVIOR: AFTER:

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Hey Doc! You look like your feeling better. Ive got some good news and some bad news. Thanks! I feel great! Well, lets hear the news. The good news is that my rate of responding decreased over the past week. I made 35 responses over the past seven days. But the bad news is I found myself still biting despite being aware of the punishment I would receive. HmmI should have expected as much. As we saw earlier, punishment by the presentation of pain hasnt been enough to override the powerful reinforcement contingency behind your behavior. Not to worry, the next phase in our intervention should prove to be highly effective. Here we go again Hey! What are you gonna do with that glove!?

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Extinction No biting feeling Bites nail/around nails. Still no biting feeling I think I understand. The gloves will stop the reinforcement contingency, and effectively extinguish the behavior! I want you to wear these latex gloves for the next week as much as possible. They will act like a force field between your teeth and your fingertips. BEFORE:BEHAVIOR: AFTER: Thats right! Be sure and remember to record response data. Even when you have the gloves on, you might still try and bite yourself. Record those responses as well.

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Hey Doc! Man these gloves worked wonders. I couldnt be wearin them all the time, but I tried my best to have em on as much as I could. Guess what? I only made 18 responses over the whole week! Thats great news! And your right on time. I was just about to make a graph comparing your baseline measurement to our intervention data.

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Look, doc. Weve been working together for awhile now. Ive learned a lot about the principles of behavior and Ive seen that it is possible for me to stop biting at myself. I want to stop, but I just dont think I can wear latex gloves for the rest of my life! And you dont have to. Its time we implemented an effective performance management procedure.

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What do you mean? I mean we have to manage your behavior using rule-governed contingencies, so that you wont go back to your normal rate of responding when this intervention is over.

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Heres what Im going to have you do. At the end of every day, I want you to have your family and friends look at your fingertips in excruciating detail. I see. Id be ashamed to show my wife and kids the products of my behavior. It would be quite aversive. Unless, of course, I never make a response.

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Exactly. Were taking that previously improbable aversive outcome and making it quite probable. Theoretically, this will cause a new direct-acting contingency to take effect, in which the behavior is punished by the thought of having to show your fingertips at the end of the day. This is all getting kind of complicated, doc.

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Nonsense! Its all very simple! Lets just look at the three contingency model of performance management. The three piano what?

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Hey, whats that first contingency you got up there? You didnt mention that before. Thats the ineffective natural contingency thats failed to control your behavior in the past. Its a direct acting contingency, but the aversive outcome of disfiguring your fingers was very small, although became cumulative as it occurred many times throughout the day. Ineffective Natural Contingency No risk of embarrassment Bite nail / nail area Very tiny increase in risk of embarrassment BEFORE: BEHAVIOR: AFTER:

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Ineffective Natural Contingency No risk of embarrassment Bite nail / nail area Very tiny increase in risk of embarrassment No aversive thoughts of future shame Inferred Theoretical Direct Acting Contingency Bite nail / nail area Aversive thoughts of future shame Theres the theoretical contingency you mentioned earlier! Yep, lets move on to the all important contingency Ive chosen for your performance management. BEFORE: BEHAVIOR: AFTER:

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Ineffective Natural Contingency No risk of embarrassment Bite nail / nail area Very tiny increase in risk of embarrassment No aversive thoughts of future shame Inferred Theoretical Direct Acting Contingency Bite nail / nail area Aversive thoughts of future shame Effective Indirect Acting Performance Management Contingency Sure is. Its also a rule- governed analog to punishment. Will not be embarrassed at end of day Bite nail / nail area Will be embarrassed at end of day Wow! That third one is a mouthful! BEFORE: BEHAVIOR: AFTER:

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Thanks, Doc! Behavioral Analysis Rules! Well, it sure has been a pleasure working with you. Follow these rules strictly, and implement some of the tools like the latex gloves if you need to. Im sure by the next time you see me, this behavior will be vanquished from your repertoire!

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Yea, Im alright. Turns out that possum really did have rabies. The doctor says Ive come down with full-blown mad cow disease! Hey Doc! Im here for my follow-up and Ive got great news! Oh, well. I can come back another time- Nonsense! Show me them hands! AGH! You scared me Doc. You feeling ok? You look a little different from the last time I was here

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Uhh..thanks, Doc. Not a scratch! You look like you just had a manicure! Im so proud of ya, son.

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