Behaviour Modification

Behaviour modification is a strategic approach which will come in the forefront of teacher’s effective way of dealing with classroom dynamics for children with special needs in the inclusive setups.

Behaviour modification is concerned with analysing and modifying human behaviour. Analysing means identifying the functional relationship between environmental events and a particular behaviourto understand the reasons for behaviour or to determine why a person behaved as he or she did. Modifying means developing and implementing procedures to help people change their behaviour. It involves altering environmental events so as to influence behaviour.

The main objectives of Behaviour Modifications are

To increase skill behaviours on one side and decrease problem behaviours at other side.
To understand the causative factors of various mal-adaptive behaviours of the child in the classroom and other situations and then leverage the appropriate behavioural technique like extinction, physical restraint, timeout, restitution, etc. to apply for compliance in the various steps in the real time situations.
To shape the behaviours through reinforcement and/or punishment. It has been noted that a reinforcer is a consequence that increases the likelihood of behaviour to recur, while punishment is a consequence that decreases the chance. If a child enjoys candy and cleaning the room is the desired behaviour, the candy is a positive reinforcer (reward) because it is something that is given or added when the behaviour occurs. This makes the behaviour more likely to recur. Negative reinforcement is removing a stimulus as the consequence of behaviour but results in a positive outcome for the individual. For example, a fine is dropped, and a person no longer has to go to jail. The removal of the negative stimulus (the fine) results in a positive outcome for the individual, no jail time