Once we can understand the environmental events that cause behaviors to occur, we can change the events in the environment in order to change the behavior. Behaviors may be overt or covert . Thinking would be an example. Defining Behavior Modification Behavior modification is the field of Psychology concerned with the analysis and modification of human behavior. Analysis means identifying the functional relationship between the environment and a particular behavior , in order to understand the reasons for the behavior or to determine why a person behaves as they do.
Modification means developing and implementing procedures to help people change their behavior.
It involves altering environmental events so as to influence behavior. Behavior modification procedures are used by professionals to help an individual change socially significant behaviors, with the goal of improving some aspect of the person s life. An alternative term for behavior modification is applied behavioral analysis. Characteristics of Behavior Modification Focus is on the behavior . BM procedures are designed to change behavior, not a characteristic or trait of the individual.