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Behavioural Momentum: Implications for Clinical Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2014

John A. Nevin
John A. Nevin*
Affiliation:
University of New Hampshire
*
Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA. Email: T_Nevin@unhh.unh.edu.
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Abstract

Behavioural momentum refers to the tendency for reinforced behaviour to persist when conditions are altered. Research on persistence with pigeons as subjects has suggested that response rate under steady-state conditions and its persistence when conditions are altered are independent aspects of behaviour, with response rate determined by response-reinforcer contingencies and persistence determined by stimulus-reinforcer contingencies. These results have been replicated with humans in a natural setting, and may therefore be relevant to clinical practice. The following prescriptions are suggested by the research results: (a) To eliminate undesirable behaviour, it is not sufficient to reinforce alternative behaviour in the same setting because this may actually enhance persistence of the undesired response; change to a new setting may also be necessary; (b) to establish desirable behaviour, the behaviour should be reinforced frequently, and to make it persistent, both the therapeutic and natural environments should be highly correlated with reinforcement.

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Type
Research Article
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 10 , Issue 3: Special Issue: The Relevance of Basic Research to Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy , September 1993 , pp. 162 - 168
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1993

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