Chapter 25 – Helping an Individual to Develop Self-Control 1

One type of self-control problem consists of behavioral excesses doing too much of something. All such behavioral excesses lead to immediate reinforcers e.g., tasty food, enjoyable programs. If a behavior leads to immediate reinforcers but delayed punishers, the immediate reinforcers often win out. An effective model of self-control that we describe here is a behavioral model with two parts. This is especially important if your desired behavior will lead to small but cumulatively significant reinforcers or if failure to perform your desired behavior will lead to small but cumulatively significant punishers. The authors therefore recommend that individuals attempting to reinforce their own behavior be aware of this danger and take steps to avoid it. A behavioral model of self-control states that self-control occurs when an individual behaves in some way that rearranges the environment to manage his or her subsequent behavior.