The following techniques offer some helpful possibilities for using learning principles to break a bad habit. They represent ideas drawn from this chapter.

Extinction

Try to discover what is reinforcing a response and remove, avoid, or delay the reinforcement.

Example: A student has developed a habit of taking longer and longer "breaks" when studying. Almost always, her breaks are lengthened by TV watching.

Comment: Obviously, watching TV is reinforcing more frequent break taking. To improve her study habits, the student could ask her roommate to act as a monitor to remind her that she cannot watch TV until her work is done. Or, she could require 2 hours of study from herself for each 1/2 hour of TV watching. She could delay reinforcement by making it a rule that she must do the dishes, some ironing, or another chore before turning on the TV.

Example: Pam has a slightly different problem. While reading in the evening, her periods of concentration last only about 15 minutes. They are usually followed by a trip to the kitchen for a snack. In addition to falling behind in her reading, she is gaining weight.

Comment: Snacking is rewarding her impulse to avoid reading. She should do her reading at school or at a library, so that there is a delay between the impulse to eat and the reward of snacking At home, she should build in delays by keeping only foods that must be prepared to eat or by keeping only staples on hand, so that a separate trip to a store is required for "goodies." Requiring a walk around the block before eating a snack would also help delay reinforcement.

Alternate Responses

Try to get the same reinforcement with new responses.

Example: A young mother realized she was yelling at her children more often than she would like. This habit seemed to be reinforced by the periods of relative quiet that followed when she raised her voice.

Comment: To avoid this habit (which is negatively reinforced), she should (as much as possible) ignore her children when they are noisy and should make a special effort to praise them, show approval, and pay attention to them when they are playing quietly and constructively. In this way, both she and the children get the same reinforcers (quite and attention) for new responses.

Example: Frank has been drinking increasing amounts of beer after getting home from work in the evening. He usually feels more relaxed but often drinks too much and gets into arguments with other family members.

Comment: Frank's need to "unwind" and dissipate the frustrations of the workday might be better achieved by participation in an athletic activity, such as jogging, swimming, bowling, handball, and so forth. An organized team sport might ensure that he will actually stick with his substitute activity.

Cues and Antecedents

Avoid or narrow down cues that elicit the bad habit.

Example: A student has begun to notice how much impulse buying he does at the grocery store. As a first step in avoiding this habit, he has begun to shop after he has had a meal because he has observed that hunger is a cue for his food buying.

Comment: He should also make a shopping list and stick to it. That way, he will look only at items he intends to buy and not at impulse items. If he knows that the candy isle is especially dangerous for him, he should avoid it entirely.

Example: A father has noticed that he nags and criticizes his 4-year-old son almost nightly because the boy pours ketchup all over his dinner. He is upset about this and other daily instances of criticizing the boy.

Comment:  The father has identified one cue for his excessive criticizing. It could be avoided by giving the boy a small bowl of ketchup to prevent the regular dinner battle. Other cues for nagging can be avoided in similar ways as they are identified.

Example:  Raul is not ready to give up smoking, but he would like to cut down. He has taken many smoking cues out of his daily routine by removing ashtrays, matches, and extra cigarettes from his house, car, and office. He also has been making an effort to avoid situations in which most of his smoking occurs by staying away from other smokers, taking a walk after meals (leaving his cigarettes at home), and putting a piece of gum in his mouth when he feels nervous.
Comment:  To improve his control of smoking, Raul should try narrowing cues. He could begin by smoking only inside buildings, never outside or in his car. He could then limit his smoking to home. Then to only one room at home. Then to one chair at home. If he succeeds in getting this far, he may want to limit his smoking to only one uninteresting place, such as a bathroom, basement, or garage.

Response Chains

Break response chains that precede an undesired behavior.

This is another strategy for controlling antecedents. The key idea is to scramble the chain of events that leads up to the undesired response.

Example:  Almost every night, Steve comes home, turns on the television, and drinks two or three colas while he eats nearly a whole bag of cookies or chips. He then takes a shower and changes. By dinner time he has lost his appetite. Steve realizes that he is substituting junk food for dinner. If he does eat dinner, he feels uncomfortably full.

Comment:  Steve might solve the problem by simply showering immediately when he gets home or by not turning on the television until after dinner.

Incompatible Responses

Make an incompatible response in the presence of stimuli that usually precede the bad habit.

Example:  A sprinter has developed a habit of "jumping the gun" at track meets and is frequently disqualified.

Comment:  The sprinter should prepare for meets by remaining in the blocks while his coach fires the starter's pistol several times .

Example:  A child has developed the habit of throwing her coat on the floor after coming in the front door. After being scolded, she would hang it up.

Comment:  The parents should recognize that scolding has become the cue for hanging the coat up. The girl should not just be scolded, but should be required to put her coat on again, go outside, come in the door, and hang her coat up. Soon, coming in the door will become the cue for hanging the coat up.

Example.  June bites her nails so much they are painful and unsightly. She has identified several situations in which she is most likely to bite her nails and would like to break the connection between these and her habit.

Comment:  June should make a list of incompatible behaviors she can engage in when she has the urge to bite her nails. These might include putting her hands in her pockets, taking notes in class, sketching pictures, crossing her arms, leaning against something with her hands, chewing gum, playing a musical instrument, or combing her hair.

Negative Practice

Use negative practice to associate a bad habit with discomfort.

Example: Rick has a habit of saying "you know" or "uh" too often when speaking.

Comment: In negative practice, a response is repeated until it becomes boring, painful, or produces fatigue. This increases awareness of the habit and tends to discourage its recurrence. Rick should set aside 15 minutes a day and repeat the words "you know" and "uh" over and over while thinking, "I hate the way this sounds when someone else says it." ~e should repeat the errors until he would really very much like to stop making them.

Feedback

Utilizing feedback is one of the most direct of all approaches to changing bad habits.

Example:  Four college students who are renting a house together are concerned about their high utility bills. Also, they would like to make an effort to conserve energy. To date,, however, their good intentions have not lowered their electric

Comment:  The roommates should keep a daily record of their energy consumption by writing down and posting the numbers shown on their electric meter. A study of families given this kind of daily feedback showed that their energy use was greatly reduced.

Putting It All Together

Like the examples we have covered, many problem behaviors respond to changes in the basic elements of learning. If you would like to break a bad habit, pay close attention to antecedents, the response itself, and the consequences that follow the behavior. Here's a general plan for breaking a bad habit.
 

Habit Breaking, Step-by-Step

1. Identify the behavior you want to change. Be specific about what it is you do, say, or think that is undesirable or that bothers you.
2. Identify antecedents. For a week, make notes concerning stimuli that precede the behavior you want to change. Also, try to identify any response chains leading up to the undesired behavior. Include internal behaviors (thoughts) that occur before the undesired response, too.
3. Also note and record what happens immediately after the undesired behavior. Can you identify reinforcers maintaining the bad habit?
4. Write a plan for change. Look for ways to delay or remove reinforcers, or find ways to get them by making other (desired) responses. Avoid, narrow down, or remove the antecedent cues you identified. Also, try making incompatible responses to the cues. Scramble or rearrange antecedent response chains. Apply negative practice, if appropriate.
5. Continue to record how often the undesired response occurs, and revise your plan as needed.

The last point is worth emphasizing. Almost any habit will benefit from simply keeping score. Keep track of the number of times daily that you arrive late to class, smoke a cigarette, watch an hour of TV, drink a cup of coffee, bite your fingernails, swear, or whatever you are interested in changing. A simple tally on a piece of paper will do, or you can get a small mechanical counter like those used to keep golf scores or count calories. Record keeping alone helps break patterns, and the feedback can be motivating as you begin to make progress.

If You Still Have Trouble  Many simple difficulties can be handled without special training. If, however, you have a really troublesome habit, such as overeating or excessive use of alcohol, cocaine, cigarettes, or marijuana, you may find it most expedient to consult a professional.