← Walking the Middle Path
Changing behavior
Reinforce what you want more of; don’t feed what you want less of.
To increase a behavior
- Reward it right away, every time at first.
- Shape it: reward small steps toward the goal.
- Natural consequences work best.
To decrease a behavior
- Stop reinforcing it — expect a short burst before it fades.
- Meet the need before the behavior happens.
- Always reinforce a replacement behavior; stopping alone doesn’t teach anything new.
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