HUMAN BEHAVIOR

Changing undesirable behavior can be as simple as saying “stop it,” or, it may be a very time-consuming, frustrating, costly, and mostly unproductive process. Hollander goes to great length to emphasize what is necessary in order to create a successful intervention process. Sadly, to be successful there must be an investment of time, energy, measurement collection, tabulation, and analysis with the individual, and sometimes another person to serve as a reliable informant. All of this is required in order to make sure the strategy is successful. Most people do not want to endure such a frustrating process. Most professionals do not go the extra step in the process to test the intervention and make necessary modifications when required. To that end, Hollander provides a clear, concise, employable discussion about how important it is to have effective feedback about behavior, and effective consequences - both positive and negative. In addition to his skillful discussion about the process of feedback, Hollander provides several easy to more difficult types of strategies that can be used to change maladaptive, or poorly learned behavior. Two such methods are the Plus/Minus system, and the Modified Self-Management system. Both of these systems are very effective.