n and most widely used behavior-modification techniques.Another key development in the evolution of behavior modification was the work of Hans Eysenck and his colleagues in England in the 1950s. Eysenck defined behavior modification as the application of modern learning theory to the treatment of behavioral and emotional problems. He held that, in contrast to traditional psychoanalytic procedures, the efficacy of behavior-modification procedures could be verified through experiments.The third major development in the evolution of behavior modification was the publication in 1953 of B. F. Skinner's Science and Human Behavior. This work heralded a philosophical shift from the search for inner causes of behavior to an emphasis on the measurement and modification of observable behavior.A fundamental tenet of Skinner's radical behaviorism is that the probability of a behavior is related directly to the nature of the environmental consequences that follow performance of that behavior. From this basic tenet he derived a set of procedures for modifying behavior by a method called operant conditioning. Specifically, behavior is strengthened, or increased in frequency, when followed by either a positive consequence (positive reinforcement) or removal of a negative consequence (negative reinforcement). Behavior is weakened, or decreased in frequency, when followed by a negative consequence or the removal of a positive consequence (either consequence is termed punishment). When a child receives praise for his or her behavior or when a worker's excellent performance is rewarded with a bonus, this is considered positive reinforcement. The cancelation of a threat to fire an employee following an improvement in job performance is an example of negative reinforcement. Restricting an adolescent's use of the family car is an example of punishment.Contemporary behavior modification includes four major conceptual approaches and a variety of treatment proced...
