APPLICATION EXERCISE
Chapter 7 Affective and Cognitive Methods for Changing Emotional Behavior and Beliefs
The Chapter 6 work sheet activities set the stage for two important tasks we will do in this application exercise: (1) generating affective and cognitive methods to reduce a CER and (2) completing your baseline data collection. For the first of these tasks, you’ll use the material from Work Sheet 6.1 in which you selected an example CER, summarized the outcome of a functional assessment for it, and constructed a stimulus hierarchy that could be applied in a systematic desensitization procedure to reduce that respondent behavior. The second task will have you consult the baseline data you’ve collected so far for your self-management project. By now you should have collected data for at least a few days.
The main steps we’ll take toward designing your self-management program will relate to completing your baseline data collection. A question you are probably wondering about is when can you stop collecting baseline data—that is, how long should the baseline phase be? Baseline data gathering for self-management projects usually takes about 2 weeks, but there’s no fixed answer to this question because it depends on your data. We considered this issue in Chapter 3, and we’ll expand on it now.
You may have already noticed in your data that it can fluctuate from day to day, and sometimes the fluctuations are quite large. When they’re large, it’s difficult to get a sense of the “normal level” of the behavior if you have too little data. The baseline data you collect must give you a clear picture of the normal level of the behavior. For instance, a student of mine named Kelly wanted to decrease her cursing. The data for the number of times she cursed during 7 successive baseline days were: 16, 23, 15, 5, 12, 9, and 14. What was her normal level of cursing for that period? It’s hard to tell: was the 23 unusually high or the 5 unusually low? Clearly it was important to continue collecting data. You need to know the level at which you’re starting your program so you can see whether and how much, if any, improvement has been made during intervention.
You also need to consider whether the period during which you’ve collected baseline data is representative of your usual life. Suppose you wanted to increase the amount of time you spend exercising, and you usually exercise for 2 hours a week. But you were sick or injured during the first week of baseline, so you exercised for only 1 hour. Your data would not represent your normal level of exercising. Most behaviors can be affected temporarily by unusual circumstances. If your target behavior is anger, having unusually great or mild frustrations during the first week of baseline would make those data unrepresentative of your usual life. Similarly, if your target behavior is TV watching, having unusually large or small numbers of attractive shows to watch could make the data unrepresentative.
Sometimes, however, your aim is to change a behavioral deficit, with respect to a target behavior that has never occurred in the past. Exercising is a good example. I’ve had students ask, “Do I need to collect baseline data? I’ve never ever exercised in my life.” Even then, it’s a good idea to have a week’s worth of data just for comparison purposes with intervention data. It certainly isn’t difficult to “collect” data for a week if the behavior doesn’t occur.
The tasks in this application exercise will begin with having you design affective and cognitive methods you could use to reduce the CER you described in Work Sheet 6.1. Then we will look at the baseline data you’ve collected so far. Now look over the questions for Work Sheet 7.1 printed below, make notes on the book pages, and then fill out the work sheet.
Name ______
Date ______
Class Meeting Time______
QUESTIONS FOR WORK SHEET 7.1
1. Your self-management target behavior(s): ______
2. Describe in detail a calm scene you think would work for you if you were to use relaxation techniques. Imagine it clearly and write down what the scene includes.
3. Describe exactly where and when you could do relaxation exercises if you were to start doing them. Would you need to negotiate with other individuals to make sure the environment will be quiet and you will have no interruptions?
4. Refer back to your answer to question 4 in Work Sheet 6.1 regarding antecedent thoughts to the CER. Are any of them negative self-statements? What positive self-statements could you use in their place?
5. Could cognitive restructuring or problem solving methods be useful in dealing with the CER you described in Work Sheet 6.1? If so, describe how you would use the methods.
6. Indicate the type of baseline data (frequency, duration, etc.) you are collecting for your self-management project and list the data you’ve collected so far.
7. Describe how much fluctuation these data show from day to day. Is it easy yet to get a picture of the normal level of your target behavior?
8. For the data you’ve collected so far, describe the degree to which they reflect the target behavior in your usual life circumstances. How were the circumstances during this period similar to those in your usual life, and how were they different?
NOTE: If you will be submitting work sheets to your instructor or a fellow student, print a copy of each sheet before submitting it.