I became interested in this whole subject when my doctor told me to lose 25 pounds. I tried Atkins, I tried cutting portions, I tried upping my exercise. I kept losing weight, and then falling off the wagon and putting it back on.
It wasn't until I started carefully tracking what I ate, establishing rigid habits, making small changes to them, and building in all sorts of rewards that I finally managed to slowly but surely shed the extra weight. That got me curious about why that worked so well...and to rediscovering Skinner.
Joseph Jay Williams:
Here's a review article of behavior modification as applied to children: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0273229781900058, if it's behind a pay-wall you can look on scholar.google.com to see if the author's posted a PDF online, or just ask any undergraduate at a university to access it through their library. This is a simpler explanation of applying the approach: http://www.ldonline.org/article/6030
Freedman:
Thanks for that.
Freedman:
The term "behavior modification" still sounds a little scary to many people. There's no clear definition to it, but somehow it seems like a form of controlling people against their will. Actual Skinnerian behavior change generally gently guides people toward behaviors they find more satisfying and helpful to their goals.
Joseph Jay Williams:
One interesting point the CEO of Weight Watchers has made is that diets may sometimes be a bit off the mark. They represent the biological or medical approach that's often been taken to weight loss, where all the effort is spent trying to figure out the best and worst ways to consume calories. Instead, taking a psychological approach focuses primarily on the best and worst ways to build habits and help people change their environment so they start eating less. I think it's fascinating how we all acknowledge the important of what we think and feel, but analysis and creativity in changing that "psychological level" just doesn't jump out at people the same way the "biological level" does.
Freedman:
I agree that the concept of diets is problematic. Most people who adopt diets end up with diets that can't realistically stick with forever. It's not really about eating particular foods--it should be more about altering behaviors via small, easy, satisfying and rewarding changes. These are much, much easier to adopt, and more importantly to stick with
Natalie:
Thanks for all this information. I heard your interview this morning on NPR, then got on The Atlantic's website to read more about it. I'm hoping that my husband and, each with our smartphones, can work together to increase our health and fitness ... and hey, strengthen our relationship, too!
Freedman:
I love the idea of losing weight together, and making it a way to reinforce your relationship!
Weight loss works much better when there's a social element of some sort. Humans are very wired to do things in concert with others. We need that support and validation!
Natalie:
Also, I use behavior modification, a.k.a. positive reinforcement, with my pets all the time. It works beautifully for them. It's time I apply it to myself and my human relationships, too.
Freedman:
It sure does work great on pets. And this turns out to raise objections to using the same principles on humans--we shouldn't be "trained" like animals. Guess what? We're animals. We respond really, really well to training when it's done right--that is, with lots of well-chosen reinforcement and support. Why shouldn't we train ourselves, or allow ourselves to be "trained" if it has great benefits for our health and lives?
Luis De Avila:
Yes. I would agree that the challenge for most of us is psychological. We know we need to exercise and eat healthily. We eat poorly for other reasons... like the ones I listed previously.
Freedman:
It seems to us that our thoughts and feelings are super-important, and are calling all the shots. And yet behavior analysis manages to get good results without really paying much attention to thoughts and feelings. It's hard to say why that is (though there are many theories), but it's pretty well established. The record isn't really strong for getting people to change behaviors long term by focusing on thoughts and feelings
Joseph Jay Williams:
I'm not sure if this is problematic for you as it might count as an endorsement, but which apps or web-based programs might you suggest people check out? I think seeing examples of good ones would be a great way to internalize these ideas.
Freedman:
I mention some in the article. A few I don't mention there, but think are very good: SparkPeople for weight loss, and Joe's Goals for doing almost anything. I've played around with Joe's Goals myself, and found it very effective for getting myself to do a bunch of work-related, financial and home-chore tasks that I habitually neglected.
Alison:
Hi there. I'm interested in your implication, toward the end of your story, that people aren't as paranoid anymore about Big Brother watching us and controlling our lives. I think most people just don't care that much if these apps are gathering consumer information, just like they don't really care that Google is targeting ads based on their private emails. Do you think we're being naive nowadays? Or do you think people were overly paranoid in the past?
Freedman:
Both! I think we used to be overly paranoid about government intrusion (not that there wasn't some historical reason to react that way), and today we're a little too loose with our personal info. I know I am. I'm amazed at what I'm willing to share with companies these days.
Natalie:
Very, very interesting what you've written about reducing focus on thoughts and feelings. Can you point us to some articles about this concept?
Freedman:
This is a huge topic! How about emailing me at dhfreedman@gmail afterwards, and I'll point you to a few that would at least get you started. And certainly reading Skinner himself would be a good intro to the subject. I recommend the book, About Behaviorism.
Elizabeth:
I recommend poverty and heartache. I lost sixty pounds in a year, with no other deliberate behavior modification, and I've never looked better. It seems to me that this question is usually posed by those whose primary goals are to be rich and successful. That's different.
Freedman:
I have heard that sort of thing before--clearly, some people are naturally led to weight loss when the world around them turns harsh from their point of view. And yet many others have exactly the opposite reaction--they overeat when they're miserable.
Laurie:
Are there smartphone apps that could help teenagers take control of their own lives, helping them get better grades or develop better lifestyle habits? Or would these not work, because they'd have to WANT to want to be better? (I.e., if they're in a rebellious phase of life, maybe there isn't much that can be done about it, even a cool iPhone app.)
Freedman:
Teenagers can always be tricky to work with, regardless of the approach, because so many changes are going on in their lives. But absolutely, reinforcement techniques via Smartphone should be able to help. I've seen studies of apps that address certain dangerous behaviors, with some success, but these are still a work in progress. We can certainly see teenagers are way into social apps, though, suggesting there's a lot of potential there.