Page 147 - Nutrition Counseling and Education Skills: A Guide for Professionals

Behavior modification principles are applied in various aspects of medical nutrition therapy. One of the
earliest and the most frequently used applications was in the treatment of obesity. Therapy for undesirable
eating behaviors related to diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and other chronic diseases are
other potential uses of behavior modification. In prevention, behavior modification can be applied in wellness
and disease risk reduction. If unhealthy eating behaviors are modified in favor of healthy alternatives, the
incidence of nutrition-related diseases could decrease.

CASE ANALYSIS 1

In preparation for your initial counseling session with Martha, compile a list of initial behavioral
modification ideas and strategies that may be appropriate.

In human resource management, supervisors may be interested in altering the behavior of employees and
encouraging the development of new behaviors. More effective interaction between peers and supervisors may
also be a goal. Although the term behavior modification in the context of human resource management may
sound manipulative, an honest and understanding supervisor may use the principles by sharing with
employees the goals of the process. Modeling is a technique that is used frequently in employee training
programs. Likewise, people in leadership positions may use techniques to help employees assess situations and
make adjustments, or behavior changes, as needed to obtain the desired results.5

This chapter reviews the principles of learning and the process of behavior modification that have evolved
from research. Included are classical conditioning, operant or instrumental conditioning based on positive
reinforcement or rewards, and observational learning or modeling after others. The behavioral modification
principles are discussed within the context of selected practice applications and human resource management.
The role of cognition—the individual’s mental perceptions of events and their effect on behavior—is covered
in more detail in Chapter 8.

Classical Conditioning

The methods of behavior modification are based on principles of learning that have been discovered mostly in
the experimental laboratory. Perhaps the best-known animals in the history of psychology were the dogs
housed in the laboratory of Ivan Pavlov, the Russian physiologist, who was conducting research on digestive
processes.6 Serendipitously, Pavlov noted that his laboratory animals salivated not only when food was
presented but also when the laboratory assistant who regularly fed them came into the room; at times, they
even salivated at the sound of the laboratory door opening. Pavlov spent the rest of his life investigating a type
of learning based on association, now known as classical conditioning.

Pavlov realized immediately that the response of salivation to laboratory assistants and noisy doors was not
a part of the physiologic makeup of the dog. The dogs were salivating when events occurred that had regularly
and repeatedly come before the presentation of their food. An association was apparently formed between
some event and the future appearance of food.

Pavlov noted that certain environmental events or stimuli would reliably trigger or elicit a particular

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