Behavior Modification What It Is and How To Do It 11th Ed Garry INSTRUCTORS SOLUTIONS MANUAL

CHAPTER 29 ETHICAL ISSUES Answers to [and Levels of] Questions for Learning 1. Q: Describe in behavioral terms how the history of civilization is a story of the continuous abuse of power. [Level 5/S] From your knowledge of history or current events, give an example of this abuse. [Level 3/App] A: Throughout the ages, various groups have used the reinforcers and punishers at their disposal to control the behavior of less powerful groups (groups who had fewer reinforcers and punishers to deliver, or who lacked the means to deliver them contingent on selected target behaviors). Examples might include the subjugation or exploitation of one nation by another, U.S. and Soviet imperialism as in Vietnam and Eastern Europe, and the exploitation of one group by another within a nation (e.g., exploitation of slaves by masters). Any appropriate example is acceptable.

2. Q: From your knowledge of history or current events, give an example of what often happens when the reinforcements occurring to one group in a society fall below a certain critical level relative to the reinforcements occurring to another group in that society. [Level 5/S] A: Any appropriate example in which a group with fewer reinforcers revolted against a group controlling more reinforcers, or undertook other action to bring about a more equal distribution of the reinforcers. Examples might include national revolutions, the labor movement, strikes, black power, red power, Chicano power, women’s liberation, gay liberation, and the French separatist movement in Canada.

3. Q: From a behavioral point of view, how might we account for constitutions, bills of rights, and related political documents of modern states? [Level 4/An] A: Political documents can be seen as formal specifications of contingencies designed to control the behavior of those who control the behavior of others.

4. Q: Explain why we tend to react negatively to all overt attempts to control our behavior.

[Level 2/C] A: Because of a cultural history in which power has often been abused and because of our personal experiences with people who have abused their power (i.e., used it for their own benefit and to the disadvantage of those over whom they exerted control).

5. Q: Why and how do people who would control our behavior disguise their aims? [Level 5/S] Give an example of this that is not in the text. [Level 3/App] A: They disguise their aims by making it appear that they are not controlling our behavior, because if their aims were too obvious, people would strongly resist them. An example that is not in the text might be a politician pretending that he or she is not interested in becoming president or prime minister, while at the same time doing things to help make this happen. Other plausible examples are also acceptable.

6. Q: State two propositions on which behavior modification is based. [Level 2/C] A: (a) Behavior can be controlled; and (b) it is desirable to do so in order to achieve certain objectives.

7. Q: Why is extreme wariness a healthy reaction to any new development in science or technology? [Level 4/An] Discuss an example of this. [Level 4/An] 124