By: Michael Toto, M.S. Ed., BCBA, LBA-CT, LABA-MA

Do you ever want to keep your child’s positive momentum going?  Are you aware that maintaining positive behavioral momentum is actually rooted in behavioral theory?  Behavioral Momentum Theory provides a framework for understanding why reinforced behavior, both adaptive and problematic, continues to persist over time even in the face of challenges or distractions (Trump et al., 2021).  When we apply the laws of physics to human behavior, a child’s behavior itself may “stay in motion” even when conditions in their environment change (Catania, 2018).    

This article will speak more to the positive momentum of appropriate behaviors.  In other words, if we wanted to use the theory of behavioral momentum to strengthen the persistence of appropriate behaviors, how would one go about achieving that?  A common answer lies in what is referred to as high probability command sequences (Podlesnik & Shahan, 2010).  If you have a child struggling with demonstrating cooperation or compliance, an effective strategy is first providing them with simple, easy tasks that have a “high probability” of being completed.  For instance, if your child enjoys identifying letters, then you might show your child a series of letter cards to build their successful momentum.  Their success should of course be met with reinforcement, e.g., praise from adults, time engaging in leisure skills, etc.  Once your child has successful momentum, you can then provide them with a low-probability request.  For instance, if your child historically struggles with cooperating at clean up time, your low-probably request could be to have them clean up a few toys immediately following the successful identification of letter cards.  Although certainly not a guarantee of success, behavioral momentum increases the likelihood that low-probably requests will be met with compliance and cooperation.  What’s important to remember is that some children may require several high-probability tasks, such as three or four in a row, before we can introduce a low-probability request.     

A key advantage to behavioral momentum is that it might help a child fully complete, or demonstrate greater effort toward completing, a once unliked or non-preferred task or request (Schieltz et al., 2017).  If they demonstrate stronger effort by attempting to clean up some of the toys, then those are opportunities where surrounding adults can provide the child descriptive praise that highlights their efforts, e.g., “I love how you cleaned up some of those toys!”  A disadvantage of behavioral momentum is that it may be difficult to pinpoint high-probability requests (or tasks) that you know your child will tackle with high cooperation.  If you’re struggling with identifying high-probability requests, first see what your child naturally is cooperative with and start acknowledging their cooperation, e.g., “Wow, I love how you got right into the car when I asked you to!”  Enhancing your child’s overall cooperation through the power of behavioral momentum allows them to explore new and exciting learning opportunities!     

Sources:

Catania, C. A. (2018). Impetus for a robust science of behavior: A review of Nevin’s Behavioral Momentum: A scientific metaphor. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 109(1), 101–106. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.296

Podlesnik, C. A., & Shahan, T. A. (2010). Extinction, relapse, and behavioral momentum. Behavioural Processes, 84(1), 400–411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2010.02.001

Schieltz, K. M., Wacker, D. P., Ringdahl, J. E., & Berg, W. K. (2017). Basing assessment and treatment of problem behavior on behavioral momentum theory: Analyses of behavioral persistence. Behavioural Processes, 141(Pt 1), 75–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2017.02.013

Trump, C. E., Herrod, J. L., Ayres, K. M., Ringdahl, J. E., & Best, L. (2021). Behavior Momentum Theory and Humans: A Review of the Literature. The Psychological Record, 71(1), 71–83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-020-00430-1

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