Behavioral Deficit Analysis

1622 Words7 Pages
An essential part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle is to exercise on a consistent basis. However, a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2008) indicates that most adults do not exercise as much as they should. By definition, these individuals suffer a behavior deficit. An intervention for this deficit does not require medicinal or chemical attention, rather successful treatment for such a deficit may be purely psychological. In a 2014 study, adult participants enacted a goal setting method to increase running distance; in the study, all participants showed significant increases in running distance through use of goal setting motivation (Wack, Crosland, & Miltenberger). In a 2013 study, adults over 50 years of age demonstrated…show more content…
In some instances, this may include not studying enough, not exercising enough, or not sleeping enough. A behavioral excess occurs when a behavior happens more often than it should, such as in overeating, oversleeping, or drug abuse (Martin & Pear, 2014). When adults combine deficits and excesses, such as with not exercising and overeating, severe health problems develop. By addressing these behavioral issues, adults can avoid increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and various forms of cancer (Fetcher et al., 1996). In order to develop more desirable behaviors, one must incorporate a behavior modification program. The program involves developing and baseline for the target behavior and then implementing an intervention to promote the desired behavior (Martin & Pear, 2014). This review shall cover two components of intervention: goal setting and reinforcement. Goal…show more content…
For adults trying increase physical performance, it is not enough to say that they need to walk more or exercise more. The goal needs to be concrete and calculable (Martin & Pear, 2014). Furthermore, the goal should be reasonable and realistic (Locke & Latham, 2013). Aiming to lose 30 pounds in a week with exercise alone is not exactly feasible. It would be useful to say that one needs to walk jog for thirty minutes, five days a week. The goal should also acknowledge the context in which the behavior must be performed. Thirty minutes of walking daily is good start, but can still be more specific. A better goal would be thirty minutes of walking in the park, while wearing a heart monitor to achieve a specific heart rate. This requires that the individual must walk for the purpose of exercise, and walking while doing errands or hobbies does not

More about Behavioral Deficit Analysis

Open Document