Radical Behaviorist Approach Scenario

Behavioral Goals 

Rad is a graduate who is actively seeking employment since he completed his studies. In the past three months, Rad has attended three interviews and has not been successful in any of them. In all interviews, Rad would either get overwhelmingly shy, fail to answer the questions out of an anxiety attack, or would hardly have an enjoyable conversation with the interviewers to help them know him better. Although Rad scored high grades in college, his lack of confidence has cost him the interviews. Rad is currently seeking ways to boost his confidence and make him a better communicator in preparation for upcoming interviews. As an instructor, the goal is to ensure that after three weeks of training, Rad can speak confidently without anxiety attacks, be more social to people around him, and eloquent in speech. This paper builds a procedure to support that a radical behaviorist approach will work perfect for Rad to successfully adapt to desired behaviors. Consequently, his performance in upcoming interviews will improve and increase his chances of securing a job offer. 

Reinforcers 

Reinforcers refer to the objects that strengthen the likelihood of a behavior (Bacanli, 2016). In Rad’s case, reinforcers will be the consequences of the evolution of action from being scared to confident, poor speaker to eloquence, and anti-social to social. For Rad’s case, three reinforcers were used. The reinforcers included a reward of professional recommendation and endorsement on his skills from my network, a direct referral to potential recruiters, and a free ATI-compliant resume from a human resource professional. I have a diverse network of remarkable professionals in the corporate industry who would easily endorse any person I refer to. Since these professionals are already in the industry, some would readily agree to help Rad get a job by connecting him to their recruiters. Last, resume writing is an area that is key when looking for a job. Most resumes are passed through an ATI system in the contemporary age , which is an automated resume screening platform. Therefore, if a resume is not ATI compliant, a candidate might hardly land interview calls. This is a reward that Rad might work for. 

All three reinforcers were specific to Rad’s goals and expectations from the training. Apart from achieving high self-esteem and confidence, communication skills, and social skills from the training, a recommendation or endorsement would increase his landing a job. Rad was a finance graduate with a summer internship experience only. Other graduates he was competing with in the market have more than an internship, and he felt that might also be a reason he was not getting offers. Therefore, by offering him an endorsement relevant to his profession, he would be conditioned to connect with the action I expected him to adapt to. The same situation would work for a professional resume and a referral. For instance, a referral is critical in helping a candidate smoothly go over the interview stage, especially when the referral is from a reputable employee within the firm, a partner with the firm, or an affiliate of any kind. As an instructor with an understanding of the job market, I identified three reinforcers as critical for the employability of any graduate seeking employment . I would be vital in making my work more accessible in influencing a behavior change. 

Procedures for Changing Behavior 

Rad was subjected to a three-week training, which was divided into two parts: instructor-based and client-based. The first phase of the program involved close instructions to Rad to perform outlined activities, get supervised, and correct particular versions that the supervisor thought he missed out on. The second phase of training involved practice under the supervisor’s watch and a final assessment before the program. 

The first phase contained two practices: mirror interviews, while the second phase was panel interviews. Mirror interviews were conducted by the client who read a set of questions pinned in a room and watches their body language, poise, and facial expression in the mirror as they answer the questions. The session was run for three days and would mainly act as a preparation for the panel interviews in the second phase. The panel interviews were structured to have both technical aspects of an interview and a personality assessment. In both sets, Rad was required to answer the questions while being instructed on improvement. The process would be repeated with adjustments to previous errors directed towards desirable behavior. The last phase involved alone practice session in reviewing covered guidelines in the first phase. The main reasons for choosing these procedures because the techniques have proven to improve self-confidence and esteem from past trials. Second, they simulate the interview process, which would give Rad a first-hand experience before the real interview (Williams et al., 2019). As an instructor, I identified that among the causes of anxiety attacks was that interviews were utterly unknown to Rad and had not spoken in front of more than four people. 

Implementation of the Procedures 

Rad was subjected to assessments in between the panel interviews and training to boost his confidence. At the end of the second phase, a final mock interview was conducted where the instructor did not offer any corrections during the process but strictly taking note of score points. Rad reported a 9 out of 10 ratings on confidence based on a five-point scale, 8 out of 10 on communication skills, 9 out of 10 on eloquence, and a 10 rating on calmness. Rad sat on the chair with square shoulders, a square chin, laid-back posture, and maintained eye contact throughout the interview. Also, he was more involved in the conversation as he delved deeper into the questions than before. 

Evaluate and Revise 

The procedure implemented for Rad’s case was significant. Assessment of the level of improvement was made through a comparison of new scores against initial scores was done, which informed progress. Rad had made an outrageous improvement based on the results obtained since his scores were below average when he joined. The reinforcers played a vital role in motivating the change in Rad's behavior since the second phase of the program even practiced outside the set time guides. However, the panel interviews could be restructured to accommodate various scenarios to better assess the client's account. For instance, different rooms and environments can be used to evaluate anxiety levels to new experiences. 

References 

Bacanlı, H. (2016). Behaviorist approach.  U Z. Kaya, S. Akdemir (ur.), Learning and teaching: Theories, approaches and models , 19-30. 

Driscoll, M. P. (2005).  Psychology of learning for instruction . 

Williams, B., Fulcher, L., & Dinwiddie, L. (2019). Why Would You Hire You? Preparing for a Successful Job Interview.  American String Teacher ,  69 (1), 29-33.