Why is reading important?
My students have heard my soapbox speech about the clinical importance of reading so I will briefly summarize it here. Reading Cooper does not prepare you to go out into the real world and address the multitude of social, cultural, and contextual factors that contribute to clinical issues. In order to become a behavior analyst rather than a behavior technician, you need to be able to go into the literature, assess it, and apply the relevant research to your particular case. For assistance in applying research to real word contexts, I highly suggest Part 3 of Research Methods in Applied Behavior Analysis 2nd Edition which includes a brief set of questions you can use to analyze the merit and applicability of an article to a specific case.
In addition to contributing to clinical excellence and improving the lives of the humans you serve in this field, behavior analysts have ethical obligations to read, read, read. Sections 1.01, 1.02, and 1.03 are directly relevant to reading behaviors. Even RBTs are subject to these ethical obligations, so beginning behavior scientists still need to continue to look to the evidence base, read up on variables and interventions they may not have addressed before, and increase competence through professional development.
Why read frequently and fluently?
Improving reading rate can affect comprehension. Quick, fluent readers are better able to comprehend the text they are digesting (Hudson, Lane, & Pullen, 2005). In behavior analysis this is especially important since much of our texts are jargon-heavy and dense. Therefore, proficient reading skills can make it easier for behavior scientists to think critically about the words they read and apply them to read world social problems.
In addition, the matching law applies (Reed & Kaplan, 2011). When students or analysts read slowly, the demand associated with the rewards for reading comprehension increase. Therefore, students are more likely to allocate their efforts to behaviors with more dense schedules of reinforcement. For instance, if it takes Sally 1 hour to read one article for which she receives rewards in the form of access to information, potential social reinforcement from peers or instructor, and task completion, her rate of reinforcement for reading is approximately 1 per hour. On the other hand, Sally has many concurrent schedules of reinforcement to choose from. She might also receive valued reinforcers by complaining to a peer about how difficult reading is (with texts and social media this could be as high as 20 per hour or more). The matching law explains why Slow Sally will allocate more of her energy to performing the second behavior rather than the first. However, when one can read quickly, the rate of reinforcement available for reading increases and can better compete with the other available concurrent reinforcement schedules.
So how can we flip the contingency?
Performance management offers several suggestions for readers that do feel that increasing their reading frequency and fluency would be a socially significant target. Here are some suggestions:
- Self-monitoring: Begin tracking your reading behavior. Keep a visual chart of your accomplishments. Self-monitoring is more effective with self-rewarding, so your chart should also include an aim and a specific, valued reinforcer for reaching the aim. Below is my own self-monitoring chart for an example. I’ve used standard PT conventions and marked my goal by putting an AIMStar on the chart that shows the date by which I want to reach a specific rate. When I reach my AIM, I will buy myself 5 new books for my behavior analytic library (this is valuable to me and I keep book-buying rewards restricted to this contingency only). Note, the AIMStar is not in the below graphic since it is still several weeks away and this is a daily chart.
- Analyze antecedents: When we think about antecedents for reading behavior, we want to identify ways to make reading easier, more available, and more likely to be combined with other pleasurable experiences. We can also look to remove antecedents that might be SDeltas for reading behavior. Some suggestions: Put books everywhere. Keep some articles in multiple locations that you access frequently. Use E-readers, download PDFs to tablets and phones, and even put a few in the bathroom or by the coffee maker. Pair reading with other environmental changes. Make sure you have comfortable places to read, well-lit areas that reduce eye strain, and if it is valuable to you- pleasant sights and sounds. Pairing reading behavior with these other comforts can make it less aversive. I also like to engage in reading behavior while doing other pleasant activities as a form of pairing. For instance, I read while riding a reclining bike at the gym and always have an article out while I drink my morning tea or coffee. Reduce the monetary effort involved in reading by using online articles, trading books with peers, or using the OBM/Management Skill Share Lending Library (which has much expanded since the following screenshot.
- Change consequences. Sometimes reading itself does not produce positive, immediate, and certain rewards. However, augmenting the naturally-occuring consequences can improve reading behavior. Using the Premack principle is one option. Reward yourself for reading with pleasant activities. In practice, this is the “first/then” rule. Whenever you have something on your schedule that you greatly look forward to, make attendance contingent upon quickly reading a few pages. Increase the rate of reinforcement available for reading by targeting more types of reading behaviors. Rewards could be self-administered not only for completing an article or chapter, but for reading a certain number of pages, reading more than one time per day, reading duration, how quickly you read, and even changes in your own reading behavior. By rewarding multiple dimensions of the behavior, the rate of overall reinforcement for reading increases.
- Recruit social support. I think this is likely one of the most effective practices. Self-rewards may not be maintained without the additional positive and negative reinforcement contingencies in play when you involve others in your reading goals. Post your reading chart somewhere that it is seen by others that might give you social positive reinforcement. Join article and book discussion groups where you can contact additional reinforcement. Recruit reinforcement from loved ones and friends when you accomplish different reading goals. Have a friend schedule a text message once a week to ask you how many pages you’ve read or what the most interesting this you read this week was. Form a group or interact with an online community that rewards reading behaviors or the result of reading (i.e. behavior analytic knowledge). JOIN THE #ABAReadathon! This awesome event is a great way to access a dense schedule of reinforcement both social and tangible.
- Analyze and troubleshoot your own reading behavior. If you are not successful, why are you not? If reading the terms and challenging words in articles is preventing success, perhaps increasing fluency of behavior analytic jargon using SAFMEDs might improve automaticity- the ability to recognize and identify words in context (Hudson, Lane, & Pullen, 2005). Is reading not rewarding? Using ACT principles to think about the long term rewards that reading behavior may move you towards could be a way to make these rewards more salient. Target your reading to solving a specific problem such as a difficult case or a special project from your supervisor. Use small sprints of reading and increase the frequency rather than forcing yourself to read textbooks or heavy books.
Lastly, I encourage you to vary the types of reading you engage in. Reading and re-reading Cooper is probably not going to help you access many additional reinforcers and may not necessarily meet any of the ethics-related goals. Additionally, it can expose you to texts that are more rewarding for a number of reasons- some behavior analysts write humorously, some write about topics that may be exciting to you, some write in short forms (blogs, white papers, etc.), and some include many practical examples. By exposing yourself to more of these styles of writing, you may find that some are naturally less aversive or find that they help you contact additional reinforcers you had never considered. You can even find behavior analytic texts that may help you make your own life more rewarding, thus giving you more reasons to read in the future (for this purpose, try The Happiness Trap).
Happy reading! Feel free to share your chart or graph. I will always provide positive, immediate, certain social reinforcement for any type of reading behavior!
Hudson, R. F., Lane, H. B., & Pullen, P. C. (2005). Reading fluency assessment and instruction: What, why, and how?. The Reading Teacher, 58(5), 702-71.
Reed, D. D., & Kaplan, B. A. (2011). The Matching Law: A Tutorial for Practitioners. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 4(2), 15–24. http://doi.org/10.1007/BF03391780
