The Premack Principle | Grandma’s rule
The Premack Principle , also known as “Grandma’s Law” part refers to the old Grandma demand we’ve all probably received that goes something like, “first eat your broccoli, then you can have your ice cream”. With the Premack Principle, you are actively reshaping the way you respond to unpleasant or challenging tasks. The more you apply it, the more you will lower the barrier to doing these difficult tasks the next time around. So, lets get to know more about it with this article delight !
What Is The Premack Principle ?
Premack’s principle , or the Differential Probability Hypothesis refers to reinforcing a target behavior by awarding some privilege to engage in a more desired behavior afterward. Simply put, Grandma’s Rule is a system of reinforcement where a less probable behavior (eating vegetables), is paired with a more probable behavior (eating dessert). To break this down even further, we call this technique “first-then”. First, you must eat your vegetables, and then, you may have dessert.
So something you really like doing can make it easier to do an unpleasant activity, if you put the pleasant activity after the unpleasant one. What David Premack understood is that pleasant tasks are reinforcing tasks, and when we put reinforcing tasks after something, we get more of that something. Just put the pleasant tasks last in the sequence!
A Little History Behind The Premack principle
The Premack principle was developed after a study of capuchin monkeys conducted by David Premack in 1965. Premack gave monkeys access to four different toys and recorded the time they spent playing with each. He then limited access to the toys whilst giving the monkeys access to the toys they played with the longest. However, access to the popular toys was only provided if the monkeys first played with less desirable toys. Over time, the monkeys became wise to the experiment and started playing with undesirable toys longer to obtain access to their favorite toys.
Premack then decided to repeat the experiment with children with each given a choice between pinball and eating candy. Premack first determined which of the kids preferred eating candy and which preferred pinball and split them into two groups. The first group of candy lovers was required to play pinball before they could eat candy, and the second group of pinball lovers was required to eat candy before they could play pinball. Premack found that no matter what their preference, each child performed the least desirable of the two activities to get what they wanted. This tendency became a theory of reinforcement known as the Premack principle. In essence, the more probable response in any pair of responses will reinforce the less probable response.
How to Use the Premack Principle / Implementing Grandma’s Law
1. Pick an activity that often leads to problem behavior.
2. Pair the less desired activity with a highly desired activity.
3. Use consistent, clear, and concise language. (rather than say, “We can go watch a movie after we do the dishes.” Say, “First dishes, then movie.”
4. Praise yourself for compliance!
Here are a few examples to implement. Perhaps you can think of your own:
- Workouts. For a more effective workout at the gym, start with the more difficult exercises or the ones you dislike, and save those that are more relaxing or enjoyable for the end of the workout. When going for an outdoor run, do the steepest uphill section first and end with the downhill.
- Dieting. To cut back on calorie intake, start your meal with low-calorie appetizers and end with a small calorie-dense dessert. This is much better than starting out with calorie dense appetizers.
- Phone calls. When making phone calls, make the one you don’t want to make first, end with the people you like talking to.
- Space organizing. When re-organizing a cluttered house or work area, start with the worst or most visible area first. You’ll notice the impact immediately and it will give you the energy to continue.
Final Takeaway
The Premack Principle, also known as “Grandma’s Law” is a behavior intervention used across the psychological world. This easy-to-implement strategy can make huge impacts in helping yourself and others overcome challenging behaviors across almost any setting. It works very well when properly implemented. The key is finding a reinforcer valuable enough to evoke the desired behavior.
Read also : 4 Shadow Behavior & How To Avoid It ( https://thebrightdelights.com/4-shadow-behavior-how-to-avoid-it/ )