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Self-Directed Behavior
Achieve your life goals with SELF-DIRECTED BEHAVIOR! With abundant strategies based on research, this psychology text guides you through exercises for developing skills in self-analysis and teaches you how to apply these skills in different settings. Case examples demonstrate how other students have successfully used the book's techniques, including one student who used shaping to gradually increase her ability to study, and another who learned to be more sure of himself on dates by consciously modeling a friend's confident behavior.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 1974
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3,451 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 3, 2015
Edit: This book is horrible and repetitive and I take back anything nice I said about it and I hope they never make any more editions. Seriously, it is as cocky as.. The Da Vinci Code. You know that wave of smug that hits you when you try to read Da Vinci Code? Same thing. Bleeeck.
Some of this book is possibly kind of helpful. But it's also really self-aggrandizing. Have you ever read a book that constantly references how awesome it is, and even says "if you use these techniques and it doesn't work, its not because the techniques are wrong, its because you did it wrong"? It's obnoxious. Also, it constantly uses really shitty examples, and its really stupid. One quote said "For example, if you know the new you will make your spouse uncomfortable, you can make the changes gradually... Michelle...lost 150 lbs, and had changed from a very fat wife to a very attractive one. There was a beautiful woman hiding under all the weight. This had several effects on her husband, not all positive. He was jealous in the interest men showed in her for the first time ever".
This is obnoxious, I think, for obvious reasons, but let me point 'em out.
1. It implies that fat people are unattractive
2. And that attractive skinny people lurk within
3. Ladies, you should be skinny, but make sure to keep pacifying your man.
Anyway. That really got my goat.
OH ALSO. It says in the description that it uses real "case studies" of other students as examples. I do not believe FOR ONE SECOND that any of these case studies are real. iF they are, they have edited the Jesus out of them. Because NO ONE talks like this: "Once I realized that I just had to try, I knew I could do it. But it sure wasn't easy. No Siree!". (That's not a quote from the book, I made it up, but it's close).
Some of this book is possibly kind of helpful. But it's also really self-aggrandizing. Have you ever read a book that constantly references how awesome it is, and even says "if you use these techniques and it doesn't work, its not because the techniques are wrong, its because you did it wrong"? It's obnoxious. Also, it constantly uses really shitty examples, and its really stupid. One quote said "For example, if you know the new you will make your spouse uncomfortable, you can make the changes gradually... Michelle...lost 150 lbs, and had changed from a very fat wife to a very attractive one. There was a beautiful woman hiding under all the weight. This had several effects on her husband, not all positive. He was jealous in the interest men showed in her for the first time ever".
This is obnoxious, I think, for obvious reasons, but let me point 'em out.
1. It implies that fat people are unattractive
2. And that attractive skinny people lurk within
3. Ladies, you should be skinny, but make sure to keep pacifying your man.
Anyway. That really got my goat.
OH ALSO. It says in the description that it uses real "case studies" of other students as examples. I do not believe FOR ONE SECOND that any of these case studies are real. iF they are, they have edited the Jesus out of them. Because NO ONE talks like this: "Once I realized that I just had to try, I knew I could do it. But it sure wasn't easy. No Siree!". (That's not a quote from the book, I made it up, but it's close).
September 23, 2012
This is a great book for someone looking to improve themselves through simple behavioral modification techniques. I've used a few of the ideas from this book to help me develop some habits while reading it and the concept really do work.
The only downside to the book is that it is rather dated (the copy I had was published about 30 years ago), so some of the examples are not very helpful (one example is that a very large number of the examples are of people trying to quit smoking).
I would highly recommend this book as a great starting point if you have habits that you want to develop and can never get off the ground or if you have habits that you want to break but can never quite seem to on your own since the author will give you the tools you need to create the habits that you want!
The only downside to the book is that it is rather dated (the copy I had was published about 30 years ago), so some of the examples are not very helpful (one example is that a very large number of the examples are of people trying to quit smoking).
I would highly recommend this book as a great starting point if you have habits that you want to develop and can never get off the ground or if you have habits that you want to break but can never quite seem to on your own since the author will give you the tools you need to create the habits that you want!
October 1, 2013
This was an effective book for teaching methods of developing and modifying behaviors. This was a required reading in my college course and we were required to implement its techniques through our daily lives. Granted, the choice of implementation was up to each student, so I elected to modify behavior in exercise.
By using all of the steps provided in this book, I was able to avoid tendencies that lead to me failing in reaching my goal and substantially increased my exercises per-week. I continue to implement certain techniques and I would recommend it to others seeking to alter their behaviors.
By using all of the steps provided in this book, I was able to avoid tendencies that lead to me failing in reaching my goal and substantially increased my exercises per-week. I continue to implement certain techniques and I would recommend it to others seeking to alter their behaviors.
September 19, 2012
Wow- what a useless book. If you can get by this guys's ego and bloviating, you might get the occasional insight on how to be introspective. However, a nice dinner with a friend talking about goals and personal improvement will do more for this than this ever will- WASTE OF MONEY. (Can you give a book negative stars?)
January 20, 2012
there is a swan in the river
September 17, 2012
I wish I had learned these skills starting in kindergarten!
This is a text book for a college course, probably for behavioral psychology students. Over the course of the semester, the student learns how to design, assess and modify a program for changing habits. Each student's class project is to observe and change one behavior the student is currently unsatisfied with. Replacing unhelpful habits with helpful ones is presented as a set of skills that can be learned and strengthened, rather than some innate level of willpower.
The method is grounded in the Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence (ABC) model that has proved very effective for designing behavior-change programs. The method relies on consistent self-observations of the behavior of interest, to gather and track data about the situations in which the behavior arises, and how the student reacts before, during and after each occurance of the behavior. Self-observation is so important to the method, that the authors recommend a meta-project for those who are not inclined to collect the data: developing a plan to increase self-observation and data collection can be a good first project to practice these skills.
The book is enlightening, encouraging, and surprisingly entertaining. It is also refreshingly frank, unflinchingly including examples of taboo subjects such drug use, sex, and physical/verbal abuse. This made me realize that everyone likely has some behaviors that they would like to modify, be they mild or debilitating. The authors support their statements and suggestions with copious citations and scientific studies. I read an edition from 1984, and when I compared it to an edition from the late 90s I saw that much of the text was identical, with only the citations updated, and some side-bar text boxes included.
This is a text book for a college course, probably for behavioral psychology students. Over the course of the semester, the student learns how to design, assess and modify a program for changing habits. Each student's class project is to observe and change one behavior the student is currently unsatisfied with. Replacing unhelpful habits with helpful ones is presented as a set of skills that can be learned and strengthened, rather than some innate level of willpower.
The method is grounded in the Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence (ABC) model that has proved very effective for designing behavior-change programs. The method relies on consistent self-observations of the behavior of interest, to gather and track data about the situations in which the behavior arises, and how the student reacts before, during and after each occurance of the behavior. Self-observation is so important to the method, that the authors recommend a meta-project for those who are not inclined to collect the data: developing a plan to increase self-observation and data collection can be a good first project to practice these skills.
The book is enlightening, encouraging, and surprisingly entertaining. It is also refreshingly frank, unflinchingly including examples of taboo subjects such drug use, sex, and physical/verbal abuse. This made me realize that everyone likely has some behaviors that they would like to modify, be they mild or debilitating. The authors support their statements and suggestions with copious citations and scientific studies. I read an edition from 1984, and when I compared it to an edition from the late 90s I saw that much of the text was identical, with only the citations updated, and some side-bar text boxes included.
December 25, 2013
This book is a literal lifesaver! I don't know how many self-help books that I've read, that didn't help and how many I own, that this one book could replace.
A lot of the reviews I saw were complaining about the author talking about how amazing the book is and techniques contained within are, well 1)the book is amazing. It does what it says and does it damn well. 2) There is a lot of scientific studies and cases listed. Nearly every statement made in the book is backed by a study or some type of proof and the sources are given. So while I never read the author stating anything subjective, I saw plenty of things like: "many times when self-modification fails, it is due to not using enough techniques (Brenner 1978) not believing you can do it (johnson 1920) or not maintaining ongoing self-observation records (troll 2011.)"
I applied some of the techniques immediately while reading it and was able to wake up immediately once my alarm goes off, which I had been striving to accomplish for some weeks, as well as make some improvements to my thought patterns, before I began my official self-modification project. If you're serious about changing some behavior (addictions, smoking, depression,assertion, anxiety, etc.) pick this gem up!
A lot of the reviews I saw were complaining about the author talking about how amazing the book is and techniques contained within are, well 1)the book is amazing. It does what it says and does it damn well. 2) There is a lot of scientific studies and cases listed. Nearly every statement made in the book is backed by a study or some type of proof and the sources are given. So while I never read the author stating anything subjective, I saw plenty of things like: "many times when self-modification fails, it is due to not using enough techniques (Brenner 1978) not believing you can do it (johnson 1920) or not maintaining ongoing self-observation records (troll 2011.)"
I applied some of the techniques immediately while reading it and was able to wake up immediately once my alarm goes off, which I had been striving to accomplish for some weeks, as well as make some improvements to my thought patterns, before I began my official self-modification project. If you're serious about changing some behavior (addictions, smoking, depression,assertion, anxiety, etc.) pick this gem up!
August 26, 2016
This is a seriously amazing way to think about making changes in your life. In depth, based on research. It's not a self-help book. It's a book with everything you need to know about achieving the goals in your life, including understanding habits and behaviors, the two forms of willpower and why you should not rely on your brute willpower (like a muscle, it gets tired with use), how to set useful, achievable goals, how to observe your behaviors, how to make plans for change and reassess them instead of giving up.
WOW. This book is a game changer. I can't believe I haven't heard about this until now. EVERYONE should read this book.
WOW. This book is a game changer. I can't believe I haven't heard about this until now. EVERYONE should read this book.
September 16, 2010
Although this is a text book, it has an enjoyable reading feel to it.
Fantastic resource for learning how to change bad habits or make good habits even better.
I refer to this book for my classes on a regular basis and always pull something 'more' out of it with each read.
Fantastic resource for learning how to change bad habits or make good habits even better.
I refer to this book for my classes on a regular basis and always pull something 'more' out of it with each read.
May 29, 2012
Great things are taught in this book. That being said I had to read this for an online class towards my masters plus 45. While I'd love to act as though I'm a great big intellectual, I'm so not. This was terribly painful to get through.
June 2, 2017
Guided Mastery: You can never begin too low; the steps upward can be never too small
Goal challenging enough, but probability of success
Overcoming obstacles: Keep records. Use guided mastery
Set intermediate goal with moderate specificity
Commitment is not something you have, it is something you do.
What steps you can take to make sure you don't quit?
How to get back one's you slip back into old unwanted behaviour?
What is the extent of the problem & its extent nature?
Goal challenging enough, but probability of success
Overcoming obstacles: Keep records. Use guided mastery
Set intermediate goal with moderate specificity
Commitment is not something you have, it is something you do.
What steps you can take to make sure you don't quit?
How to get back one's you slip back into old unwanted behaviour?
What is the extent of the problem & its extent nature?
April 29, 2021
Ok this is truly a treasure trove filled to the brim with sound, empirically as well as evidence-based self-change techniques. I am extremely happy I studied this book and practiced the self-change techniques described therein, as you would expect, some work better than others, but the whole of your life's projects will move forward.
November 27, 2018
The only book of it's kind that I know of. It's like a manual for self-management, as an ABA concept. This has kind of been a dream book of mine for about a year before I found it. I'm really glad it exists.
February 25, 2019
Whether you or a loved one have struggled with behaviours and habits that lead to trouble... Read this book.
April 30, 2020
A must read
November 16, 2012
It's a self-help book with research. Some of the research might be dated, but the authors give references for where you can find out more information. This is an excellent book to help individuals or groups put together a plan for change, whether that's to stop smoking, or to be more assertive.
I highly recommend for anyone who is serious about growing and maturing.
I highly recommend for anyone who is serious about growing and maturing.
October 10, 2023
If you are the kind of person who can put forth elaborate daily effort, maintaining focus on a goal, over a long period of time, then you can definitely use this book while putting forth elaborate daily effort, maintaining focus on a goal, over a long period of time.
September 8, 2014
Read this for a class about behavioral theories for my Graduate degree. Great book with many many ideas, tips, and ways to influence and help behavioral changes for addictions, habits, or just adding changes to one's life. Change is extremely difficult for most of us!
February 4, 2018
The most thorough book on how to change personal habits/behaviors I've ever encountered.
Want to read
January 10, 2013wtrtwrt
October 15, 2015
very dated
Read
October 11, 2017The best book I have read this year. I see it contributing massively to my self development, it already is.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
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