Stimulus Control

Description of the Strategy

Stimulus control broadly refers to the ability of stimuli in the environment to influence behavior and, in the narrower sense, is a moniker for a self-control technique used to ameliorate certain types of behavior problems. In its broader scientific usage, the term describes the controlling relationship that develops between stimuli and behavior through association. For example, myriad stimuli in the environment are associated with the desire to eat: olfactory sensations (the smell of freshly baked bread), sights (a billboard of pizza with the extras), sounds (the clink of cutlery in a restaurant), and, of course, countless tastes. In these examples, the desire to eat is cued through its past association with stimuli previously associated with eating such that their presence now makes the behavior (in this case, eating) more likely to occur. That is, the probability of eating increases in the presence of these stimuli and usually decreases in their absence. This controlling nature of environmental stimuli over the behavior of organisms is referred to as stimulus control.

Stimulus control, by necessity, involves the ability to discriminate among stimuli in the environment, and [Page 1056]organisms come under their control when the organisms behave differently in the presence of different stimuli. For example, safe drivers stop when confronted with a red traffic signal and accelerate in the presence of a green light. Coming under control of the traffic signal does not imply an absence of choice—one could elect to run the red light—it merely reflects a probabilistic statement concerning the likelihood of behaving in a particular manner in the presence of different traffic signals.

Factors that influence the ability of stimuli to affect behavior include the (a) potency of the stimulus, (b) reliability of the stimulus, (c) time parameters associated with the stimulus, and (d) economic costs associated with the stimulus. Stimulus potency reflects how desirable a particular stimulus is to an organism. For example, for some adolescents, tickets to a Snoop Dogg concert might be considered more desirable (i.e., more potent in influencing our behavior) than tickets to an art gallery but may also depend on the reliability and trustworthiness of the ticket provider. The influence of temporal parameters or time factors is readily observed in everyday situations. Near-term stimuli typically exert greater influence over behavior relative to delayed stimuli. For example, tickets for a concert scheduled for next year may have minimal influence on behavior, whereas a concert occurring in the next few weeks might prompt a quick visit to the local event's Web site with credit card in hand. Finally, economic cost influences the strength of a stimulus. There are limits to what people will pay (in time or money) to attend a concert, regardless of the performer.

Stimulus control as a clinical intervention or strategy is used to address three primary types of behavior problems that stem from maladaptive stimulus control: (1) behavior that is not under the control of stimuli when such control is desirable, (2) behavior under the control of inappropriate stimuli, and (3) undesirable behavior under the control of stimuli. Children who fail to follow their parents' instructions illustrate a type of behavior that is not under the control of verbal stimuli when such control is desirable. The therapeutic goal in this situation is to increase the child's responsiveness to the parent's verbal instructions. Other behaviors are under the control of inappropriate stimuli such as the eating behavior of some obese children. The sight of food (candy bars on the racks adjacent to checkout lanes in grocery stores) or cues that signal the sight of food (e.g., golden arches), rather than actual hunger, control eating. The focus of therapy in these cases is to reduce the control that seeing food or food cues exerts on eating. Finally, undesirable behaviors under the control of stimuli include ecumenical health problems such as cigarette smoking. In this case, the behavior of smoking is cued by a wide variety of stimuli because the behavior has been repeatedly associated with these cues. For example, smoking by youths is usually associated with observing friends smoking, such that the behavior has a much higher probability of occurring in their presence. The therapeutic goal in this case is to weaken and eventually eliminate the control these stimuli exert on behavior (e.g., by restricting social activities with friends who smoke to situations and places that do not permit smoking, such as organized sport activities and dance clubs that ban smoking).

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