What Is Cognitive Behavior Management?

CBM emphasizes teaching a process for self-regulation that involves self-monitoring, self-evaluation and self-reinforcement. Because it is a process, to be effective, CBM involves a commitment of time and effort on the part of both individual and the teacher. In this context, CBM may be an effective method for teaching students to make conscious decisions regarding how they will react in a given social situation.

As the name implies, CBM involves both cognitive and behavioral components. Cognitively, how we feel about a certain event is not just a reflection of the event itself, but of how we think about the event. For example, Jamie’s mom had arranged to pick him up after school at 4:00. It is now 4:30 and she still has not arrived. The following are some possible thoughts and feelings Jamie might have and the resulting behaviors.

As illustrated, Jamie’s behavior is not so much a result of his mom being late in picking him up, as of his thoughts and feelings about the event. The goal of cognitive behavior management is to teach accurate and rational thinking based on logic and available information.

Emotional reactions are a function of the lympic system and are very fast acting. These first reactions are necessary for survival as they ensure a quick response to dangerous situations. We sometimes call this state “fight or flight,” However, if not understood and controlled, these quick emotional reactions can interfere with a person’s ability to think through difficult situations and make rational decisions about how to react. This process is especially difficult for people with ASD because it involves accurately interpreting not only a social situation, but also the behaviors of the other people involved.

The process often includes the positive relationship between verbal instructions and behavior acquisition. The use of self-talk as a mediation strategy is a part of this strategy (Harris, 1982). Self-talk can be used by students to “think out loud” as they preview the steps in a task, interpret a social situation or consider the variety of ways they might respond to a situation.

There is a close link between thinking and doing. As seen in the above example, what one does is influenced by the way one thinks about any given situation. Conversely doing can influence the way one thinks and feels about an event. This is reflected in the common phrase “success breeds success,” All of us tend to spend more time involved in activities we are good at than in those we are not good at. The more time we spend engaged in these activities, the better we become at performing them. As we get better at something, we think of ourselves as being good at it. We subsequently feel good about ourselves when we engage in the activity. Research has shown our moods, both positive and negative, greatly influences how we think about ourselves, events and others. One’s mood at the time of learning is closely linked to the person’s perception and interpretation of the event (Bower 1995).