Lesson 10: Interactions


Attention

Social Interactions are the key ways in which we influence the Antecedents in our world...being mindful that social comments and statements are Antecedents for behaviors (responses) brings us into keen awareness of how we can impact others around us.


Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

  • Outline the importance of monitoring social interactions as a primary intervention into Antecedents
  • Analyze an argument using the ABC theory

Teaching

Social Interactions

Social Interaction is a fundamental function of human nature.

How would you feel if a person you knew and cared about walked into the room and did NOT interact with you at all...would you think you did something wrong? Would you be angry?

Consider how we interact socially with our clients, kids, co-workers, spouses...each of these interactions are imbedded an a series of ABC formulas with each statement being the Antecedent for the behaviors (responses) of others...which are, in turn, both the Consequence for our own behaviors and the Antecedents for our next statements!

There are different types of interactions...but just as in the identification of consequences...the quality is determined by the person RECEIVING the interaction. What you INTENDED on saying is not as important as to how it is INTERPRETED.

Types of interactions include POSITIVE (Great work!), NEGATIVE (Stop that!), and NEUTRAL (How are you today?). Keep in mind that I well know that each of these interactions could be interpreted differently. For example:

Mom: (Walking in on her son cleaning his room) "Hey, great job on getting your room done!"
Son: (Angry and mom's constant nagging) "I'm only doing it so you get off my friggin' case!"

When you are monitoring group interactions, such as a classroom or a group of kids, you are monitoring for appropriate, positive, and fair interactions that will result in a more positive overall experience for the kids and will avoid some potential behavior problems.

Arguments

Arguments are a very interesting set of ABC factors. Keep in mind that all social interactions, including arguments, are a sequence of ABCs.


Assessment

Lesson 10 Discussion

Analyze an argument you have experienced recently using the ABC theory. Describe why these types of discussions are negative experiences and how they might be improved by focusing on positive interactions.