Overcorrection technique: what does it consist of and how is it used to educate?

Let's see what the overcorrection technique is and how it is used to educate children.

Many times parents try all kinds of tactics to get their children to maintain appropriate behaviors.

However, many of them are usually not satisfactory because they do not generate the behavioral change we are looking for in the long term. Let's learn about the technique of overcorrectionThe technique of overcorrection, a behavior modification resource with great potential to achieve this goal, with the subsequent joy of the parents.

What does the technique of overcorrection consist of?

The overcorrection technique is a tool for behavior modification, especially used in children.. It is based on the establishment of consequences for a certain behavior that have to do with it.

That is, if the child in question has stained a piece of furniture with his paintings, a valid consequence according to this technique would be to have to clean that piece of furniture as well as all the furniture in the room.

Hence the overcorrection, since he is not only asked to correct the situation he has generated, but also to overcorrect it, extending his behavior to other related elements. The objective is to generate a series of consequences that are not harmful to the child, but that are not appetizing either.

It is a punishment, therefore, in the sense of the word corresponding to the operant conditioning technique. In this context, punishment would be any element that causes a decrease in the repetition of a given behavior, and this is exactly what the overcorrection technique would be looking for.

This technique would never use any punishment that would result in a threat to the child's integrity, either psychological or physical, which would not be justified in any case, neither for this or any other behavior modification technique. Not only that, but the punishment must be related in some way to the behavior it seeks to eliminate.

Therefore, it would notwould be of no use, according to the overcorrection technique, to punish by taking away the toys of the child who has defaced the furniture, since they are two totally independent situations and are not related to the behavior that is to be eliminated.The two situations are totally independent and it would be difficult to establish a relationship between the two events. On the other hand, by requiring the child to clean the paint and also extending the punishment to the cleaning of other elements, we are showing him the obvious relationship between his behavior and the consequence of it.

In addition, by using this type of punishment to seek to reduce the behavior, parents can rest assured that they are not generating emotional negativity in the child, and that no aggressive behavior will be perceived towards him.

How is it used?

Although we have already mentioned some examples, let's break down in detail the different ways we have to apply the technique of overcorrectiondepending on the behavior we wish to eliminate or according to our needs or the possibilities we have at that moment.

In this way, we can find two main ways of proceeding to be able to practice this technique. They would be the following.

1. Restorative overcorrection technique

The first modality of the overcorrection technique is the one that seeks restitution of the damage generated by the misconduct..... The example we saw in the first point about a child who uses his paints on a piece of furniture and consequently his parents impose him as a punishment to clean, not only that piece of furniture, but also many other elements of the room, would be a good example of this type.

In this way, the infant will learn what he has done wrong and how to repair it, going much further, because the restitution is being exaggerated on purpose, to serve as an operant punishment, that is, to reduce the likelihood that the child will repeat a behavior similar to the one that has led them there.

In other words, there is a double function: firstly, the child is made to repair the situation, in this case, by cleaning the paint stains that had been generated. But in addition, by making this behavior extensive to many other elements, the child is put in front of a punishment that has an obvious connection with what happened but also extends the consequences, so that it does not happen again.

2. Technique of overcorrection by positive practice.

But the situation does not always lend itself to direct restitution, or simply the behavior has not caused harm or damage, but must still be replaced by another behavior.. In that case, an appropriate punishment may be the constant repetition of the behavior we want to instill, in an exaggerated form.

An example might be a child who finishes his snack and, instead of putting the plate in the dishwasher or sink, leaves it on the table. In this case, an overcorrection technique could be to ask him to put the plate in the dishwasher, then take it out again and leave it on the table, put it back in the dishwasher and so on for a number of repetitions of about ten.

The objective is to provoke in the child a connection between the inappropriate behavior he had and the punishment he was forced to carry out, this being uncomfortable for him but uncomfortable for the child, but without harming his psychophysical integrity in the least..

Usefulness of this technique in children's education

Many readers with children may be wondering in what kind of situations the overcorrection technique is useful. The reality is that it is a versatile technique that can be used for a variety of incorrect behaviors on the part of the child. We can use it to eradicate undesirable behaviors, bad habits and even aggressive behaviors.

Once the behavior we wish to correct has been discovered, the punishment will be established immediately, which we have already seen that it must be directly related to that behavior. What we are trying to achieve is that the child extinguishes that behavior and at the same time repeatedly practices the new one that we propose as a substitution for the previous one.

Of course, it is possible that resistance may appearThe activity proposed as punishment is not something appetizing for the child, so it is easy for tantrums, tears and other reactions to appear, with which the child will try to show his displeasure and even escape from the scenario. But the role of the parent has to be firm, making him see that he has to comply with the punishment as a consequence.

The adult can and should make him see that he understands perfectly well how he feels and that they will be there to support him, but this will not imply that the child will be punished.But this does not mean that the child can escape the punishment. For the overcorrection technique to be effective, we must be persistent in the application of the repair. If the precedent is set that with some resistance the child can "get out" of repairing the damage, he will know that there is always a way out and we will have failed.

A good method is to guide the child, calmly, in the task to be performed, showing him how it is done. In this way, the adult can act as a model and thus give him the example he needs to prove that there is nothing wrong with what he must do, but that it is necessary for him to do it so that everything is correct. He is made to see that he is practicing correct behavior.

Therefore, if the child relapses in an undesired behavior, you can tell him, from the calmness, that it seems that he lacks practice in the good behavior, and therefore he will have to do an exercise with which he will continue learning how to act. This is where punishment is introduced, in the form of a restitutive activity, repetitive or extended, as we have already seen, depending on the modality we have decided to use in this case.

In this way, with a simple proposal, keeping calm and without causing any harm to the child, which is essential when applying correction techniques, we will be able to replace the inappropriate behaviors, we will be managing to replace inappropriate behaviors with correct ones, which will be the ones that will be recorded in the child as appropriate behaviors..

In summary, we can conclude that the technique of overcorrection is a very powerful mechanism to educate children in good behaviors, both for the effectiveness it demonstrates and for the way of approaching it with the children themselves, who will not feel attacked in any way, even if at a given moment they dislike performing the imposed task, which of course will not be as fun as the one that provoked the situation.

Bibliographical references:

• Bravo, S.C., Medina, E. (2014). Modification of disruptive behaviors in 2 children with autism, case report. HJCA Medical Journal.
• Epstein, L.H., Doke, L.A., Sajwaj, T.E., Sorrell, S., Rimmer, B. (1974). Generality and side effects of overcorrection. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. Wiley Online Library.
• Foxx, R.M., Bechtel, D.R. (1982). Overcorrection. Progress in behavior modification. Elsevier.
• Ollendick, T.H., Matson, J.L. (1978). Overcorrection: An overview. Behavior Therapy.
• Rodríguez, J.F., Rodríguez, M.D., Moreno, I. (1996). Self-stimulatory behaviors: application of overcorrection and reinforcement in a case of mental deficiency. Psychology Notes.