Habits are one of the most common things people have to deal with, short of a genuine disorder but still a very real problem. Whether it's starting habits or breaking them, hopefully the information we've gathered can help!

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Positive reinforcement can help increase behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers. A reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented or added after a response, strengthens the response. An example of this would be giving a child a sticker when they complete their assignment, or giving a kid allowance when they complete their chores. Negative reinforcement also helps increase behaviors, despite the word "negative". This is an important concept to not confuse. However, negative reinforcements increase behaviors by removing a negative stimulus. This removal is where the word "negative" comes in, in contrast to the adding of a stimulus in positive reinforcement. An example would be stopping timeout when the child completes their assignment, or stopping bothering the kid when they finish their chores.

Positive punishment helps to decrease behaviors, hence the word "punishment", by administering an aversive/negative stimulus. This adding of a stimulus explains the word "positive". Examples would include spraying water on a barking dog or giving a traffic ticket for speeding. Negative punishment also helps to decrease behaviors, but instead by removing positive stimuli, explaining the word "negative". An example would be taking away treats from the barking dog or withholding driving privileges from the speeder.

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There are 4 types of reinforcement schedules:

Fixed ratio: giving reinforcement every certain # of responses

Variable ratio: giving reinforcement every random # of responses

Fixed interval: giving reinforcement every certain amount of time

Variable interval: giving reinforcement every random number of time

A fixed ratio schedule seems to be the most useful for getting someone to learn a behavior quickly, but a variable interval schedule seems to be the most useful for getting that person's behavior to last. Make sure not to wait too long between reinforcements for variable schedules so that the conditioning doesn't go extinct.

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Physical punishment is advised against, as it may increase aggression by modeling violence as a way to cope with problems. Spanked children have been shown to be at increased risk for aggression. Additionally, it's often not successful, as the punished behavior is typically only suppressed, not forgotten. As spanking the child as punishment may stop bad behavior for a short period of time, the temporary state of success may (negatively) reinforce parents’ punishing behavior when they falsely believe it works. 

To build self-control, you need to reinforce desired behaviors and extinguish undesired ones.
1. State a realistic goal in measurable terms and share it with friends. See goal setting.
2. Decide how, when, and where you will work toward your goal.
3. Monitor how often you engage in the desired behavior.
4. Reinforce  the desired behavior with rewards.
5. Gradually reduce the rewards until you can produce the desired behavior on your own.

These steps can also be used on others.

Lastly, aversive conditioning: a type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state (nausea) with an unwanted behavior. For example, associating nausea with alcohol is a natural occurrence for some that represents this process. The negative response to stimulus makes the person less likely to desire alcohol in the future. This can be utilized to treat bad habits. If someone had a problem with biting their nails, they could paint them with poor tasting nail polish so that the person associates nail biting with bad tastes, and can ultimately do it less often.