We hear it time and time again: nobody likes change. It sends some people into panic mode. Others act stubborn while holding on to the same old way of doing things. And why not? You already know what to expect with the same old things. With the same old things, you can reliably predict that reinforcement is coming your way. Day in and day out, these 'things' have signaled to you that good things are about to happen. Now all of a sudden, someone wants to change things and you don't know what to expect. Will the same good things happen? Does this new thing signal a reinforcer or a punisher is coming my way? I suspect that this unknown factor is behind the resistance to change. Having not gone through the sequence of 'new thing' → new behaviour → consequence (I use the word 'thing' here to stay away from the technical term known as 'stimulus discriminative') it is difficult to predict whether a good or bad outcome will follow. Sometimes people don't know what to do with themselves when things change and there is a valiant attempt at securing what once was. All people are trying to do is ensure that a reinforcer comes through.
People are expected to just deal with change. Kids especially are just supposed to "go with the flow" - do what the adults say. While it is a hallmark skill of maturity and emotional regulation to adjust and adapt, we could all help people deal a little better with the change that is about to occur by recognizing it takes a few more practices and a continuous rate of reinforcement to set out on a new track. I believe this is what we would refer to as demonstrating patience.
So, the lesson here: when things change, all we need is just a little patience. We will eventually learn that most of the new things we're doing turned out alright.
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