December 2009 Archives

A police cheif brings food to work every time his picture gets in the paper. How does this relate to what we know about behavior modification?

http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/www_publicradio/tools/media_player/popup.php?name=splendid_table/2009/12/25/splendidtable_20091225_64&starttime=00:35:41&endtime=00:34:40

Fowler's stint on the ABC reality show last month, in which he called a rural Missouri woman spending two weeks in his San Francisco home stupid and simple, has made him famous in the worst way.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/21/san-francisco-man-in-mass_n_168797.html

How do they train the parrot to do the act? How do they make use of associations to train Einstien? What do we know about animal training that might lend insight into this bird behavior? What are some other videos that show the variety of behaviors parrots can be trained to do?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/13/friday-the-13th-13-supers_n_356892.html?slidenumber=wfN2nTuB%2Bag%3D

This site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people's behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it's change for the better.

http://thefuntheory.com/

Can we get students to be better students by making it fun? What is fun from a behavioral perspective? What can you make better by making it fun? How would you go about measuring it?

How do signs control our behavior? How can we explain some of these signs from a behavioral perspective? How do rules control our behaviors?

http://www.funny-games.biz/pictures/signs-pictures.html

(February 27, 2008) Carrie Armel, research associate at the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center at Stanford University, discusses the use of behavioral sciences to address climate change and energy security issues.

Armel discusses how people can go about changing thier behaviors as solutions, but this is not from a behavioral perspective. How would a behaviorist approach the issue of behavioral solutions for climate and energy change? What part of her talk would best relate to the behaviorist approach.

http://www.youtube.com/stanford#p/u/30/8wY7rj-fDGY

We wrote this book specifically for our students in the behavior modification class at UNI. The book is set for publication this summer with the Markham Press Publishing Co. The book is a combination reader / workbook designed to make this class a more enjoyable experience. As you read you will stop and provide written interaction with the book.

For this semester we will be providing you with PDF copies of the book. Each section will be posted as they are ready to the book's web page (link). Keep an eye on the reading schedule as we will regularly devote class time to meeting in groups to discuss the readings and your progress with the readings.

The sections of the book are designed to be short -something you can read in one sitting. We welcome your feedback (comments, critiques, and criticisms) as valuable information that will only make this a better book as it goes to press.

Cubicles versus traditional work space - how do the different work spaces elicit different behaviors? How would a behaviorist go about designing a work space?

Preface 

Goal of this book - The student should:

·         Understand what behavior modification is and how it is used in a variety of settings

·         Understand the ABCs of behavior and how the ABCs relate to behavioral change

·         Understand the difference between a goal and a behavior

·         Be able to set goals and define behaviors that will lead to those goals for themselves and for others

·         Monitor the progress of behaviors towards their goal

·         Record and graph behavioral data

·         Understand the difference between operant conditioning and classical conditioning although this book is primarily about operant behavior

·         Understand the scientific nature / basis of behavior modification

·         Be fluent in the language of behavior

·         Be able to apply what they learn to a variety of settings

·         Be able to maintain a newly learned behavior under a variety of new contexts