What I would like you to do for this homework is to have some fun and find some websites of a topic that interests you and that relates to behavior modification. Please try to incorporate the behavioral terms we are learning into your writing.
1) Please discuss your topic in general, why it interests you and how it relates to behavior modification.
2) Post at least 2 links to the sites you visited that were most informative about your topic. For each site discuss the information you found and how it relates to your topic (please don't just say they discussed positive reinforcement - how do they go about it? etc?).
3) Discuss how these sites further expanded your understanding of your topic of interest (kind of like a conclusion).
4) Make a list of behavioral terms you used in this post (this is to help get you focused on using behavioral terms in your regular writings).
Thanks.
1) The topic I chose concerns sport psychology and the characteristics of being "In the Zone" within competition. In the future, I would like to teach a sport psychology class at the high school and/or college level. I really feel like athletes can gain a great deal by modifying their mental and physical behaviors. This modification can improve performance and get an individual athlete into their beneficial "zone."
2)The first website listed below discussed the characteristics of "being in the zone," allowing an individual to perform at his/her peak levels. While each individuals topographical behavior on the football field or volleyball court may look similar, each one functionally behaves in a different way before and within that competition. For this website, there were many target behaviors which could enhance an individuals ability to get in the zone. Focus, confidence, relaxation, effortless/automatic, fun, and control are all behaviors exhibited by athletes when they are in the zone.
The second website listed below is an empirical study of an athlete's ability or behavioral capability to be in the zone. This site listed eight dimensions of various behavioral elements which elicited a flow state. A few of these dimensions are as follows: balance between challenge and skills, clear goals and feedback, self-rewarding experience (reinforcement), etc. Individuals emitting this sense of "magic," are able to rid themselves of disruptive behaviors and limit self-punishment when things aren't going perfect.
3)Overall, I realized sport psychology utilizes behavior modification in almost every aspect of the application element of the field. Being able to get in the zone or the flow state is a challenge athletes often subconsciously try to obtain. To do this, one must manipulate his/her behaviors such as confidence, relaxation, control, etc.
4)Functional, Topographical, Reinforcement, Punishment, Target Behaviors, Emitted, Elicited
http://www.psywww.com/sports/peak.htm
http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol1Iss3/Empirical_Zone.htm#ABSTRACT
I heard about a study similar to this a while ago. It focused on Wayne Gretzky and his "magic" on the ice. I think it's really interesting that just changing our thought processes can change our physical abilities. I guess it's somewhat of a Pygmalion effect, but you have to wonder how much is physical and how much in mental when you do anything. I'll keep looking for the article, but I doubt I'll be able to find it because I can't even remember what magazine it was in...
1) I chose to cover obsessive-compulsive disorder because I find it interesting how anxiety can manifest differently from person to person. I have a room mate who can't seem to stop cleaning. Another friend of mine silently counts his words to make sure all sentences add up to the same number (each letter has a numerical value, i.e. every 'A' is worth 3 points and so on). It's amazing how one's anxiety over something so simple can interfere so greatly in everyday life.
2)This first site I found has a short and sweet overview of the disorder and methods of treating it. Behavior modification/therapy is a sucessful method in helping individuals cope with their impulses, rituals, and repeating thoughts by working on target behaviors. Four techniques are covered in this article: Systematic desensitization is where the client is gradually introduced to a heirarchy of anxiety-provoking situations and taught to use relaxation skills to gain control of their fear and anxiety. Flooding, on the other hand, exposes the client to a high-anxiety situation until the he or she overcomes their fear. Both of these techiniques work off of the principals of classical conditioning.
Other cognitive-behavioral techniques include thought-stopping and saturation. With thought-stopping teaches the client to issue the command "Stop!" when experiencing one of their obsessive behaviors by replacing the negative thought with a positive one. For example, if an individual has a fear of germs and can't bring themselves to open a door because it requires them touching the door knob they are taught to replace the thought of getting sick with something like "Many people have used this dorr knob and have not died". Through saturation the client is told to concentrate on one obsessional thought. Over time the thought will lose some of its power and the client can cope with it more effectively.
The second site explains the differece between obsessions and complusions and the more common thoughts and behaviors performed by those suffering from OCD. We can relate the behaviors stemming from OCD to section 1.5 of our book. Someone who double checks locks, switches, latches, lights, and doors are topographically different (opening and closing the door and flipping the light switch on and off)but can be categorized in the same functional behavior class (relieving anxiety).
3)Individuals suffering from OCD believe that if they don not emit certain behaviors they will experience aversive reactions ("I need to wash my hands again or I'll get sick and die"). These behaviors can severely disrupt a person's life and they feel like a prisoner of rituals. Through behavior therapy people can learn to control their impulses ans anxieties.
4)Saturation, topographical, funtional, target behaviors, emit, aversive.
Psych Central: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Treatment
http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sx25t.htm
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Symptoms and Treatment of Compulsive Behavior and Obsessive Thoughts
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/obsessive_compulsive_disorder_ocd.htm
You did a great job summarizing the information included in the websites. OCD is an interesting disorder and I've studied it for other classes. I've actually been told that I have some OCD traits but since they've never upset my functioning I don't worry too much about them. I find that the most interesting technique or treating this condition is flooding. It seems very extreme but I think it's probably necessary in certain situations. I think the first website made an extremely important point on both flooding and systematic desensitization in that it is extremely important to first learn relaxation techniques that work. If not you could actually do more harm than good.
1) I chose to research alcoholism rehabilitation techniques. This topic interests me because I have known many people who cannot seem to stop the aversive behavior of drinking too much, even if they really want to stop. I am interested in learning about what the successful techniques have been in modifying this behavior. This relates to behavior modification because that is exactly what these people are trying to do - modify their drinking behaviors.
2) The first website I found is for Alcoholics Anonymous. It specifically discusses how a person is let into AA, and then spends most of the time emphasizing that the people are not alone in their struggles. It implies that the point of AA is to offer accountability for the people. This would lead to positive reinforcement or punishment, depending on the behavior. If a person drinks, they would have to share with the group and would be scolded. This would be punishment. If a person does not drink, however, they would be encouraged by the group, another example of positive reinforcement.
http://www.aa.org/lang/en/subpage.cfm?page=12
The second website discusses Motivational Enhancement Therapy. The website points out that this therapy attempts to identify reinforcers for not drinking that are more reinforcing than those for drinking. The website also said that they attempt to change the context in which the drinking behavior would normally occur.
http://www.drugabuse.gov/adac/ADAC9.html
3) These sites helped me to understand the behavior of drinking more. The second site was especially helpful. It pointed out that drinking in and of itself has a very strong positive reinforcement for some people, whatever the specific reinforcement for them may be. Thus, in order to change the behavior, there has to be a better reinforcement offered than what they are used to getting by drinking. I also realized that drinking is a topographical behavior that can have many different outcomes. People who have problems with drinking are those who emit aversive consequences as a result of drinking, such as drinking more or becoming angry. The websites also helped me to realize that it is important to identify the context in which the behavior is occurring, because changing the context can have powerful results in modifying the behavior.
4) Emit, positive reinforcement, punishment, context, consequence, behavior, reinforcer
1.)I chose to cover phobias because I think they are something we can all relate to. I think it is safe to say that just about everyone has a phobia whether it is big or small. I have two – I am afraid of spiders and of heights. It really amazes me how this disorder can affect someone’s life or how it has affected mine. In some cases it can be very controlling over you without you realizing it. I think this topic relates well to behavior modification for two reasons. 1.) A target behavior is important. You have to have to know the specific behavior or phobia in order to undergo the right treatment (though that isn’t too hard to figure out). 2.) Treating this disorder involves shaping and transforming a person’s attitudes and behaviors through reinforcement or reassurance.
2.)The first site I found covers what phobias are, the symptoms, types, and the treatment. In this article, it is stated that behavior therapy or modification are among some of the most effective treatments. One treatment involves gradually introducing the phobia to the person. The individual is asked to imagine the feared object or situation. Then he or she works up to looking at pictures that portray the object or situation. Finally, the individual experiences the situation or comes in contact with the feared object. The purpose of this treatment is for the individual to become used to the situation or feared object. The consequence of the procedure is that the individual can hopefully get rid of any aversive feelings and change his or her response to the situation or object.
The second site I found is a video of someone with a phobia of frogs. I am sure that everyone can guess how someone would react to something they are afraid of, but I thought this video captured her reactions very well. In this video you can see that the frogs elicited a feeling of “danger” to the woman. In return the woman emitted many behaviors showing discomfort with the situations she was in.
3.)In conclusion, there are many different types of phobias and just about everyone suffers from one. They can really impact a person’s everyday life negatively, but luckily there are treatments out there that are effective. Through behavior therapy or modification a person can overcome his or her fear and learn to respond to the situation or object differently.
4.)Target behavior, behaviors, reinforcement, consequence, aversive, response, elicited, emitted
http://www.healthyplace.com/anxiety-panic/main/what-are-phobias/menu-id-69/
http://www.break.com/usercontent/2008/8/Insane-Frog-Phobia-550802.html
1.) The topic of interest i choose to discuss is Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). This is a disorder that is mainly a behavioral deficit in which children or teens consistently refuse to follow requests made of them by adult or any individual seen as possessing authority over the individual. Its not uncommon for these individuals to lose their temper on a regular basis, act out in aggression, test an adults authority. They often become annoyed easily and often have an external locus of control in which they often blame outside stimuli or others for their downfalls.
2.) The fist site I visited was strictly dedicated to dealing with those individuals who have comorbid signs of ADD/ADHD along with ODD. Most individuals that have ODD also have an overlying deficit such as ADD. This site went on to explain in further detail how ODD is diagnosed and the possible treatment outcomes for those individuals with ODD. The most common treatment (and one i don't agree with) is administering a dose of stimulant medication to the children to reinforce their need to stay on task and not remain less aggressive. Most research done in the past however has shown that a summer treatment program (STP) is just as effective as dosing kids up on high levels os stimulant medications of transdermal methylphenidate patches. The targeted behaviors most common in these treatments are the reductions of aggressive attitudes towards adults, promoting attentiveness, respect as well as many modifications behaviorally targeted at getting the children to emit a positive attitude when asked to complete a task. Many children in the STP's are positively reinforced with daily rewards upon their completion of tasks as well as being positively rewarded to interacting appropriately with the adults in charge.
The second website i visited was the Mayo Clinic's website which described much of the same symptoms of ODD as the first website but the Mayo Clinic's site also gave a section of causes for ODD. This section was something that i hadn't found on many other websites dedicated to the treatment of ODD. One reason they give for the development of ODD is that the child may experience limitations or delays caused by development to process certain thoughts and feelings. In this description it would appear that the natural operant behavior that many of us might perform when asked to do something might never occur to these children. They also go on to state that a form of inconsistent or harsh discipline could be the underlying cause of ODD. In this respect it would seem that the parents are punishing the child too often or they are topographically punishing the child. It could be this inconsistency in behaviors being punished that is causing the child to behave in such defiant ways.
3.) Before going to these two sites it hadn't really occurred to me that the inconsistencies in punishment from the parents could be an underlying cause of ODD. It could be these inconsistencies in behaviors being punished by the parents that bring about these aversive behaviors in the children when in the presence of authority figures. With this in mind its suggested on both websites that both parents and children undergo psychological treatment in which the children see a therapist and the parents undergo a kind of parental management class in which they learn how to better manage their child's aversive behaviors.
4.) locus of control, reinforce, target behavior, emit, positive reinforcement, operant behavior, topographical, defiance, punishment, aversive.
http://addadhdadvances.com/ODD.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/oppositional-defiant-disorder/DS00630/DSECTION=risk%2Dfactors
1. I am interesting in training dogs. I became interested in this when my sister brought a dog home without my dad's permission. This dog is an outside dog and jumps on me with its muddy feet. This dog likes to chew everything up that she sees. It is getting to be old stuff! Now taking this class has gotten to think about ways I could eliminate this poor behavior of Mylie's. This topic relates to behavior modification because I want to learn to reinforce good behaviors in the dog and punish the bad ones.
2. http://www.inch.com/~dogs/proofing.html
This was a great website for me in understanding the importance of using positive reinforcement rather than punishment when learning new behaviors. The site also talked about the context and how it matters when reinforcing a behavior. The dog might emit the behavior of sitting when saying "sit" in the kitchen, but the dog might not emit the same behavior outside.
http://www.thepetcenter.com/article.aspx?id=3439
This website emphasized giving the consequence of the target behavior immediately after the behavior and doing it consistently. This is to let the dog know that you mean what you are saying. The site also mentions not practicing one command for too long or the dog will tire of it. This will happen especially if the dog is satiated with dog treats.
3. These sites helped me understand that the training process could take over a year to really get down. Both sites said to use reinforcement rather than punishment. Punishment could ruin all the work that the dog has worked up to. Also, at the beginning it is important to reward the dog even if the dog does it for two seconds. Eventually, you should work the dog up to several seconds and then rewarding.
4. positive reinforcement, punishment, behavior, context, emit, consequence, target behavior
1) I am interested on the topic of the habit of biting nails. People just have horrible habits and I am one of them that no matter how much I wanted this to be my new years resolution I failed. I have tried positive reinforcing my actions of not biting my nails with Cold Stone, but I haven't been there because I have bitten my nails every week.
2) This first link is a link about steps to take so that you (or in this case your children) won't bite nails. They have a lot of negative reinforcement that they use for these kids such as gross tasting nail polish or even a mouth guard.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/68841-stop-kids-nail-biting/
The other link is a website full of consequences that happen when people emit biting their nails. This behavior is horrible for your teeth and can ruin the enamel! This is horrible because I am obsessed with my teeth and that is awful that I bite my nails all the time.
http://www.healthvideo.com/article.php?id=212
3) This definitely continues with my topic of interest because I am starting to learn more and more consequences of biting my nails, as well as I'm still figuring out ways for positive and negative reinforcement on myself so that maybe I can stop the stupid behavior of biting nails. Someday..
4) positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, emit, consequence
1) My topic that I wanted research further was habitual eating. I think as college students, a lot of us don't find time to eat right, and we find ourselves eating for no reason at all. I have this problem, especially when I study or am bored. I think it relates to behavior modification because I think you can change your target behavior (of habitual eating) if you realize the problem and know some ways to change it.
2) The first site I used to research further about my topic was a website on "How to Curb Habitual Eating". It used positive reinforcement and emitting certain behaviors such as making a list of other activities you can do, or making real, healthy meals instead of snacking.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4664308_curb-habitual-eating.html
The second site I look at was a site that discusses different positive reinforcements, such as going for a walk, calling a friend or reading a book instead of habitual eating. You should emit different behaviors that will allow you to focus on changing your target behavior.
http://www.poweringmuscles.com/article.php?id=40
3) In conclusion, I've come to realize that in order to change your habitual eating habits, you should find a specific target behavior and use positive reinforcement to change that behavior. The consequences may be aversive if you keep habitual eating. It is important to distract yourself with other activities to keep yourself busy.
4) Target behavior, positive reinforcement, emit, consequence, aversive
1. The topic I chose is the treatment of anorexia. I find this topic extremely interesting because the target behavior is one that has clearly already been modified into its current state. I feel as though it will be a lot harder to modify a behavior that has evolved into its current state that is being emitted than it would be to modify a behavior like speaking out of turn.
2. a)The first site I found is from http://www.eating-disorder.com/Eating-Treatment/Eating-Disorders/anorexia-nervosa.htm. The site gives an overview of the behavior, warning signs, health risks, and treatment options. The site discussed how the emitted behavior is positively reinforced by peers seeing their friends thinness as a good thing.
b) My second site is http://www.helpguide.org/mental/anorexia_signs_symptoms_causes_treatment.htm. This site gave really good descriptions of reasons why a person may have become anorexic, what antecedents may have played a roll, and which type of people are more likely to be anorexic. The site covers all different types of treatment for anorexia, more specifically Behavioral therapy. In which positive behaviors are reinforced and aversive behaviors are not. The therapy uses rewards and goal setting to help emit a positive consequence.
3)The sites definitely helped to better set an understanding of the type of person that would become anorexic. I know that there is not one type of person that will become anorexic; however, the sites mentioned that it tends to be the perfectionist that becomes anorexic. Mainly because they have strived to be perfect in every aspect, looks go into that. Along with they perfectionist is the person that uses monitoring their food intake as a source of control in their life because they feel as though the rest of their life is not under control. The sites gave me a good understanding of how much it would take to modify the behavior of and anorexic person, it would not be an easy task.
4) Target behavior, emit, positive reinforcement, antecedent, aversive, consequence, emit.
1.) The topic I chose to look into was over-exercising. This topic interests me because I have people in my family that experience this disorder. I believe that over-exercising is a disorder and can lead to other unhealthy behaviors. I want to learn how find a balance of healthy exercising and eating patterns. This relates to behavior modification because exercising is a reinforcer, sometimes the benefits are too pleasurable creating problems in one's life.
2.) The first website I found gave detailed information about over-exercising and how it can be aversive to one's mental and physical health. The disorder is referred to as activity disorder. People are becoming reinforced by the results from working out. They are reinforced to continue emitting work out behaviors because they see results of loosing weight or toning up. People are also reinforced by people comments saying they look better. The article describes that women are affected by eating and exercising disorders. Their health is aversively affected when too much body fat or body weight is lost. Many of the symptoms displayed by people with activity disorder are similar to people that suffer from anorexia or bulimia. They are overcome with thoughts of their weight and body image. They describe treatment of activity disorder is to reinforce the individual to not emit exercising behaviors as often. Individuals are encouraged to change their operant behavior. By not placing themselves around a gym or not having exercising equipment in their house they are less likely to be elicited to have feelings to work out.
The second website did not have as much information but still had the same general information. People are more likely to be elicited of feelings to work out if they are more sensitive about their weight and body image. This article mentioned consequences from over-exercising. Some of these consequences include poor physical and emotional health; poor performance in school and in the work place; insomnia; depression; and physical aliments.
3.)This furthers my understanding because I think I have a healthy balance of working out. I never realized how much of a problem it can cause. Normally, people think of working out is a pleasurable experience, reinforcing pleasurable behaviors. But for some people this activity disorder can be aversive to people, reinforcing too much where it becomes unhealthy.
4.) Aversive, Pleasurable, Operant Behaviors, Consequence, Reinforcer, Reinforced, Elicit, Emit.
http://www.healthyplace.com/eating-disorders/main/over-exercising-over-activity/menu-id-58/page-5/
http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/ohe/library/bodyimage/compulsive-exercise.htm
1. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is becoming more common among children and adolescence. This disorder comes in many different forms depending on the emphasis of the child’s struggle. Depending on the severity of the child’s ADHD sometimes medications are not beneficial. There can be many side effects to the treatments and alternative therapies have to be considered. This topic is of interest to me not only because I am a psychology major but because of how common the disorder is and how many people are diagnosed with ADHD. This disorder relates to behavior modification because not all cases of ADHD can be treated with medications. The side effects of the medications can cause other psychological issues which counteract the benefit of the drug. Therefore behavior modification has to be used in order to change the mind set and behavior habits of the individuals suffering from this disorder. This topic also relates to behavior modification based on the reading that was due for today. The different types of facets that are linked to ADHD are topographically similar; however, the functional purpose of each of the facets (hyperactivity and inattentiveness) cause different consequences because they are caused by different antecedents.
2. The websites that I choose to reference are as follows:
http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/guide/adhd-behavioral-techniques
This website outlines many different behavior techniques that parents and teachers can use when dealing with a student or child with ADHD. This website breaks down the techniques into three different categories; ages five and younger, ages six to twelve, and teenagers. This reason for this separation is depending on the child’s level of maturity it can alter how the individuals reacts to the disorder. When the child is five or younger the parent is trying to set boundaries and expectations of the child and producing a reward system that is tailors to the child’s specific ADHD behavior because the behaviors of an ADHD child are topographically similar just as the disruptive behaviors John was dealing with in his classroom from the example in the book. When the child gets older the parent has to consider other antecedent that will occur in the environment. An example of this would be the new realization that his/her friend might have preconceived ideas of what ADHD is therefore, the parents has to be careful how the individual is punished for their behavior or rewarded otherwise the child will have aversive reactions to the behavior modification techniques.
http://www.healing-arts.org/children/ADHD/educational.htm
This website maps out different teaching strategies that are used in order to help keep a good working environment for the child with ADHD. Some of the strategies discussed focuses on setting rules and expectations clearly and following these rules and expectations so that the child grasps a good understand of how the structure and routine of the class is handled. Also another suggestion was to set up a table that has minimal distractions for the student in order to provide a good working environment conducive for the student to learn. In the ABC model this environment would be the antecedent which will then produce good concentrated behavior; therefore, producing an outcome that is in compliance with the student’s targeted behavior. Also on this website it outlined other ideas such as movement therapies, sensory integration therapies, and emotional support as alternative ways to handle the child with ADHD from a behavior modification perspective.
3. Most of the research that I have done on this topic was more focused on the medication that is used for treatment of ADHD. In the websites that I read through today I learned a lot more about the behavior changes that individuals can make in order to deal with the symptoms of ADHD. A lot of the behavior modification the articles suggested had to do with the ABC’s that we discussed in class. Making sure the environment (Antecedent) was structured and the expectations for the child were defined will elicit more focused behaviors (Behavior) of the child, in turn creating a beneficial response from the child (Consequence).
4. Behavior Modification, topographically, functional, target behavior, antecedent, consequence, behavior, elicit, and aversive reactions.
1- I chose audience management and control. This topic regards various methods for developing skills to manage a wide variety of audiences either while performing, giving a speech, or running a meeting. This topic is of interest to me because I use it frequently when I perform magic. A vast majority of the techniques involve various behavior modification principles such as implementing various forms of positive and negative, reinforcement and punishment to shape people’s behavior.
2- http://www.effectivemeetings.com This site has a large number of articles describing various ways to develop presentational skills such that your audience is more likely to emit your desired target behaviors. Regarding audience management in particular they naturally recommend a careful analysis of who your target audience will be, and to be fully prepared. This is ensuring that you maximize the overall positive reinforcement value of your show prior to going on stage. They recommend variety to avoid boredom (satiation), and suspense (deprivation) to keep the audience engaged. Regarding hecklers or bad audience members they recommend strategies for ignoring them. By removing all reinforcing behaviors the heckling behavior will become extinct. These skills help you modify your performance such that it will elicit the behaviors you want your audience to emit.
http://www.mindtools.com/page8.html This site also provides a number of articles geared towards effective speaking and presentations. Of particular interest to me was a report on the various ways that questions can be used to shape people’s responses. Various types of questions will elicit different responses from the spectator. By emitting the appropriate question asking behavior for the type of response you wish to elicit from the audience you can better manage that audience. Also they describe moving objects in the room around to create the appropriate establishing operation to increase the reinforcing power of the various types of reinforcers your show may include. If an intimate, friendly, open-dialogue atmosphere is a reinforcer in your presentation moving the chairs into a circle is a good establishing oberation.
3- These sites reminded me of how important basic communication tools are in performing magic, and how important the basic behavior modification techniques are in developing an interesting and professional presentation. Since performing magic is all about communication and control, speaking skills and behavior modification are at the top of the list of necessary skills to be successful.
4- Emit, elicit, reinforcer, reinforcing power, positive reinforcement, establishing operation, target behavior, satiation, deprivation, shape, extinct(ion).
1. My topic in interest is children with ADHD. It interests me because my little sister has it, and even though I know I am not her guardian, if I had the choice I would have chose to keep her off of medication. ADHD relates to behavior modification because most children who are diagnosed with disability generally go through Behavioral Therapy. Behavioral Therapy is a non-medical approach to treating children with ADHD. Behavioral Therapy is actually rather simple, to get a child behave in ways that are pleasant, and socially appropriate, parents are told to praise their ADHD children and make them feel good about themselves as a consequence of doing something positive. When the relationship between child and parent remains positive, the child will keep wanting to behave appropriately to continue to feel good about themselves, and making their parents happy. Negative consequences (punishment) are also elicited to the child when they behave inappropriately.
2. The first website I found was:
http://www.athealth.com/Consumer/farticles/Rabiner.html
gave a wonderful overview of what behavioral therapy was, and it also gave tips as to how to use positive reinforcement, which is what behavioral therapy is all about! It also does a wonderful job of explaining how ADHD think and process things, and makes sure you understand to not unload too many things at once on an ADHD child's plates. They do better with short term goals rather than long term.
The second website was:
http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/860.html
THis website did a wonderful job of explaining that children need routine and focus. I loved this website because it explained Target Behaviors but it didn't call them that (I love that I was able to pick that out!).
"Once you've chosen key behaviors to work on (say, getting to bed on time or not interrupting someone else when they're speaking), you then must be clear — and realistic — about your expectations and what you're going to look for"
3. These sites further expanded my knowledge because I love reading about these sort of things since it directly relates to my life. I'm always looking for ways to help my little sister succeed. While she doesn't experience the worst side effects of ADHD, I think it was "easier" when she was put on medication for her teachers because they don't know how to use proper behavioral methods techniques. They just want children to sit down, shut up and behave. I'm actually excited to try a few of the things I learned from these websites (it also won't hurt to add them to my Intro to Research Methods paper...)
4. Pleasant, Target Behavior, consequence, positive reinforcement, negative, elicited, punishment.
1) My topic is youth counseling because it is a career I would eventually like to have. It relates to behavior modification in almost every aspect because the counselors have to reinforce and punish behaviors constantly so the children will stop emitting undesirable behaviors.
2) The first website I found (http://brookfieldgrouphome.org/PDFs/jobs/LeadYouthCounselor.pdf) gave a list of duties a youth counselor would need to be able to emit. It talked about changing disruptive behaviors. They would either need to use reinforcement or punishment to modify the behaviors. One way they could do this is by giving the children privileges (such as extra time to play or less chores) or by punishing them so they would find the consequence undesirable and stop emitting the behavior. It also talks about communicating with other staff members during shift changes (which would help in making sure extinction of a behavior wouldn't happen).
The second website I found was http://www.schoolsintheusa.com/careerprofiles_details.cfm?carid=861 .
It talked about choosing Target Behaviors (such as stealing or cheating) and helping the children modify them. It was a basic overview of the skills a counselor would need in order to be effective.
The third site was the Wikipedia site on School counseling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_counselor. I found it interesting because it talked about counseling not only in the US, but also in other countries. It also talked about elementary school, middle school, and high school separately which was helpful for me. I think I would like to work with elementary school children. This site didn't relate to class as much, but I still benefited from the information.
3) These sites confirmed my decision to go to school for counseling. I don't really want to go to graduate school after undergrad, but youth/school counseling seems like a great career fit for me. I think I would regret my decision if I chose another career instead, just because I wouldn't need extra schooling for it. It also helped me realize how important behavior modification is because I will need to use it every day for this career.
4) Reinforce, punish, emit, undesirable, consequence, extinction, Target Behaviors,
1) I picked procrastination. As a college student I struggle with this almost daily. The question of whether I should play video games or do something aversive, like homework, comes up all the time. And sad to say almost invariably I procrastinate. I think if I ever manage to summon up the titanic amount of willpower it would take to break me from this habit having a carefully planned out intervention based on psychological principles would be of great aid in my struggle.
2a) this site http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/overcoming-procrastination.htm outlines 8 basic reason why we procrastinate, basically operant definitions of target behavior. also it includes helpful ideas on how to reduce these factors in your life so you do not feel the need to procrastinate. Example: Stress as a causal factor. The site suggests that time management so you won't feel pressured will help. It also mentions positive reinforcement such as having time to relax after will help motivate you to complete the task. This site doesn't go into great detail or use psychological terms, but it does present the material in an easy to understand manner.
2b)This site http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/its-never-too-late-to-stop-procrastinating?page=3 gives a more reputable take on procrastination. Some of the major causes and fixes are discussed. In the article it is mentioned that even if you know the problem that's not enough. You have to take the time to define your target behavior and design an intervention. The article also talks about how if you make the behavioral changes, and stick to them that eventually your brain will change and you will no longer feel the need to procrastinate. This gives me hope.
3) The sites really helped me define my own behavior. I know I procrastinate because I'm stressed about the project. I've been doing it for years, but now I have some proof, some evidence that I can point out to myself when I do it so I'm less likely to. Also some of the intervention strategies like breaking the task down seem like something that would help me focus on doing homework. I hope I can apply these in the future.
4)adversive, intervention, operant definition, target behavior, positive reinforcement
1)The topic I chose was potty training. This is particularly interesting to me as I work in a school/day care setting in a room of two-year olds. It is around this age that parents are trying to potty train their children, which we continue at work. There is one child whose parents have decided to use the manipulation process of positive reinforment. We have a bag of Skittles in the bathroom and when he emits the correct behavior (going potty on the toliet), he is able to choose and eat one Skittle.
2)The first website I found was http://www.parallaxweb.com/parenting/ttt.html
This website says that the best way to potty train is behavior modification, with a primary and secondary reward. These rewards will help parents to elicit the correct potty training behaviors. The website also gives an example of this concept.
The second webside I found was http://www.pottiestickers.com/
This website actually sells products to help parents potty train their child or children using behavior modification. The products are fun incentives for the children while they are on the toilet.
3)These sites helped me to see that reinforcement of going potty on the toilet is a much better route to potty training than punishment for not. This will help a great deal when the other children start to potty train. Understanding this concept will help us understand the process of potty training itself.
4)reinforcment, positive reinforcment, emits, elicit, punishment
1) My topic of interest is binge eatting disorder. I am interested in this topic becauce i've known someone who struggled with binge eatting disorder. This related to behavior modification because this is a behavioral problem that is needed to know why this disorder occurs in a person.
2) http://www.athealth.com/Consumer/disorders/Bingeeating.html
Binge eating disorder is a newly recognized condition that probably affects millions of Americans. People with binge eating disorder frequently eat large amounts of food while feeling a loss of control over their eating. This disorder is different from binge-purge syndrome (bulimia nervosa) because people with binge eating disorder usually do not purge afterward by vomiting or using laxatives.
Most of us overeat from time to time, and many people feel they frequently eat more than they should. Eating large amounts of food, however, does not mean that a person has binge eating disorder and have to face the consequences that comes along with the disorder. Doctors are still debating the best ways to determine if someone has binge eating disorder. But most people with serious binge eating problems have:
Frequent episodes of eating what others would consider an abnormally large amount of food.
Frequent feelings of being unable to control what or how much is being eaten.
Several of these behaviors or feelings:
Eating much more rapidly than usual.
Eating until uncomfortably full.
Eating large amounts of food, even when not physically hungry.
Eating alone out of embarrassment at the quantity of food being eaten.
Feelings of disgust, depression, or guilt after overeating.
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/binge_eating_disorder.htm
It’s common to turn to food for comfort: unwinding after a long day with a hot bowl of soup, for instance, or digging into a pint of Rocky Road after a fight with your significant other. But when eating becomes the main strategy for managing emotions and dealing with stress, it can develop into an unhealthy and uncontrollable food “addiction.”
People with binge eating disorder suffer from this psychological food addiction. Like the alcoholic that can’t say no to a drink, they can’t say no to food. Often, their binge eating is triggered by a depressed or anxious mood, but they may also overeat when they’re tense, lonely, or bored. They eat to feed their feelings, rather than their bodies. Just like alcoholics an intervention needs to be done to help them realize the problem.
The problem is that emotional eating doesn’t solve anything. It may be comforting for a brief moment, but then reality sets back in, along with regret and self-loathing. Emotional eating also leads to problems of its own—including weight gain and obesity.
3) These sites helped further my knowledge and understanding of what this disorder is and what it can do to your body. Many people struggle with binge eatting disorders and it often times is over looked. The person who is struggling is punishing their bodies. I learned tips that will help over come binge eatting that need to be shared. Some helpful tips are Eat breakfast, Avoid temptation, Stop dieting,Exercise, and Destress.There needs to be postive reinforcement to over come this disorder.
4) postive reinforment, intervention, punishment,consequence
1. My topic of interest is Agoraphobia. I was recently watching an episode of 30Rock where Steve Martin guest stared as an Agoraphobic business executive, which led me to explore this topic further. Agoraphobia is most commonly known as someone who never leaves their home, a very abnormal behavior.
2. The first site I am posting is from the Mayo Clinic. Very informative and clear overview of the disorder, symptoms, and treatments. It is an anxiety disorder related to fear that causes people to fear places where they may not be able to escape easily or with out embarrassment. It is also to common to fear being in a place that might induce a panic attack, such as elevators, malls, sporting events, public transportation, etc.. Treatment means facing your fears, which can be extremely hard. A cause the site discusses that relates to behavior modification is when people start to associate their panic attacks with one or more situations where the panic attacks have happened, negative reinforcement. They then avoid situations where panic attacks have occurred. This is the most well known cause. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/agoraphobia/DS00894/DSECTION=causes
The next site I am posting is the Agoraphobia page of mental health.cm http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis/p20-an02.html
This site has several definitions of this condition including the American version from the DSM-IV and the European version from their equivalent to the DSM-IV. According the European version Agoraphobia started out as a fear of open spaces. It was later added to the definition a fear of crowds and public places. A great behavioral point from the European definition is that agoraphobic individuals experience little anxiety because they are able to avoid stressful situations. Negative reinforcement.
3. A behaviorist like John Watson would use systematic desensitization to treat someone with agoraphobia. In this way he could use reinforcement to gradually ease people back into feeling comfortable in public.
I found it also important to note that describing someone as agoraphobic is a topographical behavioral class.
4. negative reinforcement ,systematic desensitization, topographical behavioral class.
The topic I chose is the self-harming behavior of cutting. Working at Bremwood I’ve worked with several kids who feel that cutting is the best way to relieve their stress and feel better about themselves. We use behavior modification to reinforce better choices of coping skills while also building their self esteem. I felt that this related to behavior modification because I use behavior mod all the time to try and deal with the issue of cutting.
The first website I looked at was webmd http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/cutting-self-harm-signs-treatment. The website describes what cutting is, who does it, why they do it, and how to deal with it. One of the first things that’s mentioned is that when parents suspect a child is cutting they need to let the child know that they can come to them and won’t be punished. According to webmd the first step to help deal with this is psychotherapy. If this doesn’t work then the next step would be an inpatient program, which is what I do and where behavior modification comes in. The website doesn’t actually speak about behavior modification but it does speak about reinforcement. They say that we should reinforce safe behaviors and let the kids know that we trust that they can make good choices. They also say that adults shouldn’t use negative reinforcement such as taking away the kids belongings such as razors or belts as a consequence because it makes the kids feel worse.
The next website I found was called S.A.F.E Alternatives at http://www.selfinjury.com/. It is a resource for those who need help with self-harming behaviors. There is a lot of different treatment approaches that are talked about on the website . Again, behavior modification wasn’t actually spoken about but they did speak about some of the concepts of behavior modification. As the previous website did, it speaks about reinforcing positive behaviors. They also speak about punishing bad behaviors by possibly suspending the person from the program if they do poorly.
The sites just reinforced what I already know about using behavior modification at work. I already understand how behavior modification can be used in a treatment center but I realized that sometimes I may use the wrong techniques. We often tend to punish residents when they make unsafe choices and often overlook the good choices they are making which results in less reinforcement and more punishment. I think this class is really going to help me at work because I will learn better techniques to helping the residents that I work with.
Terms: punished, reinforcement, reinforce, negative reinforcement, consequence
1. The topic I chose to discuss is disciplining children. This topic interests me because I am an education major and have learned a lot of different strategies for guiding the behavior of young children. I have also worked with children in a variety of settings and have had the opportunity to observe both effective and ineffective disciplining techniques. This topic relates to behavior modification because positive and negative reinforcement, along with positive and negative punishment can all be used as a way to guide children’s behavior and encourage them to behave in a particular way.
2. http://childparenting.about.com/cs/behaviorproblems/a/behaviormod.htm This site provides step-by-step directions and ideas for using a system of behavior modification with your child. It suggests using rewards as a way to motivate children to behave in a particular way. I’m not sure if rewards are considered positive reinforcement or not … ? The site also includes links to behavior charts that can be used in the behavior modification process with the child.
http://www.fredjones.com/Positive_Discipline/Discipline_Ch13.html This website discusses the use of positive discipline in a classroom setting. It discusses an idea similar to that in Section 2.1 about replacing a problematic or difficult behavior with an appropriate behavior. Then, the site goes on to discuss the need to pinpoint the problem behavior, which is in essence selecting a target behavior that the teacher wants to modify. The author then goes on to discuss recording the target behavior and selecting powerful reinforcers. The site continues by describing positive discipline in group situations and the procedures that go along with that.
3. These sites further expanded my interest in using behavior modification as a method for guiding children’s behavior by giving me information on how to use positive discipline and behavior modification in my future classroom. The second site showed me how I could use behavior modification and positive discipline with my own child. I was impressed by the emphasis on clearly defining a target behavior and making sure the child understands what is expected from them. The first site provided a detailed discussion of interventions in using behavior modification with children and I had never really thought of interventions to that extent.
4. Behavior modification, positive and negative reinforcement, positive and negative punishment, positive reinforcement, target behavior, reinforcers, intervention
1.The topic that I chose was eating disorders. This topic interests me because I have had many close friends that have experienced eating disorders and also because there are many college students that struggle with their weight and resort to becoming bulimic or anorexic. This topic relates to behavior modification because eating disorders are a behavioral problem and there are many ways that the person suffering from this disorder needs to modify their behavior by changing their ways involved with food, exercising, and other factors standing in the way.
2. http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/problems/eat_disorder.html
This site provides information about bulimia, anorexia, and binge eatng, and starts out by stating a shocking statistic that 1 or 2 out of every 100 students will struggle with an eating disorder. The site provides some symptoms and warning signs of these eating disorders. Along with what causes them, the effects of eating disorders on the human body, and many treatments. The site suggests behavior therapy as a main treatment of eating disorders so that doctors can analyze eating and activity patterns, and target positive behaviors for promoting healthier habbits.
http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/ken98-0047/default.asp
This site was a lot more user-friendly and more organized than the previous one. The site provides similar information to the above website but also talks about the formal diagnosis of an eating disorder. The formal diagnosis for anorexia was weighing at least 15 percent below what was considered a normal weight. The diagnosis for bulimia was purging at least 2 times a week, and for binge-eating it was at least 2 episodes of binge-eating in a week. Another bit of information that was provided in this site were the medical problems that could arise from these disorders. For the treatments, behavioral therapy was an affective treatment for all three eating disorders discussed on this site.
3. The sites definitely expanded my interest of eating disorders and showed the aversive effects of what eating disorders can do to your body. Too many people are struggling with eating disorders and this may be overlooked as just an extreme diet or a temporary solution to losing weight, but eating disorders are a much bigger deal than we think, and can lead to negative consequences. Modifying the behavior of a person with an eating disorder would be a full time job and much harder than would be expected.
4.aversive, behavior therapy, target behavior, positive, behavior modification, consequences
1) The topic I choose is binge drinking. This is a topic of interest for me, because I feel it is very common among college campuses. College students often engage in drinking, I being one of them, but we don't always realize the long-term effects. I don't necessarily want to stop, I am just curious as to how I can modify my weekend festivities to better benefit my health in the long run. I think it is particulary hard for college students to just socially drink at parties or bars, so we seem to overdrink. I also feel that certain stresses of college serve as antecedents to binge drinking. This relates to behavior motification, because binge drinking can be an antecedent for certain aversive behaviors, such as alcoholism. If we can learn how to curb some of the stimuluses involved in binge drinking, we can find ways to make it desirable and "healthier" at the same time.
2) The first site I found is from the US Dept. of Health and Human Services. It gave some statistics about underage drinking and college binge drinking such as:
1. Binge drinking often begins around age 13 and peaks in young adulthood, ages 18-22, which are the prime ages of the traditional college student.
2. Nearly one in five teenagers (16 %) has experienced "black out" spells where they could not remember what happened.
3. More than 60% of college men and almost 50% of college women who are frequent binge drinkers report that they drink and drive.
It also mentions some potential effects and consequences such as:
1. mental health disorders (compulsiveness, depression or anxiety)
2. early deviant behavior
3. probably the most obvious, alcohol poisoning, which can eventually cause the brain to shut down the voluntary functions that regulate breathing and heart rate.
Learning about some of the aversive effects of binge drinking may elicit responses in college students to modify their drinking behavior, or hopefully at least to reduce it.
http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/govpubs/rpo995/
The second site I found covered an article of a study that researched the links between stress and binge drinking. The study found that the odds of binge drinking was higher on days that individuals experienced more severe stressors in contrasst to no stress days. In addition, the odds of binge drinking increased as stressors piled-up over consecutive days. Furthermore, binge drinking was more likely to occur on days of elevated negative affect (depressive emotions) suggesting that binge drinking may be used to cope with elevated distress. According to this study's results, stress may serve as a discriminative stimulus that elicits the behavior of binge drinking.
The study did not list different kinds of stress; however, it did evaluate its severity based on its pile-up over a certain number of days and the degree of disruptiveness and unpleasantness associated with the stressor.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2705115/
3) After reading through both of these websites, I became informed of the adversive effects of binge drinking and how stress can be an antecedent to binge drinking. Similar to our eating assignment in class, I think personally we could target binge drinking behavior. We could keep a log of drinking to form a baseline and then try to modify our behavior with an intervention. I wouldn't suggest this as a class but it is something that could be done personally. I just thought the topic was interesting and if other people wanted to try to modify their own drinking habits, they could.
4) antecedent, aversive, discriminative stimulus, target behavior, modify, desirable, elicit, intervention, baseline
I enjoyed Emily and Allison's posts about ADHD and how they applied it the ABC's of behavior modification. I've done a lot of research over ADHD and I liked the links they found, especially the one where they break down the the treatment techniques into age brackets.
I am commenting on the post by valberry. Phobias are definitely intriguing. They are another example of how the same antecedent can lead to a myriad of different behaviors. For instance, in the video with the frogs, the antecedent was seeing a frog, the behavior was screaming and panicking, and the consequence was this woman not wanting to ever be around frogs again. She was positively punished (agitation is added) for seeing the frog. Why she reacts in that way is uncertain. The video is a bit sad though because all of the audience and even Maury are laughing at her because of her reaction. Obviously the people do not fully understand phobias. The context of her being on the Maury show may also have caused her to be more drastic about her reactionary behavior than she might be under normal circumstances. It was interesting also to read on the website that the almost all phobias are curable. I did not realize that people could almost always have success in getting rid of them.
I am commenting on the post by Emily S. I find that I emit habitual eating habits also. Sometimes I'm so busy that I just snack on random things throughout the day. Because of this, I don't get enough vegetables, and I probably consume too many calories. I liked the links that you posted, and think they could be really helpful. Here is another that I found http://www.personalfitnessprogram.com/pages/fittipwk.html. Hopefully I will be able to find a target behavior and reduce my habitual eating habits.
How can we change kids behaviors dealing with bullying? Why does bullying continue to be a problem in schools year after year? Where does the problem start and can we end it? Is it a parenting issue? Do educators now have to step in and teach a moral code of conduct in addition to academics? Do anti-bullying programs really work? I have heard of bully free zones and programs that teach kids starting in kindergarten how to treat others. I'm sure that kids in these programs learn at an early age that bullying is just not acceptable. I am especially interested in this subject because I hope to be a school counselor someday. Kids are destroying others kids for life.
http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/adults/default.aspx
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/mar/07/local/me-bullying7
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLxVOdPtWxE
The post on dog training by Hippen had some really interesting points. The sites used had great information on how we should use reinforcement instead of punishment to elicit the behaviors we want the dog to emit. We also don't want the dog to be satiated with too many treats (or other food) while we are training because they won't be salient. If we reinforce the dog immediately after it's behavior, it will be more likely to emit the behavior again. This subject shows us that training can be desirable for the dog (because it is reinforced with treats) and us (because the dog does what we want).
Terms: reinforcement, punishment, elicit, emit, satiated, salient, desirable.
The number of terms is 7.