What I would like you to do is to find a topic that you are interested in and related to Behavior Modification and search the internet for material on that topic. You might, for example, find people who are doing research on the topic, you might find web pages that discuss the topic, you might find youtube clips that demonstrate something related to the topic, etc. What you find and use is pretty much up to you at this point. I would like you to use quality informative website though.
Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the class, and why you are interested in it. Next, I would like you to take the information you found related to your topic, integrate/synthesize it, and then write about it in an informative manner so the reader will learn about the topic through your writings (not by referring them to a website) . At the end, please include working URLs for the websites used.
Please make sure you use the terms, terminology and concepts you have learned so far in the class. It should be apparent from reading your post that you are a college student well underway in a course in psychology.
Please use spaces between your paragraphs to make your post easier to read - thanks in advance
Let me know if you have any questions.
My interest for this assignment is to the look at the specific behavior of biting in young children. I believe this topic directly relates to the class because it involves a behavior and one that parents must decide how to deal with, and try to manipulate. What does a parent do to stop younger children from biting? Obviously they would want this behavior to decrease, so they would look to find a punisher to indeed punish the biting behavior. I am particularly interested in this because my little brother came back from the babysitter once with bite marks on his arms. When my mother addressed the babysitter about this, the babysitter said that my little brother was biting other children, so therefore the teacher would actually bite him back as punishment. At the age of three I don’t really feel that my little brother was punished in the right way for this. And let’s just say my mother was less than pleased.
Because biting behaviors are somewhat common in younger children I think behavioral manipulation of these behaviors is greatly needed as well as useful to parents.
“The National Association for the Education of Young Children (1996) estimates that 1 out of 10 toddlers/2-year-olds engages in biting behaviors”.
Much of the literature states that biting may actually be a form of natural development during the ages that infants and toddlers bite. That literature also says that once a child hits 3 and is still biting, it could be because of behavioral problems.
In order to stop a child from emitting a biting behavior we must take the ABC’s into action. We can take my little brother’s daycare experience as an example for breaking this down.
A - Preschool
B - Scotty bites another child when the child takes his toy
C - Babysitter bites Scotty
This is a form of positive punishment, which is a lot like spanking. In order to decrease Scotty’s biting behavior the babysitter is the punisher and punishes Scotty by biting him back. This type of behavior is adversive to Scotty because it obviously hurts. This would then suggest that biting back would be a good positive punishment because it would indeed decrease the behavior from happening.
After reading the section 2.1 I found that instead of always punishing people or children for this matter, one should try to use reinforcement as much as possible in place of punishment. I would now like to look at the situation as a form of reinforcement using the same antecedent and context.
A – Preschool
B – Scotty shares his toy with another child
C – Scotty is praised by babysitter for sharing with another child
Although the above behavior doesn’t exactly deal with the biting behavior itself, it helps to reinforce other behaviors in a positive way that is pleasurable to Scotty. I think this is a more positive way to look at this situation from what we have learned so far in class. More literature I found suggests that biting a child back is not a good form of punishment. It may even reinforce the biting behavior because it models others doing this behavior for the child. Although the original intent is for the child to feel how it then feels to be bitten, I’m not entirely sure this is going to sink in to a toddler. Another option for dealing with the child after the biting occurs would be to focus attention on the victim of the biting.
Before taking this class I feel that I probably would not have understood this problem in this way, or been able to come with an alternative method.
Here is also a youtube video, one of my favorites, that examines this behavior in a funny way. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM
Other works:
http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/poptopics/biting.html
http://www.babycenter.com/404_my-child-bites-should-i-bite-him-back_69171.bc
The topic that I decided to focus on for this assignment is the effect of using too much punishment on a child, and more specifically, corporal punishment, in comparison to proper discipline. I've always been against these ideas and I decided to take it one step further and look into these topics and get factual background.
Punishment, in theory, is meant to suppress unwanted behaviors, but in reality it can end up not doing nearly what we want it to do if it's not used correctly. There is a fine line between disciplining a child, and just punishing the child. Punishment simply shows them that if they break the rules, they will suffer negative consequences. It doesn't tell them why the rules are in place or why they need to be responsible for the actions they are performing. Disciplining a child is different in that there is a lesson to be learned, and a socially acceptable behavior to be had rather than the one they are emitting. The hope of disciplining is not to strictly punish, it is to better a child towards superior behaviors.
This all shows how corporal punishment is doing the exact opposite of what you want to do in raising your child. Corporal punishment is punishing by using a variety of physical abuse, such as spankings, hitting, etc. Corporal punishment elicits a variety of unwanted responses, and is never healthy in producing proper behavior. It doesn't teach children that they need to change their behavior, it simply teaches them that violence is acceptable. Why would you ever want to force your child into feeling degraded and weak, all the while believe it is okay to treat them that way simply for a behavior that they don't understand why it's bad? Corporal punishment works strongly against everything we wish to build within behavior modification.
Punishment also leads to a fear within the children. They fear that they will be hurt, fear that their things will be taken away, etc. They don't have a strong grasp on why it is that their behavior is bad, they simply know that if they do it, they will be punished. Without knowledge built on how your behavior effects yourself and others around you, a child has nothing to learn from and shape his behavior from. If you can discipline a child correctly, rather than strictly punishing, you will reap the positive benefits the rest of your life.
http://www.corpun.com/benatar.htm
http://www.kidsdevelopment.co.uk/EffectsOfPunishmentOnChildren.html
The Eden Alternative is a philosophy that resulted in response to three behaviors within long-term care facilities. The three behaviors are loneliness, helplessness, and boredom. This is directly related to this class because what we have is three undesirable behaviors being emitted by the elderly in nursing homes, as well as the idea that nursing homes are structured in a way that they elicit these behaviors from the people served. The Eden Alternative promotes a proactive approach towards modifying the way in which we perceive long-term care, in order to reinforce behaviors that punish loneliness, helplessness, and boredom. I am interested in this because it is behavior modification in action in the real world. It excites me because it is an avenue that is worth exploring post graduation. I also like it because the biggest emphasis is on the modification of behavior of those employees who are too institutionalized. This philosophy incorporates children, animals, and plants into the environment of long-term care because these three elements elicit behaviors in the elderly in which they feel that they have a reason to be alive.
While there is not a lot of quantitative evidence to support that the Eden Alternative should replace the current method of long-term care facilities, qualitative evidence has shown that the Eden Alternative has directly impacted the need for heavy amounts of medication use and also the use of restraints. The biggest impact of this whole philosophy is that it causes both the elderly and the staff to rethink the idea of old age. Rather than old age being a time where a person feels that they have lived their lives and now it is a slow wait till death, the Eden Alternative suggests that old age is another stage of life. This stage can be one in which the elderly feel more involved in their lives, and these techniques punish loneliness, boredom, and helplessness, and reinforce the will and desire to live.
http://www.edenalt.org/
http://circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/17772?show=full
http://apps.isiknowledge.com/full_record.do?product=MEDLINE&search_mode=GeneralSearch&qid=2&SID=3BMh3gkekj@PFMFnk9K&page=1&doc=2
For this weeks web diversity activity I chose to use dog training as my topic of interest. I decided on this topic because I have a 3 month old wiener dog named Puppy Pup and he just seems to refuse to listen to anyone. Maybe if I do a little research on this topic I will come up with new techniques to get him to do the behaviors I desire such as, not barking, going to the bathroom outside, and not jumping up on people. Dogs are my favorite animal and I plan on having a dog for the rest of my life so I should probably figure out how to shape their behavior now before its too late.
One cohesive patter in which I found across all the sources I decided to use is that each source mentions the term "reinforcement" in some manner. It was rare that I saw punishment brought up as a technique to change a dogs behavior. The websites were all full of different behavioral terms. Apparently many dog owners inadvertently reward their dogs behavior just by giving them attention when they do an undesirable behavior. Sometimes it is just better to ignore the dogs behavior or create a negative association when he is participating in behavior the owner doesn't approve of. It really makes me begin to wonder if positive reinforcement works so well in modifying the behavior of a dog, if the same thing would also be the best way to shape our behaviors.
http://www.dog-obedience-training-review.com/
http://www.positivedogtraining.org/
http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/dog_training_positive_reinforcement.html
This week since we can choose our own topic I feel the need to continue to analyze the behavioral aspects of trichotillomania. My continual choice to discuss and manipulate this behavior is not only help for me but also a way to find if anyone else has any suggestions. Trichotillomania, or Trich for short is a compulsive behavioral disorder that results in the pulling of hair from virtually anywhere on the body. Some researchers are still confused as to what area this disease relates too. Some say sensory integration, some say OCD, and the most recent suggested area, is the same category as pyromaniacs and kleptomaniacs. The sense of building some sort of tension and then gaining a release from a job “well done.” There are many “causes” or “impulses” that set off this behavior. Isolating and controlling the behavior is where behavior modification occurs.
As in class when we isolate a variable to an Antecedent, Behavior, or consequence we can begin to isolate what the trigger is that leads to hair pulling. Could it be over stimulus, under stimulus, or a reaction to another trigger?
By having trichotillomania I am constantly on the look out fow what the behavior cause, and outcome are. For example by beginning to identify what makes me want to pull could be analyzed such as;
A-doing homework
B-pulling
C-having bald spots
In this senerio I can notice that while doing homework it could be either a)stressfull, b)boring, c)strenuous. After analyzing the state that I am in I can tell that by relaxing or focusing on homework it could be a possibility that I take my mind off of monitoring the picking and then allow myself to pick. If I take another situation such as;
A-playing soccer
B-no picking
C-No hair loss
I can use this information to see that by being occupied I do not allow myself to have time to pick. This may then correlate to “understimulus” theory. By not having enough to engage my attention I then begin to pick and compulse over the adversive behavior.
Overall by not yet knowing and isolating the cause I need to keep continuing to monitor the ABC’s and try to stop the behavior in its tracks by knowing what antecedent causes an undesired consequence.
http://westsuffolkpsych.homestead.com/trich_cbt.html
http://www.trich.org/dnld/comprehen_model_btt.pdf
http://www.trich.org/treatment/options-cognitive.html
After reading the chapters and going to class, I’m beginning to see behavior modification techniques or opportunities, as well as terminology, everywhere! It’s almost like a whole new world that I never knew existed (maybe not quite that extreme, but…). So, when reading for another class I came across a short overview of the ABCs and my mind started wandering to this web divergence activity. I kept ruminating and thought about looking into the process of systematic desensitization. I have known this process to be a behavioral treatment from other classes, but never understood WHY it works and have realized that it works through the use of the ABCs. I feel like this divergence may be a far stretch, but it is worth a shot!
Basically, systematic desensitization is a process to help individuals overcome their fears/phobias. In order to do this, patients learn relaxation techniques from their therapist which can involve muscle relaxation and breathing exercises as well as positive visualizations of being in stress free places or situations. Typically, therapists help patients construct a set of situations which cause anxiety related to their specific phobia. For example, in the YouTube video clip below, Mariam is undergoing a systematic desensitization process (though shorter in duration than the typical process from my understanding) in order to extinct her fear of snakes.
As she hinted to in the video, in the context of being in a zoo or watching a movie with snakes, Mariam gets anxious. In a normal length systematic desensitization process, Mariam would rank the context that elicit fear and the therapist would ask her to mentally put herself in those situations. At this time, the therapist will then encourage her to use her relaxation techniques. Eventually, Mariam will be able to conquer all situations that elicit anxiety through the use of reinforcement.
For simplicity, I will break down one context that Mariam emitted anxious behaviors:
A: Zoo
B: Snakes
C: Nothing happens
In other words, in the context of being at the zoo, Mariam encounters snakes but leaves the zoo unharmed. Because Mariam was unharmed, she was reinforced for her behavior making encountering snakes less anxiety provoking. Because Mariam’s aversive feelings were being taken away, this is an example of negative reinforcement. Eventually after all of the anxiety provoking context and situations have been conquered, Mariam will be able to hold a snake without feeling anxious.
I have found that literally EVERY step in the systematic desensitization process uses the ABCs to change the patient’s unpleasant experiences with specific stimuli. After breaking the process down into these behavioral terms, I feel like I actually understand WHY the process of systematic desensitization works rather than just accepting that it is successful (of course there are always exceptions).
I’m starting feel a lot more comfortable with behavioral terms and it is starting to click! Hopefully I was right saying my example was negative reinforcement!
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/systematic-desensitization.html
http://panicdisorder.about.com/od/treatments/a/SystemDesen.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eepQ9disDCs
http://helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_teaching_strategies.htm
My topic is helping kids with ADHD to cooperate in a regular classroom setting. I read a lot about ADHD in my previous psychology classes and I realize how hard it is for some kids to concentrate when directed by their teacher, the truth is its neurological, but there are solutions and coping strategies that help the parents handle their child/children. This topic fits in our Behavior Modification class because its dealing with misbehaving kids, and both the parents and teachers are trying hard to modify this problem behavior in the classroom.
Lots of the research I read states that kids with ADD/ADHD are able to behave appropriately in a regular classroom setting, its just that they need extra help doing it.
Children with ADD/ADHD are capable of appropriate classroom behavior, but they need extra help, structure and clear expectations what needs to be done and how to behave. The most important thing is that a parent can do is develop a discipline plan and stick to it no matter what.
Children with this disorder best cooperate and learn to behave ideally is by using positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement usually means some kind of pleasant reward for the child.
Example:
A: in context of the classroom
B: the child sits for 2 hours in one seat and finishes her/his homework
C: gets extra piece of cake at lunch time
The topic that I was interested in was decreasing the target behavior of using profanity. The reason this particular topic interested me is becuase I would like to stop swearing because it has caused me some embarassment such as the time i was giving a speech in a college class and forgot what my point was so i used a pretty bad word and then used another word after I realized I had swore. I have cut down some what on my use of certain words but I have to make sure to constantly censor myself.
Some people might not find swearing problematic or offensive but acouple of articles I read explained many negatives that outweighed the positives of swearing. After reading a lot of various articles it became even more evident that my target behavior of swearing seemed to be emmited more when I was around a particular group of friends, so i would say that that particular group elicitted the act of swearing more frequently and i emmited the behavior of swearing. The second thing I noticed was that a lot of articles said to picture your grandma sitting next to you, well this really doesn't work for me because my grandma is a short german lady with quite a temper and the mouth of a sailor so I did not find this one aversive so it would not decrease my behavior.
The other common suggestion was to place money in a jar and then donate it to charity. This is an aversive consequence to me because I am the typical broke college student and it would deprive me of much needed cash so in all practicallity this would not work.
Another very common suggestion is to use a replacement word, which is what I already do , but it sounds as equally unintelligent, if not more so when I use. The cuss control website did have a better stance on this concept and recomended using a filler word as a temporary patch.
The best advise was to asses the situation, find more colorful words in the english language and be more polite, and if you know your going into a stressful situation prepare some appropriate phrases that portray your emotions without the use of profanity. I also found a quick clip about this whole entry that sums it up.
http://www.cusscontrol.com/news.html
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,991367,00.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAjqhyENhVU
In early April of next year, I will be becoming an Aunt for the first time! This is really exciting to me because my sister, Ashley, and her husband have been trying for quite some time to conceive. They will both be first time parents, so she has already told me I will be helping out as much as possible. That is why I have chosen potty training as my topic for this blog.
I have had other friends who have had children and have had a hard time potty training. They all have claimed to read the books and watch the videos; but maybe they should take a course in behavior modification to really how to train their child! Though most potty training videos and articles want you to reward your child for going to the bathroom in the toilet, this video does the opposite. In this video, the boy Sammy Jo wants to go to the bathroom like the big kids. While Sammy Jo and his dad were at the zoo, Sammy Jo went to the bathroom in his diaper. They had to leave the zoo because they didn’t have any extra diapers. Therefore, in the context of being at the zoo, Sammy Jo goes to the bathroom in this diaper, then they have to leave the zoo.
A: At the zoo
B: Sammy Jo goes in his diaper
C: Leave the zoo
This would be negative punishment because we are taking away something, or leaving in this case. I would be punishment because we are decreasing the frequency of this behavior.
When it comes to potty training, most people think to reward a child. This article claims that you should reinforce your child by giving him or her stickers, or use a chart to help reinforce their potty training behavior. If the child didn’t go in their diapers, then it would be pleasurable, therefore it would be positive valence. The article also mentions that you should be consistent with who is taking care of the child throughout the potty training process. Everyone on board should be willing to help the child go in the toilet, and should also reinforce the child if he or she does so.
Another way to reward your child is by making up a “special song” to reinforce their good behavior. This and any type of reward would be positive reinforcement because we are adding something, and are wanting to increase the frequency of a certain behavior. This type of reward is mentioned on pampers.com. Since Pamper’s is a well known diaper brand, they have to use some sort of advertisement to sell their products. Their commercials would be an establishing operation to make their product seem more appealing. If a child were watching a commercial with another child going from a diaper to a toilet, then seeing how happy the child is may increase the likelihood of the potty training child to go to the bathroom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GseYAvoJqj0
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/potty-training/CC00060
http://www.pampers.com/en_US/parenting-articles/motivation-and-rewards-for-potty-training/4597
http://www.ldonline.org/article/Behavior_Modification_in_the_Classroom
http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/guide/adhd-behavioral-techniques
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1310791/pdf/jaba00070-0123.pdf
One thing about this class is that it has really helped me at my work. I work at a daycare and at the YMCA. So in helping myself to learn I’ve been trying to relate back to the kids at work. So in researching for this assignment I looked for behavior modification in the classroom. I found ways to decide if, when, and how to modify behavior, much like those in our books, but specific to a classroom setting. Essentially you pick the behavior, find a way to fix it, and then keep reinforcing this behavior in order to shape it. I found that reinforcement is more recommended then punishment, which I agree with, and I feel is generally accepted.
One area that came up multiple times while searching is behavior modification for children with ADHD. I can see where in a classroom these students would need more direction. These sources also were along the same lines of reinforcement before punishment. It was emphasized that clear instructions should be given, and routines were to be followed. When the children follow these instructions and rules and routines they can be rewarded, and thus will learn better. Reinforcement creates a positive environment, in which the students feel more comfortable and willing to learn. I think that in these environments, where the students are allowed to ask questions, and are not automatically punished for every behavior that is wrong are much more learner-friendly and make the classroom a friendly, open place where the students can enjoy their time.
One interesting point I came across was the idea that behavior modification is a way to quench curiosity and individual thought. Classrooms used to be this big intimidating place where students came, sat, listened and left. Teacher’s word was law and they lived almost in fear of the teacher. This school of thought said that behavior modification makes the classroom a place where students learn to sit down, be quiet, and follow the rules, like robots, like old times, in a time when classrooms should be more open, and when teachers should be trying to get away from that environment. I disagree very much with this idea. I can see where they think behavior modification forces students to sit and listen, because it does. However, I think in a classroom where reinforcement and punishment are used properly, students can learn better, and things will run more smoothly. While the students need to stay in their seats and listen during lecture or while learning new material, a classroom that uses reinforcement will encourage the students to discuss when it comes the appropriate time. I do not believe that they will be in fear of disagreeing, but having the ability to discuss points they don’t understand, and bring up different ideas and bounce them off each other.
In researching for this topic I found that reinforcement is widely accepted as the first form of behavior modification to use, however punishment has its place, when needed. I was introduced to my first anti-behavior modification article which was interesting and brought up some good points but I believe it was a good test of my knowledge, and I am glad I got a chance to read about disagreeing points, and still come away with a confidence in the things I am learning in this class.
I decided to research temper tantrums. I chose this because I can imagine it’s something that most parents wish they could avoid and I’m sure when I have children, I won’t want to deal with them easier. I think using behavior modification in children will result in less temper tantrums so I’d like to find out more.
To avoid temper tantrums, you have to control the antecedent. It’s important to know what type of antecedents cause temper tantrums. If a child usually gets upset because they like going through your purse and you take it away, then you have to put the purse somewhere where the child can’t see it. Therefore, the child is never put in a situation where the purse is present so you won’t have to take it away and in turn, they won’t get upset. Another way to change the antecedent is to simply move the child to a different place. Take them outside or up into their room to stay away from whatever caused the tantrum. This gives the child a chance to calm down and in younger children, they get distracted from whatever caused the problem in the first place.
Reinforcement of good behavior is also a good habit for a parent to get in with their child. Instead of reinforcing (by giving attention) the child when they throw a fit, you have to reinforce them when they’re emitting good behavior. For example, when a child puts their toys away, praise them or give them a piece of candy. Then, they’ll understand that cleaning up will result in a pleasurable outcome and will continue to do this. If the child doesn’t learn that cleaning up is a good thing, they’ll most likely act out when they’re told they must clean up.
When trying to figure out why the child is upset, you have to take a look at the surroundings. Break down what happened and try to understand what it was that caused the tantrum. Understanding the antecedent in temper tantrums can help you realize what’s causing the temper tantrums. Once you’ve done this, it’ll be easier to control the antecedent and avoid the tantrums altogether.
http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/tantrums.html#
http://children.webmd.com/tc/temper-tantrums-topic-overview
The topic I chose for this web divergence task was punishment. I have noticed in class that you (Dr. MacLin) talk about how you use reinforcement more often than punishment for your son. I began to think back about when I was raised and couldn’t exactly remember the techniques my parents used other than spanking and grounding. So I decided to look at my cousins and how they are raising their two boys and will soon be raising their new baby girl (she’s going to be born any day now). As I started to think about it I realized that punishment is used more often than reinforcement. Why is that I asked myself… So I decided to look into it.
Based on the articles I read and video clips I’ve seen it seems to me that punishment is used more often because it’s easier to do. I think it would be easier to yell at someone when they do something rather than take the time to explain consequences or start a reward system when they do not perform that particular bad behavior. I even find myself using punishment more often than reinforcement. For example I was at my brother’s football game with my cousins and one of the boys was being rowdy. I told him that if he didn’t stop he was going to be in big trouble. He stopped for a little while but then began to be disruptive again. Then I told him that if he didn’t sit still then the lady behind me was going to beat him up. He looked back at her and she kind of laughed, but nodded her head in agreement. Now although I was obviously joking about having him beat
up I was still using punishment.
As it stated in our reading Skinner did not think that punishment was always the best idea because it would only discourage the ‘bad behavior’ in a particular setting. As I thought about this I realized how true it was. Austin (that is the younger of my cousins’ boys) would goof off and be obnoxious when his parents were there. They would yell at him and sometimes put him in timeout. He would calm down for awhile after the punishment was issued. After awhile though when he was around me or my parents he would emit the same behavior because his parents were no longer around. I think this is a small example of what Skinner meant.
So after looking into these particular behaviors my cousins, my parents, and even I emit when it comes to discipline I realize that there probably is a much better way to go about doing it. I think, especially after completing the course and really getting a handle on this behavior stuff, that I will definitely try and use reinforcement far more than punishment. I don’t really like the idea of punishing kids, because in all reality I think they are just trying to have fun by pushing their boundaries. If we reinforce them instead of punishing them I think that they will be less likely to push their boundaries and sometimes more importantly, less likely to push our buttons as discipliners.
http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2007/08/basic_concepts_reinforcement_a.php
http://www.essortment.com/all/positivereinfor_rave.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKBGVV6PDX4
(i just thought this last one was comical. it came up wtih my search for articles)
I have always found hypnosis fascinating; mostly because I don't believe it works. So it is probably more correct to say I find people's reaction to hypnosis fascinating. Despite what I think, many people swear to it; claiming hypnosis helped modify their behavior. For this reason, I decided to research the effects of hypnosis on people who are attempting to quit smoking.
I am not alone in believing hypnosis doesn’t modify behavior. Experts agree that while hypnosis may elicit some people to quit smoking, it would be more effective if combined with the nicotine patch and behavioral counseling. Hypnosis should also be thought of as an ongoing intervention.
Some hypnotherapists claim that in only one session, they are capable of eliciting clients to emit a quitting behavior (although this contradicts the notion that hypnosis should be an ongoing intervention). The third link I included is a youtube video that shows part of a hypnotherapy session. In the context of one hypnotherapy session, Tom emits a relaxation behavior resulting in his disinterest in cigarettes. Considering everything we have learned in this class, I don’t understand how this is possible. Modifying and shaping a behavior takes time.
The purpose of hypnosis is to help fight psychological addictions. It doesn’t seem reasonable to assume a psychological addiction can be broken in a couple of hours. For this reason, it is likely that people who are able to stop smoking after attending a hypnosis session are experiencing a placebo effect. There are initial differences in people who volunteer to be hypnotized; they believe it will work. This is why hypnosis is not very reliable and does not work on everyone.
After briefly researching hypnotherapy, I have come to the conclusion that it is not the best method to use when modifying behavior. Instead, a reinforcement method should be created that is applicable to an individual’s lifestyle. If you are considering hypnotherapy, it would be a good idea to combine treatments.
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/respiratory-disorders/articles/2008/06/23/can-hypnosis-snuff-out-a-smokers-cigarette-habit.html
http://www.smokingreviews.org/hypnosis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43VI2jbtJPk
After re-reading my post, I realized I didn't make a clear connection between my topic and behavior modification. The point I was trying to make was that a lot of people turn to hypnosis as a "quick-fix" behavior modification technique. They may or may not have tried to quit smoking (or other behaviors) in the past.
I personally don't believe that hypnosis is an effective behavior modification technique. I know that some people swear to it, but it doesn't seem to fit in with everything we have learned in this class. I'm not saying that attending hypnotherapy sessions would be harmful, but it should be used in conjunction with other proven techniques (such as wearing a nicotine patch).
One thing that has been emphasized in this class is that successful behavior modification takes time. It is not an overnight process. The best method to use is almost always reinforcement. Punishment can sometimes yield immediate results, but should only be used in extreme cases.
Some hypnotherapists claim they can "cure" a person in only one session. It is claims like these that make me hesitant to take the method seriously.
Most of our divergence topics within these last few weeks have dealt strongly with practical punishment and reinforcement techniques when administering behavior modification. For my subject, I decided to focus on a different branch of behavior modification.
Every day, we are exposed to hundreds of advertisements. Most of the time, ads go without notice. Some ads are more appealing than others. In all of this propaganda that we are exposed to however, there are underlying stimuli to elicit other buying behavior.
Yes, I am talking about using establishing operations in advertising. More specifically, what is it that marketing companies do to modify our shopping behaviors? Surely, we are all aware of the infidelity in makeup and clothing ads. Fashion companies have long been known to modify their models’ faces with Photoshop technology. When we take a look at their finished ad, say for a pair of jeans, the first thing we notice is the attractive model sporting a pair of these. More than likely, that model will be flawless looking. Most of the time, we’d fail to even dissect the ad and concentrate on the product itself. “Damn, I gotta get me a pair of those!”
Days later, you show up at school wearing those new Gap jeans, feeling better than ever. This reinforcer was the result of a jeans buying behavior in the context of pay day, or a new semester. So why did you end up with the Gap jeans and not a nice pair of those Favre-endorsed Wranglers? The ABC diagram below demonstrates the behavior.
A: Pay day
B: Buy Gap jeans
C: Feelin’ hot!
The Gap advertisers used an establishing operation in their advertisement to get you to buy their pair, not Brett’s. The marketing company was successful in controlling the consequence, in that they made a more pleasurable outcome of a jeans purpose. Therefore, when you emit a jeans buying behavior, you will be more likely to buy Gap jeans.
It’s not just the paper advertisements that elicit us to invest in their product either. Salesmen have the exact same duty as advertisements in that they have to romanticize their product. Often times, they use techniques that steer away from the product itself, and use other behavior modifying procedures to persuade their product. Complimenting the customer, offering free things, even administering free food to them has been said to sway us easier.
We often discuss establishing operations in the context of ourselves administering the punisher or reinforcer. As we try to master these techniques, let us not forget that there are people way ahead of us; in a sense, they have us by the neck and control our behaviors without us even knowing it. Why do we fall victim to these reinforcement procedures so often and so easy? Do our butts really look that good in those jeans? Do we really look that suave when drinking 1800 tequila? These are questions that marketing companies are uninterested in. Their work here is done.
http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/advertisingtricks/
http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/kirbysec.htm
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~taflinge/tricks.html
I was searching for a topic to write this blog about and I came across one I could not pass up. I plan on having kids someday and it is possible that I will have to deal with it...bedwetting.
The target behavior here is urination while asleep. Approximately 15% of children older than 3 emit this behavior. What really interests me though is whether or not bedwetting can be treated with any reinforcement or punishment procedures. When we break it down into the ABC's, we can get multiple consequences for this one behavior.
A = Going to Bed
B = Urinating While Asleep
C = Embarassment, Yelled at by Parents, Increased
Laundry Bill, a Bedwetting Alarm Wakes You, etc.
Notice that the consequences I have listed are all aversive. They are unpleasant and act as a punishment for wetting the bed. Punishing a child for a behavior he or she cannot control will more than likely not decrease his or her behavior. If one is to modify a bedwetting behavior, reinforcement must be used.
It is suggested that having the child keep track of dry nights on a chart or in a diary might help. Charting dry nights allows the child to focus on his or her successes and acts as a reinforcer. Hell you could even take your kid out for ice cream to reinforce a dry night! Here is a breakdown of a reinforcing consequence toward having a dry night.
A = Getting in Bed
B = Not Wetting the Bed
C = Marking the Dry Night on a Chart, Ice Cream, Writing About What the Child Thought Helped In Diary
There are also some things that occur during the day that can elicit a bedwetting behavior at night. Drinking too much fluids, not urinating enough, not urinating prior to getting in bed, and being teased by other children can all influence a child into emitting a bedwetting behavior. If one could decrease any aversive or unpleasant outcomes associated with wetting the bed, the child will be more vulnerable to reinforcement procedures.
It will take some time, but wetting the bed can be overcome. Just remember, reinforce reinforce reinforce.
https://health.google.com/health/ref/Bedwetting
This is a Mythbusters clip that shows what a bedwetting alarm is and how it works. It starts at 1:25.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joIW2ZNbz5s&feature=related
http://pottytrainingsolutions.com/article_info.php?articles_id=22
I would like to talk about positive reinforcement and positive punishment. You know, these are related to behavior modification also these are basis concept of behavior modification. Actually, I have some problem to understand between concepts; negative punishment, negative reinforcement, positive reinforcement and positive punishment. But, after watching this clip I can get clear definition about those concepts.
Especially, I am interested in this clip because it was made up of role play among some people. So, it is easy to understand than others which made of real situation.
In this clip, the teacher was use positive reinforcement and positive punishment to students. When student did desired behavior, the teacher gave some gift or praise. The praise or positive things can be reinforcer to the student. These are evoke a positive behavior from that the student. This is a form of Positive reinforcement, which is the presentation of something pleasant or rewarding immediately following a behavior.
On the other hand, when student did inappropriate behavior, the teacher gave something that affect aversive to the student. In order to decrease behavior, teacher use positive punishment. In this situation, removing cell phone from the student elicited an aversive feeling. The student emitted the quit to improper behavior. In this case, removing cell phone is punisher to the student who wants to use cell phone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYE_mmy6XMA
http://www.sspca.org/PositiveReinforcement.html
I picked potty training as my topic this week. I find the web divergence an opportunity to "kill two birds with one stone" most of the time. I can always relate something we are doing in class back to work and vise versa. This week I have a client who has a three year old who I lovingly refer to at the three year old tornado leaving terror and descruction in his path no matter where he goes. He is normally uncooperative about potty training he does it sometimes but only if he feels like it and not because anyone asks him to. I had a talk with mom about using reinforcement instead of punishment because obviously punishment does not work for him!! There are a lot of ways to reinforce a behavior in order to increase it. The problem is that mom is very set in her ways and prefers to view the situation as needing to decrease the peeing pants behavior rather than to increase the toilet using behavior. The target behavior is obviously peeing but we need to find the right antecedant to reinforce. The first like talks about a mom who is a wild animal trainer (which I believe are good credentials for training the tornado) and now trains her child. She talks about giving her an m & M when she goes pee and an animal figure when she goes poop. The most important thing about her program though is that she recognizes the importance of varying the reinforcement schedule. She begins with a continuious reinforcement schedule and then goes to a partial reinforcement schedule which could then go to a variable interval schedule which means that she reinforced her daugher after an undetermined amount of time of pottying on the toilet. The space between reinforcers should become longer as time passes and eventially you will have the subject emitting the target behavior without any reinforcers.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/512407/how_to_use_positive_reinforcement_in_pg2.html?cat=25
http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/schedules.htm
In looking through the previous posts, I felt as though the topics that interest me had been used or were slipping my mind. I am not one to typically use the same idea as someone else, so I decided to scour the internet and re-read these posts for ideas. In a brief moment of sheer brilliance being introduced to an unpredictable mind such as mine, I was hit with a sucker punch of knowledge and intuitiveness rarely seen twice in a lifetime.
The subjects of reinforcement and punishment have been discussed extensively these last few weeks, so they have been weighing heavily on the brain. However, it wasn't until I read a post about corporal punishment and its detriments that I was blasted with a mind nugget.
I decided to delve into a previously uncovered realm that I am dubbing "Corporal Reinforcement." Now, before you snicker and continue along your merry day, read further.
For centuries, corporal punishment has been used to punish offenders of crimes as small as stealing a loaf of bread to as large as mass murder. Numerous countries utilize this as a means of control and, in many cases, to instill fear into the hearts of the masses. The death penalty in our own country is a very good example of this. An individual kills someone and they are, in turn, killed by the government as punishment.
In more recent years, there has been a fervent push towards reinforcement of non-aversive behaviors in the hopes that aversive behaviors will no longer be as frequent of an issue. Praise of children for behaviors that are deemed positive has been shown to elicit further behavior in a similar fashion.
I now have my mind set on the idea of corporal reinforcement and, with that, let me explain. For many, reinforcement in certain contexts just is not enough of an incentive to emit a so called positive behavior. For an abundance of the population, being bad is just so good. To this I introduce corporal reinforcement. What better incentive to emit positive behaviors than to be rewarded in an extreme sense? For example:
"Johnny, Greg, and Sam were all members of the high school football team but did not necessarily get along. All three were quite good at their respective positions and had numerous scholarship offers from respectable universities. Having said this, each of them had quite a lot to lose if they were to get into trouble. Johnny's mother and father had brought him up in a very strict environment in which he was punished with grounding or corporal punishment for bad behavior. Greg's parents were very much the opposite and almost never punished him for poor behavior, but rather praised his positive actions, eliciting more positive behaviors from him. Sam's parents had worked out a deal with him and Johnny's parents to reinforce his positive behaviors. For every straight A report card that he brought home, Sam was left in charge of the corporal punishment of Johnny, of whom he did not care for as a result of his negative attitude and bullying behaviors. Sam was very rarely, if ever, in any kind of trouble, while Greg and Johnny were in trouble much more often. For the record, Johnny was in the most trouble most often. It is very demeaning for your classmate to beat you up for punishment.
Now understand that this is entirely fictional, however it is a close look at how intertwined both reinforcement and punishment are within the scope of behaviorism. They are both very opposite ways to achieving, loosely, the same outcome. Reinforcement leaves the individual much happier with their newer, more positive behaviors, while punishment leaves them much more discouraged with themselves in general.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporal_punishment
http://privateschool.about.com/cs/forteachers/a/beating.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforcement
http://life.familyeducation.com/communication/behavior-modification/29734.html
I have really enjoyed the topics thus far and I don't want to be a party pooper about the following topic, but one act that I've never really understood how it starts, let alone how to stop it, is self harm (for example, cutting). This is much less of a happy topic, but after doing the internet research I've found, I am more confident in the knowledge I have about the topic.
Whether it is you, or someone you know, most everyone knows someone, or knows a friend of a friend who has participated in self harm. As a Resident Assistant in one of the Residence Halls, we are trained on how to handle situations dealing with such. However, being the psychology geek that I am, I want to know more than just what to say and who to call.
Self harm is often an emitted behavior as a coping mechanism, contrary to some people's belief that it is a suicide attempt. Those to emit a self harm behavior are hoping their acts will elicit a helpful behavior from others. People self harm for different reasons but it usually stems from a stressful situation or traumatic event. Some may use it to physically deal with the pain they emotionally feel. Even though self harm may produce an immediate release, because they can actually feel something, long term damage is a great possibility.
There are many ways to carry out self harm; such as cutting, bruising, burning, and hitting. One issue that made me think is the fact that in some cases, eating disorders are paired with self harm. This lead me to think of possibly the deprivation of food could serve as a self harm from not achieving perfection (just as an example).
So how does one deal with self harm? Looking through my research, I found that seeking help in the number one way to help yourself. Emitting a need for help attitude will elicit a helping behavior, which in this situation, would be filled by either a friend, an advisor of some sort, or hospital employees. However, there are also ways to prevent self harm or do it in a safer way as a step on the recovery process. Most importantly, people who engage in self harm need to realize it is not the act of self harm that they need to deal with but the underneath urges causing the behavior to be emit in the first place.
Below are some examples of possible paths of self harm:
1)
A- college dorm room
B- cutting one's arm
C- feeling relieved after failing a course exam
This would be positive reinforcement to the cutting behavior which is usually why people continue doing it, because a relieved behavior is emitted.
2)
A- college dorm room
B- burning one's leg
C- a friend noticed burn marks
The target behavior of burning one's leg would want to be decreased after the friend taking notice to the marks and wanting the burning friend to get help, thus displaying positive punishment.
3)
A- college
B- stress from the transition
C- hitting one's head repetitively
This is more of the behavior self harm-ers need to work on because it is what elicits the self harm. Here, the stressful transition to college elicits a self harm behavior which is emitted by head hitting. This ABC would be an example of positive punishment because adding the head hitting lowers the feeling of stress. Unfortunately, those who self harm need to realize that their ABC should look like this:
A- college
B- stress from the transition
C- talk to a counselor
http://helpguide.org/mental/self_injury.htm
http://self-injury.net/information-recovery/frequently-asked-questions
http://www.thesite.org/healthandwellbeing/mentalhealth/selfharm/longtermeffectsofselfharm
A topic that i find particularly interesting is "online gaming addiction." I like enjoy playing video games a great deal and sometimes play them for an extended period of time, but at what point does it become an addiction?
I see these games as being a behavioral problem for people and I think I can use the abc's of behavior modification to address them.
In the context of playing video games, choosing to play a game rather than go to class is an aversive behavior. As a result or consequence a persons grades will drop.
A: playing video games
B: skipping class
C: grades drop
If you look at this set up a person is being negatively punished for their gaming habits. This individual is is either doing poorly on test or is having attendance points taken away every time they miss yet they are going to repeat this action. Why is this so?
These games are set up very well. They are made with the intent to elicit lengthy gaming behaviors. MMO's (massive multi-player online games) in particular take the most time. These games require hours of play to achieve goals. Also these games function as an online social networking sight such as facebook. People are able to play with each other from all over the world. Friendships accumulate from these games and as a result becomes another factor for excessive playing. Why go outside when you can hang out with your friends in the game?
There are times when i play and get nothing done (in-game) and it makes me want to quit playing all together, but the next day comes and all of a sudden i get a bunch of things done, friends are online, and its just a great time. This would be a intermittent reinforcement pattern, and also the hardest of all patterns to change because it involves tolerance. With only being reinforced every now and again, you are accustomed to the low's and are willing to ride them out to reach the highs.
I want to know how to go about changing a behavior that persists even through punishment (in real-life), is it because the reinforcements in-game are stronger? Or is it because reinforcement in general is stronger than punishment?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB5cSLdOr8U&feature=related
http://www.devhardware.com/c/a/Opinions/Online-Gaming-Addiction-Myth-or-Reality/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/oct/08/online-games-addiction-on-rise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En5D3Kpej5k&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pjNNmsMj50&feature=related