Please read section 4.3 - The Importance of Goals
After reading the section, think of all the terms and concepts used in all of sections we have covered so far. Please respond to the following questions and try to use these terms and concepts as you respond to the following questions.
What are three things you will remember from the section?
For the target behavior you used in the previous section 4.2 use what you learned from section 4.3 to set goals and then evaluate them using the information from the chapter.
Include a list of the terms and concepts you used in your post. (example - Terms: positive reinforcer, extinction, reinforcer, discriminative stimulus...)
In this section, I learned about what qualities make achieving goals challenging but also successfully. Many people fail at achieving goals they set for themselves because they do not take into consideration the characteristics of good goals: realism, the use of subgoals, achievability, ability, manageability, maintenance, and having a support system. When setting a goal, it must be something that you can realistically say you are able to implement, continue, and afford. It must also be time specific, meaning that you need to set a date for which you want to achieve this goal.
For the goal I set in the last section (studying more), I set these subgoals:
1. Set aside an hour per day to study biopsych
2. Limit daily facebooking time
3. Study in a place where there is no computer/tv
To me, these are all good goals. Realistically, I believe they are all obtainable and have a timeframe from now until finals are over. They are also achievable…it will not be difficult for me to schedule an hour a day to study, limit the time I get on facebook, and there are other places I can study (library for instance). I am also able to do these, they are easily manageable, and do not need to be maintained for a long period of time making them easy to stick to. Because all of my friends are also preparing for finals, I have a pretty good support base.
Also, when subgoals are achieved, I will reinforce myself with my determined contingencies (Mr. Potato Head for instance!)
Terms used: realism, subgoals, achievability, ability, manageability, maintenance, support system, reinforce, contingency
The first thing i learned is the importance of being realistic. Alot of people make goes that are not attainable and then give up on their goals fast. timeframe is also important. It is more important to focus on the task at hand and not get to swept up into the future. The last thing i found was the way of viewing disruptive behavior differently. Disruptive behavior at first i thought was something to throw off the main plan. It still is this but it is also a thing that you need to remove yourself from in order to stay on track of your goal. The most important thing about this section i think is the support base. it is so much easier to go through and talk to someone about what is happening and someone who is on your side can keep you on the right track.
some sub goals that correlate to my list include:
allow only a certain number of hairs to be pulled
remove myself from situations that are harmfull
reward myself after each day of no hair pulling.
these are realistic in that for this situation it is hard to reward a condition instead of a habit. being positive and avoiding situations all together work better than setting aside a time of day were i think about not doing it. I have worked with therapists and councelors so my support group is ever growing.
terms: realistic, timeframe, support group, subgoals, disruptive behavior
After reading this section, I will remember that the goal one sets for themselves has to be realistic, on a do-able time scale. If one wants to lose 100 pounds, for instance, it is unlikely that they will do so in a month. It would be more reasonable to set a ten pound per month goal, and set a long term goal of 100 pounds.
One must have the ability to achieve the goal too. A world famous eating champion might have a harder time losing weight than someone who is more capable of losing weight.
This brings me to the next thing I will remember. It is very likely that the goals one sets may be disruptive to their life. Though it may be for the best, one should realize that there might be a few people left along the way that are disruptive to your goals. One must choose their friends wisely.
After reading this chapter, I can now further analyze the goals I set from the previous section. My roomates don't exactly eat healthy, so I may need to stop hanging around them if I want to eat healthier. They are not a good support group. Often times, I am on the run, eliciting me to grab a quick unhealthy snack seems to be the only way to go. I can still manage this goal by replacing chips with an apple. My large goal of losing weight can be broken down into other sub goals like my exercise routine, diet and lifestyle. I think a realistic, achievable goal is to lose 20 pounds by the end of next semester.
Terms: elicit, realistic, support group, ability to achieve, disruptive, sub goals
Before reading this section, I already knew that your dreams and goals had to be realistic. What I didn’t know was why exactly and what I should do to narrow my goal down to a more realistic one. Your goal can’t be too broad and it has to be somewhat realistic in the first place. Also, a goal can’t be completely unrealistic, most of the time they are just unlikely to happen.
Another thing I will remember from this section is that you have to have a good support base. I believe that this is very important while trying to achieve a goal, because it is harder without people supporting you. A person with a joint goal would help out a lot also. If a person isn’t trying to help you then they are using disruptive behavior, which will ultimately have a negative effect on your goal.
The target behavior I had from 4.2 was to not sleep in past ten. I believe a support base would be beneficial towards this goal because my roommates tend to be loud in the morning. If they support my goal and want me to achieve it, then they will be quiet in the morning so I wont want to sleep in past ten. I obviously have the ability to wake up before ten; therefore it is a realistic goal. Sometimes I am just really lazy and don’t want to. The estimated time frame I would use for this goal would be a week or so. This way I will be able to train my body to wake up before ten rather than wanting to sleep in every morning.
Terms Used: realistic, joint goal, support base, disruptive behavior, ability, time frame
Three things I’ll remember from this section are to use sub-goals, have realistic goals, and having a strong support group to reach a goal. These things are all important in trying to reach a goal. Many people have huge goals that may seem unrealistic and therefore harder to achieve. Breaking down the goal into smaller categories helps to make the larger goal seem easier to reach and more realistic.
The goal I had in the previous section was to save money and to do so by not spending money on things I don’t really need. I know that this goal is realistic so it can be reached. The timeframe of my goal is slightly ambiguous because I would like to learn to save money for the rest of my life but it needs to happen a day at a time. Some sub-goals are to put tip money away, don’t go out to eat, don’t buy unneeded clothing, and be thrifty when it comes to buying needed things. My goal is achievable because there have been times in my life where I have saved up quite a bit of money so therefore I know that I have the ability to do it. Also, having a lot of money is highly reinforcing so I have motivation.
The hardest part of achieving this goal is managing it. I enjoy shopping and going out to eat and going out on the weekends so it’s hard not to emit spending behavior but with a goal in mind I know I can do it. This goal is not extremely disruptive but there are some activities that I won’t be able to participate in that cost money so that I can reach my goal. The maintenance of this goal will also be somewhat difficult because Christmas is coming soon so I have to buy presents. Also, I have to pay for a class next semester which costs $500. I do, however, have a very strong support base. My parents are very proud of me when I save money and encourage me to do so. My boyfriend also supports me.
Terms: realistic, sub goals, achievable, ability, manageable, maintenance, support base, reinforcing, motivation, emit
1. Keeping goals realistic. I appreciate this point a lot because I have always been one to try and keep my goals as realistic as possible, but it can sometimes be hard because I am a dreamer and have lots of ideas of goals that I would love to accomplish. This part of the section made me realize that it isn’t always about me believing in myself, but also the people around me believing in me. If a goal is too out there even for me, how do I expect others to believe in it if I don’t?
2. Sub Goals. I think breaking bigger goals down into smaller more attainable goals is very important and something that I should take into account for my own life. I often find myself focusing more on the big picture rather than the steps I’ll take to get there.
3. Ability. Ability to achieve goals is something I have always struggled with in one area of my ‘goals and dreams’. I have been dancing for 15 years and I have several goals relating around my experience of dancing. As of recently I have been having severe joint and muscle issues. So now my goals are starting to revolve around the question can I do this or can I not, in terms of my body’s ability to perform.
For my goal of studying more I have broken it down into sub goals:
Study for each class a minimum of 2 hours a week
Get a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
Set study guidelines for myself that I will follow long term
To me it seems somewhat difficult to breakdown the goal of studying more because there are many ways I can find reinforcement in allowing myself more time to study. Also, the goog consequences for studying more will be long lasting, for example being able to get into graduate school. I want to do well in my studies long term, not just for one or two semesters. I think the sub goals I have set will do well for me in the future once I have adjusted myself to these new behavior patterns. I do have the ability and time to study more it’s just the maintenance that I often struggle with.
(terms: goals, realistic, sub goals, ability, reinforcement, consequences, behavior, maintenance)
Good consequences, not goog. :)
This section discussed how important it is to set goals for yourself and some basic guidelines to creating these goals. These guidlines include: be realistic, have a timeframe in mind to achieve the goal, it needs to be achievable, you need to look at your basic abilities, it needs to be manageable, what possible disruptions will come about, how will we maintain our goal, and who or what makes up our support base. All these criterian fit into every goal in some way whether it be big or small.
An example of thse guidelines in a small goal would be to get an A on the next exam. The goal is definitely realistic as long as you set yourself up to suceed. There is a clear timeframe if you look at your syllabus and check the date of the exam. It is acheiveable if you work hard and study. Since you are already in college you most likely have the knowledge and ability to get the good grade. If you set aside time to study and attend class it is manageable. You may have to give up some social time will friends which people may find as a disruption. It is important to focus on the big picture and set up sub goals to maintain our goal (like study an hour a night). And to tell your roommates or other classmates about your goal and set up study sessions and things to have a support base. This is an example of how the guidelines can fit into a small goal. It would also work for a large goal like graduating college.
When looking at goals we can apply past materials from the class that go right along with this concept. We will need to have reinforcements and punishments involved with many goals. The reinforcer in this case would be the good grade. We also will need to have some desire driving us to set goals and achieve them.
Terms: sub goals, realistic, acheivable, manageable, disruptions, abilities, support base, reinforcement, punishment.
We are preached at our whole lives about goals. Goals we should reach, goals we want to reach, goals we don’t reach. I never really considered all of the factors listed in this section relating to goals. When someone doesn’t achieve a goal, I have a feeling many of us just blame it on the person. “Oh, they didn’t try hard enough” But to be honest, all of these factors probably played a real key role. Let’s say a person flunks out of school. We might react by saying it is their fault for not trying hard enough for that specific goal. It could be an ability problem, like effort, but then again it could be an achievable problem. Maybe the student simply couldn’t afford school and had to work 3 jobs in order to get by and then grades suffered because of it. I think all of the criteria a good goal should have are extremely important to understand. I really will remember all of these because I related them to an target behavior I emit, and am taking self-directed steps to modify.
With my example from the previous section I was using the target behavior of snacking less while studying in my room. I believe this is a realistic goal (be realistic). It is something I can do that doesn’t require more than I can handle. Timeframe is also important, I could say I want to complete this goal by next year, but instead I want to complete this goal week by week and hopefully extinguish eating snacks while studying behaviors all together. The timeframe is a shorter one because it is something I feel I should quit as soon as I can. This goal may be a form of a sub goal. The larger goal is to become healthier, however by taking this step to cut out unnecessary snacking while studying, I am working toward a larger goal. This will be more effective to take things step by step. This goal is also achievable to me. I have the ability to monitor at what times I snack, and how much. In other cases, achievability might depends heavily on factors like money, I always find this unfortunate when people’s goals fail due to money problems. My ability to achieve this goal is also good. I have the ability to quit snacking, I have the desire, and the time. I can also manage this with my daily routine by simply choosing not to snack during study time. This is a very manageable goal because it doesn’t disrupt things in my life a lot. Goals that require people to more might be very unmanageable because moving is difficult and requires a big change in daily life routines. This behavior also does not disrupt many things in life. I may need to find extra time in order to eat meals outside of my room while I am not studying, but this could be easily done by cutting back on simple other behaviors like facebooking for watching t.v. for a few less minutes. To maintain this behavior will be determined by how well the reinforce works as well as how easily it fits into my daily functioning. Because it will simply go into my daily routine with little trouble, I will be able to maintain this behavior for a long time during the semester. A support base is also extremely important. I could possibly get my roommates to join in on the healthier eating cause. I could also call my mom and tell her of my plan, and have her check up on me. A strong support base, in my opinion, is a huge factor in success of goals.
Terms used: goals, behavior, timeframe, achievability, ability, manageable, disrupt, extinguish, target behavior, support base, reinforce, emit, self-directed behavior
The things I will remember from this chapter are the guidelines of goals. The first is to be realistic. Which makes sense because I think a lot of people get over ambitious when making goals and set them at standards they can’t reach, which is only more upsetting when they struggle and give up.
The next is timeline. Making sure the timeframe in which you plan to reach your goal is reasonable, or realistic. For my goal from the last chapter, I could not say that I would reaching my goal of working out 5 days a week in one week would be realistic. I would give myself two months to reach it, knowing now that I should start at three days and work my way up.
The next guideline is sub goals which I took to be a lot like target behaviors. This works really well with my goal because my sub goals would be to use the elliptical for 20-30 minutes every time I go, and then to work my arms and back every other time, and my abs every time as well.
Achievable as a guideline goes along with realistic. It is not realistic of me to expect myself to suddenly emit all of these behaviors within a week or two. It would not be an achievable goal. Nor would it be achievable for me to say a particular weight that is ridiculously high, like 200 lbs when I have been doing about 35. If goals are unachievable then it would be hard to reinforce them, and it would most likely take a punishment role, because if I’m not reaching any goals then I would be less likely to emit the behavior that I am aiming for or other behaviors that lead to it.
Ability is very important when setting aside goals. Some people are better at some things and worse at others. This means that someone who can’t sing a tune should set their goal at being able to sing on key rather than make a classical album comprised of complicated pieces.
Disruptive sounds like it would be a bad thing to include in guidelines, but is actually very legitimate and sometimes necessary. My goal of working out is minimally disruptive and only requires my going to the WRC or the gym at my apartment complex. However, I am looking at graduate schools in Michigan and Illinois, which would be very disruptive because at this point in my life I have never lived more than an hour away from my home and family and friends. So this will disrupt in my goal to get a graduate degree.
My goal of working out definitely required maintenance. The goal itself is maintenance. I am a pretty small person and would like to maintain that, and not gain a bunch of weight. So for my goal I have to keep going to the gym and keep doing all of my sub goals in order to keep achieving my goal.
For my support base I usually go to the gym with a friend or two. Someone who either helps me push myself, or simply just gives me a little more reason to get up and go. These people are a support group because they encourage me to reach my goal and keep reaching it.
Terms used: emit, reinforce, punish, guidelines of goals
The three things I learned from Section 4.3
1. If we are not being specific what we want, where do we want to end up, then we don’t have a reason to complain what we get in life and where we end up.
2. Be realistic about what goals you set, in other words be logical and rational in your decisions. I cant say I want to travel the world, when I get lost way easy even in my own city.
3. The importance of the sub goals, this shows a way to achieve larger goals, by breaking them down in series of small goals, that way you work your way up to your desired final goal.
My goal from section 4.2 was about saving half of my paycheck. Set this goal was very realistic of me because my paychecks don’t go toward any bills, its just for myself, so saving the half is more to control my spending of the stuff I don’t need. The timeframe of this goal is over a very long period of time more like years, unless I have to make special adjustments. I think the goal is very achievable, because I will be keeping a daily record so I will be motivated to keep going. Journal elicits the my behavior of emitting the desired behavior. This goal is very manageable because I will incorporate the goal with my lifestyle.
Terms Used: elicits, emit
In this section, I learned about the importance of guidelines when setting goals (be realistic, set a time frame, create subgoals, make your goal achievable based on your ability, manageable, maintenance of goal, and providing yourself with the right support system). Many goals are too broad, because they are not time-specific. To achieve your goals, you must determine when you would like to achieve them by. Some people also don't have the right support system, because having a support system isn't enough. They have to be on the same page as you are to help encourage your success.
My previous target behavior was to drink at least two glasses of milk everyday. This seems simple to some people, but I really don't enjoy milk. Despite this, it is realistic. When setting a time frame, I may have to "work up" to my goal by starting with one small glass of milk. When I am comfortable drinking one glass, I can then start drinking from a larger glass and eventually drink two glasses everyday. These subgoals will help me determine the time frame. This goal is achievable and manageable for me. I could get my roommate to drink a glass of milk with me everyday, because she loves milk. This would be creating a support system to help elicit an increased milk-drinking behavior.
Terms: subgoals, target behavior, elicit
This chapter taught me a lot about the importance of goals(hence the title) and how to go about setting goals that are realistic and manageable. Goals are very important when it comes to finding ways to elicit desirable behavior out of ourselves. From this chapter I learned some beneficial tools, including:
1. When setting goals you should be very realistic, and consider many different factors.
2. When you're trying to reach a large goal, it is helpful to set sub goals and reinforce them along the way.
3. Base a goal around things you are already doing or have time commitments to, making it more manageable with the rest of your schedule.
Target behavior- lift weights more frequently, hence getting in better shape.
From this I would set goals such as lift three times a week for an hour each time, and also to find a lifting routine that works best for me as far as improving my physical performance. This is a very realistic and manageable goal, and over time could be increased to more frequent lifting as it becomes more of a routine with my everyday life. My support base through all of this would be my friend Flick, who lifts more than any normal human being should. If anyone can drive me to get a workout in, it's him. He also knows a lot of the pitfalls that would be associated, and has managed to find a way around virtually everything.
terms- target behavior, emit, elicit, support base, goals, pitfalls, sub goals, reinforce
The three things that I will remember from section 4.3 are: 1)You have to be reslistic when setting a goal because others will not support and it is not benficial to set unattainable goals 2)That in order for the goal to be reached it needs to be manageable in conjuction with other possible aspects of life such as work and school. 3)It is important to consider outside or foreseeable conflicts with the maitence of a goal such as starting a healthier eating program when you live with picky eaters.
The Goal that I wanted to work towards is to procrastinate less, so specifically getting projects done a full 24hours before the deadline instead of 5 minutes before the deadline.
For this I would gradually have to work towards it because I have procrastinated on a majority of projects for most of my life. So I could use a reinforcement schedule to reinforece and increase the behavior of working on the project the same day it is handed out for a time period of at least 20 mins. If I wanted to use a punishment shedule to decrease the behavior of procrastinating until literally the last minute I could not allow my self to do something fun like hang out with friends or use positive punishment and make myself clean the bathroom and do the dishes just probably not in that oreder though, but I find both of those tasks aversive.
To make sure I work on minimizing procrastination and having better time management, I would need to think about how working on a project everyday for at least 20 mins would fit into my schedule which would be hard for everyday except tues, thurs. and if it is mantainable if Im tired or other variables. The goal is attainable even though some people who have known me for more than five years of my life might say it is unlikely. My support base would most likely consist of my twin sister and probably my mom because my boyfriend just says get it done which makes me want to avoid the project even more.
Terms used: Aversive, matience, positive punishment, reinforcement schedule, reinforcing, goals, target behavior, support base.
Section 4.3 is about the importance of goals. While reading I had the goal of remembering three things from the section so that I could use them in this blog.
The first thing I remember is that goals need to be realistic. If they are improbable to achieve then obviously they won't have much of a life. Secondly, if a goal is to succeed it is imperative that it has a support base. A support base consists of friends and family that believe in the goal and will therefore help you attain it. The third thing that I have to write down in this blog is sub goals. Sub goals, or breaking down the main goal into smaller ones, is a great tactic to reach your goal.
My goal of stopping my hair pulling is very realistic. Its not like I'm pulling the hair of a yak everyday or something. I know the contingencies of this behavior which has revealed the antecedents and consequences of it as well. This knowledge allows the goal to be achieved and gives me the ability to do it. I also know that I will have a great support base because my girlfriend always gets pissed off when she sees me trying to pull my hairs.
With this information, I believe that I can begin to modify this problem behavior. Well, problem behavior according the the woman.
Terms Used: realistic, support base, modify, contingencies, antecedents
Three things that I will remember from this section are:
1. When setting a goal be realistic. If you are to set a goal for yourself that is not attainable no matter what then you will fail, and probably be disappointed in yourself.
2. Goals that take longer to achieve can be more difficult. In order to help you overcome this you can break this the goal into sub-goals allowing you not to become exhausted and to quit attempting to elicit your goal.
3. In order to achieve the goals desired, make sure you have a strong support group. Without the support of others it may become difficult to achieve it, or easy to stop trying.
I believe that my goal set in the previous section of running more often is definitely achievable. I have learned that this behavior is emitted when I have free time, a treadmill is available or the temperature isn't extremely cold, and have the support from family and friends. Because I know what situations elicit the behavior it is easier for me to recognize the situation and emit the running behavior. It wouldn't be hard to maintain, and it should be fairly manageable as long as I am aware of the situation at the time. I also have a support base from my friends and family. I have a friend at school who runs, my dad and sister run for the most part every day, and my boyfriend works out every day so I would be able to join him when he goes.
Terms: Goal, sub-goals, elicit, support group, emitted, behavior
The three things that I will remember from this section are that you need to be realistic when setting goals. If your goal is way out of reach you will get discouraged. Pay attention to the time frame of your goal. Is it something that can be reached in the time that you have? Finally sub goals. You can take your broad behavioral goal and break it down into smaller more obtainable goals to reach the final thing.
My goal was to study more. I believe this is achievable because I am capable of reading and applying myself more. It is manageable because I can spend less time doing less important things such as watching tv or spending time on facebook. IT is not a very disruptive goal all it requires is spending more time in my room or at the library reading. It would be a fairly low maintainence goal as well. My support base would be my mom for sure she would be calling me all the time going are you reading like you said you were going to? All it would take would be for me to tell her that was my goal!
Terms: sub goals, support base, target behavior.
I learned that the goal needs to be precise, manageable, and realistic. The last two are kind of the same. Breaking down a goal makes it easier to attain of digest. If you say you are going to get to this goal by taking 1 step to the next then it is a lot more manageable than trying to tackle the whole endeavor. Also when considering reality, is this goal something you have the ability to do? Dont set goals that you cant obtain. Make sure the behavior that you are trying to modify doesnt disrupt another behavior, or at least be aware of what the changes will bring.
Basically this chapter just makes you really think about the goal that you set in every context. The more precise and measureable your goal is the easier it is going to be obtained. Also if you obtain it will it effect another behavior in your life. I really enjoyed the clarity that this section gave. You have to be aware of everything that goes on with your target behavior from start to finish.
terms: target behavior, goals, manageable, realistic, measurable, time frame, precise