Reading Activity week #2 (due Tuesday)

1.1 - Prior to reading this chapter, behavior modification seemed like a form of conditioning in my opinion. I thought this because of the work modification. To me, modification means to consciously make a change to something, big or small. For example if a student is not receiving the grades they think they are capable of, they need to modify their lifestyle. This could apply to ones sleep schedule, study habits, social life, etc.

Three things I will remember from this chapter are the ABC’s, the sequence that these occur in, and that the consequence can either be positive or negative. I will remember the ABC’s first of all because it was one of the first things people remember in their lives. Second of all, the actual meaning on the ABC’s according to the chapter occurs in a sequence (most of the time) although it is easy to form a hypothesis for the events if they did not occur in order. A stands for antecedent, B stands for behavior and C stands for consequence. I like how the sequence is set out so clearly, that it is easy to remember, and really applies to almost everything. Depending on the consequence of a behavior (positive or negative) an individual can go back to this example and analyze where he or she went wrong or right, such as telling a joke at a funeral versus a party. The antecedent is the environment, the behavior is telling the joke, and the consequence is how people react.

One thing that I didn’t like about this chapter was that there wasn’t discussion about how not all things happen this clearly. In some situations you can’t necessarily pin point why particular consequences occur after certain behaviors. For example, I had known one of my roommates last year since I was in kindergarten. We got along fairly well, but towards the middle of the year we just started to not get along and she became very controlling. When she moved out I wished her all the best and she never responded to me and we still haven’t spoken. I suppose this could be explained using the ABC’s, it’s just difficult to identify what exactly went wrong.

After reading this chapter I have already began to open my mind up more about behavior modification and how there are so many consequences to behaviors. Some are life changing and others you don’t even notice.

1.2 - Three things that I will remember from this chapter are the terms reinforcement, reinforcer, and reinforcing are all similar, they are just being used in a different tense. “When the consequence of a behavior is reinforcing, the future probability of the behavior occurring under the same circumstances will increase.” This quote summary from the text explains how reinforcement is used in behavior modification. The second thing I will remember from the reading is reinforcement can involve something aversive and punishment can involve something desirable. This is important to remember because it is easy to associate certain words with behaviors, but depending on how the actions are being delivered can influence which term to use. The third thing I will remember from this chapter is that the ABC’s can still be applied in different ways, such as self-reinforcement. For example when you have an itch on your back, you rub your back on the wall, and then you no longer have an itch. I will remember this because I believe self-reinforcing behaviors most likely happen more frequently than behaviors that involve other people.

One thing that I really liked in this chapter was the summary at the end. It helped me put together the main ideas from the readings then I was able to go back and make more sense of the text. The examples also helped clarify how to correctly use the terms provided.

One thing I disliked about the chapter was how wordy it was. I had a hard time following the text because all of words seemed so similar. It was easier for me to start at the summary and then go back and makes sense of the text.

The reading provided many examples of how to correctly use terminology. A lot of the terms can be use in a way that seems opposite of how they should be used, but it still makes sense. Originally I thought the terms would be clear cut, but many of them require a little extra thought in order to use them correctly.

Before reading section 1.1, I thought that behavior modification was about finding ways to change or manipulate behavior, especially behavior that people consider to be “bad.” I didn’t necessarily think that behavior modification was a bad thing to do. Behavior modification can be very useful for some things, including teaching children how to act in public or as a means to stop annoying habits, such as biting one’s nails. However, I could see how behavior modification could be a bad thing if used to get your way all of the time. It could also be a bad thing if used to convince people to do things that are wrong. An example would be Charles Manson using others to commit murder.
Three things I will remember from the section are: 1. Antecedents are the things that happen BEFORE the behavior and the consequence, 2. while the behavior may be the same, the antecedent and consequence can and often are very different, and 3. Consequences are not necessarily bad. They can be a good thing. I will remember these things because that was the main focus of the chapter and that was what I did for most of the exercises.
One of the things that I really liked about the section is that it had different examples for me to do. It didn’t just give me the answers or have one answer that I needed to get right; I was able to think as simply or as deeply about the ABC’s as I wanted to. This allowed me to feel more creative. One thing that I disliked is that I felt there were more examples than I needed. I understood the concept after 2 or 3 exercises. I didn’t need four. I’m glad there weren’t more.
Reading this section really hasn’t changed what I originally thought about behavior modification. The 1st paragraph essentially says what the section itself says, so I guess I was on target with the definition of behavior modification. The only thing that I can add to my knowledge base beyond the ABC’s, which I already covered, is that behavior modification is also about encouraging behavior that is good, that people want to see more of.

The first thing I will remember from section 1.2 is that antecedent is synonymous with verb (reinforcement or punishment), behavior is synonymous is noun (reinforcer or punisher) and consequence is synonymous with adjective (reinforcing or punishing). The second thing I will remember is that reinforcement is used to increase behavior while punishment is used to decrease behavior. The third thing I will remember is that both reinforcers and punishers can be natural or deliberate. The examples used in the reading are really great. A natural reinforcement is smiling back when someone smiles at you. A deliberate reinforcement is giving praise when someone does something you want them to. A natural punishment is not going outside if it’s cold. A deliberate punishment is requesting music being turned down if too loud. I will remember these things because I think they are very important and will be things I will need to understand thoroughly as we advance through the course. Also, they make sense, and that makes it easier to remember them.
The thing I liked most about this section was the examples given for the terms. It made it easier to relate to what the term meant and to come up with my own examples. The thing I disliked the most was that I had to come up with 3 examples for every term. I had a really hard time coming up with 3 for each. 2, I think, would have been perfect.
My original thoughts on behavior modification haven’t changed, but I realize now that the principles behind it are more complex than I had thought. Understanding the process behind the “simple” task of changing behavior seems to require much study and the learning of a new language.

1.1 I thought of behavior modification in the sense of training or shaping the behavior of children and animals mainly. I thought this basically because on television and in our everyday world those are the areas that typically stand out the most. One example is the TV show Supernanny, where the nanny uses behavior modification with punishments and rewards to completely reshape the children. We also use behavior modification when training dogs. At my house we have two dogs that we taught to fetch and do other things. We also taught them to stay out of our garage and cars when the doors are open. We did this by modifying the behavior and altering the consequence of their behaviors.

Three things I will remember (or hope to remember) from this chapter are the ABCs of behavior, using 'pleasurable' and 'aversive' instead of positive and negative, and that we emit many behaviors throughout the day that we do not even notice. I will remember the ABCs because they are a very basic tool to behavior modification. A stands for antecedent which is what sets the occasion. B stands for Behavior and C stands for consequence, which is what happens after the behavior is carried out. These are all very basic steps to remember. I also will remember to use pleasurable and aversive instead of positive and negative, because the chapter pointed out that positive and negative are very specific terms for behavior modification. I will also remember that we emit behaviors throughout the day that we may not even notice because I found that to be very interesting. I will probably find myself trying to pick out different behaviors now that I carry out throughout the day.

As I stated above, I found it interesting that we don't even notice some of our behaviors throughout the day. I like finding out new things about people to observe. For example, I never would have thought about the behavior of taking my test. The antecedent was sitting in my Business Statistics class. The behavior was taking the test. And the consequence was getting a poor grade. However, if I was taking a test in one of my psychology classes instead of the antecedent of my business class, the consequence would have a better change of being a good grade on that test. Therefore, the antecedent definitely changed the consequence of this behavior.

There wasn't much not to like about this section in chapter one, but something I didn't like as much was how it didn't really describe in detail what an antecedent was. It says it can set the occasion or make it happen, but I wasn't sure if it had to be a place or a situation. I just didn't know all of the rules on that.

Reading this chapter has already broadened my view of behavior modification. As I stated in the beginning, I correlated this mostly to children and animals, and didn't really think much past that. I now know that behavior modification occurs every day and we emit behaviors every day of our lives.

1.2 Three things I will remember from this chapter are that there are punishments and rewards in many activities in every day life, there are differences between the verb, noun, and adjective form of reinforce, and there are self-reinforcements. These things all stood out to me because the chapter made a special point to get those things across to us. For example, they stated that reinforcements are used to increase the frequency of a behavior whereas punishments are used to decrease the frequency of a behavior.

I thought self-reinforcement was interesting because it is not something we often think about. We do many things in life to make ourselves happier or to give ourselves satisfaction, but we don't always know that we do so. For example, when we are tired (A) we sleep (B) so that we are no longer tired (C). Sleeping is our self-reinforcement and we benefit from this.

I disliked positive and negative valence in this chapter because I was confused by it a little bit. It told us not to use the terns positive or negative but then continued to use them in the rest of the chapter. So I'm still not sure whether we are to use those terms in regards to valence or not.

This has also changed my outlook on behavior modification because although I had heard of reinforcers and punishers before, I hadn't heard the different forms of them. Also, I have a new outlook on self-reinforcement as well. I didn't realize all of the self-reinforcements we can take part in in our lives. Overall, I thought this was a very interesting few sections to the beginning of behavior modification and am excited to learn more!

1.1---Before reading this section, and even starting this class to begin with, I was asking myself “What is Behavior Modification,” “What did I sign up for,” and “What will I be learning?” I asked myself that question everyday leading up to this class. I had many thoughts about it, but never really knew the right answers. I thought behavior modification was what we can do to change someone’s behaviors, and what can influence a person to change his or her behaviors (using positive and negative reinforcement, which I had learned about in other psych classes, yet after reading the article I have now learned that there are better terms that need to be used while dealing with this topic). Also, what the consequences will be for certain behaviors, and how to change those behaviors. I think I thought BMod would be like that from what I have briefly heard, and possibly seen on TV. Recently over the summer, Good Morning America had a behaviorist on talking about behavior modification and actually discussed the ABC’s and how parents can use that as a tool, and that is one thing that I thought of when I thought of BMod, and taking this class.
So when I read the article, it was nice to see something SOMEWHAT familiar, since I had heard and seen the ABC’s on television prior to reading this section of the book. I definitely think I now remember the names for the ABC’s: Antecedent, Behavior, and Consequences (and hopefully I remember those throughout the semester). I think I remembered these words because I knew that I would have to know them for the rest of the semester, and it was a basis for this class. Another thing I learned from this section of the book was that we need to avoid using the words positive and negative (which is what I have always known to use), and use the words pleasurable and aversive. I think I remembered this because I have always been taught the words “positive and negative,” and now I will need to remember pleasurable and aversive, and I thought it was interesting that they use those words instead. One other thing I took out of this section of the book was that the antecedent is a big part that effects the behavior and the consequence, and that there can be different consequences for different antecedents, even though the behaviors are the same. I think the example used really helped me. Telling a joke at a funeral is completely different then telling a joke at a party, the consequences will definitely be different.
One thing that I really liked about the chapter is that it was VERY easy for me to understand. Putting real life situations in as an example really helped me. Also, it was nice that we could fill out boxes, because putting in our own situations makes us (or at least me) understand the concepts more. Also, I liked that is there was a “new word” that was in italics, the definition, or at least a word similar is next to it so you don’t have to go figure out what that word means, it makes everything a lot easier. Also, the “Summary” at the end was very helpful so you could just flip back to the end to see what the main points were.
There wasn’t really anything that I dislike about this article. One thing would be that I do not think all situations behave all so clearly like the article explained. In some more complex situation it will not be so simple to figure out the behavior and consequence, and it may be very different in different situations, and you cannot pin point one thing or another when it comes to behavior and consequences. I think they could have made it clearer that something this does not work in every situation.
I think reading the chapter really made me realize that behavior modification is a little more complex them I already knew, but it is also pretty simple at the same time. Also it made me realize that sometimes there can be so many different consequences for different situations, and some things you notice every day of your life, while others you just pass off without even knowing.

1.2---There are many things that I hope to remember from this section of the book. One thing that I will remember is the word valence. I had heard of this word prior to the reading, yet I did not really know what it meant. I liked how the book gave examples of what it means, which will hopefully help me remember. Also, I will remember that the terms “reinforcement,” “reinforce,” and “reinforcing” are all very similar yet they do not all mean the same thing. Also, I will remember these words more because they stuck out to me while I was reading considering they were usually in italics or at least bolded. A third thing that I will remember from this section of the book is other vocab words and important words such as aversive, and unpleasant. I think I will remember these because the author used real life examples to show how these words relate to real life. For instance, the example of getting your Xbox taken away, that would be an unpleasant experience.
I once again really liked all the examples that were used in the chapter; it made it easier to understand how to relate it to real life, and your life as well. There were also many little activities that you could do that helped you use the words and relate it to your life. Being able to relate it to your life really helps understand what it really means. Also, it gets to the point without dragging on.
Even though I really enjoyed the activities, sometimes it seemed like there were too many, and it got in the way of what we really needed to learn. I felt like I barely read anything and all of a sudden I have to come up with 3 examples for something.
Reading this chapter has changed originally thoughts about behavior modification even after reading the first chapter. I have always heard of positive and negative reinforcements, as well has reinforces and punishers, yet I did not realize how in depth they could be, and I actually thought they were all kind of similar, but after reading it I realized that they are actually pretty complex and not the same.

Before reading this chapter I thought of behavior modification of either training to eliminate negative behaviors, or continuing good behaviors. This is something that could really be a benefit to eliminating aversive behaviors in daily life. Three things I will remember from this chapter are first, how easy it could be to control behaviors with just three boxes. I also will remember the behavior of telling a joke. In different settings (antecedents) the consequences were very different. Lastly, I will remember writing my responses about how I felt about what I just read. For example, how I feel about manipulation.

One thing I really liked about the chapter was how it got you thinking about the predictability of human behaviors emitted. These things are actions that you don’t think about, but there are different ways to organize the behaviors and this could help in changing the behaviors. The Antecedent, Behavior, and Consequence are interesting because it can relate to your daily life. Yet, you don’t usually think of your actions and behaviors in scientific terms.

Something I disliked about the chapter was the directions for the boxes were a little hard to understand. If it were more specific it would have been a lot easier to think of what to write down for the Antecedent, Behavior, and Consequence. After reading this, however, I see to not use the terms “positive” and “negative”, but to use the terms “pleasurable” and “aversive”. I also see the simplicity in changing behaviors that we don’t even think about. Overall, it made me think more about how similar behaviors can have very different consequences depending on the situation.

1.1
I was very interested in behavior modification prior to reading this chapter, reading it, though, gets me more excited about using it in my everyday life, for both selfish and professional reasons. Three things in this chapter that I will not forget is that behaviors we emit every single day are automatic and are occur because of some sort of antecedent. Also, because of each behavior that we emit, there will be some sort of consequence, whether it is pleasurable or aversive. Another thing that I will remember is that one behavior can have a different consequence depending on the antecedent. So what it all comes back to is that the ABC’s of behavior modification is very important when studying this course.

I really enjoyed that each place in the chapter had a stopping place for us to be creative and apply what we had just read in the chapter to a real life situation, or express our own opinion on the subject. This helps students to really take control of our learning and not just sit and listen, hoping not to miss a concept that may be tested later on.

There was not really anything big in the chapter that I disliked. I do wish that I could have typed into the boxes rather than print it out and then write it out, but overall I enjoyed all of the content.

Before reading this chapter, I thought why we emit a certain behavior was much more complex and difficult to understand than this chapter explains it to be. Really the reason we emit such a behavior can be explained by the ABC’s of behavior modification.

1.2
What I will remember from this chapter is that reinforcement increases the likelihood of a behavior to reoccur and that punishment decreases the likelihood of a behavior to occur. I will also remember that we can reinforce a behavior of our own that we want to keep on occurring and that the ABC’s of Behavior Modification are not necessarily a linear process but that there is a very strong connection between the antecedent and the consequence as well.

What I really liked in the chapter was the many ways that both reinforcement and punishment can be used, in both negative and positive ways (referring to the addition and subtraction of each). For example to get your roommate to do their dishes more often, you could use either positive reinforcement when she does (praising her) or negative reinforcement (stop nagging her) or both. What I did not like in this chapter was how repetitive the chapter was. This could also be good, though, because I do not think that I will never forget the concept of reinforcement or punishment.

I never really thought about using reinforcement or punishment as a way of altering a person’s behavior. I more considered it as a way of getting something done, if my roommate will not do the dishes, nag her until she does. It was just something I did to get another thing done.

Prior to reading 1.1, I didn't really have a clue what behavior modification was. I thought it had something to controling ones behavior in beneficial ways for ones self. I also thought it had something to do with reading people's emotions and how to react to others when they are in a specific mood. I thought this class would be essential for those who want to continue on to be clincial psychologists and help people with mental disorders deal with their emotions. With this assumption, I thought behavior modification could be used for both positive and negative ways. It seemed to be a little inhumane to try and manipulate ones behavior to benefit oneself. I also see it as a positive (like I said earlier) to help understand others that need help controling their behavior and emotions.
I really liked how this chapter used a lot of diagrams to help understand the vocabulary terms that were used. For example, using the arrows and boxes to demonstrate how the antecedent, the situationt that causes the behavior, is related to the consequence. It also showed alot of everyday examples that helps relate the topics to the readers in a way that we can all understand. I like how the first section really stresses the ABC's so that throughout the rest of the readings, we understand the ABC's and how they relate to behavior modification. There's nothing I really didn't like about this section. I thought it was a very basic understanding of the ABC's of behavior modification and helped lay out the rest of the book.
After reading this section, it helped me understand that behavior modification can relate to simple, everyday activities, not just complicated situations. I also realize that behavior modification can help reinforce a behavior that that you may find pleaureable and eliminate those that are aversive.
Three things I will remember from section 1.2 are: negative and positive reinforcement are used to increase a behavior, punishment is used to decrease the frequency of a behavior, and there is both naturally occuring reinforcement and naturally occuring punishment. I think the section used alot of examples to help reinforce these ideas and used diagrams to their relationships with eachother. One thing I didn't really like about this chapter was how they would use a specific term, and than say they weren't going to use that term when refering to it and they were going to subsitute a different word for it. The first word they used got stuck in my head which caused me to continue to think of that original term.
This chapter didn't really change anything that I originally thought about behavior modification. I thought it was more informative than anything. I thought it was adding on to what the first section had talked about which was nice to relate both of the units together.

Prior to reading chapter 1.1, I thought Behavior Modification was all about learning to control and manipulate behaviors of others and also our own. I figured the class would also teach us about adjusting and changing peoples behaviors in different settings as well.

I have never heard of the ABC's model, so when I read about it I was really interested, especially since everyone uses the ABC's almost every day. Everything that we do, or the decisions we make depend on our environment and our behavior towards the environment. We act in certain ways to get things we want/need, and sometimes we do things without knowing the consequences. This is one model I will not forget because it also makes me think of my behaviors I've emitted today.

The three things I have learned from this chapter is that we can predict the outcomes of our consequences by using different behaviors, that we should not refer to outcomes as positive and negative but as pleasurable and aversive, and that the ABC's are not linear and each one is connected to one another and we can learn to use them correctly by understanding our environment, behaviors, and consequences.

One thing I disliked about the chapter were some of the definitions always being used (elicit, emitted, salient, aversive) and having to look back and see what they meant again was a little frustrating. Although, I did learn some new vocabulary which is always great because it makes me feel more intelligent =)

Thinking up some examples were a bit hard also, and I found it easier to use the ABC model of the consequence area on outside persons than on myself for example: Being at a basketball game(antecedent), and cheering for the team (behavior) could lead the team to play better or not cheering for the team could bring the teams ego down and make them do worse. I could not think about the outcome it had for myself. Being at a basketball game, cheering, and....? (having fun)?
It was just hard for me to think of some good examples using all 3 ABC's.

Reading this chapter has made me think about certain situations I have been in and the behaviors I have elicited and the outcomes of my behaviors. It makes me realize that instead of just doing things without thinking, I should think about different behaviors I could be using to change the outcomes.

After reading 1.2 I will remember that Reinforcement is a good thing and can increase someones behavior and Punishment is a bad thing (can be good thought) but can most likely decrease someones behavior. These are two different types of manipulation and it fits perfect in learning about behavior modification because we can get others to do things by reinforcing or punishing positive and negatively. I will also remember that valence can be positive or negative depending on the value of a person, place, or thing.

I really liked learning about negative punishment and positive valence in certain situations. My roommate recently became a vegetarian because she wanted to lose weight. She really likes meat but she decided to not eat it anymore so she could get positive results. I wonder if this is like the scenario of negative punishment?

One thing I really didn't like about this chapter is the whole noun, adjective, verb defining. It about put me to sleep the first paragraph I read about all of it. After reading it through a couple more times I understood it and it's obvious that reinforcement is not the same as a reinforcer.

After reading this chapter, it makes me realize that there is so much more to behavior modification than just learning how to act in different environments. It deals with understanding how reinforcement works, how punishment works, understanding valence and how it can be pleasurable or unpleasurable. Some of the examples definitely helped me understand different styles of manipulation between reinforcement and punishment. Hopefully I can relate some of these definitions to my life and also try them out in certain situations.

Prior to this chapter, I thought Behavior Modification was referring to how people modified their behavior to adapt to different situations they were presented with. I thought this because combining the words "behavior" and "modification" led me to think of people modifying their actions or behaviors to receive specific rewards in return in life.

Three things I will remember from chapter 1.1 are:
1) The antecedent is very important. You can tell the same joke in different circumstances and get different responses in return. I will remember this because it is something that I wouldn't always consider when speaking. There are times when something is appropriate and there are times when it is not.
2) We are highly unaware of the antecedents that set the occasions for the behaviors we emit. This is something I will remember because in my own life it really is hard to think about or realize what leads up to my behavior. As stated above, the antecedent is very important and can be a huge predictor of your behavior.
3) Manipulation is not necessarily a bad thing. Remembering this one won't be as hard for me simply because of life experience. Manipulaion is often times used in a negative way, but it can be used in a very positive way as well. When you are manipulating someone for your own personal gain, it is not good. When you are trying to help the other person out, it can become a good thing.

One thing that I really liked in this chapter was how many examples it gave for everything it was discussing. There was a lot of different vocabulary used that people maybe wouldn't use in their everyday life, so the examples really helped to put those words into context so that we could better understand them.

One thing that I disliked about the chapter was the organization. Although I did learn a lot of valualbe things in the chapter, I felt as if I had to re-read a lot of things to understand exactly what I should have been getting out of it. Also I felt as if there was a lot of repition of material, which also confused me at times.

After reading this chapter, the way I think about Behavior Modification has changed because I realized that there is way more to the way you behave than I originally thought. Learning that your behavior can be so closedly predicted was interesting and I think that it is something that could be applied to your everyday life to help you make the right decisions.

The three things I will remember from chapter 1.2 are:
1) What positive and negative valence are. I will remember this simply because I wasn't familiar with the terms prior to the reading and because I think that it would be something worth remembering for future reference in the class.
2) Reinforcement can involve something aversive and punishment can involve something desirable. This is something I will remember because usually when you think of punishment you don't think of anything desirable being involved. The same goes for reinforcement. Aversive things aren't usually associated with reinforcement.
3) Self-reinforcement occurs when the reinforcer is self delivered. Remembering this is easy for me because it makes perfect sense. If you like doing something, you will continue to do this because you enjoy doing it.

One thing I really liked about the chapter was the amount of opportunities it gave you to practice what it was talking about. I feel as if I would have been extremely confused without the practice I was given because there was a lot information thrown at us in this chapter.

One thing I disliked about this chapter was the amount of vocabulary thrown at us in one section. I noticed there was a lot of information to cover, but all of the italic vocabulary made it really hard to keep everything straight that I had learned.

Reading this chapter changed my view of Behavior Modification because it opened my eyes to the different ways the ABC's can be used. The first chapter we had to read made it easier to understand that there are ways to predict your behavior but this chapter made that even more clear for me by introducing me to valence, reinforcers, punishment, etc. Putting all of this together gives me a greater understanding of the ABC's of behavior modification.

Prior to reading 1.1, I thought that Behavior Modification simply meant that we were going to learn about all kinds of different behaviors and ways to modify them in certain situtations. I thought this because I didn't put much thought into what it actually meant and just assumed from the name.

The three things I'll remember from 1.1 are:
1. Behaviors can stay the same, but as soon as you change the antecedents, the consequences change drastically. This caught my attention because I never realized how it's appropriate to say or do something in some places, but innappropriate to even suggest in other places.
2. The ABC's. I will most likely use this for the rest of my life and in multiple different occasions. It's interesting how our environment shapes our behaviors and how the ABC's work for almost every daily situation.
3. I also liked how it was an easy read and how I could apply it to my life and use real examples without it being difficult.
However, one thing I disliked about this reading was that the examples seemed to be repeated and after the third time, I fully understood it so it kind of got irritating.

Reading this chapter made me realize that Behavior Modification is based on so many things, not just our behavior. I learned that manipulating doesn't always have to be a bad thing, it just all depends on what choices we make and how we approach the situation. There are always many outcomes.

The three things I remember from 1.2 are:
1. Reinforcement vs. Punishment. I knew that these two were different, but didn't really understand how they could be so different. When you punish somebody, it makes them feel bad at the time, but they are most likely going to do the act again. We need to reinforce good behaviors instead of always punishing so they know how to behave well.
2. Positive vs. Negative Valence. These were both pretty easy to understand and come up with examples. Their names really help to remember which one is what.
3. Self-reinforcement. I realized when I was reading this that I don't do a lot of self reinforcing, but mostly just punish myself for doing something wrong. It made me also realize that my friends do the same thing.

One thing that I really liked about this chapter was the punishment involving something ordinarily pleasurable exercise. I enjoyed this because the examples were easy to follow and come up with my own. It was very easy for me to understand. One thing that I disliked was the reinforcement involving something ordinarily aversive. It was difficult for me to come up with examples for this, even though I understand what it means.

Putting 1.1 and 1.2 together has already made a big difference in how I now see Behavior Modification. It made me realize that it's all abou tthe ABC's and how it's used in so many different ways. It also made me realize all the ways of punishing/reinforcing yourself for your actions or behaviors. I was familiar with some of the terms already, but didn't realize how complex they actually are when you try to put them in examples.

I have always thought that behavior modification meant altering behaviors in order to get a more preferable outcome. I have seen many shows such as “The Biggest Loser” and “Intervention” where they perform behavior modification, so I had a general idea about it and saw it as a positive action. After reading section 1.1, I feel like I have a better understanding of behavior modification.
This section focused on the ABCs of behavior. The ABCs of behavior taught me that behavior modification is somewhat simple when broken down. There is always an antecedent which leads to a behavior which causes a consequence. I will always remember the ABCs of behavior because it is such a simple concept. The ABCs of behavior also explains how different environments elicit or cause behaviors. This means that individuals tend to do certain things in certain environments. For example, at a grocery store, one is likely to buy groceries. The antecedent or environment is the grocery store, and the behavior is buying the groceries. This concept is very simple and easy to remember because it is not difficult to predict behaviors when given the antecedent or environment. I also learned that if we can control the antecedent or environment and know possible consequences, we may alter our behavior. This is also a concept that I will remember because I can use it in everyday life. I should think about the situations I put myself in and all of the possible consequences that may result, so I can make better decisions and act appropriately.
I really liked how this chapter explained that manipulation is not a bad thing. It explained that we manipulate people every day, whether we realize it or not. I think that in order to get ahead in life, one needs to know how to manipulate people well. I am excited that this course will explain how to modify or manipulate behaviors because it is such a valuable talent to have.
This chapter was very interesting, and I feel like I have gotten a lot of useful information out of it. There wasn’t anything I dislike about what was stated in the chapter because it all made sense to me. After reading this chapter, I am more excited to learn about behavior modification because it explained how we use it every day.
Section 1.2 was also very informational and interesting. I learned that a reinforcer is something that will increase the probability of a certain behavior occurring again, whereas a punisher is something that will stop a certain behavior. I have learned about punishers and reinforcers in other classes, so I will always remember those concepts. I also learned that reinforcement can involve something aversive, and punishment can involve something desirable. An example of reinforcement involving something aversive is, “If you read your book, I will stop nagging you.” In contrast, an example of punishment involving something pleasurable or desirable is, “He took away the cake, so I would stop eating it.” I will always remember this because the exercises helped embed these concepts in my mind. Another thing I remembered from this chapter is that we have the power to reinforce ourselves. This stuck out to me because I want to be able to better control my actions.
I liked how this chapter had many exercises to help us practice and better understand all of the information stated. I feel like I understand these concepts and won’t forget them. There wasn’t anything I disliked about this chapter either. Section 1 reading made me think that behavior modification was something very simple. After reading section 2, I have realized that behavior modification involves a lot of terminology or concepts and is more complex than I thought.

Previous to reading these two sections I though of behavior modification as a way to manipulate and change behaviors. Whether it is changing the behaviors for better or worse. When I think of behavior modification the first thing that springs into my mind is Pavlov and his dogs. I tend to see behavior modification as something that happens mainly when a new element is introduced and not necessarily taken away.
I did take away a few key points from each reading. The first reading clarified the basics for me. I’ll surely remember the three basics to behaviors: the antecedent, the behavior and the consequence. It also occurred to me while reading that consequences are not always bad things, they can be either good or bad. I also found it interesting that you can do the same behavior in different situations and get a completely different response (ex: raising your hand).
The section of reading also had some interesting key points to take away. The big key piece I took away from the section was that the verb, noun and adjective of a word change what you intend to say. Making it very important to know the difference. I also found I tend to think of behavior modification as something that has to be implemented, which is not true. Behavior modification can naturally occur (ex: walking out into the cold). Besides assuming that behavior modification was something that had to be implemented, I also assumed that it had to be implemented by another person. Though this is not the case as many actions are self-enforced (ex: telling jokes).
Both sections brought up things that like about behavior modification and things that I disliked. I like that for the most part behavior modification can be simply put into A,B,Cs it’s a basic idea, but it makes sense. Though the A,B,Cs are a basic idea I don’t care for the technicalities of the noun, verb, adjective of punisher and reinforcer. It seems tedious (though I understand the importance).
The sections did change how I though of behavior modification. It is not just something to change negative behaviors, nor is it something that must be implemented intentionally. Behavior modification is constantly happening even if it is not something that people are aware of. It is a complex idea with many different facets playing into it. Though despite its complexity it can always be explained with just three steps: the antecedent, the behavior and the consequence.

Section 1.1: I thought that behavior modification was a good and bad thing that was used to change or control people, I believed this because I’ve seen that as the outcome such as me changing how my parents acted toward me and I can prove that this change happened because of how they treat my sister. I will remember that behavior modification isn’t always bad, the ABC’s of Behavior modification and the situation is always as important as the behavior being emitted. These three things are the basic principles of behavior modification in this chapter so I believe they will be the easiest to remember. I liked knowing that me modifying my parents behavior towards me isn’t truly a terrible thing. I didn’t like that predicting behaviors through control of antecedent and consequences. It seemed to me that the subject no longer has a choice and that bothers me on a morale level. It didn’t truly change a lot of my thoughts on behavior modification though.
Section 1.2: I will remember the differences between a punisher, a reinforce, and the verbs and adjectives of both. I really liked learning about how punishment was meant to simply decrease the unwanted behavior and not just the general knowledge that punishment is simply a response to someone doing an unwanted behavior that really has no effect the person. It was nice to know that it actually can do something. I didn’t like the example in the chapter about reinforcers about people smiling back at you if you smile at them. It kind of ruined my ego about a girl smiling back at me in my hall earlier today. The reading changed how I view punishment a lot and now I can see it as a tool, one that I wouldn’t be quick to use, that if I knew what I was doing could use to modify things in my life.

Prior to reading anything about behavior modification I wasn’t really exactly sure what it was all about. I figured it had to do with controlling or changing someone’s behaviors. I thought that the process of doing this would be complex and hard to understand. I think I had this impression because when you try to teach an animal to do something it can be very difficult. However, if you had the proper approach this would not be the case.

One thing I will remember is that behavior can be explained by just three words. These words are antecedent, behavior and consequence. I will remember this because it is easy to understand and makes a lot of sense. Another thing I will remember is that the antecedent, or situation, can play a big role in predicting the consequence. For example, if someone were to dance while they were in a ballroom the consequence would be favorable. However, if someone were to start dancing during a movie, they might get bad looks. Finally, I will remember that during the day people are generally unaware of the antecedents, behaviors and consequences they face. I think this is interesting because now that I am aware of them, I might pay closer attention.

One thing I really liked about this chapter was learning that manipulation is not always seen as aversive. People can be manipulated to do things that are helpful. I think the word manipulation gets a bad name but in the context of teaching someone something, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I can’t think of anything I disliked about the chapter. If I had to pick someone I guess some of the exercises were redundant (but that is the point, so we learn it!)

Reading this chapter helped me to have a more open mind about behavior modification in general. It gave me the general information so I can understand it better. I always thought that there had to be more to it than just the ABC’s, but after doing the exercises I realized this wasn’t true.

One thing I will remember from this chapter is that one word can be used in three different ways, and it is very important to use the right form of the word. The example of Reinforcement, Reinforcer and Reinforcing was given. Another thing I will remember is that when a behavior is reinforced the likelihood of that behavior to continue is increased. I will remember this because it can be very important when trying to teach someone to do something new. The last thing I will remember is what valence is. Before reading this chapter I had no idea what it meant. Now I have an understanding for what the term means and represents as well as how it plays a part in behavioral modification.

One thing I liked about this chapter was being able to understand the new terms introduced. There was usually a good description of the word as well as an example. That really helped in putting it together. One thing I disliked was the idea that something normally seen as aversive could be pleasurable. It is hard for me to wrap my head around this concept.
This chapter changed how I looked that the words reinforcement and punishment as well as how they apply to behavior modification. I got a better understanding for what the words meant and now I will be able to use them correctly.

Before reading this chapter I thought that behavior modification was simply making people do what you wanted them to do. I didn't know much about this topic not even all the psychology classes i have taken. In this chapter I will remember the ABC's of behavior modification. I will also remember the behavior is the main point of the ABC's and finally i will remember with just the antecedent and consequence the behavior will be limited.I really liked this because it taught me a lot about how to modify my own behavior. I really enjoyed the fill in the boxes part of the assignment because i think it helped me to learn better. The only thing i disliked in the chapter was how they repeated the same idea over and over again. I only got confused. I now know that behavior modification has certain components to it.

i will remember the distinction between punishment, punisher, and punishing because they chapter went over it in so much detail. i liked the close attention the chapter paid to making sure we understood the difference between the topics because it helped me to learn. I disliked all the writing because I felt after a while i knew the stuff and didn't need to write anymore down. I never knew that the words we are supposed to use are adversive and desirable instead of positive and negative and it does actually help clear some confusion up and makes it easier to talk about.

1.1
Before reading the chapter, behavior modification, to me, was just as simple as something like a parent punishing a child for misbehaving. Prior to this class, I hadn't been exposed to this material so all I really had to go by was the phrase "behavior modification" itself.
One part that I'll remember easily is that antecedent basically means the environment. The antecedent has a strong impact on ones behavior. Another part the section that stood out were the examples of how raising one's hand is going to have totally different consequences depending on the antecedent or the environment theyre in. Raising your hand in class is going to cause a different consequence than raising your hand on the street. The third part that I'll remember is that consequence doesn't necessarily mean negative. Growing up, I've always associated the word consequence with some kind of negative repercussion. The part that I liked most about the first section was its overall simplicity. I wouldn't have guessed that any sort of behavior can be broken down into the ABCs. Being the ABCs makes the concept THAT much easier to remember since those are the first three letters in the alphabet, which we all learned at a very young age.
One thing I'd change about the section, or add for that matter would be a few more examples for the reader to get a better grasp on what is being written about. I had to do a couple double takes throughout the section.
The section made me realize that this is something that I can learn and eventually utilize in every day life. Instead of opening up with totally profound concept that no one will understand, it its explained very well and is easy to understand for someone who has no experience with the topic.

1.2
The fact that there are two types of reinforcement or punishment, naturally occurring and reinforcement/punishment procedure is something I hadn't thought of before but will definitely remember now. Another thing I'll remember from this section is the word valence. Originally looking at the word confused me but the meaning is actually quite simple. It's the value placed on a person, place or thing and they can be positive or negative. I'll also remember the section about Punishment involving something that is ordinarily pleasurable. This parts easy to remember because we have all been exposed to it. Seems to be a fan favorite with the parents of younger children. I remember being sent to bed without dessert or getting my toys taken away when I was younger.
I really liked how the section explained in depth the difference between reinforcing and punishing. Reinforcing aims at increasing the probability of a given behavior in a certain environment while punishing aims to decrease the probability of a behavior in a certain environment.
I didn't really like the area on Self Reinforcement. To me it didn't seem to explain it as much as it could have. Either that, or I just missed the point!
This chapter further showed me that in using Behavior Modification, punishment is not the only way to change ones behavior. There are more ways to get the behavior you want than to just punish. There are different types of Reinforcement using ordinarily pleasurable things or aversive things, as well as punishment using ordinarily pleasurable things or aversive things.

1. Before I read this chapter I thought that behavior modification sounded like an intense thing. Manipulation just has always had a bad connotation in my head. I think that the media had something to do with that. It always seemed like manipulation and mind control went hand in hand on television. Only the evil villains would “manipulate” people. So that’s what stuck in my head.
I guess now that I’ve read the section I don’t feel that way anymore. It is a natural thing. We all do it even if we don’t realize it. I mean even punch cards for restaurants are a way of behavior modification and I don’t mind that one bit.
I will remember the ABC’s of behavior modification from this chapter. The ABCs refer to the antecedent, the behavior, and the consequence. The antecedent is what sets up the behavior that is performed. The consequence is the end result of said behavior. I think I will remember these three things because of how the information was conveyed to me. I like how it is easy to remember ABC because of the alphabet. Now I can associate ABC with antecedent, behavior, and consequence.
I felt like the section could have gone a little more into detail about how the consequence can affect the reoccurrence of the behavior performed. I feel like when we talked about it in class I had a firmer grasp on it, but the reading just wasn’t clear enough on that for me.

2. Three things I will remember from section 1.2 are the concepts of reinforcement, punishment, and valence. Reinforcement is what you do when you want to increase the behavior. Punishment is what you do when you want to decrease the behavior. Valence is a concept that makes a behavior or object have a connotation to it. These three things for some reason just stuck out of the section for me. I really liked the idea of punishment not necessarily being a bad thing. I punishment can be good by being a negative punishment. Even though I liked that concept. I also dislike it because the terms “negative” and “positive” are going to make me overthink everything.
This section has made me think about how complicated behavior modification really is. In order to use the correct terminology you really have to think about it, because they aren’t quite what they seem.

1.1
Prior to reading this chapter I thought that behavior modification was mostly a subject in which we would simply learn the basics of why people/animals act a certain way. In addition to this I thought we would look at how to change some of those behaviors, thus behavior modification. I basically extracted these ideas from the title of the class. However, upon entering the class I thought that it would be a much more complicated science than it appeared to be in our reading assignment. I thought that there would be millions of theories and practices that would be hard to understand. However, when they were laid out in the simple order of Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence (ABC) it became very clear. I think that if I hang on to these basic principles that I will be able to grasp the ideas we talk about in class.
One thing that I will remember is the ABC’s; Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence. I had a basic understanding of conditioning, both operant and classical, but this made it into an easy mnemonic device regarding the essentials when it comes to behavioral modification. The antecedent or the situation that usually stimulates the behavior, the behavior is the middle of this and thus the most important, which is followed by the consequence which will affect whether the behavior will be repeated, increased, or cease. A second thing that I learned was that an individual can know the antecedent and the consequence but the behavior can be something totally unexpected. This was interesting to me because often you can often guess the consequence or the antecedent if you know the behavior but not vice versa. The behavior is an independent variable in this sense. The last thing that I remember from the text is just how unaware I am of my behavior on a daily basis. There are so many aspects of my life that have been modified without my knowledge. Simple activities from eating to getting ready for bed have so many modified behavioral aspects in them. I am looking forward to dissecting of these so that I can better understand just why I do what I do in certain situations.
One thing I disliked about the chapter was just how robotic it made me feel. Most of my behavior that I could think of for examples in the writing could be broken down into the simple ABC formula. It is just a bit irritating to think that all of the complex behaviors that we do on a day to day basis that are so complex can be broken down and manipulated in such an easy fashion. I think the reason for this irritation is because “manipulation” is such an emotionally loaded word. It makes one feel as though they are not in control and that is a scary thought. I do, however, understand that manipulation can be for good too.
One thing that I really enjoyed in this reading was being given the opportunity to write down what I understood from the text as examples. This was such a simple, revolutionary thing for me to do. It is super helpful to have the text and then a quick comprehension check immediately afterwards. Beyond this it is even more helpful because I am given the chance to write down any example that I would find memorable. This will certainly help me continually remember what we have covered in class.
1.2

One thing that I re-learned in this chapter was the concept of positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is the addition of some stimuli to affect the behavior and negative reinforcement is the removal of some stimuli to affect behavior. This is a very important distinction to make and I am grateful that the book thought it was worthwhile to review from previous psychology courses. Another new thing to me was the idea of naturally occurring reinforcements or punishments. This means that inanimate objects can affect our behavior just as other people can. Such examples were going outside in a blizzard or smiling at someone and getting a smile back. There doesn’t even need to be any direct interactions! This made the concept of behavioral modification more in depth to me. Another item I will remember is the idea that using the words ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ are to be used solely for certain vocabulary rather than to be used as descriptive words. The example that I wrote down to remember this was where we were given space to write our own example. I wrote, “Coming home to my wife is the best thing in the word”. This was a clear distinction for me that this is more than a ‘positive’ experience and to refrain from using the word in the future.
I really enjoyed the idea of naturally occurring reinforcement. I know I already used that one above for what I learned but it’s just stuck with me. I think it is so cool that our behavior is always being affected by our environment. This is probably why our environment plays such a huge role in triggering out behavior. Whenever we exhibit a behavior the immediate results can have a direct affect on whether we repeat that behavior even thought the supposed consequences might have nothing to do with our behavior. It could just have happened by accidental timing. This has just got me thinking on beliefs in ‘luck’ and other such phenomena where we believe our behavior can make an impact on an event that is out of our control. Interesting to think about.
I thought there was a bit too much time dedicated to the differences between reinforcement, reinforcer, and reinforcing and the same with the root word punish. I thought that these were quite silly distinctions. I am sure that they are important to technical behaviorist speech but I don’t know if it’s important enough to have in our class. I’m sure it probably is but I failed to see the importance.
This chapter changed the way I viewed behavioral modification by adding elements of naturally occurring reinforcement and self reinforcement. This is cool because it adds two integral parts to what can and does affect our behavior. What we tell ourselves and convince ourselves of can be very powerful consequences that can keep us practicing a behavior despite other outside influences. This added a much needed human aspect to the field of behavioral modification.

1.1 When I heard the word behavior modification, I first thought of how to modify behaviors and manipulate my four year old into acting the way I want her to act. Three things I remember from the chapter are Antecedent, behavior, and consequences. The ABC’s of Behavior modification. Antecedent means the occasion for which a behavior should occur. If you behave in a way that antecedent does not fit you can get a negative consequence. If you behave in a way that an antecedent does call for you can receive a good consequence. Like, in Maclin examples about a joke at a party and a joke at a funeral. The behavior and the consequence work in a cycle with each other. The way you behave gives you a consequence whether it is a good consequence or a bad consequence. The consequence you receive will trigger a new behavior. I also learned it is easy to see how someone might act if you are given their behavior. You can then get a better prediction of their antecedent and consequence. It is hard to determine a person’s behavior.
I really liked how we looked at all the different situations when you take one of the ABC’s out of a scenario and how many different behaviors and consequences people came up with. I think that the ABC’s of behavior modification can be broken down in every kind of behavior.
One thing I didn’t like is that now I’m aware of manipulation and how people use it and so now I’m going to be more aware when my boyfriend or little girl try to use it on me.
I think it changed my thinking of behavior modification because I didn’t realize how much I manipulate people. I never thought I used the ABC’s and manipulation like I do in everyday life.
1.2 Three things I remember from this chapter is how you can use reinforcement to increase frequency in a behavior and how you use punishment to decrease frequency in behavior. A punishment involving something that is pleasurable can still cause a negative reinforcement with a positive valance. So when my little girl is naughty I take away her TV time at night. It’s something she enjoys but I’m taking it away from her. The pleasurable item is the TV, which I’m taking away so it’s negative reinforcement, and the positive valance is the TV which my little girl likes. I was really confused on this when I first read the chapter so I broke it down. I also learned that you can have reinforcement involving something aversive. For example, If my little girl is good and uses her manors I don’t make her go to bed early.
These two concepts were the biggest things I didn’t like because I over thought them and got all confused but I think I got it know.
I think this has changed my opinion of behavior modification because there are so many ways to manipulate someone. You can use things a person likes and doesn’t like to manipulate them.

1.1
Before reading this section of chapter 1 I had a vague idea that behavior modification was changing your behavior or someone elses for a known benefit, I wasn't exactly aware of an ABC's of behavior modification. The reason I believed this was just knowing the meaning of the two words and trying to make sense of them.
The three things I will remember about this chapter are the order of the ABC's, how the same behavior with a different antecedent can change the consequence entirely, and how important in everyday life the antecedent is. These are things I will remember due to the importance that was put on them in this chapter section.
One thing I really liked about this chapter was the debate about whether manipulation was a good thing or a bad thing. The reason I liked this was because I was uncertain about manipulation but now realize everyone does it to survive, knowing it or not.
One thing that I disliked about this chapter section was the thought that every behavior could be explained through the ABC's. I just felt like there are more complications than that.
After reading this chapter section I've expanded my vocabulary of behavior modification and am excited to broaden my learning of the ABC's of behavior modification.
1.2
Three things I will remember about this chapter are the different meanings of reinforcement and punishment, using punishment to decrease the frequency of a behavior, and using reinforcement to increase the frequency of a behavior. The reason I will remember these is because they seem to be a base to build on for behavior modification in altering people's behavior.
I liked the examples about how little things can encourage and discourage your future behavior. The reason I liked this part of the text was because it related to real life examples.
One thing that I disliked about this section of chapter 1 was the positive and negative valence idea. I just thought there was more to it and would be more complicated than it was, so I guess what I didn't like was the overthinking of the concept.
Reading this chapter section has brought to my attention the idea that the ABC's of behavior modification have more ins and outs than just an antecedent, behavior, and consequence. I say this because in this chapter it introduces you to reinforcement and punishment.

SECTION 1.1
1)I thought it was a very interesting topic because it is used in so many areas of life, raising children, training pets, interacting with other people, etc.

2)
1. A=Antecedent, B=behavior, C=consequence…a good mnemonic device
2. same behaviors can have different consequences in different situations/settings
3. controlling consequences affects how often behaviors will occur in the future…I had already known this idea but it was beneficial to see it in another way

3)I really liked the example about how the same behavior can have different consequences in different situations/antecedents (telling a joke at the funeral). It made you acknowledge an idea that you probably already knew subconsciously, but didn’t think about until it was presented.
I honestly don’t think there was anything that I disliked in the chapter.

4)The chapter and last class showed me another perspective on operant conditioning and classical conditioning. I really appreciated the information concerning how consequences and antecedents have such a direct impact on behavior, and the behavior performed in the future.

SECTION 1.2
1)The differences between reinforcement, punishment, and self-reinforcement because sometimes I have to really think about the difference between punishment and reinforcement. Positive and negative valences should be easy to remember because positive is good and negative is bad. Reinforcement using something that is usually aversive because pain is a good example of this (getting a cyst removed).

2)I really liked the exercises because they helped me to apply what I read. I disliked the amount of exercises though, I think less would have had the same effect.

3)It made me acknowledge how much self-reinforcement affects our behavior beyond the basic survival needs.

1.1

Prior to reading this chapter, I thought behavior modification was a process of using punishments and rewards to alter behavior into more desirable behaviors. I have taken many psych courses and we have briefly covered conditioning and learning, so I knew that punishments and rewards are separate and both required in the process.

One thing that I will remember that we didn’t really cover so simplistically is the ABC’s of behavior modification. In some classes we discussed them, but they were never laid out in such a way that it was easily understood and remembered. I thought it was very interesting that every action has an antecedent, a behavior, and a consequence and that each part may remain constant in different situations, and elicit different outcomes. You may have the same behavior in three different situations (antecedents) and three different consequences will occur. I remember that a behavior is emitted and the antecedent is eliciting a certain behavior. I also remember that the consequences can be pleasurable or aversive. The process (ABC’s) also is not linear; the consequence affects the process once again. It is a chain.

One thing that I really liked from the chapter was that it was written clearly and the examples provided made the material very applicable to everyday life. Most textbooks talk about the material and may describe it, but the examples are typically ones that aren’t understood by the majority of the population. When the subject is put into situations that occur all the time with everyone, it makes the writer seem closer to the reader, thus making the reader (me) more intrigued with the subject and happy to read it. I didn’t feel like it was a chore to read. I also liked how the chapter was fairly short and to the point. It was not over done. I thought the “do-it-yourself” examples were pretty good. They made the material easier to understand as well. It also helped break the material up so it didn’t drag on. I like textbooks that have you think and apply the information while you read it.

One thing that I didn’t like in the chapter was how many terms were presented in such little space. While I did think they were described well, having so many so close made it seem very jargon-y. I think it took away from the understanding a little bit. I also thought that there should be a term box at the end, showing all the terms and their definitions. When I went back through to look at some terms, I had to scroll all over the place to find them. It would be nice if they could be found in one spot at the end as well as in the text. I also found that I had a little trouble coming up with 3 examples for the ABC’s on my own when antecedent wasn’t described as well as I had thought. It doesn’t really specify if antecedent is a place, situation, etc. I’m not sure if I did those ones right because of it. Overall there was not too much I didn’t like compared to how much I did enjoy this chapter and book.

Reading the chapter did change some of what I thought about behavior modification. I never really thought about behavior modification being used for everyday things. I thought of it more as being used to help people quit smoking, drinking, training dogs, working with children, etc. I didn’t think of it as much as motivating someone to do something, or the tiny things that happen naturally. I realize that is has a much wider application than what I thought. I also realize that our behaviors always have an antecedent and consequence, something which I never really thought about before. I always just thought of our actions as things we do because we are supposed to in certain situations, not because we had received feedback from consequences. It definitely changes how I think about everything I do now.

1.2

The first thing I will remember is the difference between reinforcement/punishment and reinforce/punisher. The first two are verbs and the latter are nouns. Reinforcing/punishing are adjectives. Reinforcement is a procedure we use in behavior modification to increase the frequency of the behavior, while punishment is a procedure we use to decrease the frequency of the behavior. Reinforcers are things that increase the chance of the behavior to reoccur. Punishers are then things that decrease the chance of the behavior to reoccur. There is also negative punishment and negative reinforcement. In negative punishment you remove a desirable thing to change an unpleasant behavior. Negative reinforcement occurs when you take away some aversive to increase desired behavior. I also remember that self-reinforcement is when the reinforcer is self delivered. While many of these are similar, it is something that I’ll remember since they were put into examples that helped to explain them.

I really liked the examples again. I also liked how the terms were laid out into sections. It made each term easier to understand. I thought the summary was also helpful. Like I mentioned in the first section, I thought the information was short and to the point, making it more fun to read and easier to understand. It is a little wordier than the first section, which is one thing I didn’t like. As I said, the terms are all very similar and it did get somewhat confusing. I also thought that some of the exercises were a tad confusing since they were so similar. I also didn’t like the section on self-reinforcement. I thought it was short and didn’t make too much sense since examples used above seemed like the same.

This did help my understanding of behavior modification some. I already knew that reinforcement and punishment were part of the process but I guess I never truly grasped the specific difference of each. I also didn’t realize that self-reinforcement was separate than the others. I think that this was a good way to start off the book; however, 1.2 was a bit wordy. It makes me look forward to reading the rest of the book, as long as it is as easy to understand as these two sections.

1.1
Prior to the class and the opening chapter I didn't really think too much about behavior modification. I guess in the back of my mind, I was thinking it was ways to change my behaviors, more so the negative or unwanted behaviors, but didn't count in changing other's behaviors.
The ABC's, manipulation as not a necessarily bad thing, and the same behavior can result in different consequences depending on the antecedent were the things that I took away from this section because I won't be able to look and watch my employees' behavior w/out applying the ABC's. Knowing that manipulation is not all bad, but everywhere we look makes me feel a bit better when I use it on my employees. Also, I'm interested in experimenting w/changing the antecedent to get different consequences from the same behavior.
My favorite part of this chapter is by far the manipulation factor. It's a major eye opener not only to the fact that I do it, but when it's being used on me as well.
I can't say there was anything I disliked about the chapter, it has definitely hooked my interest.
I don't know if the chapter has changed my original thoughts about behavior modification, but more so took the blinders off of my eyes. I came in only with an inkling of an idea of what behavior modification was.

1.2
The three main things I will take away from this chapter is reinforcement can include something aversive and punishment can include something desirable. The use of the terms Positive and Negative as used in behavior modification and also to simply go back to the definition as we discussed in class. I have never really broken down punishment and rewards and looked at it as being a positive punishment or a negative reinforcer. As I was reading this I got lost in my own head and made it harder than it actually was so it's nice to just remember to go back to the definition.
The one thing I really liked about this chapter was when Dr. M simply said don't make it more complicated than it actually is. I let myself get completely caught up in the terms and made my self confused so this bit of information helped.
That being said, the one thing I didn't like is that it was easy to get caught up in the terms and make things more complicated than they actually are. I found myself going back to sixth grade science class where my teacher taught me the K.I.S.S. method to life. Keep It Simple Stupid.
Reading this chapter has changed mostly the way I interact at work and in the world in general. It's given me tools to using manipulation, reinforcement and punishment in completely new ways. It also simply made me aware that I was already using many of these tools. I finally found a class that I can apply to my life.

Before I read section 1.1, my take on behavior modifications was having someone change another person’s behavior through manipulation or cruel ways. The manipulator would gain either power or some other wanted outcome in their favor. After reading the selection, I noticed that we all are making/changing our or others behaviors in order to better suit the life that we want to live. One of the things that really stuck with me from this section was realizing that we always have behaviors that we know are appropriate and inappropriate, like with the case from telling a joke at a party and telling a joke at a funeral. We have always known that these things were appropriate or not but I really did not realize why we would all act the same as we do in these situations. Something else I took from this section was recognizing the positive and negative (pleasurable and aversive). When I would think positive and negative it would as a positive outcome and negative outcome, so that is something new that I learned and a new perspective. The other thing that I found interesting was that even with the behavior being the same depending on the antecedent it would totally change the consequence. There was not anything in this section that really stood out to me as something that I did not like. The layout was good and easy to follow, and I found all the information interesting, but if something troubles me, I am sure I will let you all know.

After reading 1.2 here are some things that stood out to me, I really liked the part on getting my roommates to do the dishes and cannot wait to figure out how to apply that to more chores in the household. I really did not understand the difference between reinforcement and punishment before reading this section, and I am coming up with more reinforcement examples than I am punishing examples. I understand the idea that in behavior modifications that a punishment can involve something desirable and a reinforcement can involve something aversive, but it take me sometime actually thinking about that process until I understood it the way that I think I am suppose to. Something that I did not care for in this section was the explanation on self-reinforcement, if something is not funny and nobody laughs then why would you continue to tell jokes, because the lack of laughter would be a negative reinforcement, right? (If I do not understand it, as I should be I would love someone to explain it in another way so that I may understand the idea correctly.) This section has changed my idea on behavior modification because before I did not truly understand the difference between punishment and reinforcement, knowing that it is used in so many different ways with both pleasurable and aversive punishment/reinforcement is something new that I learned.