Reading Activity week #4 (due Monday)

For Section 1.5
I am unsure of how to answer the question of how I felt about behavior modification before reading this chapter. My feelings and beliefs have not changed from my original beliefs at the beginning of the semester. My understanding, and certainly my vocabulary, of behavior modification has grown tremendously. I understand many things I didn't before. But my attitude hasn't changed,
because I still feel that behavior modification is an acceptable way of affecting those around us. Any suggestions on how to respond to this question in future posts would be appreciated.
The first thing I will remember from this chapter is the concept of behavioral classes. This was mentioned briefly in class during the first discussion of our topical posts. This chapter helped to solidify the term in my mind. The second thing I will remember is the difference between topographical and functional behavior classes. The difference between the two is easy to comprehend but coming up with the examples for the reading assignment was more difficult than I expected. I will remember this because I want to make sure that I can tell the difference if I were to need to. The third thing i will remember is the idea of superstitious beliefs. The idea that we can alter the beliefs of the individuals whose behavior we are modifying is interesting and bears some looking into. This is also the thing I liked most about the chapter.
The thing I disliked about this chapter isn't related to content. I disliked that i am unsure about being able to recognize the difference between topographical and functional behavior classes.
As I said before, reading this chapter has not changed my beliefs about behavior modification. I feel as if I am expected to dislike behavior modification at the beginning of the semester and come to like it by the end. I am already comfortable with behavior modification.
For Section 2.1
The first thing i will remember is the importance of defining a target behavior. Especially for the purpose of self-reinforcement, defining a target behavior clearly is important because you will need to be absolutely sure you have fulfilled the conditions necessary to reinforce a behavior. The second thing I will remember is the list of reasons why changing behavior is a good idea. I thing this serves as a good baseline and would be good to remember for future conversations related to behavior modification (e.g.- someone asks you why behavior modification is okay). The third thing I will remember is the term discriminative stimulus. I think that this chapter explained this term more clearly than the last chapter. The term also makes more sense now that we have discussed it in class.
I liked coming up with behaviors that I would like to reinforce and punish in myself. This was an interesting exercise and I might start applying what I have learned in this class to just that.
Once again my opinion of behavior modification has not changed upon reading this chapter.

1.5

1) Prior to reading this chapter I thought behavior modification was purely the manipulation of a person's behaviors. I didn't realize how in-depth the idea of behavior modification can get.

2) Three things I will remember from this chapter include the following:
A) Behavioral Classes - We have discussed the idea of behavioral classes throughout discussion within class, but this idea still fascinates me. I have never thought of behavior being put into a classification such as topographical and functional. After reading this chapter it makes me really think about how similar but different each and everything we do is. It is truly hard to wrap your mind around sometimes.
B) Context - This chapter really put into perspective how important the context of a behavior is. This concept has always been something we all know but never really think about. It was kind of fun to examine the different situations and how one behavior is acceptable in one context but not the next.
C) The importance of defining target behaviors. It is obvious through reading this chapter that this is very important when speaking of behavior modification. What might make complete sense to one person is not how another person may see it. Defining target behaviors is something that at first did not come easily due to my instinct to just generalize the behaviors, but with practice it makes sense as to why this is important.

3) One thing I really liked about this chapter was learning about the levels of behavioral classes whether they were topographical or functional. This topic was very interesting to me.

4) There really wasn't anything that I disliked about this chapter. I found much of this chapter interesting and fun to learn about.

5) Reading this chapter has changed how I think about behavior modification in that it now makes sense to me why a topic like this has its own course. The depth of this information is unbelievable.

2.1

1) Three things that I will remember from this chapter include the following:
A) Naturally Occurring Punishment - This is a concept that happens all the time without a person even realizing it. I have experienced this type of punishment numerous times and it is fascinating to think of all the ways it has happened without me even realizing it.
B) I will remember the activity where we changed a behavior from one that would be punished into one that would be reinforced. It was cool to twist the behavior we once saw from a negative perspective into a positive light.
C) Discriminative Stimulus - We have learned this term before in previous chapters, but the examples within this chapter really helped to drive the meaning home. This chapter really put into perspective how important of a role discriminative stimuli play in behavior modification.

2) One thing I really liked in this chapter was the thorough use of examples and explanations for each of the terms we have learned.

3) There wasn't really anything that I disliked about this chapter. I feel this chapter was a great chapter to help in understanding the key terms we have learned so far.

4) This chapter hasn't really changed what I originally thought about behavior modification, but it has increased my understanding overall.

Terms Used: Behavioral classes, modification, punishment, reinforcement, target behavior, discriminative stimulus.

SEC 1.5
Before reading section 1.5 I had no idea that one had to be so exact when talking about a behavior. It's very easy for things to get complicated if someone isn't completely precise with explaining a behavior. I didn't realize that there are many different behavioral classes. On the surface they look topographically the same, but the same behavior can serve a different functional.

I will remember a lot of things after reading this section. I will remember talking about why it's important to be very precise with describing a behavior, and using it in the right context. It's important so behaviors are correctly punished or reinforced. One behavior may be acceptable in one situation, but in another situation you may be punished for the same behavior.

My favorite part in this section was the beginning and how you explained all the different ways someone can wave their hand, and they can all mean different things and can be done in different ways. I will remember this because it talked about the different behavioral classes in a fun and easy to understand way.

If I had to find something about this section I didn't like I would have to say I didn't like how it had very few examples. Examples help me to understand things a lot better, and this section was lacking in them. Other than that everything in this section was very good.

After reading this section I now know just how important it is to be precise with explaining a behavior. To reinforce the correct target behavior one must know exactly what the target behavior is exactly! I discovered just how important that was this really was in this section. There are so many actions that people perform on a daily basis that I view one way and that someone else can view in a totally different way, and that's something I never thought about before.

SEC 2.1
This chapter did a lot of recapping from previous chapters. One of the things I will remember from this chapter are the four reasons to stop a behavior. Because it bothers us, others, they are illegal or may lead to other problems. Another thing I will remember from this chapter is something I didn't know before. This chapter pointed out that punishment is not the way to learn a new behavior. Reinforcement is the best policy to go by. Finally, I will remember everything they recapped on in this chapter. They talked a lot more about discriminative stimuli. They talked about how it is in our everyday life influencing us to act in certain ways. It talked about traffic signs, bathroom signs and signs all over that're posted. I will remember a lot of these from this chapter because a lot of this chapter was recapping what we had already learned. There wasn't a lot of new material to learn, and I pretty much already had down everything this section talked about.

Something I really liked about this chapter is that is went back and did a recap on what we had already learned. I liked that it went back and talked even more about reinforcement and punishment, emit and elicit, target behavior and many more. I liked this because it helped me to make sure what I believed to be true about these terms really was true.

I did however dislike the length of this chapter. This chapter was too long for my liking compared to all the other sections I have read thus far.

After reading this section I am starting to be able to apply behavior modification to my everyday life. I am starting to see things around me that link in with this class. Before I started this class, I didn't really think much about how it affected my everyday life, but now I do!

behavioral classes, functional, topographically, punished, reinforced, target behavior, reinforce, reinforcement, punishment, discriminative stimuli, emit, elicit, target behavior

Prior to reading 1.5, I was unaware that there would be so many ways to describe a behavior because I just didn't realize just how precise one needed to be. I will now recognize base line, topographical, target behavior with much more understanding then I ever did before. The text spent so much time refering to these vocab words that it is now implanted in my scheme as to what they are trying to elict. I enjoyed how the chapter presented a diagram refering to extinction and reinforced behaviors. I learned better from visual which made it clearer for me. I dislike how the examples wanted you to make up your own target behaviors but then did not requir you to use them. This did not help me expand on my learning at all. This chapter has changed how I understand behaviors due to the point that I did not realize one had to describe a behavior in so much detail. This does make sense though so as to emit the same response next time for reinforing behaviors.

Satiation, deprivation, establishing operation. Now that these key terms have been identified in more detail I understant the concept better and see how operation effects satiatinon and deprivation. Again I enjoyed the in depth explanaion of each term so I could better get a grasp on it. I dislike the need for example review because I already understood it. The reading has changed how I understand beh mod concerning satiation and deprivation since I thought it was something else but now truly get what it is talking about.

Terms: satiation, deprivation, estblishing operation, reinforcing, behavior, elicit, emit, target behavior, baseline, topographical, exctiction, punishment, functional

Sec. 1.5

Prior to emitting a reading behavior of this section, I thought that behavior modification was really interesting but really confusing at times as well. All of the new terms I have learned are hard to remember and there are a few that I still have a difficult time understanding. I know that this will get easier over time as I get more practice using the language of behavior modification. I always find this question a little difficult because I feel like I still do not really know enough about what all goes into behavior modification in order to have a good solid understanding of what I think behavior modification is before reading each new section. I look forward to learning more though so that hopefully by at least week eight I will have no problem coming up with a good response.

The three things that will elicit a remembering response from this section are that I need to make my target behaviors really specific so that there is no question when they occur, also the difference between topographical and functional behavioral classes, as well as the terms inter-observer agreement and superstitious behaviors.

The examples where I had to write target behaviors using very specific steps will elicit a remembering response because I learn best by doing examples and hands on activities. At first I did not realize exactly how precise the target behavior had to be but after writing a few of my own and looking at the examples in the section, I realized that they need to be even more specific than I had thought.

I will also remember the difference between topographical and functional behavioral classes because I use little word tricks to help myself remember. When I hear the word topographical I think of a topographical map which shows elevations and other things that are visible to the eyes. So by using this knowledge, I was able to connect topographical behavior classes (ones that look similar), to my understandings of a topographical map. I sort of did the same thing with the word functional. When I hear the word function I think about an activity being performed. Since activities have outcomes, I tied this word to functional behavior classes (ones that have similar outcomes). By using these word comparisons I was able to elicit a remembering behavior for myself.

And the last things that I will remember from this section are the terms inter-observer agreement and superstitious behaviors. Inter-observer agreement is easy for me to remember because I have had this term in several of my biology and psychology courses. Superstitious behaviors I will also remember because I thought that this was very interesting. The graph of this really grabbed my attention and after looking at is for a few minutes I really understood how it worked. Concepts that I find interesting are also easy for me to remember.

The one thing that I really liked that was in this chapter was the diagram about superstitious behavior. I learn best when I have visual aids so this really helped me understand the topic being discussed. Ideas that seem confusing in words just seem so much clearer in a diagram.

The one thing that I disliked about this section was the part where I was supposed to write examples for topographical and functional behavioral classes. At this point in the section I was still really confused about what each one meant and I had a really hard time coming up with three examples for each. Even though I came up with a few examples, I do not feel like they are even correct. I think that if a few more examples had been given to me I may have understood the concept a little better.

After reading this section I Have realized just how precise everything in behavior modification has to be. I know that Dr. Maclin tells us this all the time but I never understood just how precise I have to be. Even when I think I am being specific enough I should add a few more details. Other than that, my ideas about what behavior modification is have not changed that much. I look forward o learning more and expanding my behavior modification vocabulary.

Sec. 2.1

Three things that I will remember from this section are the four reasons that behaviors should be modified, the term differential reinforcement of other (DRO), and the fact that context is a very powerful antecedent.

The four reasons that behaviors should be manipulated are: 1.) The behaviors bother us, the individual; 2.) The behaviors bother others; 3.) The behaviors may lead to trouble; 4.) The behaviors are illegal. These reasons elicited a remembering behavior from me because I thought that they were very interesting. Also, having to come up my own personal examples of each really made me stop and think about them all. Emitting the behavior of writing down examples definitely helped me to remember this concept.

I will also remember the term differential reinforcement of other (DRO). This is when you change a behavior from one that would ordinarily be punished into one that would be reinforced. I thought that this was very interesting because most parents that I know think that the best way to teach a child right from wrong is to punish them. But, according to this section that is not the case at all. People learn best from reinforcement, not punishment. So being able to apply this idea to things that I see on a day to day basis has helped me to remember this idea.

Also from doing the examples at the end of the section I realized just how important context is. The same behavior can be emitted in two different contexts and can lead to punishment in one and reinforcement in another. So, when coming up with a target behavior, it is important to specify context as well. This idea really stuck with me because there have been many times in my life that this has happened to me.

The one thing that I really liked that was in this chapter was the fact that it went over several ideas that we have covered in past sections. Going over major ideas such as the ABC’s, (antecedents, behaviors, consequences) ,establishing operations, discriminative stimulus, and satiation and deprivation helped clear up these ideas for me and better understand what each one really means. This extra practice is exactly what I needed.

But on the other hand, I did not like the number of examples I was expected to do. I realize that they are important to help us learn but in order to complete them properly it takes a lot of time. With three other exams to study for this week I just felt like it was a bit of a waste of time. I understand why we need to do them but at times I feel like there are just too many.

I know that I always say this but after reading this section I do not feel like my ideas of what behavior modification is have really changed. I just continue to learn more each time I read a section and get a better understanding of all of the terms and concepts used in behavior modification. I also realize how to apply the concepts and terms of behavior modification to my daily life.

Terms: Emitting, Behavior Modification, Elicit, Response, Target Behavior, Topographical Behavior Class, Functional Behavior Class, Inter-observer Agreement, Superstitious Behavior, Differential Reinforcement of Other (DRO), Context, Antecedent, Punished, Punishment, Reinforced, Reinforcement, Behavior, Consequence, Establishing Operation, Discriminative Stimulus, Satiation, Deprivation

1.5
1)Before reading this chapter, I knew that behavior modification had a lot to do with reinforcement and punishment, whether it was positive or negative. I know this, because the previous sections had talked in depth about these methods of modification. I also knew that behavior modification is about modifying/manipulating people’s behaviors, because both reinforcement and punishment is used to control others’ behaviors.
2)Three things that I will remember in this section were functional vs. topographical, how to isolate target behaviors, and intervention. I will remember these things, because the book goes into detail about them and forced me to really think about these concepts.
3)One thing that I really enjoyed in this chapter was defining target behaviors. Being specific about behaviors helps others to fully understand what we expect out of them. For example, instead of telling my little sister to, “Stop being annoying,” I could just tell her to not poke me if that is the behavior that she is emitting to annoy me.
4)One thing that I disliked was the concept of baseline. I found it a little difficult to understand at first, and it drove me nuts that the topic was introduced but not fully explained.
5)Reading this chapter changed what I originally thought about behavior modification by breaking it down even more. For example, instead of punishing a functional class of behaviors, such as eating, it is more effective to isolate a target behavior.
Terms: Functional class, emitting, modifying, manipulating, baseline, target behavior, intervention, functional, topographical, reinforcement, and punishment.
2.1
1)Three things that I will remember in this section was naturally occurring punishments, the reasons for changing behaviors, and discriminative stimulus. I will remember these three things the most, because they are all concepts that occur day to day, but go unnoticed. Now, I recognized these things in my daily activities.
2)One thing that I enjoyed learning about was how an antecedent has the ability to elicit different consequences from the same behavior that is being emitted. For example, If the professor asks a question to the class, and I then speak in class to answer his question, the professor could praise me if I answered the question correctly. On the other hand, if the same professor was in the middle of a lecture, and I spoke out loud in class, the professor may find my behavior aversive and scold me.
3)One thing that I disliked was the deprivation of animals as an establishing operation in studies. I’m not a member of PETA nor care to be one, but I do think it is a little rough to starve an animal to 10% of its free feeding weight.
4)Reading this section has changed what I originally thought about behavior modification, because I learned how deprivation can be a form of establishing operations, and how reinforcement can turn things into discriminative stimulus’s that elicit behaviors.
Terms: Establishing operations, elicit, emit, deprivation, discriminative stimulus, punishment, behavior, consequences, aversive.

1.5

-Prior to this chapter I thought that behavior modification was ending up being far more complex than I originally thought. With the addition of numerous terminology, I can see that there is a lot to learn about what behavior modification is, and how to speak behaviorally.

-The three things I remember from the chapter are:

1.)Topographical Behavior Class: topographical behaviors are those that are similar in appearance, but do not necessarily serve the same function. One example I can think of is making coffee. When someone says they are going to have a coffee, they don't always mean making black coffee. Sometimes they have an espresso shot or a latte. Several drinks may be verbalized as being coffee, but they take on various forms, and the behavior emitted to make each type of coffee drink looks different.

2.)Functional Behavior Class: these are behaviors that serve the same purpose but do not have be topographical. For instance, getting drunk can look very different depending on the context. While the function of drinking alcohol gets you drunk, it may be that getting drunk looks like sipping whiskey by the fire alone, slamming a beer bong at a college party, or casually drinking martinis after work with peers. They are all drinking behaviors, but they look different, even though each behavior has a similar function, getting drunk.

3.)Target Behavior: the specific behavior we desire to manipulate. I learned that in order to effectively change a behavior, it is important to be specific. If I want to go to bed earlier, that is an ambiguous statement. It is far easier to easier to manipulate my behavior by setting a specific goal about a specific behavior. For instance, it is better to say, I want to get ready for bed (brush my teeth, put on pajamas, etc) at 10:30pm, so that I am in bed attempting to fall asleep at 11:00pm. This is specific, and it gives me a set of objectives that I can follow to complete the behavioral change I hope to consistently emit.

-Usually I do not like the number of boxes we have to fill in, but I actually preferred the disbursement of boxes. It was just enough, so this chapter did not have undesirable aspects for me, other than the usual grammar and spelling issues that are purposefully neglected.

-After reading section 1.5, I have a new perspective on how to manipulate behaviors. I can look back on my life and see how I have been ineffective at setting specific goals to manipulate my behavior. I always fail at sustaining a workout schedule, because my goal is not specific.

2.1

-Three things I will remember are:

1.) I want to change three behaviors, and I have specific goals for them now. I want to wake up early, eat breakfast every day, and I want to read for fun in my free time. The specific goals are: I will set my alarm for 7:45am and 8:00, that way I will have fifteen minutes to "snooze" before I get up for the day. Getting up at 8:00am will allow me to shower and eat breakfast before school, so that goal will allow me to fulfill two of the behaviors I want to emit. Finally, I will limit my video game playing to one hour a day, so that I am forced to spend my free time doing such things as reading for fun.

2.)Behaviors have various effects: they effect ourselves, other people, or society. This is broken down into behaviors that bother ourselves, other, may lead to trouble or are illegal. This was helpful in re-looking at the idea of consequences. When I behave, the outcome varies. If I act in a way that is undesirable to myself, then I am punishing myself. It is good to be aware of the person our behavior effects, and it is scary if people do not care about how their actions effect other people.

3.)Establishing operation: this is the context of the situation at hand. The establishing operation sets the occasion for a behavior, and also effect the consequence of the behavior. If I am lost in the desert (establishing operation) this sets the context for a drinking water behavior, and it also causes the consequence of the behavior to be more reinforcing due to the deprivation of water.

-I really liked that we had to list behaviors we desire and don't desire to emit. This made behavior modification hit home. I can see more clearly how to change my life.

-I liked this chapter as well, due to the limited number of boxes. The chapter was written in such a repetitive way, that learning the terminology was very accessible.

-After reading this section I feel more comfortable with analyzing the ABC's. The more I understand context, the more I understand why we behave as we do, and why consequences are effective or not.

terms: behavior modification, topographical behavior class, emitted, functional behavior class, context, target behavior, manipulate, undesirable, desirable, consequence, establishing operation, reinforcing, deprivation.

1.5
Prior to reading 1.5 I thought behavior modification was pretty much the ABC's still. Finding an antecedent, watching the behavior, and foreseeing the consequence, or sometimes watching the consequnce occur and not always predicting. I think a little bit differently of it now because context is such a big part in the ABC's.
Three things I remember were the two new examples we had to fill out, topograghy and fucntion along with the introduciton of the word baseline.
One thing I liked was thinking of examples of topography and funtion. They are so close but opposite at the same time. It was challenging without seeming to be impossible.
One thing I disliked was having to go into detail for target behavior and context. Sometimes it is hard to come up with real life scenarios that are so in detail but not boring.
I now think that behvior modification has to deal a lot more with context and even pre-antecedent behaviors to really have an educated guess what the behavior and even the consequence will be.

2.1
I'm going to go a step beyond and say the four new things I remembered from this chapter were the four steps of behavior class which were, behaviors that: bother us, bother others, could cause trouble, and are illegal. I think I will remember these because they were easy to learn and think about. I like trying to improve things about myself and writing behaviors that bother me and probably bother other people really opened my eyes.
One thing I liked was turning the behaviors that should be punished around into finding behaviors that should be reinforced instead. It made me think of how it really is not that complicated to break bad habits I have, like purchasing items I don't need, especaially when I'm broke.
One thing I disliked about this chapter was how long it was, but the review was nice and the break down of everything we have been talking about recently will be a great reference for later in the semester.

The one thing that has impacted my thoughts on behavior modification was the turning the punished behavior into finding a behavior to reinforce instead. I complete agree with BF Skinner when he said something about just because you punish a behavior in one context doesn't mean it is punished across the board. This reminded me of when mothers tell fathers that "the children never act this good when you're not around" kind of thing.

terms- A,B,C, context, topography, function, target behavior, behavior class, punished, reinforced

Sec 1.5
Before reading this I thought behavior mod was the modification of targeted behaviors through either punishment or reinforcement. To look at these target behaviors we much break down the behavior with its antecedents, the behavior, and the consequence. This is what I think about behavior mod after what we have learned so far. One thing that I will remember from this section is behavioral classes. Behavioral classes are behaviors that similar in that the look the same (topographical) or serve the same function (functional). I will remember this because this is critical to looking at behavior. Another thing that I will remember is that target behaviors need to be defined very specifically. This needs to be done so that two separate people could look at the target behavior and correctly identify it. This is critical to insure that the right behavior is either reinforced or punished. I will remember this because it is a critical part of identifying target behaviors. Another thing that I will remember baseline or the idea that you must record a subjects behavior without effecting it to see how often it occurs on average. This is important because it is the starting point for a behavioral modification, which is why I will remember this specific term. One concept that I found interesting was inter-observer agreement. That is the concept that two separate observers should classify the target behavior in the same way. I found this interesting because if this concept is low, than the behavioral mod will not work for the subject. I thought that everything in this section went toward furthering my bmod knowledge so I thought it was all good. After reading this section I know that behaviors can sometimes be difficult to classify. I also know that it is critical to accurately describe the target behavior. I also now know that it is very important to establish a baseline for any behavior modification.

Sec 2.1
One thing that I will remember from this section is that there is naturally occurring reinforcement and punishment. An example would be going outside without a coat when it is raining. You would get wet and decrease the chances of going outside without a coat again. I will remember this because is a factor in understanding behavioral modification. Another thing that I will remember is that consequences often change under different context. If I am playing my guitar loudly and I am the only one home than no one is going to get upset(besides maybe my neighbors). If I am playing my guitar loudly and my roommates are trying to study they will get upset and I am thus punished. I will remember this because a change in context can lead to very different consequences. Another thing that I will remember is the four categories of behaviors we want to change. They are behaviors that bother us, bother others, behaviors lead to trouble, or the behaviors are illegal. Ill remember this because this helps set up why we want to change a behavior. One thing that I found interesting was that it is much more effective to reinforce than to punish. I found this interesting because it seems that many people think that it is the other way around. One thing that I didn’t like was having to think of behaviors about myself that I wanted to change. Sometimes we don’t like having to think of our shortcomings. After reading this section I have a much more sound understanding of what Behavioral mod is. I have gained an understanding on how the situation can effect consequences, as well as, the four types of behavior that we try to change.

Terms: Target Behavior, Punishment, Reinforcement, Behavioral Classes, Baseline, Inter-Observer Agreement,

Section 1.5
Prior to reading this chapter, I discovered that behavior was more complex than I had originally thought. There are so many terms which play key parts in modifying behavior.

Three things I will remember from this chapter are: the difference between functional and topographical, how important it is to define a target behavior precisely, and the importance of inter-observer agreement.

One thing that I really liked in this chapter was the fewer vocabulary terms there were. It was not so overwhelming and allowed me to be less confused on the definitions of the terms. I think it was just the right amount of vocabulary for the section.

There was nothing about this chapter that I disliked. It was an easier read and I had a better understanding with the less vocabulary.

After reading this chapter, I found that behavior modification was just more complex and had more vocabulary then I ever thought. It has also made me think more on behaviors people emit and ways they can possibly be modified.

Section 2.1

The things I will remember the most are the four classes of behavior (i.e. behavior that bothers others). I will remember it mostly because it makes me take notice of my behaviors more which could then allow me to modify them better.

One thing that I really liked from this chapter was it made you think about behaviors that you wanted to decrease and a way to make them for positive. When they are stated in a way that they can be reinforced, you are more likely to decrease the behaviors that you want to. It gave me a different approach to decrease those behaviors instead of just saying I want to decrease them.

One thing that I disliked from this chapter was the length. Although the reading was slightly shortened by the big boxes that were to be filled out, I still disliked the length. I am not saying it was an interesting read, just a long one! I also didn't like how hard it was to come up with some examples.

This chapter has, even more, changed my views on behavior modification. I first thought that modifying someone's behavior was a simple process with less terminology. I seem to be wrong. This chapter, like previous chapters, has showed me that there is much terminology. It has showed me that it is not an easy task to modify someone's behavior or even modify your own.

Terms-functional, topographical, target behavior, inter-observer agreement, behavior modification, reinforced.

Section 1.5

Prior to reading the chapters I thought behavior modification was looking at an emitted behavior and establishing a reinforcement or punishment to increase it or decrease it. I also thought that looking at emitted behaviors was easy but I didn’t realize there were behavior classes. This is one thing I will remember from reading the section. Another thing I will remember is that topographical behaviors are the ones that look similar but have different functions. The example of waving helped me to distinguish between this and functional behavior classes. Finally I will remember that it is important to clearly define what the target behavior that is trying to be reinforced or punished is. I will remember this because it makes sense that to measure, observe and change a behavior that behavior has to be clearly identified. One pleasurable outcome of reading the section was learning more about inter-observer agreement because it is a concept I am learning about in another class. One aversive thing about reading the section was distinguishing the four consequences of attempting to change a target behavior. I found this a little confusing at first but I think I understand it. The section elicited a changing behavior and I emitted the behavior of changing how I viewed behavior modification. The section showed me that behaviors have to be clean when wanting to change them and there are different consequences of eliciting an establishing operation.

Term used: emit, reinforcement, punishment, behavior classes, topographical, functional behavior classes, reinforced, punished, pleasurable, inter-observer agreement, aversive, target behavior, elicit, establishing operation

Section 2
One thing I will remember from reading the section is that punishment can occur naturally because I have emitted the behavior of going outside without a jacket when it was cold. Another thing I will remember about the section is that there are generally four reasons to change behaviors. When you think about all the behaviors one could emit it’s pleasurable that they fall into four categories. This will reinforce me to study them more because it has the pleasurable outcome of being able to remember them. Reading the section elicited a learning behavior and I responded with learning that reinforcement is better responded to than punishment. I like how changing the way one thinks about an aversive behavior can modify the consequence of the behavior later on. One thing I found pleasurable about the section was learning about the context of an emitted behavior and how it relates to the antecedent. One thing I found aversive about the section was trying to figure out what behaviors I wanted to modify. The section changed how I originally thought about behavior modification by reinforcing me to look at my own behaviors and targeting or clarify ones I want to change.

Terms used: naturally occurring punishment, emit, target behavior, pleasurable, reinforce, elicit, responded, reinforcement, punishment, aversive, context, antecedent, consequence

1.5

Prior to this chapter I thought of behavior modification as a confusing assortment of vocabulary that replace words and actions that we all do on a daily basis. I believe I felt this is what behavior modification was because that’s what we have done so far and that’s mostly what I’m having trouble with and focusing on.

Three things I will remember from the chapter…

1. I will remember how important the context of the behavior is. Something can be either very appropriate or very inappropriate depending on the context, and that can also determine the reaction of other people, the consequence, and if it’s a reinforcement or punishment.

2. The difference between behavior and behavioral class. Behavioral class is much more vague then a specific behavior. I need to remember to be very specific when asked about a behavior that can be done in more ways than one.

3. The importance of being able to recognize a target behavior. Without being able to recognize a target behavior we would have no idea what behavior we are specifically trying to change, which could lead to much confusion.

One thing I really liked from the chapter…

1.The table on the page before the summary which clearly shows us what happens when a behavior occurs or doesn’t and if a reinforcement is delivered or not. I thought the table put it in a whole new perspective and really laid it all out so it was easier to comprehend.

One thing I disliked from the chapter…

1.I disliked thinking about the topographical versus functional behavioral classes. I think it’s just going to take some getting used to for me, but I’m not quite understanding these terms quite yet and don’t know how to use them in our behavior vocabulary.

Reading this chapter has changed my idea of behavior modification because it showed me the true importance of recognizing the target behavior. Without knowing the true target behavior we have no idea how to isolate and correct the problem behavior. Also it gave me a better idea of what the difference is between a behavior and a behavior class.

2.1

Three things I remember from the chapter…

1.I will remember the naturally occurring punishment. This type of punishment seems to make a lot of sense to me and is something that, before the class, I had never thought of as punishment. I always thought that punishment was something deliberate that was delivered by another person or oneself.

2.I will remember my own personal behaviors that I want to increase. Using my own behaviors, now when I emit those behaviors I will think about this class and it will occur to me if I’m reinforcing myself to do them or if I truly am increasing them at all.

3.I will remember the behaviors that bother us, that bother others, and that may lead to trouble. I had never thought about the behaviors like that, as bothering ourselves. However, it seems like a great way to remember them and categorize behavior in a different way.

One thing I liked about the chapter…

1.I liked the “quiz” on the first page. It really showed me what I had learned so far, and I was very surprised when I could do the whole page without looking back on anything. It showed me that I’m learning more than I thought, and reinforced me to want to continue emitting a learning behavior.

One thing I didn’t like about the chapter…

1.I didn’t like changing the behaviors I wanted to decrease and making them into something I could reinforce. I would rather decrease a behavior than increase one that could replace it. There are a lot of things I could replace my bad habits with, but it’s easier, and more effective to decrease those behaviors then pick one out of thousands of different things that I could replace it with.

Reading this chapter really put what I’ve learned so far into my life. Writing the examples with my own experiences and behaviors really made me think about how behavior modification affects my life. I don’t think of most classes as effecting me personally, but during this chapter I had to think about my life, and it really opened my eyes and made me realize that behavior modification truly is absolutely everywhere and in everything that we do.

Words: reinforce, emit, topographical behavior class, functional behavior class, behavior, behavioral class, target behavior, context, consequence, punishment.

1.5

Prior to reading this chapter, I didn't realize how intricate Behavior Modification was and how much detail was involved in learning the specific terms we will need to learn. I felt this way because I had never really thought about the details involved in the subject.

Three things I will remember from this chapter are topographical, functional, and baseline. Topographical because now I will be able to look into the situation and find the real reasoning to the cause of the behavior. Functional because I will be able to see the result of the behavior more clearly and what the person was aiming for my performing the behavior. Baseline because it will show me how well the behavior worked in the way the person wanted it to.

One thing in this section that I really liked was learning about the topographical behaviors. It was interesting to me how people can emit the same behaviors but have different motives for performing the behavior.

There was nothing in the section that i disliked, It was all interesting to me and new information.

Reading this section changed the way i originally thought about Behavior Modification because it showed me how people can have different reasons for emitting a behavior but still have the same behavior as one another.

2.1

After reading this section the three things that I will remember are to always stick with the ABC's, think of a behavior always as a reinforcer, and also how we think of our behaviors may be different than how others see it. Sticking with the ABC's because no matter what behavior or situation has happened you can always break it down into the ABC's. Think more of our behaviors as reinforces because it is easier to be more positive in the situation to look at it as what we could do to improve our behavior instead of looking at as what we did wrong. Also we need to make sure our behaviors are not hurting others and that are reasons are clear to every one so that our behavior is not confused with another motive.

One thing from this section that I really liked was how it went back to the ABC's. Knowing that this is still the root of our learning process is really reassuring and makes it easier to understand the new material better.

Again there was nothing in this section that I did not like. I am eager to learn more about how people interact with each other and how behaviors can differ just by the antecedent.

Reading this section did not really change the way I thought about Behavior Modification. I realize the main points of the class and what we will be learning about in these sections. About how people interact with one another and why the emit the behaviors that they do.

Terms: Behavior Modification, Topographical, Functional, Baseline, Behavior, Emit, ABC's, Reinforcer, Antecedent

Prior to reading this chapter, my perception of this class has really changed. After the first 2 or 3 chapters I was a little overwhelmed by all the terminology but it is starting to make more sense as the chapters go by. I can honestly say that I have a better grip on all the vocabulary and it is starting to make more sense.
The three things that I will remember most from this chapter are behavioral classes, target behaviors, and the importance of inter-observer agreement. I will remember behavioral classes because the chapter did a good job of breaking them down into topographical and functional. After reading this, the term behavioral class makes a lot more sense to me and I believe that I could use it appropriately during a class discussion. Target behaviors are another thing that stood out in the chapter because I realized their importance so I spent a little more time on them. Target behaviors are a pretty easy thing to understand it is just that they need to be as specific as possible and that may be a little difficult to do at first.
The one thing in the chapter that I liked the best was the section on target behaviors. I had a little trouble understanding target behaviors before reading this section and the examples provided in the chapter gave me a good understanding of target behaviors.
The thing that I disliked the most was the brief sentence on superstitious behavior. It will probably show up in a later chapter, but this sentence kind of confused me and didn’t agree with the definition of superstitious behavior that I had coming into this class.
This chapter changed my perception of behavior modification in a positive way because it helped me understand some of the former vocabulary and tied everything that we have learned prior together.

The three things that I will remember from this chapter are naturally occurring punishment/reinforcement, the 4 reasons to change behavior, and the fact that all behaviors can be changed to involve reinforcement. Naturally occurring punishment/reinforcement were easy to understand and examples were easy to think of. This section also gave me a better understanding of the fact that behavior modification happens everyday and it is not always someone manipulating our behavior. The 4 reasons to change behavior were pretty self explanatory and easy to think of examples and as a result made it easier for me to remember. Changing target behaviors to involve reinforcement was something that I will remember and also the section that I found most interesting in the chapter. I never really thought that you could change any type of behavior with some form of reinforcement and that will change how I look at behavior modification and how I apply it to my everyday life.
The only thing that I really disliked in this chapter was the formality of some of the examples. I know it is behavior modification language and will come to me eventually but right now it is a little confusing to comprehend.
This chapter changed my perception of behavior modification by showing me that it is possible to use in your everyday life quite easily. The reading examples and the section of B.F. Skinner made me think of ways that I can change my own behavior and of those around me by using a form of reinforcement.

Behavior class, target behaviors, inter-observer agreement, topographical/functional behavior class, superstitious behavior, natural punishment/reinforcement, 4 reasons to change behavior, B.F. Skinner

Prior to reading these 2 chapters, I thought about behavior modification about being able to determine the outcomes and also view certain situations. I really enjoyed learning about positive and negative punishment. I had no idea that there could ever be something such as “positive punishment”. It sounds like a contradiction, how punishment could be positive. However after learning that it simply means the addition of something, it began to make more sense. The three items that I had the best time remembering is learning was a behavior class. A behavior class is more like a group of a more specific behaviors. For example a behavior class could be considered eating where as a behavior is eating a banana. The second item I will remember is the different between topographical and functional behavior classes. Topographical is what the behavior class looks like where as the functional is what they do or accomplish. The third thing I will be able to remember are target behavior.

I really enjoyed learning more in depth about a behavior and behavior class. Before taking this class I would have elicited eating as a behavior when really that is so broad that would be considered a behavior class. Something I did not like about this chapter was at first having trouble with understanding what topographical and functions of behavior were. I know it is important to understand what they are in order to fully understand behavior modification. After reading this chapter it hasn’t really changed my understanding of behavior modification but it made me realize that it is more in depth that what I first oringinally thought it would be.

I will remember after reading 2.1 that satiation reduces the efficacy of the reinforce. I will also remember that discriminative stimuli are antecedents in that they tell us what behaviors will be reinforced or punished. I also will remember that reinforcement is better than to punish. Something I really enjoyed about 2.1 was that it opened with a review of what terminology we previously knew. That surprisingly helped me remember terminology a little better. I did not having anything I “disliked” in this chapter in fact I would like to add one extra thing about what I liked about this chapter. I enjoyed reading about why we should change our behaviors. It gave me some really good insight as to what the purpose of this class was. Reading 2.1 didn’t “change” my views on behavior modification however it made me realize why exactly we should study behavior modification such as if the behavior is illegal, may lead to trouble, bothering others or bothering the actual individual.

Terms: Positive punishment, negative punishment, behavior class, topographical, functional, target behavior, satiation, antecedents, discriminative stimuli, emit, elicited.

1.5
Before reading this section, I knew that there is a lot more to behavior modification than I had previously thought. I only knew what we have learned before in previous sections, and that consists of an enormous amount of vocabulary. I've gone from knowing little, to being overwhelmed with vocabulary words, to being...confused, then finally to understanding how I need to go about practicing what I'm reading and understanding it.

One thing I will remember from this reading is how important it is to have a specific, detailed target behavior. It would be hard to miss this...since it's talked about consistently throughout the whole reading. Target behaviors needs to be described in extreme detail so there is no confusion on what emitted behavior is to be watched for. I will also remember that it can get confusing to make sure what you're describing is actually a target behavior and not a behavior class. The example from the reading talked about how the teacher said the target behavior was disruptions in the classroom. That right there is actually a behavior class, since there are many behaviors that can be emitted under that category. Thirdly, I will remember the difference between a topographical behavior class and functional behavior class. Topographical is where the same behavior may be emitted and look the same as another, but they are for different reasons or have different meanings. Functional is where the behaviors all look different, but serve the same purpose.

One thing I really liked about this chapter is how detailed it was explaining the purpose of being specific about a target behavior. It can be a pretty confusing area to think about, but the section gave plenty of examples and made it a little bit easier to understand exactly what to look for. I also liked where it had the chart explaining what would happen in different instances if a target behavior were to be recognized or not, or reinforced or not.

One thing I didn't like about this section was the amount of vocabulary. I can't really complain because we are learning about behavior modification, and vocabulary is such a huge part. I just know it will take a lot of practice and getting used to to make it seem less aversive to me.

After reading this I know now how precise everything needs to be in this field of study, in order for the information to be accurately interpretated. One small thing done wrong or reinforced incorrectly could elicit behaviors that weren't meant to be.

2.1
One thing I will remember from this chapter is the first thing is discussed. Reinforcement and punishment can occur naturally. It doesn't always take the help of someone else. An example I used for punishment is if I were to emit the behavior of drinking expired milk, chances are the aversive consequence of that would most likely result in me emitting that behavior less often. Another thing I will remember is the four reasons why people want to change behaviors. It seems like something that would be common sense, but I had never thought of it before in that much detail. I had really only considered two of them, what bothers ourselves and others. Thirdly, I will remember that context is important when it comes to an antecedent. You could emit the same behavior in different contexts, which could elicit different responses. One will likely be desirable, and the other aversive.

One thing I liked about this chapter was how it reviewed all of the vocabulary terms we already learned. It really helped the words stick in my brain more than before. I also liked where we had to write in our own examples for behaviors and such. It makes it easier to understand when we used examples about ourselves, and not have to make up random ones.

The only thing I didn't like about the chapter was the extensiveness of it and its length, and coming up with all the examples. They do really help in the long run, but I am emitting the aversive behavior of being lazy at the moment...:)

Reading this section hasn't changed what I thought about behavior modification, but it has helped me better understand a lot of the vocabulary. It is becoming easier to speak the language. I still need a lot of work though!

terms used: elicit, emit, aversive, desirable, taget behavior, behavior class, reinforced, contexts

1.5
Prior to reading this chapter I was still a confused on behavior modification and the exact terms and definitions to go with behavior modification. I also thought before reading this chapter that there were different ways to change my behavior but it all turns out to be the same thing.
One thing I will remember from this chapter is that not all behaviors mean the same thing. They mean different things when put into different context. Meaning they are topographical behaviors. I will also remember functional behavior because they gave a good detailed example. I will remember this because there are different ways to unlock a door and in context they're all the same action but different functions for each action. I also liked the definition baseline because it is kind of like a consequence, something good or bad will always come out of a behavior.
I really like all of the examples from this chapter and how each term had a good definition that related to real life.
There really wasn't anything that I didn't like about the chapter. Everything I read was pretty interesting.
I'm still learning more and more about behavior modification with each chapter. I really enjoy reading these chapters because they relate to everyday life.

2.1
I will remember that punishment can occur naturally and does not have to be given by another person or from a negative occurance. I will also remember how to make a sentence that has the ABC's all in it at once. I also like that reinforcement and punishment was explained through the chapter again.
I liked that this chapter brought in a lot of new terms from others chapters and new ones to learn and relate to the other terms we've already been learning about in class.
I can't think of anything that I didn't like about the chapter, except some of the terms were hard to understand sometimes.
My thought on behavior modification did not change after reading this chapter. All of my ideas have stayed the same and I still think about behavior modification as I did before.

Terms: Antecedent, behavior, consequence, topographical, functional, punishment, reinforcement, emit

1.5
Prior to this chapter I was beginning to understand behavior modification as something very similar to what we had learned in intro to psych. It wasn't super complex then.
Three things I will remember from this chapter will be:
1. the difference between topographical and functional behavior classes. While they are both behavior classes they are very different as in one looks similar and the other has similar functions.
2. I have learned how different it is to put a behavior in a class versus calling it a target behavior. Target behaviors are much more specific.
3. I have learned the diagram that is in the chapter about what can happen when you reinforce an unwanted behavior on accident or miss the target behavior therefore causing possible extinction of that behavior. You must make sure both researchers are on the same page.
I really liked the diagrams and examples in this chapter, this chapter seemed to take the concepts in littler chunks then other chapters and I greately appreciated this.
I didn't really like that topographical and functional weren't described in greater detail. I feel like if anything that was the one thing from the chapter I will remember but don't know if I fully understand.
This chapter has taught me that there are still things for us to learn and that it is definately possible to make an entire semester class out of this subject.

2.1
Three things I will learn from this chapter are:
1. It is easy to think of every day situations where what we're learning can be applied, I did this a lot in this chapter and it gave me new perspective on what we're learning can be used for.
2. That you must set target behaviors if you wish to decrease or increase a behavior, if you leave it general to a behavior class you are less likely to pursue your goal.
3. I learned the 4 main reasons to change behavior and I really appreciated this part because it gave me the good reasons and more reasons to squash the myth that behavior modification is bad by using good examples of what it is used for.
This was my favorite chapter to read so far. I think the writing was really easy to follow and I loved how it was set up that we thought of real life examples. I also liked that every list that was given was complimented by an example.
I didn't care for the length of the chapter, i feel like soon I will learn and retain all the stuff I read in it but it was a little too long for me to get and remember it on the first try and I might have to go back and read it again to absorb all the information.
This chapter brought to life behavior modification in a real life perspective and in a positive way. Hearing the things it is used for mainly and knowing those things are for the betterment of the group or the person themselves really helped in making behavior modification less scary in a sense. Also the real life examples really hit home and made the concepts simpler and easier to relate to.

Terminology: behavior modification, target behavior, reinforce, topographical, functional, behavior class, extinction

1.5
Thinking about behavior modification I didnt realize how much was going into looking at different behaviors, and the difference between little things that will actually make a large difference such as target behavior and behavior class. Also I am now able to put all of the new vocabulary together to have a higher understanding of behavior modification.

Three major things I will learn from this section is the functional vs the topographical parts of a behavior class. Functional is the purpose or what they do or accomplish. That could be things that dont look alike at all but they end up doing the same function. the example of that is opening doors. All doors do not have the same handle so each doorknob will need a different specific behavior like pulling, pushing, walking through, pushing a button or twisting a handle. Even though all of these look very different from eachother they are all doing the same function which is getting a person through a doorway. Topographical is what the behavior class looks like. The example of this is emiting a 'waving' behavior with your hands. Whenever you wave it all looks similar, but it could all have very different meanings. Someone could be waving to a friend to get their attention or waving a cab, or waving to get bugs away from your food if you are eating outside. Another thing I learned is how important it is to make your target behavior known. Its equally important to the reinforcer or punisher as it is to the person who is emitting the behavior. If the person emits the wrong behavior and the reinforcer mistakes the behavior for the target behavior it will reinforce the wrong behavior. Or the reinforcer could not see the target behavior which would lead to exctintion.
One thing that I really liked from this section is how they talked about behavior class and then went to target behavior. I already knew what it was, but they described it more and talked about them together and differently which gave me a more understanding of them. I know now the differences in them and how important it is to separate the two from eachother. This elicited a learning behavior for me that will be very beneficial in the future.

One thing that I disliked from this chapter was when we had to write about how why we thought it was important to define a target behavior. I understood why but I did have trouble writing them down for some reason. Once I kept reading the rest of the section I understood a lot more.

This section didnt make me change my thoughts about behavior modification, it just added many more things to what I had already known. It gave me more vocabulary and more examples to use and elicit a memory behavior in myself

2.1
three things that I will remember from this chapter: One thing I will remember from this section that will elicit a memory behavior with me is why we change behaviors. There are many times were people actually do need to change their behaviors such as 1. the behaviors bother us, as the individual. an example of this is eating to much for dinner that you dont feel well after you have eaten. 2. The behavior bothers others, like being late to appointments or meetings with other people may not affect us but it will effect the people who are attending the meeting with you because they are now wasting their time. 3. The behavior may lead to some trouble in the future, like cheating. Maybe if you cheat for a long time and you dont get caught you will keep cheating on things your whole life, and when someone finds out you will get into a lot of trouble. People in society really do not like cheaters. 4. the behavior is illegal. shoplifting is illegal and if you are caught in this behavior you will get severely punished. These are situations were everyone should change their behavior. Another thing I learned in this section is Differential reinforcement of other (DRO) this is changing a behavior from one that would ordinarily be punished into a behavior that would be reinforced. An example of this is instead of saying you want to decrease eating junk food, you can say I want to increase eating healthy foods. For my example I changed what I had put from I want to decrease sleeping in, to I want to increase the frequency of waking up early, or the first time my alarm goes off. One more thing I learned was natural occuring punishment or reinforcement. The example from the section was going outside on a very cold day without a jacket will make us very cold. Because we are cold this will decrease the frequency of us going outside. The example I gave was getting sunburned will decrease the frequency of me going outside in the sun without sunscreen. These things happen to us all the time and we dont every notice we are constantly being punished and reinforced.

One thing that I really liked in this chapter was how they talked about discrimanitive stimuli. They gave the examples of signs, such as stops signs and restroom signs and how they manipulate behavior. They broke down discriminative stimuli with the ABCs of behavior. A antecedent - the stop sign , B behavior - emitting a stopping behavior, C consequence no ticket. I also like how they said ' Antecedents elicit a behavior, the person or thing doing the behavior emits the behavior.
One thing that I didnt really like was I wished they would have spent a little more time talking about establishing operations, I would have liked it more if they gave an example. Thats something I still dont fully understand and I would've liked a little more about that

behavior modification, functional behavior class, Topographical behavior class, elicit, emit, target behavior, behavior class, punisher, reinforcer, extiction, Differential reinforcement of other (DRO)natural occuring punishment or reinforcement, discrimulative stimuli, antecedent, behavior, consequence, establishing behavior

Section 1.5:

Prior to reading this chapter I consider behavior modification to be about reinforcing and punishing either positive, where something is added, or negative, where you take away something, to get the person to emit a target behavior. As the weeks progress I see my idea of behavior modification growing in complexity in that there are more terms and factors that go into modifying behaviors. I wouldn't say that means it's changed but rather it's morphed slightly.

Three things that I take away from this section are:
1.) The difference and the meaning behind the words topographical and functional. I did not know exactly what topographical was but after reading and doing examples this was much more clear. It's like I knew what it was just not the terminology for it. Functional was great because the definition helped reinforce how to correctly respond to the practice problems.
2.) That there are certain rules for identifying a target behavior. I think that it is important to remember the things that the chapter said in that they need to be identified and defined precisely to avoid any complications.
3.) It is important to get a baseline measure and to make sure that the inter-observer agreement level is relatively high. This insures that the target behavior if valid and that the intervention can be effective. I think that the latter point is why I find this a vital thing to take away from the chapter.

What I liked about the chapter: The practice with the examples was what I liked most about this chapter as it made the terms much more clear. I feel more comfortable identifying target behaviors and not using behavioral classes in their place.

What I dislike about the chapter: It would have been nice to have a few more examples of functional classes as I found these slightly difficult to come up with.

I see how vital it is to identify target behaviors and to have a clear baseline for it. This is something I hadn't considered before I read the chapter but now I realize that it is necessary.

Section 2.1:

1.) I firstly remember that there are reasons to changing behavior (4). This seemed like an important fact and I actually thought that they were logical and help support the idea that it is ok to 'manipulate' behaviors.
2.) It was also interesting to note that behaviors that are new are not easily learned if you use punishment. This is a fact that sadly it seems society doesn't take into consideration but the chapter did well of explaining.
3.) Lastly, I will take away the definitions and examples used to help enforce the topic of satiation and deprivation in the realm of efficacy.

I liked that we were able to see the difference between a behavior and a target behavior more clearly in this section. Doing the examples helped me to realize this.

I slightly disliked having to think of my own personal behaviors that I would like to change; just because I found it difficult to think of.

I hadn't thought much about deprivation and satiation on the efficacy of reinforcers until this section. I think that the book went into great detail about how this occurs and I liked how the example of actually apply it in research was given.

Terms:

Section 1.5

I don't know that my opinion or thoughts about behavior modification have really changed all that much from day one until reading this chapter. Prior to reading 1.5 I don't know that the true intricacies of the language and art of behavior modification. I feel like I should be able to remember the concepts of functionality versus topography, prior to reading this I don't think that I really understood how a wave can be many different things although they are similar on the surface, they may have a different end result. While functionality is the opposite, although we achieve the same end result the path that we take to achieve the result is not the same. We intend to shut the door but we can go about that many different ways as was referenced in the chapter. The third thing that I hope will stick with me is the idea of a baseline. The baseline is defined as "the starting point from which the success or failure of the behavioral intervention is measure. Basically this means that the baseline is where we begin with a behavior and we use this as a bench mark to measure how well we've done with our modification.

I really felt like the examples in this chapter were very helpful. Although some of these examples have been used before I feel like they really clicked with me this time for some reason. I also really liked the term inter-observer agreement because I recognized that term from my research methods class. In research methods the definition was similar except rather than reinforcing the correct behaviors it dealt with cataloging the same behaviors in the same way such as clarifying what is considered blonde hair color, what is red, what is brown, etc.

I don't know that there was anything in this chapter that I disliked per say. I felt like it was well explained and the topics were new but still interesting and applicable to our current learning. Overall I do not have anything specific that I disliked.

This chapter has really forced me to think about behavior modification in a different way. I see now how Topography and Functionality can really change how we define the behavior or what the consequence is. This has really allowed me to expand my thinking into everyday actions and behaviors.

2.1

I think that I will be able to remember the 4 reasons to modify behavior.
1. The behavior is bothersome to us, the individual
2. The behavior bothers others
3. The behavior may lead to trouble
4. The behavior is illegal

I also think I will remember the 4 reasons to reinforce a behavior.
1. They make us feel better
2. They make us more pleasing to be around
3. They keep us out of trouble
4. The are legal

Although these seem like they should be common sense, it is kind of hard to lay out. Of course we try to change something that is bothersome or troubling and of course we try to increase the likelihood of something positive or good occurring and yet it is very difficult to define and outline those items.

The third thing I hope to remember is the ideas of B.F. Skinner. I am a fan of behavioral psychology and thus a B.F. Skinner fan but with the sheer number of famous psychologists out there I sometimes get confused between whose idea was whose.

The thing I liked and the thing I disliked are sort of the same thing. On one hand I like the review of the ABCs and the terms from chapter one, but on the other hand I feel like I've already been there, done that when it comes to the examples. I feel like I have a good understanding of the ABCs, as well as Emit and Elicit. I also feel like I have Satiation down pat and that its something I would feel comfortable using in normal conversation. So while I think the review is important for retention and learning I am sort of tired of the constant repetitive example giving or exercises.

Because this chapter was a lot of review I don't know that my view of behavior modification has actually changed that much but I do think that it was interesting to think of those 4 reasons why we punish or reinforce a behavior.

Terms: Functionality, Topography, Emit, Elicit, Satiation,Reinforce, Behavior, Behavior Modification, ABCs

Section 1.5
A.) Prior to reading the chapter I was very interested in behavior modification, as I have been since starting the class because I believe as the class goes on Im only going to learn more interesting things.
B.) Three things that I will remember from the chapter are:
1.)What function means vs. topographical. Function refers to the underlying group. You can wave your hand in many ways, which would be topographical. But the actual function would be waving of the hand.
2.)That with target behavior you really need to be specific in picking out which behavior is your target because there is so many behaviors that at certain times can be acceptable and other times not.
3.)That baseline is the starting point from success or failure in the behavior is measure.
C.) Something I really liked in the chapter was the fact that it cleared up what a behavioral class was, we talked about it last Tuesday, but I has a misunderstanding about it. Now I realize that a behavioral class is more of a group or class of something that someone or something can do.
D.) Something I disliked about the chapter would be the part on inter-observer agreement, it seemed like such a complex thing, because the person trying to elicit a behavior from someone else needs to be very precise in what they are looking for. I just thought it would have been cleared up a bit.
E.) After reading the chapter once again I would say it made me realize how precise one needs to be in behavioral modifications.

Section 2.1
A.) Three things I enjoyed and will remember about the chapter would be:
1. The fact the B.F. Skinner said that new behaviors are learned when reinforcement is used and that nothing is learned with punishment, I have to agree with this because growing up if I emitted an aversive behavior I was talked to in an adultlike manor and therefore it reinforced me not to do such things.
2. The four reasons to change behavior, because taking a behavioral class it's important to understand why we would want to change someones behavior.
3. Touching on the subject of DRO because I had wondered what one would do if punishment was seen as something you wouldn't want, then how would one go about changing a punishment into a reinforcement.
B.) Something I enjoyed aboout this chapter was the fact that it made you focus on yourself and the behaviors we emit or how we reinforce or maybe punish people around us or ourselves.
C.) One thing I found aversive about this chapter was the need to list so many personal examples, One would think emitting something so personal would be easy, but it got difficult.
D.) After reading this chapter it has opened up my eyes to just how wild behavior modifications is and that it really is going to make me think in a completely different way.

Terms: Topographical, function, target behavior, baseline, Behavioral class, Emit, emitted, reinforcemnt, punishment, punish, aversive.

1.5

Prior to reading this chapter I was not aware of how specific we needed to be about target behaviors. Based on class discussion, it seemed like behaviors were fairly easy to single out and define using few words, but after reading this chapter I became aware of just how precise we need to be.
There are always several things that I take away from each chapter but few that really stick out to me. The first was that behaviors can be divided into behavioral classes based on their structure and function. The topographical behavioral class that a behavior belongs to is based on its structure or how it looks. If one behavior looks similar to another behavior, these behaviors would be in the same topographical behavioral class. I might kick the vending machine to get a snack or kick my friend because they anger me. Either way I am kicking and the kicking motion appears similar so "kicking" could be a topographical behavioral class. Behaviors can also be put in a functional behavior class based on the purpose behind them. If one behavior serves the same purpose as another then the two behaviors would be in the same functional behavioral class, regardless of their structure. For example, I might purchase a pizza by handing cash to the delivery driver or I could enter my credit card online to purchase the pizza and just pick it up at the store. Either way the purpose of the behavior is purchasing pizza so they would be in the same functional behavioral class.
This chapter also revealed that we must come up with very precise definitions of target behavior especially when we are trying to intervene them using behavioral procedures such as reinforcement and punishment. For example, lets say that during lecture, a student yells out his opinion on the matter while the teacher is speaking. The teacher intervenes using a punishment of scolding saying "Don do that!" in order to decrease the target behavior of yelling during lecture. The teacher may be trying to decrease the target behavior of yelling out of turn but the student may assume the teacher is punishing him for giving his opinion. The teacher must very clearly define the target behavior if she hopes to decrease its frequency. "Don't yell things while I am speaking please raise your hand" might be a better way to administer the intervention.
The idea of inter-observer agreement was also introduced in the chapter. This is important when more than one individual is involved in the the modification of behavior. It emphasizes that both observers must have a precise definition of the target behavior they are trying to modify. If this definition is clear to both observers, it will be easier for the observers to recognize the behavior. Because it is easier for them to recognize, it will be easier for them to respond to the target behavior consistently. If the inter-observer agreement is off, there are several consequences that can occur. If one observer reinforces the target behavior consistently but the other does not, the person engaging in the target behavior may experience extinction. They might also see the observer as the reason for the reinforcement instead of the behavior. If the wrong behavior is reinforced, then this non-target behavior is more likely to occur.
I didn't like how vague the behavioral classes are. If one behavior simply looks similar to another behavior we stick it in the same topographical behavioral class. Waving at a friend, waving for a taxi, waving to let someone know they are zoning off are all in the same topographical class simply because they appear similar. Same goes for function. Lifting weights, running, skiing, hiking, and jumping jacks are all in the same functional behavioral class simply because they have the similar purpose of exercise. Clumping all these different behaviors together can get confusing as each behavior is different in some way or another.
I liked how critically the text made us look at definitions of behaviors. A target behavior must be very clearly defined. If we want to reinforce or punish a specific behavior we can't just say "Don't do that!" We have to specify, "Don't yell out things when the teacher is talking." This makes the context and the specific behavior more clear increasing the effectiveness of the intervention we administer.

2.1

This chapter was very informative and helped reinforce the concepts we have gone over so far. It also introduced several new ideas that I was able to grasp.
It was interesting to learn the four reasons to change behavior. It is good to change behaviors if they either bother us or others, they lead to problems or they are illegal. If I emit the behavior of brushing my teeth three times in a row to make sure they are clean, it might bother me by making me late for obligations, make my gums bleed, or simply be annoying. If I chew my food with my mouth open others around me may observe this behavior and become disgusted. If I steal as a young child I am more likely to engage in this behavior as an adult thus leading to problems and if I have a habit of jaywalking it would be beneficial to modify this behavior.
It was also interesting to learn that reinforcement is more effective than punishment. I had already assumed this, but it was nice to have it confirmed. Along with this, it was uplifting to learn that we can reinforce desirable behaviors that offset undesirable ones instead of simply punishing undesirable behaviors. I would much rather be encouraged by praise every time I do the dishes at the house instead of being yelled at every time I don't.
Satiation and Deprivation also became more clear to me. The discussion in class was kind of unsettling as many questions were asked but it was nice to have the definitions reaffirmed. Satiation reduces the efficacy of a reinforcer and deprivation increases the efficacy of the reinforcer. For example, in order to increase my son's homework-completing behavior I give him a hotwheel toy everytime he engages in it. After two years of elementary school, my son owns every hotwheel toy on the market. Now even if I give my son two hotwheel cars after every assignment it will not help to increase my sons behavior because he has too many hotwheels. In contrast, when my son eats dinner he can have as many cookies as he wants. When I notice my son isn't doing his homework I take away the dessert and explain that if he wants some dessert he has to do his homework. Now he gets the dessert in exchange for doing his homework because he was deprived of a reinforcer that he normally received.
I really like the fact that reinforcers are more effective than punishers. It is much more encouraging to receive something pleasurable for engaging in a behavior than being punished for another. Good feelings are not just good psychologically but they are good for our body physically and when we feel good, so do the people around us.
I didn't like how deprivation and satiation were described in the context of research with animals. Ethics in research is a very big issue and this kind of control over nature just doesn't seem right. Who are we to control essential aspects of life for animals?
This chapter changed my view about the effectiveness of reinforcement. I had always assumed it was more effective than punishment but this chapter really confirmed it for me. Most other knowledge I acquired from the chapter was new to me but it didn't really shape any of my previous views.

Reinforcement, Punishment, Intervene, Intervention, Target Behavior, Deprivation, Satiation, Consequence, Behavioral Procedure, Topographical Behavioral Class, Functional Behavioral Class, Inter-observer agreement, consistency

1.5
My thoughts about behavior modification have not changed significantly after reading this chapter. I have come to think about behavior modification in a fluid way as we are constantly learning new information.

Three things that I will remember from this chapter are
1. The difference between functional and topographical behavioral classes. The examples really helped in understanding the importance of context when it comes to behaviors.
2. The importance of precision of language in identifying and describing target behaviors. It can be difficult to differentiate between behaviors and precise language facilitates the process.
3.There are four outcomes that can occur when attempting to reinforce a target behavior. Reinforcement, learning unwanted behaviors, extinction, or nothing are the four outcomes that can result.

One thing that I liked about the chapter was the clarity of examples in the explanation of the difference between functional and topographical behavioral classes. They really helped me to understand the concepts.

There wasn't anything in particular that I did not like about the chapter.

This chapter has helped me in understanding more of the intricate concepts of behavior modification; in particular, the four outcomes that can occur when attempting to reinforce a target behavior were new information to me.

2.1
Three things that I will remember from this chapter are
1. The four reasons to change a behavior. These reasons are that they bother us, they bother others, they may lead to problems, or that they are illegal.
2. Satiation and deprivation function as establishing operations. I knew that deprivation could serve this purpose but I had not considered that satiation could serve the same purpose.
3. Discriminative stimuli are antecedents. I had not thought of discriminative stimuli in this context but they are antecedents in that they tell us what behaviors will be reinforced or punished.

One thing that I liked from the chapter was the explanation of satiation/ deprivation and how they can both be used as establishing operations as they both alter the effectiveness of the consequence.

There was nothing that i really disliked about the chapter, except maybe the fill-in boxes. I understand and can appreciate their purpose, but its hard for me to really get behind the whole idea.

The chapter has not really affected how I previously thought about behavior modification. There was more elaboration on previously covered topics, and that helped in my understanding the concepts.

terms: behavior, functional, topographical, target behavior, reinforcement, extinction, satiation, deprivation, consequence, antecedent,

1.5
1.)I will remember behavioral classes are not the same thing as target behaviors. The behaviors we emit may be alike and have different consequences. A target behavior is going to be one specific behavior. It will give you a certain consequence and is not as general as behavioral classes.
2.)I will also remember topographical behaviors. You can see when people emit topographical behaviors because it is visible. They can look like the same behavior but you can get different consequences.
3.) I will remember functional levels of behaviors. These behaviors represent what they accomplish. Different behaviors that are emitted in different ways can have the same accomplishment though.

I liked the examples in this section because it elicited thinking and they helped me remember vocabulary words. I did not like that some words didn't have examples needed because it might be hard to remember them. This section showed me that behaviors might look different and mean the same thing, or they might have different behaviors emitted but the same consequence.

2.1
1.) One thing I will remember is that behaviors we emit may feel right, but might bother us later. The example given in the book is eating too much, and that is a great example of how emitting a normal behavior will have an aversive consequence.
2.) I will remember that some behaviors we emit may be normal to us, but it might elicit a negative response.
3.) The last thing I will remember is that some behaviors will elicit a punishment, while the same behavior in a different antecedent might elicit reinforcement.

I liked how this section had us list vocabulary words because it helped me remember words. I did not like how it was hard to come up with the same behavior that elicited punishment and reinforcement.

Terms: elicit, emit, aversive, consequence, punishment, reinforcement, behavioral classes, target behavior, functional levels of behavior, topographical

1.5
One thing I will remember from this chapter is the example of the "Queen's wave" when reading of topographical behavior classes. One reason why I will remember this is because when my family would leave my grandmother's on my mom's side after visiting, my mom would do the "Queen's wave" in giving a funny farewell. Another thing I will remember from this chapter is learning about a subject emitting a behavior more or less often for a certain researcher, if the observation is taking place over a period of twenty-four hours or more. A third piece of content I will remember is having a mistaken target behavior reinforced and as a result having unwanted behaviors being the likely response to the stimulus in the future.
One thing I liked in this chapter is learning about the difference of topographical and functional behavior.
It was interesting to see the categorical and descriptive differences of the behavioral classes.
I disliked the assumption that a sleeping student does not disrupt the other student and only effects the teacher. Oftentimes when a student has fallen asleep in my class their sleeping noises have been very distracting.

2.0
We seek to modify behaviors because the original behaviors bother us on some level. We are just trying to make our lives more enjoyable, isn't that our right as well? I will remember the statement that Skinner believed that nothing can be learned by way of punishment; that behaviors are only learned with reinforcement. This is because a punishment, to Skinner, will only displace the behavior, not reduce it in all aspects. I will remember that Skinner was in fact right in thinking that reinforcement for sure, in most cases, is the most effective way to influence behavior. Reinforcement is more enjoyable, less demanding in energy from the subject, and will avoid malicious feelings towards the people administering the consequences.
I liked the concept of "differential reinforcement of other" because it takes something you would usually think of as punishing and turning it around to make it a reinforcement. This makes you think more creatively and more outside the box.
I didn't like the thought of Bob eating eight hamburgers, that is just too many in one sitting.

*Terminology: topographical, functional, behavior class, emit, reinforcement, punishment, behavior, target behavior, response, stimulus, unwanted behavior, differential reinforcement of other

1.5 Before reading Chapter 1, I thought behavior modification was less complicated and more likely directed to extreme examples of behavior. I did not realize that behavior modification could apply to everyday interactions with people. The word “manipulate” was not part of my understanding of behavior modification based on the introductory classes I have taken.
The three things I will remember from the chapter are:
1) Trying to determine the difference between topographical behaviors that look alike and can be categorized as a class of behaviors and functional behaviors that serve a purpose we can understand.
2) Remembering to consider the context of the behavior when deciding whether or how to manipulate it.
3) Being specific about what behavior to target for behavioral control so that the control does not apply to a larger class of behaviors than necessary.
I liked the example of the teacher with disruptive students, because it showed the importance of defining the behavior that was disruptive, the context in which the behavior was disruptive and gave a structure for looking at a problem with an eye toward improving the situation by modifying the specific bad behavior or reinforcing the specific good behavior.
I disliked the diagram that was supposed to show four outcomes, depending on whether the behavior was a target behavior or not, whether the behavior was misunderstood to be a target behavior, whether the reinforcement is applied at all and whether the reinforcement is delivered to non-target behavior. The discussion made sense to me, but the diagram was confusing and not helpful.
I learned from the chapter that all different kinds of behavior could be manipulated, if the behavior was specifically enough defined as it was targeted, if the reinforcement was delivered to affect the target behavior in the context which made the behavior a problem, and if the reinforcement is effective for the purpose.
Terms: manipulate, topographical, functional, behavioral classes, context, targeted behavior

2.1 The three things I will remember are:
1) It is important to make the reinforce and/or punisher contingent on the behavior, in other words, to be sure the behavior happens at the time the reinforce or punisher is delivered;
2) There are 4 reasons to change behaviors which are 4 classes of behavior – they bother the individual, they bother others, they may lead to trouble and they are illegal
3) Reinforcement of desired behavior is more effective than punishment for undesired behavior.
I enjoyed the part of the chapter that encouraged me to look at my own behaviors – I love thinking about myself – and the process for change. The differential reinforcement of other works for my goals, like eating better, exercising more, studying harder, doing better blog posts, and I hope I get reinforced in my efforts.
I dislike the use of discriminative stimuli as the same thing as antecedent, since both seem unnecessarily complicated. It seems like trigger means the same thing.
Reading the chapter reminded me of some of the things I thought I knew like reinforcement and punishment. It changed my ideas of the scope of b.mod. as including signs and locations and taught me about establishing operations as a way of affecting the intensity of the consequence as opposed to encouraging or stopping the behavior.
Terms: contingent, differential reinforcement of other, discriminative stimuli, antecedent, consequence, establishing operation.