Reading Activity week #6 (due Monday)

Before I started reading I was still very unsure with the use of the vocab gone over in this section. I was especially at odds with generalization and discrimination. In the prior chapters I felt that it was just mentioned and never truly gone over in learning detail. I will focus my attention on remembering generalization, discrimination, and supersitious behavior. I now have a firm grip on the understanding of these concepts thanks to the in depth reading. I really enjoyed the reading about supersitious behavior and how they are formed in the mind set. I thought it was extremly interesting especially when you think of all the schemes of people made up due to this factor. I no I have a few of these irrational behaviors for myself but when it mentioned the casino thing it really hit home because i remembered people doing the exact same thing at the casino I went to last year. I guess I would have to say I dislike the whole going through extinction burst once more. I feel as if this has been beaten to death and is not neccasiry for the concept is either been understood by now or is hopeless. The chpater seemed fairly long in repeating to which means it could have been shortend just a bit. I don't think my scheme concerning behavior modification has changed all that much after this chapter. I think a better way to answer this question would to simply say I have furthered my understanding of bmod so far. I had never really thought about the superstitious behavior and the likes so my understanding has been enhanced.

I thought this chapter was sort of confusing with the new vocablulary but am sure with some usage I will grasp it soon. I hope I will remember variable intervals, fixed interbals, and fixed ratio. These all relate to schedules of reinforcement that one recieves. I like that this chaper had a lot of graphs and diagrams to help me understand the reading a little bit better. i tend to be a visual learner. I dislike how all of the new concepts were spaced toghether all at once. i extremely dislike the 100 and so questions examples that are asked in this chapter. They were very adversive to me in this chapter. I had no idea that there were so many ways to describe behaviors and variable schedualing. This chapter amazed me on how many vocab and concepts there are in the school of bmod.

2.4

Prior to reading this chapter, what did you think about behavior modification? Prior to emitting to read this chapter I think that eliciting behavior modification within your life may help elicit more positive consequences to the antecedents that were presented. You are more aware of the behavior you are emitting and it is easier to set the occasion to be more pleasurable.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Three things I will emit the behavior of remembering are; extinction and extinguish, we discussed this behavioral term in previous chapters, but it was not making much sense to me. However, after emitting to read this chapter I now know that extinction is when an organism that had been being reinforced for emitting a target behavior is no longer reinforced for emitting that same target behavior. And extinguish would be the behavior. An example could be if as a parent you give in to your child throwing a tantrum which would then reinforce the behavior, but when speaking of extinction, when the child throws a tantrum and the parent ignores the behavior it will emit the behavior to be extinguished and eventually the child will extinguish the behavior. Another thing I have emitted to remember is identifying the extinction burst and to realize that the person emitting the unwanted behavior will increase the unwanted behavior drastically before the extinction of the behavior is emitted.

What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? One thing that I found pleasurable in this chapter was the defining of extinction burst. It is funny going through behavior modification as a Mom, because it really makes you want to emit the most pleasurable responses to have better consequences in your home with your family. I now will try to elicit the act of continuing the extinction process in the future THROUGH the extinction burst (which is usually where I cave in), knowing that the aversive behavior will eventually be extinguished.

What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? The one thing I found slightly aversive was going into such detail about extinction. Although it did emit more reinforcement to remember, I thought that we had covered this particular definition clearly in the previous chapter.

How has reading the chapter changed what you originally thought about behavior modification? I am never quit certain how to respond to this question because it never really “changes” how I originally thought about behavior modification. However, while continuing to emit the reading behavior of each chapter, it does elicit remembering and acting out specifically in behavioral terms.

2.5

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Three things that I will emit a remembering response to from this chapter are; operant chamber, being able to emit the searching behavior in my own terms via Youtube really made it easier for me to understand and find pleasurable. Another thing I will emit a remembering response to is continuous reinforcement, when you are continued to be reinforced for something, you expect it, if it does not happen when you expect it, it can eventually have the possibility of you to elicit the extinction of the behavior. The last thing I found I will emit the remembering response to is intermittent reinforcement, being reinforced every now and again. I found this term pleasurable because I think people are more likely to emit the desired behavior more often when being reinforced every now and then because they are always looking for that response.

What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? One thing that I emitted a pleasurable response to was looking up “operant chamber”. Although I had salient knowledge of what an operant chamber was, it was a great reinforcement to trigger my thoughts and knowledge upon emitting to watch the videos specific to operant chamber.

What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? One thing that I found aversive in this chapter was the abbreviations to all the terms within this chapter. However with continuous reinforcement I will hopefully emit and remembering response and elicit a more pleasurable response to them.

How has reading the chapter changed what you originally thought about behavior modification? Again, it does not really change my original thought, but it has continued to reinforce my knowledge of previously discussed terms.

TERMS: elicit(ed), emit(ted), behavior, aversive, pleasurable, reinforcement, extinction, extinguish, extinguished, extinction burst, consequence, antecedent, set the occasion, operant chamber, intermittent reinforcement, continuous reinforcement, salient.

2.4

Prior to this section I had thought a lot about satiation. I have since been utilizing the word in my common language, and find it to apply to many situations. I had a conversation with my brother-in-law about his curiosity about studying history. Based on his belief system, he has learned enough to believe what he believes. His need for information has been satiated, and he does not need to explore more history to think what he thinks.

Three things I will remember:

1. Extinction is not punishment. When I am in the grocery store, I cannot stand it when I see children throwing tantrums. Generally it is easy to emit an undesirable at the child's parent for not responding to the child. After learning about extinction, I will emit a look of encouragement to the parent now. By ignoring a child when they tantrum in a store, they will not receive reinforcement from their parent. The goal of extinction is to take away reinforcement in order to cause an undesirable behavior to stop.

2. Sometimes a child will try many things to get a parent's attention. A child will scream in the store, grab what they want and thrust it in their parent's face, or throw themselves on the ground and flail their limbs. This is variation and extinction burst. The child is varying its behavior to see if one of these will elicit reinforcement from the parent. This is also a case where the child is having a burst of behaviors before it will learn to behave in the store and not be a brat.

3. Finally, if the child gets reinforced when it rolls up its pant leg and screams, the child may believe that it is both the screaming and the rolled up pant leg that elicited the reinforcement. Realistically the child has just worn the parent down, and the parent has decided to give in to the kid's desires. But the child may develop a superstitious belief that rolling up its pant leg was the key to what it wants. It has incorrectly analyzed the situation.

This section was not that long but really dragged on. The repetition of terms gets old but are necessary. After reading this section, I feel challenged to incorporate extinction instead of punishment if I can.

2.5
Three things I will remember:

1. Reinforcement is dependent upon number of times a behavior occurs, and also duration of time. Learning how to effectively utilize this knowledge can better create appropriate reinforcement schedules.

2. The number of times a behavior is emitted is called the ratio. It can be fixed or variable. For instance: my car starts every time I try to start it. It has a continuous ratio of always starting. My wife's car is older and less reliable. It does not always start, and often requires a jump. This car has a variable ratio. It does not start after the first try, but often requires any number of tries to get it to start.

3. Reinforcement can be more reinforcing given the time. When we are deprived of a reinforcer, it is more reinforcing when we finally receive it. I do not get a raise every three months. Instead, I get a raise randomly, over a variable amount of time. Once it was after three months, and then again a year later. The interval of time changed and was not fixed. But if I brew a pot of coffee, my coffee maker always requires that I wait 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, I am reinforced with a pot of coffee.

I really like that we are finally talking about the operant chamber. I find this to be fascinating, and look forward to analyzing how an operant chamber can be relevant to parenting.

I did not like how long this section was. I find that I am spending several hours reading these sections, which is probably due to many variables. But overall, I prefer the shorter sections.

After reading this section I again address parenting. I have thought that consistent parenting is desirable. I have a revision now. Consistent does not mean continuous. It would not be effective to reinforce a good behavior every time, but to learn how to reinforce over longer periods of time. You don't want to train your child to require a reward every time they go to the bathroom, but you do reward them initially when they use the toilet for the first time. Essentially, going to the bathroom in the toilet becomes less remarkable after you have done it 100 times. Eventually a child will use the toilet without reinforcement.

terms: satiation, extinction, punishment, emit, undesirable, variation, extinction burst, elicit, superstitious behaviors, reinforcement schedule, ratio, fixed, variable, deprived, interval, operant chamber, reinforce

2.4
Prior to this chapter behavior modification was something that you could emit to elicit behaviors in people around you. This included a variety of different strategies we have been learning about like reinforcement or punishment.
Three things I will remember from this chapter
1) The difference between extinction and punishment. I will remember this because I believe it is something that is really important for future learning in behavior modification. This concept talked about how when using extinction you are actually stopping reinforcement for an already conditioned behavior. In punishment you are emitting an aversive behavior so that you subject does not continue to emit the target behavior. You do this by adding something aversive or taking away a pleasurable thing.
2) Extinction Burst. This is the second thing I will remember because it stuck out in my mind as something that I previously thought was not as bad as it actually has turned out to be. Meaning, that if someone is undergoing a extinction burst usually they are not in a pleasurable mood and instead are having aversive feelings elicited by the fact that they are no longer being reinforced.
3) Discriminative extinction is something that I really hope I remember in this chapter because it is something that I have never heard of before although it is just as important as everything else. Discriminative extinction is when you get a sort of "heads up" about the behavior you are about to emit will not be reinforced. Like a "closed" sign or a "out of order" sign.
One thing I really liked in this chapter was the big example about the vending machine and then asking us what part of the example represented extinction burst, variability and spontaneous recovery. I feel like taking a large real world example really helped solidify the concept in my mind.
One thing I didn't really like from this chapter was how in some of the parts in the chapter they mentioned how they would explain later that this means this and that we will understand better later. I prefer to just be told the stuff I need to know instead of giving me a warning as to what i will be reading later.
This chapter didn't really give a lot of difference to what I thought about behavior modification. It reminded us of somethings that I remembered about this subject from earlier psychology classes and was a very good review with the terminology.

2.5
Three things I will remember from this chapter:
1) That continuous reinforcement is different then any fixed reinforcement or variable for that matter. Continuous reinforcement is everytime you are reinforced everytime you emit the behavior. It does not depend on the interval of time that has past since you last did the behavior or the ratio of times you have emitted that behavior.
2) Biological continuity. I found this concept to be really interesting and one that I had assumed throughout my schooling but I never knew there was a name for it. Biological continuity refers to the belief that every living thing learns in the same way (generally speaking). For example we learn the same as Skinner's pidgeons.
3) The notation for schedules of reinforcement. I had learned about the schedules of reinforcement in many different psych classes but I had never learned about how you could put them into notation such as using VR20 as short for saying "on average the target behavior is reinforced every 20 times it is emitted"
One thing I really liked about this chapter was that it covered one cohesive idea (schedule of reinforcement) in one chapter. It was all about schedules of reinforcement and how they are used. Now I know that not all concepts can be broken down enough for one chapter each but it was nice to know that this chapter was all about the reinforcement schedules.
One thing I disliked about this chapter was how a lot of the examples were reused. I would have liked to seen more original examples that related to real life so that I could get a better sense of of the concept. I also disliked that there was a lot of examples that I had to come up with and I felt like at the end I was scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with good ones.
This chapter really went in dept about the schedules of reinforcement and I liked that. I think this chapter taught me that though you may be able to say that you reinforce a target behavior, there is more to it and you can divide what you said into one of these categories to help others better understand what reinforcement you are using.

Terms: behavior modification, elicit, emit, reinforcement, punishment, aversive, target behavior, extinction, pleasurable, behavior, extinction burst, reinforced, discriminative extinction, variability, spontaneous recovery, fixed, continuous reinforcement, biological continuity, reinforce, reinforcement schedules

Sec 2.4
Before reading this section I knew that the modification of behavior involved the antecedent the behavior and the consequence. There are a couple of ways to change the frequency of a target behavior with reinforcement increasing the likelihood or with punishment decreasing the likelihood. One thing that I will remember is the concept of extinction. This occurs when an organism stops being reinforced and stops doing a behavior. This critical concept because it is another way to modify behavior along with punishment and reinforcement. Another term that I will remember is extinction burst. This is when the reinforcement stops, so the subject does whatever it can to try to get reinforcement. This is a critical component of extinction because it shows us that the extinction is working. Another thing that I will remember is variability, which is the fact that during extinction the subject will not only emit the behavior that was reinforced but numerous variations in an attempt to get reinforcement. One topic that I found interesting was superstitious behaviors. These are behaviors that are associated with a reinforcer, like starting your car in a certain way because you think that will make it more likely to start. There weren’t any topics that I thought were uninteresting in this section. After reading this section I have learned that there is an additional option to changing behavior outside of punishment, and reinforcement.

Sec 2.5
One thing that I will remember is fixed ratio reinforcement, which is the idea that you are reinforced after a fixed number of tries (after you push the button 5 times). This is one of the five different schedules of reinforcement. Another thing that I will remember is fixed interval reinforcement. This is when reinforcement is given after a set amount of time such as every five mins. This is another one of our schedules of reinforcement. Another thing that I will remember is variable ratio reinforcement. This means that on average the subject is reinforced every 5th time but it might get reinforced on the 4th time or the 6th time. This is another one of the five schedules of reinforcement. One thing that I thought was interesting was the idea of continuous reinforcement or when reinforcement happens each time a behavior occurs. I thought that this was interesting because it is not too often that this schedule of reinforcement is used. One thing that I didn’t like about this chapter was the various graphs that were located throughout the chapter. I didn’t like them because I found them difficult to understand. After reading this section I now know that the schedule of reinforcement can make all the difference when reinforcing behaviors. It can cause learning to speed up or slow down.

Terms: Reinforcement, Punishment, Target Behavior, Extinction, Extinction Burst, Variability, Superstitious behaviors, Reinforcer, Fixed Ratio, Fixed Interval, Variable Ratio, Continuous Reinforcement

2.4
Prior to emitting the behavior of reading this section I feel I have a firm grasp on the material given so far. Behavior modification elicits a behavior of analyzing certain everyday situations in terms of the ABC's. I can see more clearly why and how certain behaviors come to be emitted from people.
The first thing I will remember from this chapter is the process of extinction. Extinction occurs when a previously reinforced behavior is no longer reinforced. The frequency of that behavior will decrease as it is no longer receiving any reinforcement. The second thing I will remember is what an extinction burst and variability is. An extinction burst occurs when the behavior that used to lead to reinforcement occurs more often and variability is when the extinction elicits behaviors that are similar to the one that was previously reinforced. Both of these occur due to the organism trying to elicit a reinforcement of some sort for the behavior that had previously been reinforced. The third thing I will remember will be the difference between generalization and discrimination. Generalization occurs when people emit the same behavior under a variety of circumstances beyond what the behavior was originally learned in. Discrimination occurs when subtle differences in stimuli and context are learned.
One thing that I liked about this section was seeing how superstitious behaviors occur because I am pretty superstitious and emit a lot of these types of behaviors. One thing I didn't like about this section was all the new terms. It should almost have been broken up into two separate sections.
After reading this section my view of behavior modification has changed a little. I now know another process to decrease behaviors, which is called extinction.

2.5
The first thing I will remember from this section is what continuous reinforcement is. Continuous reinforcement refers to getting reinforced every time a behavior is emitted. The next thing I will remember is the difference between ratio and interval. Ratio refers to the number of behaviors emitted where as interval refers to the amount of time passing between each reinforcement period. The third thing I will remember is the difference between a fixed schedule of reinforcement and a variable schedule of reinforcement. Fixed refers to a set amount of behaviors or a set amount of time where as variable refers to an average amount.
One thing I liked about this section was that I had learned about the different schedules of reinforcement prior to this so I have a pretty good understanding. One thing I didn't like was how long this section is and all the examples. It takes way to long to go through the packet and them having to emit a blog response about the same thing I just got finished with is just plain annoying.
After reading this section I have a better understanding of behavior modification through the schedules of reinforcement. Using different reinforcing techniques can make the reinforcement even more effective.

Terms: Emit, Elicit, Reinforcement, Extinction, extinction burst, variability, superstitious behaviors, frequency,generalization, discrimination, continuous reinforcement, ratio, interval, fixed schedule, variable schedule.

section 2.4:
Prior to reading this chapter, what did you think about behavior modification? Why?

I thought behavior modification was about controlling behavior. And it is. But there are many more ways than I realized. I also see that it’s not just about controlling behavior. It’s also about how organisms interact, reinforcing or extinguishing each other. This is important because often behavior modification is presented as a one-way street.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why?

1) Extinction is when a organism has been reinforced for emitting a certain target behavior and is now no longer reinforced for the target behavior. This is an important way to eliminate or lower the rate of behavior.

2) Extinction bursts occur when a reinforcement is initially withheld, the orgasm will keep emitting the target behavior perhaps at a higher rate and with variability. This is important because it explains one kind of erratic behavior.

3) Spontaneous recovery is when an emitted behavior returns to its original rate after it is as been extinguished.

What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why?

I liked the way extinction shows you that you can lower the rate of a targeted behavior or eliminate it by withholding the reinforcer for the behavior. This gives you another way to control behavior. Instead of using punishment, you can try extinction. I also liked how two organisms can be interact, one reinforcing the other, and then extinquishing the other. You begin to think about how relationships work like this. Extinction also explains a lot of behavior that is aversive or aggressive; we don’t like going on extinction. We become emotional, extinction bursts, etc.

What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why?

I am not sure there was anything I disliked about the chapter. I had a harder time of coming up with examples of spontaneous recovery.

How has reading the chapter changed what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?

It has shown me a way to change behavior by withholding reinforcement, but that I should expect the behavior to shows burst of responding, and that the organism may become emotional and even aggressive before the behavior is reduced in rate.

section 2.5:

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why?

1) Continuous reinforcement is a schedule where each response is reinforced. This assures that the respond will be learned, that’s why it’s import.

2) Reinforcement schedules are important and powerful in determining the rate of response and the pattern of the rate of response.

3) Schedules of reinforcement can be classified by how many responses have occurred (a fixed number, a variable number) or by how much time has elapsed since the last response (a fixed amount, a variable amount). This is important as it is how we classify the basic schedules.

What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why?

I liked how schedules of reinforcement, or the pattern of how often the behavior is reinforced, determine what the behavior looks like. The same behavior can look very depressed or very manic, just depending on the schedule of reinforcement. I don’t think this idea exists anywhere else in psychology. It makes us look beyond the behavior to the environment and how it relates to the behavior.

What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why?

I didn’t really find anything I disliked in this chapter. For some of the schedules it is much harder to think of ordinary examples than for other schedules. Also I am not sure I fully understand the cumulative plots. We have studied them in another class, but they may need more of an introduction.

How has reading the chapter changed what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?

It has changed how I think about behavior. When we see behavior occurring at a high rate or at a very low rate, as it does in depression, we tend to look at the organism. We tend to think that something is wrong with it. But this chaptered showed how it could be something in the environment, like the schedule that the behavior is being reinforced on. Knowing the schedule of reinforcement can tell you a lot about what kind of behavior to expect. It can explain a lot of common behaviors, like gambling, or work in a factory.

Terms: reinforcer, schedule of reinforcement, fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, variable interval, extinguished, extinction, extinction bursts, spontaneous recovery

Section 2.4
1.)Prior to reading the chapter about behavior modifications I was beginning to feel a little more comfortable with the terms and how to use them, especially after class on Tuesday because we spent the hour going over vocabulary and finding examples when asked on the spot.
2.) Three things I will remember from the chapter are:
a. Something I will emit the behavior of remembering is the difference between extinction and extinguished because extinction is a noun whereas extinguished is an adverb, and since I know what a noun and adverb are is makes it easier to put together.
b. I will emit the behavior of remember what an extinction burst is because it reminds me of a drug addict “bursting” out with rage if they don’t get there fix. Their target behavior is to get their drug that reinforces their craving and they will do anything to do so instead of extinguishing that behavior, even if the behavior emitted is aversive.
c. I will remember that superstitions occurs not based solely on a specific reinforcement, I don’t necessarily understand the concept just yet, but it did help me relate it to softball and if our team was on a winning streak we all emitted the behavior of doing the exact same thing for each game that followed.
3.) One thing I really liked from the chapter was how we got to recover extinction, but also how emitting certain behaviors or certain operant behaviors can emit a target behavior we don’t want. I also like the fact that there was a lot of explanations and examples in this chapter.
4.) One thing I really disliked from the chapter was that some of the paragraphs go lengthy and emitting the behavior of reading them got aversive because I felt like I was trying to remember so many things at once, but other than that I really enjoyed this chapter.
5.) From reading the chapter is has changed my original thought on behavior modification’s that I am beginning to think the terms are going to get more in-depth and much narrower.

Terms: emit, extinction, extinguished, extinction burst, target behavior, reinforces, extinguishing, aversive, emitted, superstitions, operant behaviors,

Section 2.5
1.) Three things I will remember from this chapter are:
a. I will emit the behavior of remembering B.F. Skinner and that he was the first to discover the schedules of reinforcement because of the previous knowledge I have of Skinner and his work with rats and pigeons.
b. I will remember the term continuous reinforcement because it reminds me of how a stop sign elicits us to stop just by looking it, this to me means continuous reinforcement is a behavior we emit without even thinking about it because it’s so natural to us in our everyday life.
c. Something else I will remember is the measurement table/chart. To me it is set up in the form of a scientific gene comparison table, so I elicit that example to what I learned from there and it helps me connect the fixed ratio and fixed interval, along with variable ratio and variable interval, in other words this chart could be a continuous reinforcement for me.
2.) One thing I really liked about this chapter was how after emitting the behavior of filling in the boxes and then at the end of the page the answers were given to us. I liked this because I didn’t know they would be there but realizing they were helped me realize what I had done aversive. The answers were actually a reinforcer for me because I then made myself rethink on what I had elicited wrong by reading the question.
3.) Something I found aversive from reading this chapter would have been all the boxes to fill in, they made me want to elicit the behavior of just throwing the papers on the ground and walking away, because I kept confusing myself and I felt like emitting the behavior of constantly going back and reading just got me more confused. I felt as if the boxes were a target behavior the author was trying to get me to emit the behavior of filling them out, which I did, but I did it while gritting my teeth.
4.) After reading this chapter it made me realize that things are going to get a little more complex now because we don’t just have reinforcement, but now reinforcement and all the different types of reinforcement which are a little confusing.

Terms: Emit, schedules of reinforcement, continuous reinforcement, elicit, fixed ratio and interval, variable ratio and interval, emitting, reinforcer, aversive,

2.4
Prior to reading these sections I was gaining a better understanding of behavior modification, and I find myself thinking about it a lot more now and how many peoples behaviors are manipulated by others. The three things I will remember from this section Superstitions Behaviors because it’s two different behaviors that are being emitted but they have the same meaning behind the action that is being delivered. Secondly the term extinction burst, because when a reinforcement it being withheld the behavior that was reinforced will occur more often. Last term is variability happens during the extinction burst when the variable gets desperate enough that it seeks outs reinforcement on a similar target behavior to receive any type of reinforcement.
What I liked most of this section about superstitious behaviors because it deals with a lot of the extinction burst and variability combined. I understood this that when we develop a superstition behavior it is because the behavior that is being emitting has a reinforcer that causes you to emit the same behavior over and over again.
I liked all the information presented to me in this section it put a lot of detail on extinction but it put in greater detail to understand the relationship extinction types has on our behavior.

This section has just added more terms to help me understand behavior modification better and to apply it to day-to-day life to grasp the concept better.

2.5
What I will remember from this section would be Fixed verses Variable Schedule of Reinforcement, a fixed variable the example was helpful because the example used about pulling the lever 15 times and on the 15th time the lever is pulled you receive a reward. Variable schedule goes along with fixed variable on when the reinforcer is presented to be reinforcement. Finally fixed interval was when a object would be presented in fixed intervals.
What I liked in the section was practice examples were different from the normal that was helpful because I got to analyze instead of coming up with my own examples, which may not have been correct anyways.
Once again I liked all of the information that was presented in this section. This has helped me in behavior modification because it deals with more of an experiment, and how every situation can be seen with fixed ratio, variable schedule, and fixed intervals.

Terms: reinforcement, emit, elicit, variability,extinction burst, superstitious behaviors, fixed ratio, variable schedule and ration intervals

section 2.4:
Prior to reading this chapter, what did you think about behavior modification? Why?

I thought behavior modification was about controlling behavior. And it is. But there are many more ways than I realized. I also see that it’s not just about controlling behavior. It’s also about how organisms interact, reinforcing or extinguishing each other. This is important because often behavior modification is presented as a one-way street.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why?

1) Extinction is when a organism has been reinforced for emitting a certain target behavior and is now no longer reinforced for the target behavior. This is an important way to eliminate or lower the rate of behavior.

2) Extinction bursts occur when a reinforcement is initially withheld, the orgasm will keep emitting the target behavior perhaps at a higher rate and with variability. This is important because it explains one kind of erratic behavior.

3) Spontaneous recovery is when an emitted behavior returns to its original rate after it is as been extinguished.

What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why?

I liked the way extinction shows you that you can lower the rate of a targeted behavior or eliminate it by withholding the reinforcer for the behavior. This gives you another way to control behavior. Instead of using punishment, you can try extinction. I also liked how two organisms can be interact, one reinforcing the other, and then extinquishing the other. You begin to think about how relationships work like this. Extinction also explains a lot of behavior that is aversive or aggressive; we don’t like going on extinction. We become emotional, extinction bursts, etc.

What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why?

I am not sure there was anything I disliked about the chapter. I had a harder time of coming up with examples of spontaneous recovery.

How has reading the chapter changed what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?

It has shown me a way to change behavior by withholding reinforcement, but that I should expect the behavior to shows burst of responding, and that the organism may become emotional and even aggressive before the behavior is reduced in rate.

section 2.5:

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why?

1) Continuous reinforcement is a schedule where each response is reinforced. This assures that the respond will be learned, that’s why it’s import.

2) Reinforcement schedules are important and powerful in determining the rate of response and the pattern of the rate of response.

3) Schedules of reinforcement can be classified by how many responses have occurred (a fixed number, a variable number) or by how much time has elapsed since the last response (a fixed amount, a variable amount). This is important as it is how we classify the basic schedules.

What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why?

I liked how schedules of reinforcement, or the pattern of how often the behavior is reinforced, determine what the behavior looks like. The same behavior can look very depressed or very manic, just depending on the schedule of reinforcement. I don’t think this idea exists anywhere else in psychology. It makes us look beyond the behavior to the environment and how it relates to the behavior.

What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why?

I didn’t really find anything I disliked in this chapter. For some of the schedules it is much harder to think of ordinary examples than for other schedules. Also I am not sure I fully understand the cumulative plots. We have studied them in another class, but they may need more of an introduction.

How has reading the chapter changed what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?

It has changed how I think about behavior. When we see behavior occurring at a high rate or at a very low rate, as it does in depression, we tend to look at the organism. We tend to think that something is wrong with it. But this chaptered showed how it could be something in the environment, like the schedule that the behavior is being reinforced on. Knowing the schedule of reinforcement can tell you a lot about what kind of behavior to expect. It can explain a lot of common behaviors, like gambling, or work in a factory.

Terms: reinforcer, schedule of reinforcement, fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, variable interval, extinguished, extinction, extinction bursts, spontaneous recovery

Prior to reading this chapter I felt that I had an understanding of the concepts that we have learned so far in class. Because I had an understanding of the concepts and terms, behavior modification was an interesting topic that I wanted to learn more about.
The three things that I will remember most from this chapter are extinction, variability, and aggressive behavior. I found extinction to be a very easy concept to understand because the examples were very straightforward and told me exactly what it was describing. I also found extinction to be something that is used throughout everyday life. It is used by parents and teachers and caught my eye on how to use it properly. Variability is another concept in the chapter that I will remember because I found thinking of examples to be straightforward. If you can’t get what you want doing one thing, change it to get what you want. Aggressive behavior was only talked about briefly but it is something that I hopefully will remember as the class goes on because I’m sure it will show up again. Aggressive behavior is a complicated subject but the section in the chapter made it seem to relate to behavior modification quite easily.
The one thing that I found to be the most interesting was the section on superstitious behaviors. I will admit that I partake in superstitious behaviors of my own but I never really knew why I did it. After reading this chapter, I have a better understanding of why and how they form.
The one thing that I found to be most aversive in the chapter was the section on generalization and discrimination. I found the reading behind it to be very unclear and the examples to be very hard to think of.
This chapter has changed my perception of behavior modification in a way to understand it better. The chapter tied in several themes of behavior modification and related them to prior concepts. Doing so has given me a better overall understanding of the subject.

The three things that I will remember the best from the chapter are operant chambers, continuous reinforcement, and the notations for the reinforcement schedules. I found operant chambers to also be the most interesting topic from the chapter because I am always fascinated with the research from the golden days of psychology. Operant chambers were what they used to study the behavior of pigeons and mice and use this information to apply it to humans. Continuous reinforcement was also a concept that I will remember because I never thought of it before reading this chapter. I never really realized that hitting a key on a keyboard and having it show up on screen was a form of reinforcement and this section helped me realized how simple some reinforcements can be. I found the notations to be an easy concept to understand but I had trouble understanding how to determine the difference between the four options. This relates to what I disliked in the chapter because the sections were unorganized to me and left me confused. I understood them after reading the sections on the difference between the four options but got totally lost from there. Whether it was the examples themselves or the scattered sections on the same concept, I had to stop reading to avoid any more confusion.
After reading this chapter on behavior modification I realized how frustrating this class could become. The information in this chapter was not only confusing to me but caused me great stress in trying to think of examples for a concept that I didn’t understand.

Extinction, variability, aggressive behavior, aversive, generalization, discrimination, operant chambers, continuous reinforcement, notations for reinforcement schedule

I was really excited and curious when I figured out what this week’s chapter was about because it is difficult to fathom the idea that color exists only when our brain and eyes work together. The sentence I found most important for my understanding of sensation and perception was on page 105 and says, “like pain, color is the result of interaction of a physical stimulus with a particular nervous system.” This helped me to understand this idea a little better by relating it to something pain, which I understand because of Health psych. Since I enjoyed most of this chapter I am going to begin with the tiny thing I did not like because in reality most of it interested me. On page 118 figures 5.15 there was an experiment where you had to look at a dot in the middle of a circle of dots and switch back and forth between the one with colored dots and the one with grey dots. The colored ones were suppose to make the grey ones turn colors because of negative after image. I could not get this to work and it was frustrating! I have seen similar experiments to this and I have generally gotten good results so I am not sure why this happened.
I had a plethora of information that I enjoyed about this chapter. The part that stands out most was pages 119 and 120 because I had been wondering about this question since the first day of class! Since our brain creates color it seems to me that all people would see it differently but then again I could see how this could go both ways. In psychology we learn about how many people’s memories have similar properties and their language develops in the same way so it makes sense that people could have the same perception of color but it just seems as if this could easy go the other direction for the same reason only different examples. While people have the same physical make up their individual parts differ greatly which is why I thought it could be the same case for the perception of color. Funny though, the book did not really have an answer to my question, research has shown that MAYBE people see colors slightly differently but much of what we see is the same, colorblindness being one of the exceptions.
Closely related to this idea of color perceptions and the similarities within it is the concept of color constancy. This has to do with illumination of light on a surface and how our cones perceive the color. Although the light is being reflected in different ways we still see it as the same color, thus we have color constancy. This helps us because when things in nature stay the same we can recognize them and concentrate on other parts of the environment that may be of danger or changing so that we notice them.
While I was busy being curious about humans and how they see color I had not even thought about how animals see color, so I was delighted when I came across this section. What is believed and accepted within the scientific community is that an animal’s ability to see color is linked with their need to eat certain types of food and sex. This makes sense because passing on DNA and eating to survive seem to be the most important things in the animals kingdom (even to us humans really). Thus, animals see colors because this allows them to find a mate of a particular sex which in turn creates off spring and an animal sees certain colors because this means that the food is of some nutritional value to them.

Terms: negative after image, color, colorblindness, color constancy, illumination, and cones.

2.4 prior to reading this chapter what I thought about behavior modification was the way people behave and act. I think about the antecedents, behavior, and consequences for everyone's actions. I think about the way people act and how we are constantly being punished and reinforced if we are realizing it or not.
Three things that I will remember from this section is a lot of the terms from this section. One term that I will remember is extinction. this occurs when an organism that has been reinforced emmiting a target behavior, is no longer reinforced for emeting the same target behavior. the example that was used was a kid that is distracting other kids and him being reinforced by other kids by their laughter. The extinction is when the teacher tells the children not to listen to the child and when he acts out no one will reinforce him and he will end up not misbehaving. Discriminative extinction stimuli is another term I will remember. This Occurs when a particular stimulus in the environment indicates that no reinforcement will result for emitting a target behavior. An example that was used was a sign that will saying you will not be reinforced for a certain behavior. Like a Out of order sign on a vending machine. The last of the three Things that will elicit a memory response with me is Generalization. refers to emitting the same behavior to a variety of different stimuli and a variety of contex. This is over generalizing. The example that was used in the section was people thinking that all people who are studying psychology are all shrinks and will try to analyze people
One thing that I really liked learning about was superstitious behavior. It was interesting that some things that people do without realizing it is a superstitous behavior. Little things like the certain One thing that I didnt like in this section was that I kept getting extinguishing and extinction. They got very confusing especially when I was trying to write the paragraph with all the terms in it.
This hasnt really changed my thinking of behavior modification
2.5
Three things that will elicit a remembering response with me is the intermittent reinforcement and continuous reinforcement. They will stick with me because of the examples. They were pretty relevant to me. The continuous was when pushing a key on the keyboard and the letter coming up on the screen. The intermittent was something that you were reinforced sometimes but not everytime like when calling someone and they could or may not answer the call. another thing that I will remember
I really didnt like this section. It confused me a lot and I really didnt fully understand much throughout the section. I got very confused when trying to do examples and trying to match up the variables. This section just left me frustrated.
This changed my thoughts about behavior modification a lot. It made me think that it is much more confusing than I thought. I thought I was understanding it until this section. It made me realize that its more than just looking at behavior.
Antecedent, behavior, consequence, elicit, extinction, extinguish, reinforcement, target behavior, Discriminative extinction stimulus, generalization, discriminative, intermittent reinforcement, continuous reinforcement, variables.

2.4
So far, we have been discussing the terms we have previously learned and have gone into detail with them. Last week we got to pick a term that was challenging and research into it more. I think I took this a little bit more literally than some students.
Three things I learned in this chapter were: extinguish and how to use it according to behavior mod, variability, and spontaneous recovery. I think I will remember these three things because they are branches off terms that we have already went over and learned in depth.
One thing I liked in the chapter was discussing variability. I liked this part because it's interesting to read/think about people's target behaviors and going through extinction bursts. Going further, thinking of all the different ways do to the same thing to get a reinforcer in the end.
One thing I disliked was reading about the difference between generalization and discrimination because they seem the same in a lot of the criteria. This kind of frustrated me to be honest because I felt so confident until this point in the assignment.
To keep building my knowledge of behavior mod, I have learned more about extinction and the ways that it works like extinction bursts, extinguishing, discriminative extinction and spontaneous recovery.

2.5
Some things I will remember from this chapter and the VR (variable ratio), VI (variable interval), FR (fixed ratio) and FI (fixed interval). I will rememeber these because I have learned them before and had some difficulty along the way. I have confidence I will get a better hang of it this time around.
One thing I liked in this chapter was the fill in the blank part where the example is given and then tell which ratio/variable it is and why. To me, this is way easier than coming up with my own examples all the time. It is a nice break.
One thing I disliked was looking up youtube videos for operant chamber because some of the videos were in different languages or not clear in the content they were trying to share. Was the video about the cage, the target behvior, the reinforcement, the consequence or everything combined? I think it was more confusing than helpful.
In addition to section 2.4, I added information about the FI, VI, FR, VR to my vocab for this section.

terms:extinguish,variability,spontaneous recovery, target behavior, extinction bursts, reinforcer, generalization ,discrimination, extinguishing, discriminative extinction, VR (variable ratio), VI (variable interval), FR (fixed ratio), FI (fixed interval), operant chamber, consequence.

2.4
Prior to reading this chapter I knew about reinforcement and punishment, because we have covered both of these topics in detail. I knew that reinforcement is when you want to increase the frequency of a behavior, and I knew that punishment is when you decrease the frequency of a behavior.
Three things that I will emit a remembering behavior for in this chapter are extinction, extinction burst, and spontaneous recovery. The concept of extinction is when something that has been reinforced to emit a target behavior is not reinforced anymore for that same target behavior. I will emit a remembering behavior for extinction, because I know how aversive extinction can be in our daily lives. An extinction burst occurs when something emits an increased amount of behavior to obtain reinforcement from something that used to reinforce a target behavior. This concept stuck out to me, because I have done this many times when I am trying to get something to emit a target behavior. Spontaneous recovery is the return of an emitted behavior even after is has been extinguished through extinction. I can relate to this, because even though I know that I am trying to watch my weight and can’t eat cupcakes, I still like to bake them for my family.
One thing that I really like in this chapter was the concept of superstitious behaviors, because I have never thought about superstitions in behavioral terms. In behavioral terms, superstitions are behaviors that are sometimes emitted that don’t directly result in reinforcement.
At the same time, superstitious behaviors were my least favorite things that were discussed in this chapter. Even though I know that superstitions don’t always result in reinforcement, it is still fun to think that things will. For example, in high school, all the members of my basketball wore the same pair of underwear for every home game. We all knew that the antecedent of wearing the underwear would not bring about the reinforcement of winning the game, but it was still fun to hope that it would.
Reading this chapter has changed what I think about behavior modification, because it shed light on how extinction is a form of reinforcement rather than punishment. I had always assumed that extinction was punishment, because it usually results in the reduction of the occurrence of a behavior.
Terms: Extinction, emit, behavior modification, punishment, reinforcement, antecedent, behavior, superstitious behaviors, spontaneous recovery, aversive, target behavior, and extinction bust.
2.5
I things that I will emit a remembering behavior for in this chapter were how we can be reinforced every now and then, how we can be reinforced every time a behavior is emitted, and how both can be equally reinforcing. These concepts are labeled continuous reinforcement intermittent reinforcement. In continuous reinforcement, a response is reinforced continuously. In intermittent reinforcement, a response is reinforced just every now and then. Even though a response is being continuously reinforced in continuous reinforcement, intermittent reinforcement can bring about the same amount of response.
One thing that I really liked in this chapter is how we got the opportunity to practice learning the four new terms a lot. The four new terms of fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, and variable interval were all confusing at first, because I got them all mixed up together. The practice problems reinforced me to learn the meanings of them all, so I could decipher one from another.
One thing that I disliked was how difficult it was to distinguish those four terms from one another. They are all similar and have mixed up names, so it took longer than usual to get a grasp on them. Hopefully after emitting a practicing behavior, I will be able to use these terms correctly.
After reading this chapter, I learned that there is not just one form of reinforcement. I learned of four new forms of reinforcement, and how to label them with their times or occurrences. For example, the notation for, “It takes two pushes to open the door,” is FR 2. This is because opening the door has a fixed ratio of needing two pushes.
Terms: Emitted, reinforcement, fixed ratio, reinforced, variable ratio, fixed interval, variable interval, continuous reinforcement, and intermittent

2.4

Prior to emitting the behavior of reading these chapters, I have been very frustrated with behavior modification. I feel like this is a part of psychology that is round about and subjective and as a business major this kind of frustrates me.
I think the concept of superstitious behavior was really interesting because I have noticed that in various parts of my life. When I was in junior high playing basketball, I always had a routine when it came to shooting my free throws. Dribble. Dribble. Spin in my fingers. Breathe. Shoot. I hope I can remember the concept of extinction burst. I think a good example of that is when an elevator isn’t working, instead of getting out and taking the stairs, we press buttons in varying combinations in order to try everything we can rather than do the stairs, which would be faster. The third thing I hope to remember is generalization and discrimination. I had an especially hard time figuring out examples for those because they seem so basic, at the same time it makes much more difficult to come up with examples because it feels like it should be easy.

I really enjoyed the superstitious behavior because a lot of people adhere to these types of behaviors, especially athletes. You hear about people having lucky socks, lucky warm up routines, and certain rituals that they adhere to strictly. I really enjoyed this because it was easy for me to apply it to everyday situations.

I was very frustrated with this chapter because I felt like it was a lot of busy work. Every time I complete these reading exercises I find that I’m literally counting down the number of boxes until I’m done. I understand the importance of repetition for retention but it’s getting to the point where these examples function as a positive punishment for emitting the reading examples behavior.

I don’t think my opinion has changed that much, I find that there are so many little details when it comes to behavior modification and little details tend to be difficult for me. It’s really quite frustrating but I’m hoping that as I become more comfortable with this then I can start to really understand it.

2.5

Finally! Something new and something I can understand! I feel like these past 5 weeks have been things that I kind of understood, that just kept being convoluted by things I didn’t understand.

I really enjoyed the different intervals and ratios. These actually make sense to me. So the three things that I hope to remember are the difference between an interval and ratio, the difference between fixed and variable, and the difference between fixed and continuous reinforcement. I feel like sometimes fixed and continuous can be confused because really continuous IS a fixed interval or ratio, it just doesn’t ever end. I feel like it will be important for me to keep the reinforcement schedules concept separate so I can really know how to categorize them.

I really liked the examples of reinforcement schedules because they make sense to me. They are a lot more straight forward than the antecedent, behavior, and consequences and all the other terms that go along with behavior modification. I don’t know that there was anything that I specifically disliked in this chapter, I felt like this was new and well explained information and was excited to have something new that I wasn’t “sick of”.

The reinforcement schedule has really helped me to kind of renew my waning interest in behavior modification. I’m hoping that we’ll continue to learn new information rather than just keep applying and reapplying the same terms and information over and over again.

Terms: emit, behavior, superstitious behavior, extinction burst, generalization, discrimination, positive, punishment, intervals, ratios, fixed, variable, continuous, reinforcement schedules, antecedent, consequences, behavior modification

Reading Section 2.4

Prior to reading this section of reading 2.4, my thoughts about behavior modification haven't changed that much. Our last section of reading was about punishment and reinforcement and I pretty much had all of that stuff down before this section of reading.

Three things that I will definitely remember are:
1. Extinction! This chapter was all about extinction, it is embedded in my brain and I will not forget that extinction occurs when a previously reinforced behavior is no longer enforced.
2. I will also remember about generalization because it was a review of past psychology classes and I will remember that generalization means people emitted same behavior under a variety of circumstances beyond what the behavior was originally learned.
3. A third thing that I will remember is superstitious behaviors which occur when a behavior though to lead to reinforcement but is not in actuality directly related to the reinforcement.

One thing that I really liked about this section of reading was the fact that it was fun to read about, I was entertained learning about extinction, extinction bursts, superstitious behaviors, etc. I can relate to the examples and I understood everything that I was reading.

One thing that I really didn't like about this section was the fact that I had to write my own examples. I really liked Otto's examples and they were the only ones that I could really think of. It should have been simple to come up with my own examples but it really wasn't.

Reading this section of reading hasn't really changed what I thought about behavior modification. This section was sort of a review for me. I had learned almost everything in previous psychology classes. I enjoyed reading this section of reading!

Reading Section 2.5

Three things that I will definitely remember are:
1. I will remember for a behavior to be under the control of reinforcement, it does not need to be reinforced every time. This was one of the things that stuck out to me in my mind.
2. Continuous reinforcement (CR) was another thing that made sense to me and stuck out to me. Continuous reinforcement refers to getting reinforced every time a behavior emitted.
3. The third thing that really stood out to me was fixed ratio and fixed intervals. Fixed ratio's have to do with the amount or number of times that are done before a reinforcer is given. Fixed intervals is the amount of time that passes by before a reinforcer is given.

One thing that I really liked about this section of reading is the fact that we needed to give examples, I really didn't understand this section of reading and trying to do the examples on my own gives me repetition and practice!

One thing that I really didn't like about this section of reading is the fact that I didn't understand most of it. I really didn't understand all of the VR which will elicit a high steady rate of responding with a marginal pause. FR which will elicit high steady rates of responding with some pause. VI which will elicit a moderately steady rate of responding with a marginal pause. FI will elicit increase gradually until the reinforcement with a considerable pause after-wards. I still don't understand most of this section of reading.

Reading this section of reading really changed my thinking and understanding of behavior modification. I realize how difficult that it really can be. Behavior modification is fun to learn about but sometimes it can be difficult and take a while to understand all of the terms fully.

Terminology that I used in my Blog: Extinction, Extinction Bursts, Superstitious Behaviors, Continuous Reinforcement, FR, VR, VI, FI, Elicit, Emitted, Fixed Ratios, Fixed Intervals, Reinforcer, Reinforcement, Reinforced, Generalization, Punishment.

2.4

Before reading this section, I was slowly but surely getting more acquainted with behavior modification. The vocab can still be tricky at times ( I still am unsure with secondary generalization reinforcers) but for the most part, I seem to be grasping most of the concepts.

The first thing I’ll remember is that the topography of the behavior will intensify during an extinction burst. If you think about it, this is common sense. When reinforcement is taken away, the subject will emit the behavior intensely in order to receive the reinforcement again. The subject is going to try with all their might to elicit receiving reinforcement, and therefore is most concerned with making it LOOK like they are emitting the behavior.

Along with that is the difference between extinction and extinguish. This was very important for me to read, because before I read about extinguish, my definition of extinction was incorrect. Extinction is talking about the REINFORCEMENT whereas extinguish refers to the BEHAVIOR.

Finally, something stuck in my head is a recovery burst. After extinction occurs, eventually the behavior elicited by the extinct reinforcement vanishes too. However, every once in a while the subject may emit that behavior again in order to try and receive their reinforcer, also known as a recovery burst.

I really liked the talking of superstitious behavior. I don’t know if I necessarily agree with the topic, because I feel like so many behaviors people emit daily would fall under this category, but it is definitely interesting to think about.

I disliked the repetitions in this chapter, especially the section on distinguishing the difference between extinction and punishment. I already knew from day one (or at leats the first time it was introduced to us) that extinction and punishment were far from the same thing, so it was boring and unnecessary for me to read about it over and over.

2.5

The first thing I’ll remember is the difference between variable ratio and variable interval and fixed ratio and fixed interval. The difference between variable and fixed is pretty self explanatory. Variable only happens sometimes while fixed occurs all the time. Ration refers to how frequently or how many times the behavior occurs where as the interval means when or what time the behavior happens. These concepts are still somewhat difficult for me to understand, so I look forward to discussing them in class.

Along with that, it is important to know that reinforcement relies on the ratio and interval. That is reinforcement’s reinforcing properties are contingent on what time the behavior occurs and how often the behavior is emitted. By gaining this knowledge, we can use it to help us elicit the behavior in the most efficient way.

Finally, I’ll remember biological contingency. This is another concept in the reading I’m not so sure I agree with. Biological contingency states that all living organisms learn in the same way. I would like to think that I as a human have more reasoning skills than an animal who is less evolved, and therefore can learn differently, or at the very least, learn much more quickly.

I really liked the examples in this chapter. I like the layout of the book with examples like this because it helps me learn the harder terms. Having to apply the more difficult terms really helps me learn better.

This chapter was kind of boring. As I’ve stated before, I really like stories (at least interesting ones) and this book unfortunately lacks that.

I know understand that reinforcement has to be put on schedules. I knew this before, but at the same time, I understand it much better know. You can’t just keep giving a dog a treat over and over, eventually he will become satiated. Reinforcement schedules help this and a whole list of other reasons.

Terms
Reinforcement, punishment, extinguish, extinction, extinction burst, behavior, elicit, emit, satiation, biological contingency, variable interval, variable ratio, fixed interval, fixed ratio, reinforcer, reinforcement schedules, topography

Section 2.4
Prior to reading this chapter I knew that there were several different aspects to each term in behavior modification and was expecting something new with each chapter we are to read. I have gotten this notion after repeatedly eliciting the behavior of reading the chapters.
The three things that I will remember from this chapter would be 1) It is important to know that an extinction burst is sign that the extinction process is working. You can't give in to the acting out behavior of the individual, you have to keep ignoring the behavior. 2) Also in an extinction burst, the individual will think of other ways to which be reinforced. When the example of trying to get a snack out of the previously reinforced vending machine, the individual tried many different things including using change and getting fresh dollar bills. This is an example of variability, which is also showing that extinction is working. 3) I will remember that aggressive behavior is expected when using extinction as a form of getting a behavior to stop. The individual will more than likely get upset that a previously reinforced behavior is no longer being reinforced, which likely elicits an unpleasant behavior. When the behavior is extinguished, extinction has successfully occurred.
I really liked the examples in this chapter. They really helped me get a grasp on the variety of the terms. The explanations were a great help as well!
There was nothing that I didn't like about this chapter, everything was useful and explained well.
This chapter has changed what I originally thought of behavior modification in that I now know what to expect when using the extinction procedure. I would not have known that just coming into the class.

Section 2.5
After being elicited to read this chapter I will remember 1) that a fixed ratio is used to express that behavior will happen every certain number of times. For example, when I hit snooze on my alarm, it then goes off again every 5 minutes. 2) I will remember that a variable ratio is the average number of times it takes for reinforcement to occur. For example, at the casino, you might win every 6 times you hit the button. You could also win after two times as well. But the average number of times would be VR4. 3) I will remember that continuous reinforcement is not as common as intermittent reinforcement. It is more likely to be reinforced once in a while rather than every time. For example, you are not going to win every time you buy a lottery ticket.
Again, I really liked that the chapter went into detail and showed examples for them as well.
I didn't dislike anything about the chapter, It was well put together.
Since reading the last chapter, nothing has really changed because I have learned to expect that there is more detail that goes into behavior modification.

Terms: extinction burst, extinction, behavior, reinforced, variability, extinguished, elicit, emit, fixed ratio, variable ratio, continuous reinforcement, intermittent reinforcement.

Section 2.4:

Prior to reading this chapter, I hadn’t really thought much about the additional features of reinforcement and punishment all that much; especially when it comes to the idea of extinction and how when and where reinforcement is applied affecting the target behavior. This chapter allowed me to see how some of the implications of this and just how much more carefully we need to look at how we implement reinforcement and punishment.

The three things I remember from this chapter are:
1.) Extinction: I remember that extinction is stopping the reinforcement of something that you have already reinforced. It is a topic that in class we had initially began to touch on but this chapter helped reiterate what we have previously learned as well as further expanding upon the idea. The distinction between extinction and extinguished was made in the chapter (just in terms of how they are used in English) and this really helped me.
2.) Spontaneous Recovery: being able to do examples of the idea of spontaneous recovery helped me remember these best. Spontaneous recovery has a lot to do with things that happen in our everyday lives that we don’t really even realize we do. Trying to come up with these examples helped me to retain the definition and help apply it to real life.
3.) Discrimination vs. Generalization: Being able to see the example in this book made these two concepts clear and distinct from one another. By doing my own examples of stimuli, which are similar in certain context but still very different, I was able to see the difference in these concepts.

One thing I really liked about this chapter was learning about how variation is used. It is an idea that one can clearly see with young children, like in the example, but it was nice to be able to not only get the term but to be able to apply it to things that we could come up with.

One thing I disliked about this chapter was not really getting the chance to use the terminology we gained in prior sections into this one. We mostly did examples and learned new terms. It would have been nice to be able to apply these terms in addition to ones we have previously learned by constructing sentences and so forth.

I think that there is a vital caution to take when using extinction in modifying behavior. I hadn’t really thought about this at all but since it is such an aversive procedure one does need to use effectively and correctly to be able to successfully modify behavior. I hadn’t thought much about how giving into a constant nagging and so on would reinforce a behavior we don’t want to but it’s true and necessary to think about.

Section 2.5:

Three things I learned from this chapter are:
1.) Schedules of Reinforcement: I know now that it is important to remember and consider should the ratio schedule be fixed or continuous. Thinking about whether it is best for it to be reinforced only now and then or each time is crucial in the outcome and one should definitely think about how choosing one over the other will impact the person.
2.) Defining ratio: It is a term that we throw around but this section helped me realize after doing all the examples that it is has to do with time between each of the reinforcers that we are looking at. It is a term used outside of behavior modification but to see it used in this way really helped make the idea clear.
3.) Skinner: We’ve talked about Skinner in other classes and in operant conditioning section of those classes but to actually look at his findings in this way in the section was in more detail than I have ever done. I found this part very interesting and very helpful for me to understand all of the schedules of reinforcements with his work with pigeons.

One thing I really enjoyed from this chapter and remember most is understanding how important it is for the person modifying behavior to think about how and when the schedule of the reinforcer is used. There seems to be much detail and little pieces to consider that honestly never really entered my mind at first. Now knowing all this I feel more comfortable looking at behavior and thinking about how to modify it.

One thing I didn’t really like about this chapter was how much material I felt like I had learned in such a short amount of time. It was well organized and this idea of having so much to consume is a bittersweet notion however, it just felt a tad overwhelming. I think having the summary at the end helped make up for this though.

I now know that it is important for reinforcement to follow a schedule even though it does not need to be done every time for the reinforcement to be under control. The schedule of reinforcement does seem to be important in how the response will be. This section allowed me to see more intricate details in regards to how how often and when a reinforcer is done in schedule is crucial.

Terms:
reinforcement, punishment, extinction, target behavior, reinforced, extinguished, spontaneous recovery, discrimination, generalization, stimuli, context, variation, modifying behavior, reinforcer, schedules of reinforcement, fixed and continuous ratios, intervals, Skinner

tion 2.4-

Even though I understood the vocabulary we had previously been taught I do not think I grasp the ability to implement it in regular conversation without a good amount of thought.

A few things I will remember from this section are the differences between extinction, extinguish, and extinguished. They are closely related and if the difference wasn’t pointed out would have continued reading without noticing. The difference between punishment and extinction is important and something I know I will remember. The definitions aren’t hard to differentiate, but without knowing I could have viewed them as synonymous. Unlike defining punishment and extinction, superstitious behavior has a straightforward and fairly obvious definition. The example that was given was very visual so I will have a much better chance of remembering it.

In some sections it is hard to come up with examples other than the ones given, almost like those are the only ones. In this section I did not have that issue and could have easily come up with more.

Some complicated vocabulary I feel we could go over in class more to ensure we actually understand it later on.

I am surprised at how much behavior modification keeps getting broke down, but also how all the different aspects are obvious.

Section 2.5-

After reading this section I know I will be able to recall continuous and intermitted reinforcement. I appreciate the definitions that are opposite another, it makes it easier since if you remember one you remember the other one. VI, VR, FI, FR, even though they are going to take some getting used to we have not gone over anything like this so I should be able to recall them fairly easily.

This section had more visuals than any other we have read; this really helps me remember things.

Although simple, the abbreviations (VI, VR, FI, FR) are going to be hard to get used to.

Extinction, extinguish, extinguished, punishment, superstitious behaviors, VI, VR, FI, FR, continuous reinforcement, and intermitted reinforcement.

Section 2.4
Prior to reading this chapter I was really struggling with how to use the terminology properly, and was starting to have a case of brain lock. The terms aren’t hard but there is just a lot to remember in a short time. It is getting a bit clearer but I will have to work at it to be able to get it down.

Three things from this chapter that I will remember is first, variability, which is an extra behavior emitted from the person during an extinction burst. I just thought it was interesting how some of the variability’s used pushes the person trying to extinguish the target behavior, which is considered aversive to that person, to the point that they give up because the variability’s make the extinction process aversive to the person doing it. Second thing I will remember is extinction is not a form of punishment. I just thought it was really interesting that it wasn’t considered a punishment, because extinction is a very aversive process, and for that matter even a very aversive spectacle. Lastly I thought the section about aggressive behavior was kind of interesting. It’s a common knowledge kind of section, obviously if somebody doesn’t get their way and they get frustrated it tend to be their last ditch effort. I just thought it was interesting seeing the full array of the extinction process and things that can occur during the process as well. It just reminds me of the few childhood extinction processes my parents put me through; kind of funny seeing how unfolds.

Something I liked about this chapter is how it helped me gain a better understanding of the terminology. It was very helpful seeing some examples and doing a few questions in the reading. I really cant say anything I didn’t like about this chapter, it was informative and a great review. Reading this chapter has shown me that the terminology in behavior modification isn’t hard, but it will just take time to master it.

Section 2.5
Three things I will remember from this chapter is first the difference between variable ratio and variable ratio. Variable ratio is the on average ratio of reinforcement, more to do with quantity, where variable interval is similar but deals more on the lines of time. Another thing I will remember is the difference between fixed interval, and fixed ratio. Fixed interval schedules pay out after a fixed or constant period of time, while a fixed ratio is a fixed number of times. The reason I will make sure to try and remember these terms is because I have to, because of this term packed section. The third thing I will remember is the operant chamber. I just thought it was interesting how they could get the pigeon to do all the different tasks asked to receive its reward.

Something I liked about this chapter is it did a great job of helping me understand the terms. The chapter was very informative and helpful in understanding behavior modification. Something I didn’t like about the chapter was the many different terms thrown out there again, and still mix them up a bit.

Terms used- extinction burst, emitted, variability, extinguish, target behavior, aversive, extinction, punishment, aggressive behavior, variable ratio, variable interval, fixed interval, and fixed ratio.

Section 2.4

Prior to reading these two sections y beliefs about behavior modification consisted of thoughts like, “Oh..this is easy, I can do this, I understand this.” After reading these sections, particularly Section 2.5, my thoughts are quite different. Although there are some aspects of behavior modification I understand at this point, after reading these sections I find myself more confused than I ever have been in this course.

Three things I will remember about Section 2.4 are as follows:
1. The difference between extinction and extinguish: extinction is a process or procedure (a noun) and extinguish is a verb. Also, extinguished is an adverb. I will remember these terms because they set the basis for Section 2.4.
2. Extinction burst occurs when something (reinforcement) is withheld, the behavior that typically leads to that reinforcement will occur more often, as the person is trying even harder to obtain the reinforcement that they used to get.
3. A discriminative extinction stimuli is something that gives a warning or “heads up” that no reinforcement will be provided. Good examples of this include “Closed” signs, “Occupied” signs, or “Dead End” signs. This will be easy to remember because it is highly relatable to real life, as we see these types of signs all of the time.

One thing I disliked about Section 2.4 was the discussion about extinction, extinguish, and extinguished. First of all, it was all rather confusing. With topics like this in the text, there seems to be a lot of rambling and unnecessary word use. I think a simple definition next to a bolded word would do the trick for most students. Although there are good examples provided, it is all jumbled into paragraphs. A listing style would be more assisting to students, I feel. And far less confusing.

What I liked about reading Section 2.4 was the part regarding Superstitious Behaviors. I liked this topic because it is incredibly intriguing and really made me think about the superstitious behaviors I emit all of the time. I have concluded there are quite a few. Superstitious behaviors are fascinating because we consider them superstitious even though so many people experience the same ones, which kind of goes against superstition. I also find it a good topic because I do believe there is a point where superstitious behaviors relates to psychology and possible disorders linked to such behaviors.
Reading these two sections, as I stated before, changed my thoughts about Behavior Modification in that I am more confused now.

Section 2.5.

Three things I will remember from this section are as follows:
1. Continuous Reinforcement (CR) occurs every day in the real world. Meaning, it is the type of reinforcement we expect will always happen. Examples include pressing keys on a keyboard or turning on a light with a light switch (unless the light bulb is burnt out, in which we would not be reinforced).
2. The difference between ratio and interval: Ratio refers more to the actual “doing” of something. As in, if you emit a behavior 5 times. Interval refers to the time involved with emitting behaviors, an example being “every 5 minutes”.
3. The difference between variable and fixed: both refer to HOW OFTEN something happens. Fixed is a set number of times something happens, variable depends on many variables.

I disliked the overall discussion of fixed/variable, interval/ratio reinforcement schedules. It was rather confusing and I am hoping it will be discussed in class so I can understand it better. I am not sure exactly WHAT the problem with the text is that makes it so hard to understand.

One thing I did like that kind of helped me understand the material regarding reinforcement schedules was the chart that included fixed/variable (how often) and ratio/interval (measurement). This helped me understand a little better, but I am overall still confused about reinforcement schedules.

Terms Used: extinction, extinguish, extinguished, discriminative extinction stimuli, emit, reinforce, decrease, CR, fixed, variable, interval, ratio, reinforcement schedule

Section 2.4.

Prior to reading this chapter, I didn't put much thought or affiliation between the term extinction and behavior modification. I think the deeper we get into the chapter, the more complex behavior modification gets and the more vocabulary is necessary to really understand how behavior modification works. Also I remember learning about variables and ratios, but I forgot how they played into behavior modification.

The three things that I will remember from this chapter are:

1. Extinction. There are many important components that go into extinction including reinforcement, punishment, and aversive circumstances. Extinction is interesting because it stop reinforcement, but works like a punishment because you are trying to stop the emitted behavior from occurring. You are trying to elicit a behavior from not happening anymore so that the behavior no longer exists.

2. Spontaneous recovery. It was interesting to read about how a previously extinguished behavior is emitted once again. It's such a simple concept but I never thought about it in that way before. For example, in my hometown roads are set up differently, especially turning lanes. So when I am in Cedar Falls I go about driving like you would normally anywhere. However, every once in a while, I drive into town back home and all of a sudden realize again that the road are different and begin to the emit the extinguished behavior that I used to use.

3. Superstitious behavior. I never really thought about a superstitious behavior as being a kind of reinforcement before, but it definitely makes sense now. If you think about it, that's exactly what superstition is. It is being reinforced to do or not do something because past occurrences or made up information that people believe.

I really like the material in general in this chapter, I just found the information interesting and applicable to life. Everything was easy to come up with examples for and made a lot of sense after reading. The vocabulary was light, but provided great information to go along with past chapters. I really wasn't anything I didn't like in this chapter.

After reading this chapter, I get a better understand of the aftermath of how a reinforcement or punishment might turn out. Also I think it gave me great examples on different types of reinforcers that I use in everyday life. Overall, I can start to see how reinforcement is used and have a better insight at what reinforcement might look like on a daily basis.

Section 2.5.

The three things I will remember from his chapter are:

1. Variable Ratio. I think I will easily remember this kind of reinforcement schedule because it reminds me of gambling. Gambling is very random in how it pays out and it will be easy to remember how a variable ratio work when I think of gambling as an example.

2. Fixed Ratio. I think I will easily remember fixed ratio as well because of the example given in the reading. If you are paid by the number of tasks you complete and can complete them in X amount of minutes then you will know what your income will be if you keep that timing while working on the task.

3. Schedules of reinforcement. I learned through this chapter how different schedules of reinforcement will elicit different responses. It is important to have different schedules depending on the target behavior and what you wish to gain from the reinforcement.

I really like the examples given through out the chapter because it helped me to better understand the difference between the FI, FR, VR, and VI. Having specific examples helped me to comprehend the information. I really dislike ratios and variables because I dislike anything to do with math so I had a hard time not fall asleep and getting overly frustrated with the information in this chapter because of it's content.

I guess I really did not understand how complicated it was to have schedules of reinforcement and how they are make the outcome of the reinforcement vary based on how the reinforcement is given. I now realize how much it makes sense, but I was surprised through out the section on how complex it really is and how important it is to be consistent when trying to elicit a specific behavior.

Terminology: extinction, behavior modification, variables, ratios, reinforcement, punishment, aversive, emitted, elicit, spontaneous recovery, extinguished, superstitious behavior, VR, FI, FR, VI, schedule of reinforcement, target behavior.