August 2012 Archives

Please make sure you are registered for the BMod class and then spend a little time orienting yourself with the class blog site. While you are at it please look over the syllabus pages and make sure you understand what we will be doing this semester as it relates to the syllabus.

Next read the pdf on how to register for the class blog - (make sure you actually read it because every semester several students don't do it right.)


Once you have registered you will need to wait about a day so we can approve your registration by hand/manually. Once you receive notice that you are fully registered, please log in and leave a comment about what you think about the blog site, the class, or any particular blog post you have read. I mostly just want to make sure you can log in and comment. If you have problems logging in send me an email and let me know what I can do to help.

--Dr. M

By now you should have been able to log in and comment on the blog site. What we would like you to do now is to go to the following page and read some of the comments left from the students in the class before you.

http://www.psychologicalscience.com/bmod/2011/12/week-16-final-assignment.html

After reading the posts please answer the following:
Which posts did you like the best? Why?
Has reading these posts changed your idea of what behavior modification is? Why or why not?
Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning?

Thanks,

--Dr. M

You should by now have registered, signed in and found the page on our web site for the text book - http://www.psychologicalscience.com/bmod/abcs.html

Please read sections 1.1 and 1.2.

After reading section 1.1, please respond to the following questions.

Prior to reading this chapter, what did you think about behavior modification? Why? What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why? How has reading the chapter changed what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?

After reading section 1.2, please respond to the following questions.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why? How has reading the chapter changed what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?

Please fill out the boxes in the readings and bring them to class with you.

-Dr. M

Hi Class,

So far we have discussed reinforcement (increasing the frequency of a behavior as a result of the consequence) and punishment (decreasing the frequency of a behavior as a result of the consequence). What I would like you to do is to find a couple of video clips off the internet where one illustrates reinforcement and the other illustrates punishment.

For each clip I would like you to briefly describe/summarize the clip. 1) Tell us what behavior (target behavior) you are using that illustrates the reinforced or punished behavior (be careful as there are often many behaviors in a video and you need to isolate the behavior of interest). 2) Next tell us what the consequence of the behavior is. 3) Then tell us how, that consequence either will increase or decrease the frequency of the behavior. 4) Tell us if the consequence involves the addition of something or if it involves the removal of something. 5) Finally tell us to the antecedent is.

Please then list the ABC's of the behavior

A=
B=
C=

Now state if this is an example of positive reinforcement, positive punishment, negative reinforcement, negative punishment.

Do the same for the second clip

For originality sake, make sure the videos you are not using the same videos the four other students before you just used.

When you are done with both clips, copy and paste the URL at the bottom so we can go and see the videos you used.

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

Let me know if you have any questions....

You should by now have registered, signed in and found the page on our web site for the text book - http://www.psychologicalscience.com/bmod/abcs.html

Please read sections 1.3 and 1.4.

After reading section 1.3, please respond to the following questions.

Prior to reading this chapter, what did you think about behavior modification? Why? What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why? How has reading the chapter changed what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?

After reading section 1.4, please respond to the following questions.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why? How has reading the chapter changed what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

Hi Class,

So far we have discussed reinforcement (increasing the frequency of a behavior as a result of the consequence) and punishment (decreasing the frequency of a behavior as a result of the consequence). What I would like you to do is to find just one video clip off the internet where it illustrates both reinforcement and punishment in the same video.

For originality sake, make sure the videos you are not using the same videos the four other students before you just used. Please be sensitive to this issue.

I would like you to briefly describe/summarize the clip. Next: 1) Tell us what behavior (target behavior) you are using that illustrates the reinforced behavior (be careful as there are often many behaviors in a video and you need to isolate the behavior of interest). MAKE SURE IT IS A BEHAVIOR AND NOT A BEHAVIORAL CLASS. 2) Next tell us what the consequence of the behavior is. 3) Then tell us how, that consequence will increase the frequency of the behavior. 4) Tell us if the consequence involves the addition of something or if it involves the removal of something. 5) Finally tell us to the antecedent is.

Please then list the ABC's of the behavior

A=
B=
C=

Now state if this is an example of positive reinforcement, or negative reinforcement.

Do the same for the second part of the clip

Copy and paste the URL at the bottom so we can go and see the video you used.

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post. We will be looking for terminology that has been introduced in the class so far. Your post will be worth more with more terminology used.

Let me know if you have any questions....

Here is the page on our web site for the text book - http://www.psychologicalscience.com/bmod/abcs.html

Please read sections 1.5 and 2.1.

After reading section 1.5, please respond to the following questions.

Prior to reading this chapter, what did you think about behavior modification? Why? What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why? How has reading the chapter changed what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?

After reading section 2.1, please respond to the following questions.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why? How has reading the chapter changed what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post. We will be looking for terminology that has been introduced in the class so far. Your post will be worth more with more terminology used.

Hi Class,

So far we have discussed discriminative stimuli, satiation, & deprivation. Please find a video clip that has an example of discriminative stimuli. Then find a second video that has satiation. Then find another video that has deprivation.

For originality sake, make sure the videos you are not using the same videos the four other students before you just used. Please be sensitive to this issue.

For each of the 3 clips:

I would like you to briefly describe/summarize the clip. The tell us which of the three concepts it represents.

Please then list the ABC's of the behavior

A=
B=
C=

Now state if this is an example of positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, or negative punishment.

Finally summarize how the clip is demonstrating the concept and how the ABC's explain what is happening in the clip.

Do the same for the other 2 clips.

Copy and paste the URL at the bottom of the page so we can go and see the video you used.

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post. We will be looking for terminology that has been introduced in the class so far. Your post will be worth more with more terminology used.

Let me know if you have any questions....

Please read sections 2.2 and 2.3.

After reading section 2.2, please respond to the following questions.

Prior to reading this chapter, what did you think about behavior modification? Why? What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why? How has reading the chapter changed what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?

After reading section 2.3, please respond to the following questions.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why? How has reading the chapter changed what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

Topics in the News?

What I would like you to do is to continue applying what we are learning in class to real world matters. Some might ask, "What good is learning psychology if we can't apply it to real world matters?" So that is what we are going to do with this week's topical blog assignment.

What I would like you to do is to either go to NPR (http://www.npr.org/ ), the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/ ) there are some good news source links at the bottom of the following page (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ listed in their news sources) and read, watch, or listen to something that is interesting to you and relates to punishment.

For your news I would like you to briefly describe/summarize your piece. 1) Tell us what behavior (target behavior) you are using that illustrates the reinforced or punished behavior (be careful as there are often many behaviors in a video and you need to isolate the behavior of interest). 2) Next tell us what the consequence of the behavior is. 3) Then tell us how, that consequence either will increase or decrease the frequency of the behavior. 4) Tell us if the consequence involves the addition of something or if it involves the removal of something. 5) Finally tell us to the antecedent is.

Please then list the ABC's of the behavior

A=
B=
C=

Now state if this is an example of positive reinforcement, positive punishment, negative reinforcement, negative punishment. Tell us if it involves extinction, establishing operations, use as many terms from the chapters we have already covered as you can.

Now find another behavior in the same news piece and repeat the steps (i.e. do it again).

For originality sake, make sure the news pieces you are not using the same pieces of news the other students before you just used.

When you are done, copy and paste the URL at the bottom so we can go and see the sources you used.

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

Let me know if you have any questions.

--Dr. M

Hi Class,

So far we have discussed extinction & superstitious behaviors. Please find a video clip that has an example of extinction. Then find a second video that has a superstitious behavior.

For originality sake, make sure the videos you are not using the same videos the other students before you just used. Please be sensitive to this issue.

For each of the clips:

I would like you to briefly describe/summarize the clip. The tell us which of the two concepts it represents.

Please then list the ABC's of the behavior

A=
B=
C=

Finally summarize how the clip is demonstrating the concept and how the ABC's explain what is happening in the clip.

Do the same for the other clip.

Copy and paste the URL at the bottom of the page so we can go and see the video you used.

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post. We will be looking for terminology that has been introduced in the class so far. Your post will be worth more with more terminology used.

Let me know if you have any questions....

Before you begin this assignment, please go to the following site and read a couple of topical blog posts that were done by students last semester at : http://www.psychologicalscience.com/bmod/2011/11/topical-blog-week-13-due-thursday.html

Next what I would like you to do is to find a topic from what we have covered so far in class that you are interested in and search the internet for material on that topic. You might, for example, find people who are doing research on the topic, you might find web pages that discuss the topic, you might find youtube clips that demonstrate something related to the topic, etc. What you find and use is pretty much up to you at this point. But use at least 3 sources.

Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the chapter, and why you are interested in it. Next, I would like you to take the information you found related to your topic, integrate/synthesize it, and then write about it. At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

By integrating/synthesizing I mean to take what your read/experienced from the internet search (and from chapter 1 if you like) organize the information into the main themes, issues, info, examples, etc. about your topic and then write about the topic in your own words using that information. This is hard for some people to do - many students write what we refer to as "serial abstracts." They are tempted to talk about the websites rather than the topic proper. They will talk all about website #1, start a new paragraph and talk all about web site #2, start a new paragraph and talk all about web site #3, and then write some kind of conclusion. Serial means one after the other...This what you DON'T want to do!

At first it is a real challenge to get out of the habit of writing "serial abstracts," but I assure you once you get the hang of it it is much easier to write using the integration method. And besides this is the way researchers and scientists write their technical reports and findings - many of you will have to be able to do this for other classes and for jobs that you may eventually be hired for so now is a good time to learn this skill. At this point don't worry about a grade, worry about doing your best to have fun with the topic and then integrate it into your own words to share what you found and now know. We will work on citing the sources later....

Let me know if you have any questions.

What I would like you to do is to find a topic from what we have covered so far in class that you are interested in and search the internet for material on that topic. You might, for example, find people who are doing research on the topic, you might find web pages that discuss the topic, you might find youtube clips that demonstrate something related to the topic, etc. What you find and use is pretty much up to you at this point. But use at least 3 sources.

Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the chapter, and why you are interested in it. Next, I would like you to take the information you found related to your topic, integrate/synthesize it, and then write about it. At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

By integrating/synthesizing I mean to take what your read/experienced from the internet search (and from chapter 1 if you like) organize the information into the main themes, issues, info, examples, etc. about your topic and then write about the topic in your own words using that information. This is hard for some people to do - many students write what we refer to as "serial abstracts." They are tempted to talk about the websites rather than the topic proper. They will talk all about website #1, start a new paragraph and talk all about web site #2, start a new paragraph and talk all about web site #3, and then write some kind of conclusion. Serial means one after the other...This what you DON'T want to do!

At first it is a real challenge to get out of the habit of writing "serial abstracts," but I assure you once you get the hang of it it is much easier to write using the integration method. And besides this is the way researchers and scientists write their technical reports and findings - many of you will have to be able to do this for other classes and for jobs that you may eventually be hired for so now is a good time to learn this skill. At this point don't worry about a grade, worry about doing your best to have fun with the topic and then integrate it into your own words to share what you found and now know. We will work on citing the sources later....

Let me know if you have any questions.

Please choose an individual who you think has made a contribution to Behaviorism, Behavior Modification, Conditioning & Learning (or someone you have read about in the chapters) and find at least three quality sources of information on the internet and write about that person. Who you write about, how you write about them, etc. is up to you, however your post should be informative to the first time reader. For example, suppose you when home for spring break and someone in your family asks you about who you have been learning about in your class, they are not going to know the terms and terminology so you need to use the terms but use them in a way that individual can understand.

The of course at the end, please include working URLs for the three websites, and make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

Let me know if you have any question,

--Dr. M

Think of a behavior you would like to reduce and list out the steps (based on section 4.2) you would take to go about changing it.

Please read sections 4.3 and 5.1

After reading section 4.3, please respond to the following questions.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why? What were some ideas you had while reading the chapter?

After reading section 5.1, please respond to the following questions.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why? What were some ideas you had while reading the chapter?

Considering a behavior you might want to change (you can use the one you listed for last Thursday's assignment) how might you go about measuring that behavior?

Building on the assignment from last Thursday. If you listed a behavior that you are trying to reduce how might you use differential reinforcement to avoid having to punish that behavior?

Based on what we covered in class on Tuesday, please revise your behavior (think differential reinforcement rather than punishment) and the steps used to modify that behavior so you can use reinforcement. Make sure you have a reasonable goal, a specific target behavior, and a realistic way to record and graph you data. Make sure that your reinforcers will be effective. Again we will cover this in class on Thursday.

We would like you to begin collecting baseline data beginning on Thursday so you can report it next Thursday.

Please read sections 5.2

After reading section 5.2, please respond to the following questions.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why? What were some ideas you had while reading this chapter?

Last Monday you were asked to state a behavior you might change and how you would go about measure that behavior. Please start collecting baseline data on that behavior (recall that baseline is the data collected before the behavioral intervention).

If for some reason you want to change the behavior to some other behavior you can do so.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Considering a behavior you might want to change (you can use the one you listed for last Thursday's assignment) how might you go about measuring that behavior?

Continue to record behavior and begin intervention.

Please read sections 5.3

After reading section 5.3, please respond to the following questions.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why?

Please graph your baseline behavior that you collected last week and bring your graph to class. It can be done with a program such as Excel or by hand it is up to you.

You should also have a behavioral program in place (the steps you provided previously). Please implement that program (i.e., start reinforcing the behavior) and continue to collect data.

What I would like you to do is to find a topic from what we have covered so far in class that you are interested in and search the internet for material on that topic. You might, for example, find people who are doing research on the topic, you might find web pages that discuss the topic, you might find youtube clips that demonstrate something related to the topic, etc. What you find and use is pretty much up to you at this point. But use at least 3 sources.

Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the chapter, and why you are interested in it. Next, I would like you to take the information you found related to your topic, integrate/synthesize it, and then write about it. At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

Please read sections 5.4

After reading section 5.4, please respond to the following questions.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why?

Please graph your behavioral data that you collected last week. You should have been reinforcing the behavior last (or punishing if that is the case). Continue to reinforce the behavior through this week and bring your graph to class. It can be done with a program such as Excel or by hand it is up to you.

NOTE: the graph should include both the base line data (no reinforcement) and the data collected during reinforcement. Just draw a cut off line on the graph to indicate when the behavioral intervention (reinforcement) began.

Here is a random sample graph I found on the Internet - yours doesn't have to look exactly like this - it is just an example.

Topics in the News?

What I would like you to do is to continue applying what we are learning in class to real world matters. Some might ask, "What good is learning psychology if we can't apply it to real world matters?" So that is what we are going to do with this week's topical blog assignment.

What I would like you to do is to either go to NPR (http://www.npr.org/ ), the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/ ) there are some good news source links at the bottom of the following page (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ listed in their news sources) and read, watch, or listen to something that is interesting to you and relates to what we have been learning in the class.

For your news I would like you to briefly describe/summarize your piece. 1) Tell us what behavior (target behavior) you are using that illustrates the reinforced or punished behavior (be careful as there are often many behaviors in a video and you need to isolate the behavior of interest). 2) Next tell us what the consequence of the behavior is. 3) Then tell us how, that consequence either will increase or decrease the frequency of the behavior. 4) Tell us if the consequence involves the addition of something or if it involves the removal of something. 5) Finally tell us to the antecedent is.

Please then list the ABC's of the behavior

A=
B=
C=

Now state if this is an example of positive reinforcement, positive punishment, negative reinforcement, negative punishment. Tell us if it involves extinction, establishing operations, use as many terms from the chapters we have already covered as you can.

Now find another behavior in the same news piece and repeat the steps (i.e. do it again).

For originality sake, make sure the videos you are not using the same pieces of news the four other students before you just used.

When you are done, copy and paste the URL at the bottom so we can go and see the sources you used.

Since we are trying to get you to use terms we are learning, please either underline the terms used (prob with a word processor cut & paste) or make a list of terms at the bottom of your post.

Let me know if you have any questions.

--Dr. M

Token Economies.
Please review the following website and read about the steps involved in setting up a token economy using the LRBI Checklist:
http://www.iseesam.com/teachall/text/behavior/LRBIpdfs/Token.pdf

Next read the following link about the Poyer Purple Paw tokens and respond to the questions listed at that link. http://www.psychologicalscience.com/bmod/2011/10/poyner-purple-paw-tokens.html

You can post your response either here or on the link above.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

--Dr. M

Token economy.

Please find an example of a token economy on the internet. Briefly discuss/summarize the token economy you read about and discuss in depth the site based on the readings from this week and from what he have learned so far in class.

List the url.

Please be sure to use as many behavioral terms as you can.

Let me know if you have any questions,

--Dr. M