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.
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.
Running a Marathon!
My behavior modification is increasing the behavior of running enough to run a marathon in April.
My behavior doesn't need to use differential of reinforcement because I'm increasing a behavior not decreasing a behavior. I will use a few types of reinforcements though. At various distance milestone runs, we will celebrate by eating delicious (healthy) foods. We will have a weekly volume goal and if you reach the goal distance you will get a token. Once you reach a specific number of tokens you will get an award. If you have the highest number of miles ran during the week then you will get to lead the group run (leader of the week).
My goal is realistic because I have run a 20k race before. I'm a Crossfit Endurance Certified trainer and understand how to train for a marathon. I learned the proper way to run. I also know the right foods that you should eat before, during, and after the race. I have over 18 weeks which is plenty of time to train for a marathon.
My specific target behavior is running a specified number of miles per week. The first week I will run 5 miles and will increase until the second-to-last week when I will run 50 miles. This means jogging up to sprinting speeds. Any speed when both feet spend time together in the air.
I will record how many miles I run for each individual day. I will also record total mileage per week and compare to my mileage to the goal mileage. I will graph both of that data. I will record the antecedent of the behavior. I will record the consequences of the behavior (fun workout/side-ache/sick/etc...) in order to constantly make the reinforcers more motivating and the punishers less painful.
Terms: reinforcers, punishers, antecedents, behaviors, consequences, target behavior, differential of reinforcement, tokens.
Last week I made my goal to be to watch less TV.
After talking about it in class I see that there are ways I could use differential reinforcement. This is when some other behavior is reinforced but still seeks to reduce the target behavior instead of punishing the target behavior. I could use this by reinforcing the activities I do instead of watching TV. If instead of watching TV I went and worked out I could reinforce myself with a desert at dinner. If I chose to volunteer instead that in itself is reinforcing rather than punishing. I feel better about myself after volunteering rather than watching TV when I just feel lazy. If I decided to study instead of watch TV then the reinforcement could be a boost in my test scores.
My goal could be added to more specifically by stating as a target behavior that I keep my TV watching to under 30 min during week days and under 2 hours on weekends. TV as background noise does not count unless I am distracted by it and watching it instead of studying, then it would count. TV or videos for class does not count against me since it is for class and required.
This is reasonable because it will give me more time for other things. It is not taking up my time and I don't have to reduce something else to fit it in. I will be able to do more as I accomplish my goal. It is realistic because it is not beyond my control. I have the ability to turn off the TV and turn to something else. I have the resources to fill my time with other things that will serve as reinforcing.
To measure my goal I will be able to construct a calendar with dates on it. On each date will have time slots and if I watch TV during that time I will fill in that time and at the end of each day I will tally up the total amount of TV watched for the day. Then after a few days I will take the totals and put them into a line graph that will display the linear pattern of my TV watching. There will also be a place to take notes on the reasons for watching TV and the circumstances for watching it like if I'm bored or with friends who are watching TV.
To make sure I find a successful reinforcement it may take a little trial and error to find a behavior that is in itself reinforcing. If I get bored studying instead of watching TV and go back to the TV it will not have been successful. Next time I know that I will need to do something else like go visit friends, workout, or volunteer. I am not sure which one will be the most reinforcing but I can try out different things to find what works for me.
Terms: differential reinforcement, target behavior, goal, behaviors, line graph, reinforcement
Last Week Goal: to procrastinate less
The behavior modification I wanted to make within myself was to stop procrastinating. Specifically, my goal is to study an hour a day for each test starting one week before that test. With this specific goal it is easy to incorporate differential reinforcement. By reinforcing this specific goal, I can avoid punishment of the behavioral class of procrastinating. I will simply reward myself for every day I emit the target behavior of studying one hour for each test. I am choosing to reinforce myself with a cookie every day I study the full hour per test.
For recording, I will keep track of how many hours I study every day for each test. The first day I will start my recording will be one week away from my next test. When I go to graph these results I will do so by having the days of the week on the x-axis as the independent variable, and I will use percentages as my dependent variable on the y-axis. The percentage works out by taking the total number of minutes divided by the number of minutes I was supposed to study. For example say I had two tests. I would then have to study for 120 minutes, but let’s say I only studied for 90 minutes (one hour for the first test, and 30 minutes for the second test). I would then divide 90 by 120 and multiply it by 100 to get the percent. My graphing result for that day would then be 75%.
Terms: behavior modification, goal, differential reinforcement, reinforcement, punishment, behavioral class, reward, emit, target behavior, recording, graph, x-axis, independent variable, y-axis, dependent variable
Last Weeks Goal: Study more in each subject
The behavior I want to modify for myself is to study more often. Specifically, my goal is to study an hour for each subject, five days a week. With my target behavior I can easily incorporate differential reinforcement. I can reinforce my target behavior by rewarding myself at the end of the week, if I have successfully completed an hour in each subject five days out of that week. My reward of choice happens to be a delicious f'real strawberry banana smoothie (yummmm:)).
To measure my goal I could create a calender with Monday though Friday listed and list all of my subjects in each day. I could then record the hours I spend in each subject each day. The predictable results would come out to four hours a day of studying, one hour per subject.
Terminology: Behavior, Modify, Target Behavior, Differential Reinforcement, Reward, Recording, Reinforce
Last Weeks Goal: Budget $100 a week
Last week my goal was to change my behavior of spending money on unnecessary items. I want to keep to a budget of $100 a week. Specifically, only spending strictly cash on items that are not bills, gas, or groceries. To avoid having to punish my behavior I will will use differential reinforcement. For example, instead of going to the mall, I will workout or study, rewarding myself at the end of the week if I have extra money. Also, I will make more food at home and bring it to school and work instead of eating out, again rewarding myself with the extra money I saved. Eventually, I will carry the saved money for the week to my savings account for bigger needs or wants. I believe that this a realistic goal because I know what the consequence will be for either reaching my goal or not.
In the steps I recorded last week I did not focus on any punishments. However, I will include the new differential reinforcements I have listed above. I will begin to record my spending by keeping my receipts for the day and then at the end of the day recording the total on the a graph.
Last week my goal was to not procrastinate doing my homework til last minute. More specifically my target behavior was to start my homework right after class and working on projects multiple days in advance. My plan was to use a continuous reinforcement schedule. I could also use a differential reinforcement. I could reward myself after a week of not procrastinating by going to the self serve yogurt bar which I love! To measure if I am staying on track and noting if I am working towards my goal I will put little notes on my homework so when I get home I will start my homework right away. Also I will keep a notebook to mark down when i start my homework and when I finish it and how much of my homework I get done before midnight.
target behavior, continuous reinforcement, differential reinforcement, reward,
Reduce my pop drinking.
The behavior I want to modify is for myself is to reduce drinking pop.
My behavior doesn't need to use differential of reinforcement because I'm increasing a behavior not decreasing a behavior. I will use a few types of reinforcements though. I want to drink pop only on special occasions such as family/friend get together's and holidays. I think pop should be a treat, not an every day choice. In order to be successful I will reinforce by me knowing that when I don't drink pop I know my body is healthy. That may sound a little silly, I know, however, it is extremely important to me and I know the damage pop does to your body. Another reinforcement is when I do get pop on special occasions it will be worth the wait!
My goal is realistic because I know I have self-control. I have been successful with goals before and I know this can be done. My specific target behavior is to not drink pop every day, just a few times a year on special occasions. When I say pop I mean any kind of soda pop, diet, non-diet, and everything else in that category. I will record how many pops a day I drink. I don't want to be carrying around a journal so in my calendar in my phone I am going to put a smiley face for the days I didn't drink pop and a sad face if I did drink pop. If I drank more than one pop I would but two sad faces. It's better to record this right then and there so I don't forget.
Terms: reinforcers, behavior, target behavior.
Last week I set my goal to go to bed earlier.
I want to modify emitting the behavior of going to bed earlier.
I will need to use differential of reinforcement because I will be reinforced of going to bed earlier with not being tired the next day and be able to do a lot of other things during the next day. Because I won’t be so tired I will be able to concentrate more in class, concentrate more on homework, and be healthier because I will be getting an adequate amount of sleep.
However, there is a problem. I work at a bar and tend to get off work around 2/2:30 on the nights that I work. Because of this, I won’t be able to get to bed at the desired time. Because of this, I won’t be able to be reinforced the next day with the adequate amount of sleep. Working will hinder reaching my targeted behavior of going to bed earlier. Working this late will be punishing me the next day because I will be tired and won’t be able to get a good night’s sleep.
This goal is reasonable, because I tend to spend at least an hour before bed watching Netflix or just spending wasted time on Facebook or Pinterest. However, like I stated earlier, the night I do work during the week will make it difficult to obtain the desired behavior.
I can measure and graph this data, for I will be marking what time I go to bed every night and will be able to see a progress of the emitted behavior and will hopefully see an extinction of wasted time before bed and getting to bed late.
Terms Used: emitted, differential of reinforcement, reinforced, targeted behavior, punishing, extinction
Last Week’s Goal: Eat Less Chocolate
I still want to modify my chocolate eating behavior. I don’t want to stop eating chocolate all together, just slow down the process. I have set my target behavior and have pinpointed my antecedents. After thinking about these things for a while I realized that it wouldn’t be hard to incorporate differential reinforcement instead of punishment into my goal. Right now I eat some sort of chocolate 2 to 3 times a day. I thought about waiting until the end of the week to be rewarded, but to start out I think I am going to wait until the end of the day. I feel that going from 2 to 3 candy bars, a day or some other kind of chocolate, to 1 a week would be punishment. One at the end of the day will give me something to look forward to and satisfy that much more when I get it. It will act as a reward for accomplishing what I needed to.
I will graph this by recording in a journal every time I have something chocolaty. At the end of each week I will log my data into a graph, with amount eaten on the Y axis, and the days of the week on the X. I will then look at the visual and see if my plan for the goal is working or if it needs some modification and I will make the changes from there.
Terms: goal, modify, antecedents, differential reinforcement, punishment, target behavior, graph, reward
The goal I'm trying to reach is to work out more.
The behavior I'm modifying in order to reach my desired goal is increasing the amount of time spent at the gym.
I will use differential of reinforcement by rewarding myself once every week. Originally I thought it would be once every two weeks, but I think that is a little harsh starting off. I don't drink pop or eat junk food, so finding a reinforcement was a bit of a challenge. Last week, I said I would use sushi as my reinforcement, but sushi is a healthy food and I feel like I could eat that more if I wanted to, without seeing my workout results suffer from it. So instead, I am thinking of going out to eat and/or having a drink with my meal. Whether it be high calorie juice or alcoholic. My friends often like to go to Carlos on Thursday nights, so I'm thinking if I do my workout appropriately, I could reinforce myself by having a marg or their flavored lemonade. If I don't, than I should punish myself and stick to water and eat salad, instead of their yummy mexican food. I will also measure this data daily by keeping track of the total amount of time spent on cardio and strength training (emitted beahvior)by keeping a diary/journal.
Terms used: emit,differential of reinforcement, punish,rewarding,reinforcement,modifying.
Stop biting my lip
My target behavior is to stop biting my lip. To modify my behavior I can use differential reinforcement. If I can go an entire day without biting my lip until it hurts or bleeds I will get some sort of reinforcement, i.e. a new shirt, a cupcake from scratch's or whatever I want that day. If I can go an entire week I will be reinforced with something better like getting my nails or toes done. My goal is realistic, it is just an aversive habit that needs to be stopped. To measure this target behavior I will start by forming a baseline. The first week I will write down every time I bite my lip until it hurts or bleeds and also write down the antecedents for this aversive behavior. After that I will try to not bite my lip so much and continue to write down every time I bite my lip. I can write it down in a notebook during classes and while I am at home, during work I can write it down on the same paper I take my orders on. After this has been done I can graph it each day to determine whether or not my reinforcers are actually working. If they are not then I can always modify them, but I doubt that will be the case because I LOVE cupcakes and I LOVE getting my nails done!!!! I am positive my aversive behavior will become extinct. Also, because I can choose what I get for a reinforcement every day the reinforcer will change and I won't become satiated.
Terms: Target Behavior, Behavior, Reinforcement, Reinforcer, Aversive, Baseline, Antecedents, Extinct, Satiated, Differential Reinforcement, Modify
My goal is to exercise more.
To be more specific, my target behavior is to do an ab workout for twenty minutes, five days of the week.
I have a hard time motivating myself to do any kind of exercise so I may not get twenty minutes every time, but I will eventually be able to do the full twenty minutes. This goal is realistic because I know from past experience that I have the ability to do this type of exercise and it is not disruptive to my life. I plan to reinforce myself every time I emit the exercising behavior because it is so difficult for me to motivate myself. This means I will be reinforced even if I only exercise for ten minutes instead of twenty. Doing it this way will make it more motivating for me to exercise each day. I plan to use a snack and/or dinner for my reinforcement because it is a necessity. Plus, I will do my ab workout before my usual meal time. This way I won't get satiated. To measure this behavior, I will form a baseline by writing down each day and for how long I do my ab workout. I can do this by writing it in my planner soon after the behavior is emitted. After that, I will graph it to see if I'm making progress or if I need to adjust something within my behavioral intervention.
Terms: Behavior, Target Behavior, Emit, Goal, Reinforce, Realistic, Disruptive, Satiated, Baseline, and Behavioral Intervention
My target behavior is working out at least 3 days a week for the length of the school year. If I am looking to increase this behavior one might not think differential reinforcing could be used, but through creative use; it can. Instead of reinforcing at the end of the week if my target behavior is achieved, I might reinforce myself at the end of every workout. There are multiple things I could use to reinforce this behavior; an extra half hour of T.V., a candy bar, or coffee. Reinforcing for scheduling, and planning working out into my day would also be acceptable. Reinforcing will only be used if the target behavior is meet. While differential reinforcement isn't the ideal method of reinforcement for increasing my target behavior, but it could help when paired with regular reinforcement.
The goal of using differential reinforcement is to turn your target behavior from an emitted response, into an elicited response, to make the behavior a part of your every day life. Turning the emitted behavior into elicited behavior will make it a part of your daily routine and schedule; through reinforcement, and differential reinforcement, this can be achieved. However, you will need to use reinforcement schedules, this should include every time you reinforce yourself, including discriminative reinforcing.
Terms: Target Behavior, Differential Reinforcing , Reinforcing, Emit, Elicit, Increase,
Thursday 11/1/12 Week 11
I have utilized some differential reinforcement as the contingencies I have laid out for myself for this project are rewards I feel from within. I continue to give myself encouragement and do not punish myself in my mind for using my target word.
I started last week Saturday for my experiment. I studying reducing usage of one target word during work shifts. 5a-8a Tuesday – Saturday
So here my baseline (pending Friday data)
Saturday – 3
Tuesday – 5
Wednesday – 0
Thursday(today) – 0
This is pretty fun and I feel can have lasting effect on my future behavior. Thanks! –ebs- 11/1/12 @ 1605hrs. CentricTime
Term% differential reinforcement, contingencies, rewards, punish, behavior, experiment, target
For my behavior modification, I will be decreasing the fluid ounces of coffee I intake each day until I only consume 16oz a day. Since I am reducing a behavior, I have the opportunity to incorporate differential reinforcement of other behaviors into my intervention plan. There are several different options to go about reinforcing different behaviors, such as: receiving reinforcement when I drink beverages other than coffee, like water; reinforcing myself when I wake up in the morning and go on a walk instead of drinking coffee; or even when I meet up with friends after class and abstain from purchasing any beverage at all. I could even mix up my reinforcers like by rewarding myself with a new song from iTunes with the money I saved.
In this behavior plan, punishing myself would most likely cause me to give up completely on my goal, because decreasing my coffee intake is already punishment enough (withdrawal headache, etc.). Also, it is too hard to find motivation to punish myself. In my original plan from last week, I said that if I decrease the set amount of coffee each day, I would reward myself with a Sprite. I think this is fair, and will be effective, because Sprite is my favorite beverage, so if I use it as my reward, I think it could decrease the probability that I will emit the unwanted behavior of drinking coffee.
I don’t plan on cutting out coffee from my diet completely; that would be unreasonable. Instead, and more plausibly, I only want to decrease my intake from the large volume I consume now. My specific target behavior is to decrease my coffee intake to 16oz a day. To record this, I will keep track of how much coffee I drink each day. This should be simple, because beverages are typically purchased by the ounce, so I will keep track of the ounces I consume. To graph the data I gather, I will use Microsoft Excel and graph the ounces consumed each day, with increments of 4oz on the y-axis and the days of the week across the x-axis.
Terms: differential reinforcement, target behavior, motivation, reinforcer, emit, decrease, punishment
The behavior I want to have is to count my calories and try to stay under 1800 calories a day. I didn’t create a baseline because just knowing what I am eating is going to affect what foods I eat. So far this week I have kept track of my calories, and here are my results for this week so far
M-1842
T-1493
W-1680
Th-1752
I have been doing a pretty good job and as long as my average of the week is less than 1800 calories then I can have the weekend to eat and drink what I want. That is my system I will reinforce myself when I have been good during the week. If I happen to fail during the week then on the weekend I am not allowed to eat and drink what I want. I do not need to use differential reinforcement in changing my behavior. I am not so much using punishment as I am reinforcement because I want something to look forward to so that I will continue my behavior. I am not trying to really lose weight but I just want to be more aware of what I am consuming.
I am proud of my week one even though I went over a little bit on Monday. I made up for how I did on Monday by being way under on Tuesday. I am hoping that by the time this is all over I will just emit this behavior without having to really think about it.
My plan overall I think is a pretty good plan because it is something that I know I can do. It is just about making myself do it and sticking with it. In the end of this I could actually lose a couple pounds and that would be a plus side even though that isn’t my specific target behavioral goal.
Terms: behavior, punishment, reinforcement, baseline, differential reinforcement, emit, target behavior.
My goal is to lose weight by eating a set number of calories every day. I believe my goal of eating 1400 calories a day with light exercise is fairly reasonable. It fits my both school/work schedules. My time frame will reach until this coming summer because I need to look better in a swimsuit, superficial right? I believe that time frame is more than enough, especially since I don’t have a specific goal weight. I am going to record my behavior through my phone’s calorie counting app. I plan on weighing myself every Friday morning as well and inputting it into my phone’s app. My reinforcement will be looking good in a swimsuit and feeling better about the way I look.
Differential reinforcement is a different type of reinforcement that uses positive reinforcement to differentiate or separate appropriate student behavior from inappropriate behavior by increasing one while decreasing the other. My goal is to stop talking on the phone too much. I have noticed that I do not get assignments done when a phone is on, when I’m talking to a friend, so I just want to stop doing that.
My target behavior is to stop talking on the phone for more than one, two or two hours but for about 45 minutes. The way I might use differential reinforcement to avoid having to punish my talking on the phone for more than one, two or three hours behavior will be to first choose an alternative behavior. I think that behavior will be to just do my homework in the library. Studying in the library will help me get my assignment done and on time as well. I will also create a baseline to help me refer to that to see how I am doing.
I will reinforce myself after doing my homework for about two hours or so by going and getting myself a vanilla ice cream and be able to at least talk for ten minutes to whomever I want to talk to. This will be my time interval.
A realistic way to record this will be to look on my phone to see how long I’ve talked on the phone. After looking at that, I think I will be able to graph this accordingly. As stated in previous sections, graphing this, my line graph will be that my y-axis will be the amount of time I spend on the phone and my x-axis will be the days that I talk on the phone. I will add them by half an hour as an act of measurement.
Differential reinforcement
Reinforcement
Target behavior
Realistic
Alternative behavior
Baseline
Interval
Measurement
X-Axis
Y-Axis
Graphing
Behavioral Goal: exercise more
Last week I decided I wanted to set a goal of exercising more. My target behavior is to emit to work out at the gym (cardio) for 45 minutes every day. Because I’m trying to emit to increase my behavior I don’t need to use differential of reinforcement. However I still have a few continuous reinforcements to help me change my behavior. The main reinforcer will be having a “lazy day” on Sundays and not having to exercise. This reinforcer will help motivate me to reach my goal. If I need to adjust my reinforcement from becoming satiated I came up with several other options. Another options could be going out to eat once a weekend (something semi healthy) or renting a movie and eating a bag of popcorn.
My goal is realistic because there is only one thing for me to focus on. Right now my goal is to work out every day for 45 minutes. This allows my goal to be manageable. Since I have to worry about classes, working out for this amount of time is controllable and fits within my daily schedule.
My specific target goal is to emit to work out at the gym (cardio) for 45 minutes every day. I will record how long I work out after every work out (behavioral diary). It is important to record my results right after I work out so I don’t forget.
I will record how many minutes I work out each day. I will also record how successful each workout was. On my graph the y-axis will measure the amount of minutes spent exercising. The x-axis will show the days of the week. The title of my graph will be labeled exercising progress.
Terms: emit, target behavior, behavior, differential of reinforcement, reinforcer, y-axis, x-axis, reinforcements, satiation, continuous reinforcement, behavioral diary, and behavioral goal
The behavior I am changing is studying more for tests and not waiting until the last minute to study for tests. I am not punishing my behavior since I’m increasing the behavior not decreasing a behavior so I probably won’t have to do differential reinforcement in this manner. I think though from the data I’ve been collecting on myself thus far, that I will need to have more reinforcements in order for me to continue to study for at least an hour a day and to not get discouraged.
Before if I reached my target goal of getting an A on the test I wanted to just reward myself with a new pair of shoes or something, but I found that I’m going to need more reinforcement along the way to start out with, because I find that I would rather do many other things instead of studying. I think my goal is still reasonable of doing well on tests and as long as I have adequate time to study for the test, it should be very reasonable to reach.
My specific target behavior like I said is to study more, at least an hour a day, and by doing so I will do better on my tests and be more prepared. How I am going to record my data is in my notebook, I write down each day and how long I studied. I record on the graph in terms of minutes so I can see better the variation from day to day.
Since I need more reinforcements, I will reward myself each week if I reach my goal to go out to eat or do something fun and relax because I am adequately prepared. I am not able to spend lots of money on going out to eat, so this will be something that I am looking forward to and I shouldn’t become satiated because there is a lot of different places that I like to eat at, so I can do a different one each week if I want.
I think once I get going, I will find that I won’t be as stressed out with my classes, and I should be more prepared for my tests and realize that procrastinating isn’t the best option all the time. This should help me so that when finals come around I don’t become super stressed with lots of tests all at once, and hopefully I will do well.
My goal was to study a half hour for each class I had that day. My goal will not require differential reinforcement because I will be increasing the behavior of studying and not reducing anything. I will rely heavily on reinforcements, to encourage my good study habits. My reinforcement will be, once I complete my studying for the day I can watch Netflix or hangout with friends. Until I get it done I cannot use my playstation or hangout with friends. This is a reasonable goal because studying for 60 minutes per day is not anything out of the ordinary and should be a normal routine for a college student anyways. I will keep record of my goal by writing down if I studied the full time, and how well I learned the materials. I will have to record the information right after I study each day so I can recall how well it went. I will rate my comprehension of the materials from 1 being not good to 5 being excellent. When completed collecting data I will record the information on a graph.
Terms: differential of reinforcement, reinforcement
My behavior I’m trying to reduce is time spent on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. To modify my behavior I will use differential of reinforcement if I reduce my time down to 45 mins in a day from 1 hour and 15 mins then I will give myself a treat varying what that treat would be. I was going to start reinforcing myself once a week if I stay under 45 mins a day on these social networks but I thought that would be a little difficult for me to start so I decided to reinforce myself every other day for the first week and I will extend the days as the weeks go on till I’m down to reinforcing myself once a week or maybe even less. I will record the time I spend on these websites by looking at the clock when I first go on the site. Hopefully this will help me be more accurate on the time spent on these sites. I have been recording the times in my phone on the notebook. After the weeks are all recorded I will make a graph with the time spent on the social networks.
Terms: behavior, reinforcement, differential of reinforcement
The behavior I am trying to increase is working out more. Lifting weights and working out has its own natural reinforcer by the results you receive from putting you put in the effort and also being able to lift more and more weight over time is also a reinforcer. My goal is to get in better shape which is obviously a very realistic goal. My target behavior is increasing the amount of time spent working out. To record the behavior is just keeping track of how much time I spend each day working out. The x-axis on the graph will be the days of the week and the y-axis will be time spent in minutes working out.
I already listed the differential reinforcement I can use last week. I can use a variety of food to replace fried chicken, such as candy bar, ice cream, cookie, donut, or other snacks.
Step One: The behavior I want to reduce is eating fried chicken.
The goal is reasonable.
Step Two: The target behavior to be reduced includes ordering fried chicken in a restaurant and buying fried chicken from a grocery store. The behavior can be measured as frequency of buying fried chicken or the number of pieces eaten in a period of time.
The target behavior is very specific.
Step Three: I can write down the dates I bought fried chicken and how many pieces I ate on those days.
Step Four: I can graph the record with the X-axis as a sequence of weeks and the Y-axis as the frequency of buying in that particular week, or the number of pieces eaten in that week.
The method to record and plot the data is realistic.
Step Five: I can use the DRO technique to reduce the target behavior. One reinforcer can be a cup of ice cream whenever I want to eat fried chicken, or maybe a couple of candy bars in the occasion.
A variety of food can be used as reinforcer. These other choices should be effective replacements of fried chicken.
Step Six: I can stock snacks at home so I can choose food other than fried chicken. I can also make a list of restaurants that do not sell fried chicken, and go to those places instead.
Step Seven: I would need to observe the effect of my plan and perhaps buy a variety of food from grocery stores to replace fried chicken. I should also learn to cook different dishes so I can eat something different.
For the assignment last Thursday, I stated that I wanted to reduce the amount of time I spend on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
I am fairly positive that I will be able to reduce this behavior, but I suppose that I could use differential reinforcement instead to avoid having to punish the behavior. For instance, I could reinforce the behaviors I emit that do not include being on Facebook and Twitter. For example, I could reinforce spending time on homework, spending time working out, and spending time working. By spending more eliciting behaviors like these, they would inadvertently lead to me spending less time on social networks. The reinforcer I would use for these behaviors would be getting an ice cream from Dairy Queen at the end of every week if I had spent a certain amount of time (let’s say four hours per day) emitting those specific behaviors. Differential reinforcement could really make a difference in helping me accomplish my goal of spending less time on social networking sites by getting me involved in other activities.
Therefore, if I wanted to revise my behavior, I would do it by changing it from reducing time spent on social networking sites to increasing time spent doing other activities like homework, working out, and working. This might make it more difficult than my original goal, though, because it would be hard to set a specific target behavior. Also, it would probably not be very realistic because I do not have time in my schedule to have a set amount of hours reserved for homework, working out, and working. This would also make it difficult to record and graph the data.
Because of the reasoning listed above, I am planning on sticking to my initial goal, which was to reduce the amount of time spent on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. My baseline is approximately four hours per day, and I have decided that I want to cut that time in half. If I spend two hours or less per day on social networking sites, then I will reinforce myself with an ice cream from Dairy Queen at the end of the week. If I go over two hours even on one day out of the week, I will not get the ice cream. This allows me to go through with my punishment procedure by decreasing my behavior, yet I am still providing myself with reinforcement, which will motivate me to persevere and accomplish my goal. This goal is definitely reasonable and realistic, and I have already defined my specific target behavior. The data will be easy to record and graph because it just involves monitoring my time spent on social networking sites and then I would put the hours per day on a line graph.
I can’t wait to see whether or not I am able to follow through with my goal!
Terms: behavior, differential reinforcement, punish, reinforce, emit, elicit, reinforcer, goal, target behavior, record, graph, data, baseline, punishment procedure, reinforcement
My Goal was to Quit smoking:
If I go three days without buying a pack of cigarettes I will take the money I saved not buying those cigarettes and buy something nice for myself like a cd or something. In order to elicit a non-smoking target behavior, my hopes are that this will be enough to suffice. I was trying to think of ways of punishment but that really wouldn't work in this situation. This is the best way I can think of to reinforce myself to not emit a smoking behavior. So every time I go so long without spending money on my behavior of smoking, I will use that money to differentially reinforce myself.
Target Behavior. Elicit. Differential reinforcement. Punishment. Emit.
My goal is to reduce the amount of time I spend browsing the internet.
I already know that I am capable of accomplishing this goal. However, differential reinforcement could elicit a stronger sense of motivation to reward my positive behaviors rather than having to punish my aversive behaviors. One way that I could accomplish a differential reinforcement of Jimmy John's once per week if my target goal of three hours on the internet or less is met, is to be sure that my antecedents are set up by me to ensure that I won't get distracted while working on homework.
My goal is very reasonable and it is a very specific target behavior. 'Browsing on the internet' refers to any amount of time spent on the internet that doesn't relate to homework or classes. I am recording the number of minutes I do or don't spend browsing the internet each day in a journal. My graph would be simple because the x-axis would be "day of the week" and my y-axis would be "number of minutes spent browsing the internet." I will definitely attempt to make sure my target behavior is established.
Terms Used: differential reinforcement, elicit, punish, aversive, antecedent, target behavior, x-axis, y-axis
Last Weeks Behavior: Improve my study habits.
Last week I had said that I want to improve my study habits, and I realize that it was rather vague. After consideration I decided that I wanted to start doing my homework earlier, instead of waiting till the last minute at like 2 am and doing it while I'm working on fumes. I will differentially reinforce myself by enjoying things I find enjoyable when I would use to normally be studying (so music, reading or watching a movie etc). Another benefit would be that I can also get more sleep, which is never a bad thing. This goal is also more reasonable as its not as vague.
1) My target behavior is reading more.
2) I want to read more in my volume 1 of The Complete Sherlock Holmes. And I want to read a minimum of 8 pages or until I finish a story. There is so much in every story that it wouldn’t work out to read just a few pages but I also wouldn’t want to reach the 8 page minimum and only be a page into a new story.
3) I decided to keep record by keeping a notecard as a bookmark. This way I can’t forget to record the pages I have read. I don’t like to stop in the middle of the page so I tend to read until I stop at a point where when I go to read again I will start at the top of a new page.
4) My baseline is easy, zero. It has been months since I have picked my book up due to work and homework. A line graph would work best for graphing the number of pages I have read. Before I was going to go by the number of pages per week, instead I will be going by the number of pages read per day.
5) I guess I could use food as differential reinforcement. On days I have to work I typically eat dinner at 4:30pm and get off work around 9:30pm. By the time I get home I am hungry and tired. I could read while I eat instead of watching TV. I usually get a bag of popcorn and a glass of milk, so I could be reading for about 10 minutes. This would be a great time to read because it would be before bed and I wouldn’t have to watch the clock. I love popcorn as a reinforcer, so if I am unable to read one night I will have to find something else to have to eat after work.
6) For my antecedents, I think I will keep my book in my nightstand. This way it is still close to my bed and it can’t get lost. My reading would be done at night because that is the most consistent time I would have available to read.
7) I can’t think of any good punishments for not reading or a big reward for finishing the book. I can change what I eat at night but I can’t not eat or else I won’t get to sleep. I think these will be the two things that change as time passes.
Terms: target behavior, record, baseline, differential reinforcement, antecedents, punishments, and reinforcer.
My goal of studying at least 2 hours every day is reasonable. I feel that I described the process well enough last week and that everything is achievable. I feel that my method of recording my time spent studying and inputting it into Excel should work and that the accompanying journal of my review of the study time should help explain anything that the raw data can't. In terms of using differential reinforcement instead of punishment, I am thinking of changing the place I am studying to somewhere like my dorm room or the commons and combining the study time with a meal or snack time. As long as the place I'm studying in is an environment suited to studying and a place where I could combine studying with a meal I feel that it should still work and hopefully eliminate any need to use punishment.
I am not trying to reduce a behavior, I am trying to increase the the amount of exercise I get. My goal is to exercise for at least thirty minutes every day. By exercise, I mean any sort of deliberate physical activity that is not part of my everyday routine. Everyday does not have to include the same exercise routine, the length of time is what I am focusing on, just to make sure I am doing some sort of exercise. For reinforcement I will treat myself to a new book every week if I stick by the thirty minutes per day schedule. (I love to read so new books that I personally may enjoy is a good time). to keep track of this, I will mark off on a chart everyday that I complete this behavior. I will end up with a great library if I stick to this exercise routine and benefit from the actually exercising physcially. So it's win-win ! I believe thirty minutes per day is realistic and I can fit it into my life without much trouble. An hr would have been too long, so 30 min seemed for realistiic for my schedule.
Last week I used the example of reducing the behavior of watching T.V. Last week I thought we weren’t supposed to use punishment to reduce the behavior so I used differential reinforcement, so I will outline what I could have used as punishment. To reduce the behavior of watching T.V. I could punish the behavior if I watched more than two hours by taking away something that was a reinforcer such as getting on the Facebook or Pinterest website that day which would be negative punishment. Or I could add negative punishment such as if I watch more than two hours of T.V. I would have to clean the litter box three days following (my husband and I usually trade off every other day and believe me its punishment to clean a litter box of three cats.) So back to the differential reinforcement…If I use the same examples that I used for punishment I can also change them into reinforcers by changing them. I would then use getting on the Facebook website or Pinterest as a reinforcer and say if I watch less than two hours of T.V. I can be on the websites for a total of one hour a day (which I don’t allow myself to do right now.) Then to change the litter box cleaning into a reinforcer (with my husband’s permission and the agreement it would be for a short time) I would take away that punisher for a day if I watched less than two hours, so it would be negative reinforcement. (In reality I don’t think he would go for that one I also had other differential reinforcement on last Thursday’s post.
The goal I am creating is to reduce the number of hours I watch T.V. in a day to two hours. Specifically the target behavior is being sedative while watching the T.V. The way I will record my data is to have a printed out calendar in the kitchen next close to the T.V. in which I record every time I watch the T.V. Then I will graph the data that I collect over the week. The reinforcers I will be utilizing the most is to: increase the pleasant stimulus of getting on Pinterest to that of an hour if my T.V. watching for the day does not exceed two hours and also as a longer term reinforcer if my T.V. watching remains under two hours for the period of 7 days on the weekend I can rent two movies and have a movie evening with my husband.
Week 11 Topical Blog
In last week’s topical blog, I discussed an important goal of communication. Within communication skills and options, one may ponder various notions of how to communicate more effectively. I focused on the art of letter writing and how such acts may open lines of communication. To focus on reinforcements rather than punishments, multiple aspects may be considered. I feel that communicating about communication is important. I feel that it may be appropriate, in some situations, to let others know that this goal is important and why one may be focusing on it. Having this support may be reinforcing. I also feel that there may be reinforcers that are somewhat uncontrollable to an individual emitting a behavior in a goal of communication. Receiving a letter back from a friend or family member may be reinforcing, as it suggests that lines of communication are opening up. Even a phone call expressing gratitude for a letter written may reinforcing. Although one cannot control the response once the letter is in the mailbox, I feel that the chances of receiving a letter from a loved one (liked one, disliked one) are better once an individual makes a first attempt to support communication (and the postal service). With a goal, one may feel that communication is more genuine when a pen, paper, stamp and mailbox are involved, rather than an e-mail.
SMW
Terms: goals, communication, punishment, reinforcers, emit, behavior
Last weeks habit change - I am decreasing my eating in order to fit into a size 12 wedding dress.
For my behavior, I am cutting out unneeded calories and eating less. I would like to stay under 1700 calories a day. I will reinforce myself at the end of the week with a free day, to not stay under the 1700 calorie limit, if wanted. By the time I am finished with this project, I hope that I can stay within 2000 calories on my days off, emitting the behavior of eating less. Differential Reinforcement. I will use this for when I am eating. Instead of eating a snickers bar for a snack, I will grab a healthier alternitive like an apple or grapes.
Terms - behavior, reinforce, Differential Reinforcement, emit,
My goal of reducing time spent playing chess online instead of doing work is my target behavior which I would like to decrease the frequency. One of the ways I was thinking about it to reinforce was to offer a reward or reinforcement. One of the reinforcement I could use to increase my behavior is giving myself something I really like at the end of the week if my time spent playing chess is reduced. I am thinking if I can reduce the time spent which is seen as a punishment I could go out and socialize. This is a realistic goal if I can do the work that needs to be done without being swayed by playing chess online. Another way was to limit my antecedent for chess. In order for me to play chess I need a mouse and high speed internet, if I could find somewhere this is not offered, or just one of the two I can successfully reduce time spent playing chess.
Terms - behavior, target behavior, punishment, reinforcement, antecedent, frequency
Last week I set my goal as time management, meaning I will try to get everything done on my to-do lists for the day by 11:00 p.m. Differential reinforcement is necessary because I will end up getting more sleep because I will be able to go to bed earlier and I will be less stress because all of the things I need to do will be done on time and not late. So, ultimately this has the power to modify my style of living.
Last week I set my goal to go to bed earlier. This is a reasonable goal because if I focus and work hard I should be able to get my duties for each day done before 11:00p.m. The target behavior is to get the percentage of behaviors I have accomplished to 100 percent every day or at least to 75 percent. The percentage I get for each day will be graphed on a table with the y-axis labeled Time and the x-axis labeled Percentages. I will be able to see how often I met my goal and based on that I will have motivation to improve or reinforcement to keep doing well. A good way to reinforcement myself will be to treat myself to a meal out each week if I keep my percentages above 75 percent. I will let myself choose a restaurant or my choice, so whatever sounds the best. This will make me want to elicit the wanted behavior I have set because I get sick of eating the same type of food all the time at the dining center.
Terms: differential reinforcement, goal, behaviors, reinforcement, modify, elicit
My targeted behavior was to go to the gym and work out more. Specifically the goal is to be in the gym at least three times a week. That gives me some wiggle time so if I don't make it to the gym one of the days I would like then I am able to go to the gym on another day. I can use continuous reinforcement because every time I go to the gym and work out afterwards I can reinforce myself and go tan in the tanning salon. This is better then punishment because if I punish myself I will be less motivated to want to do anything at all. Plus it's hard to punish myself. So I reinforce my wanted behavior
Terms: Target behavior, continuous reinforcement, reinforce, punishment, punish, motivate, behavior.
Differential Reinforcement is used for decreasing an unwanted behavior and I want to increase my behavior, specifically by increasing my reading literature. However, I have decided to change my reinforcement schedule up a bit. I have decided to both reinforce my reading daily and also reinforce my reading weekly. If I read at least 50 pages a day, I will allow myself to watch an episode of one of my favorite TV shows. If I succeed in reading at least 50 pages a day every day, I will go out to eat at one of my favorite restaurant (not expensive). This gives the benefits of small daily benefits that feel like a pat on the back, but also a bigger reward at the end of the week to celebrate my progress. If I fail at any point in my goal, I will feel like I am missing out on my reward. I believe I have a reasonable goal. Specifically, my plan is to read at least 50 pages of a literature book per day. If I succeed in this regard I will allow myself to watch an episode of my favorite television show. Also, I plan on finishing a small book every week, or if it is a bigger book, by reading 350 pages a week and trying to finish it within the month. If I succeed with this, I will take my girlfriend and myself out to eat. This is also beneficial because this will reinforce my girlfriend into motivating me. If I am successful, she gets to go out to eat as well, and she will want to help me out. I will graph out how many pages I read every day in a personal notebook, and then at the end of the week I will graph this data in excel.
Consuming less daily calories
My behavior modification is decreasing the amount of calories I consume on a daily basis, the target behavior is to consume less than 1700 calories. I will be using an application on my phone called myfitnesspal this application will keep count of the calories I eat on a daily basis and give me a chart of my progress throughout the duration of the time. I believe this is a realistic sub goal to achieve in my bigger goal to lose weight. I will use my love for coffee as a differential reinforcement, for example if i stay under 300 calories my target goal of 1700 calories I can treat myself to Starbucks. I will also be telling my friends that I eat most of my meals with, to help support me in trying to eat healthy. Letting them know that it is okay to tell me if I am eating more than I should, and cooking dinner with them at home instead of going out to eat. I will also keep a journal to write down what I am doing and how I am feeling when I do eat or snake. Hopefully this can help me target if there is anything else other than over eating that is keeping me from losing wight and if so why that may be.