Please go to the following blog page:
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/bmod/abcs.html
Please read sections 1.5 (More about Behaviors) and 2.1 (What is behavior Modification)
After reading section 1.5, please respond to the following questions.
What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? Why? What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?
After reading section 2.1, please respond to the following questions.
What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? Why? What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?
How has reading these sections changed or built on what you have learned so far about behavior modification? How so?
Please fill out the boxes in the readings you may be quizzed on them in class.
Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
--Dr. M
Section 1.5 did a really nice job in differentiating between functional and topographical ways of thinking of behavioral classes. When explaining behaviors we have to think of them either as functional or topographical. While we can behave similarly, what we are seeing is only topographical meaning we are referring to a group or class of behaviors that are seen on the surface as alike. We are able to distinguish certain behaviors apart from others by using the function or purpose of that particular behavior. I really liked the example from the text to describe functional behavior classes; there are many ways to open a door. Some doors say push while others say pull. Some have knobs you have to turn and others have handles you have to push down or pull up. They do the same thing but there are many ways to go about doing that one thing.
Since I really had a hard time making up my mind on something I didn’t like, I’m just going to write down another thing that I liked. I also really enjoyed the explanation of the inter-observer agreement. At first glance, I freaked out about the word. Is this another one of those complex, hard to understand, something I’ll probably end up forgetting and it’ll bite me in the ass one day kind of words? But then after I eased up a bit and kept reading, I found that it wasn’t really that hard at all. Inter-observer agreement is simply achieved through describing the target behavior or behavior that you’d like to see more or less of, in a clear and precise way so that it is clearly defined and easily recognized when it occurs. I just think of two people in a room recording target behaviors that have been predetermined and if those target behaviors have been defined clearly enough, those two people should have a high inter-observer agreement.
Three things that will remember from this section are obviously inter-observer agreement, functional and topographical behavioral classes. I now have read and re-read the section so I could write about them and in doing so, I feel like a have a really good understand of what each term means.
Section 2.1 started off rather interestingly. I like that there was a little quiz that put me on the spot to test what I really know. I was pretty pleased with myself and surprised at what I had already learned. I rattled off 10 words fairly easily; Reinforced, Target Behavior, Elicit, Emit, Punishment, Extinction, Extinction Burst, Inter-Observer Agreement, Consequence, and Functional Behavior. I also liked how we started getting into what behavior modification was and why we change behaviors. I learned that we either don’t like the behavior that we as individuals are emitting, we don’t like other individual’s behaviors, the behavior leads to trouble, or the behavior is illegal. It is better to reinforce than to punish however. If we can restate or redefine a problem behavior we can almost always choose reinforcement as a way to use behavior modification to our advantage.
I didn’t understand the last paragraph in this section about Reinforcement as a Procedure or why it was put along with this chapter. We have gone over reinforcement a lot and I would have been more interested in going deeper in depth about Eliciting vs. Emitting. I understand that used in a sentence antecedents elicit a behavior but I am still getting the two confused and having a few more examples would have been really helpful.
These sections have built my understanding of behavior modification through reinforcement. Throughout each section, examples are provided, I am able to give my own examples, definitions are clear and concise and I feel like I “get it”. This feeling gives me the motivation I need to keep progressing throughout the chapters and makes me want to because I know I can. These chapters that I have already read have changed my view on things as well. They prove that this new “language” is a lot harder than initially anticipated. Differentiating between Elicit and Emit for example is difficult initially because they are so foreign, but with time get easier.
Terms: Reinforced, Target Behavior, Elicit, Emit, Punishment, Extinction, Extinction Burst, Inter-Observer Agreement, Consequence, Functional Behavior, Punish, Reinforcement.
Section 1.5 provided commendable information on how to identify target behaviors, it explained terms such as topographically, and provided the do’s and don’ts of reinforcement. I thought the section was very clear and I particularly liked the diagram of reinforcement. The diagram was a helpful visual to understand the reinforcement of a behavior or no reinforcement and the consequences of each. The only thing I disliked about the section was that the main examples involved teachers. Since I am not going to become a teacher it would be nice to have other examples that may be applicable to my life such as training an animal.
There are many things I have learned from the section, including the terms baseline, intervention, and the difference between functional and topographical. The term baseline is defined in our section as the starting point from which the success or failure of the behavioral intervention is measured. I will remember this term by referencing the baseline to volleyball. When I played volleyball, we use to run sprints starting on the baseline and our times were recorded just as the baseline is the starting point of recording behavioral intervention. Intervention occurs when a consequence is administered after a behavior occurs. I will remember this by using an example, when a dog sits I intervene by giving him a treat (the consequence of sitting) thus reinforcing his behavior. Finally there is the difference between functional and topographical. I will remember this difference because topographical refers to behaviors looking the same or similar. An example is waving, there are many different types of waves yet they all look similar or topographical. Functional is what behaviors do or accomplish. Waving may be topographical aka they look similar, however their functions may differ. An example would be waving to get someone’s attention versus waving goodbye.
I enjoyed the review of the previous material in section 2.1, because it was helpful in establishing how much I remember. What I did not like about the section was that the entire chapter was mostly review. I like reviewing in order to test myself on how much I know and clearing up the material I struggle with. A little review is nice however too much is aversive to me.
Three things I will remember from this section include the differential reinforcement of other, a discriminative stimulus is an antecedent, and the idea that punishment may displace the behavior. The term differential reinforcement of other is defined in our section as changing a behavior from one that would ordinarily be punished into one that would be reinforced. I will remember this term by the example of wanting to stop eating junk food. To change this punishing behavior to a reinforced behavior one could reinforce eating more healthy food. I learned from this section that a discriminative stimulus is an antecedent because it affects the likelihood of emitting a particular behavior. Finally there is the idea from B.F. Skinner that punishment may displace the behavior. I always thought that if a person was properly being punished that the frequency of them emitting the target behavior would decrease. Skinner proposes however that the behavior is merely being displaced. This idea can be argued against however it is an intriguing thought.
How has reading these sections changed or built on what you have learned so far about behavior modification? How so?
These sections have broadened my understanding of behavior modification by providing me with new terms, examples, and ideas. The more I read about the ABC’s of behavior modification the more I understand how to form the ABC’s out of everyday life behaviors and how to use them to modify behavior. I hope to continue to learn more about the history and processes of behavior modification and eventually be able to effectively modify behavior.
Terms: Baseline, intervention, reinforcement, topographical, functional, consequence, discriminative stimuli, differential reinforcement of other (DRO), emit, displace, punishment, frequency, target behavior, antecedent
One thing that I really liked about this section was the overall discussion of target behavior. I feel like we are really starting to get into the major parts of behavior modification which is pretty neat. When trying to think of something I didn’t like about this chapter nothing really comes to mind. This section was a nice refresher of all the terms we discussed in earlier sections.
Three things that I will remember from this section include:
1. Behavioral Class- Behavioral class identifies behaviors as functional or topographical. The functionality of a behavior refers to what the behavior does or accomplished. The topography of a behavior is was the behavior looks like for people observing the behavior from the exterior view. When looking at behaviors, they can look one way, but really mean something else. Take smiling for example. A smile can have many different meanings, but from an exterior view all we see is the smile, not the root meaning behind it.
2. Target Behaviors- When looking at behavior modification, the first step in altering a behavior is creating a target behavior. Target behaviors are specific, precise behaviors, usually in which we are trying to alter. In order to have a good target behavior, the behavior must be clearly defined. Along with the importance of topography and functionality of the behavior, the context in which the behavior occurs is very important to the development to a good target behavior.
3. Reinforcement- The final thing I will take away from this section was the discussion of the impact target behaviors have on reinforcement. In order for reinforcement to be used as a successful tool in behavior modification, a solid target behavior must be set in stone. In this section it mentions the concept of observing behaviors and the importance of a baseline which serves as the starting point that gages success or failure in the behavior change. This section also put an emphasis on the importance of observers who are serving as the reinforcers to follow the baseline that has been set for the reinforcement, as well as having a specific target behavior and knowing when to reinforce that behavior.
I will remember these three things because they really made me think about behavior modification as well as got me thinking more in terms of behavior modification and how to apply these terms and concepts to everyday life.
While reading section 2.1 I really enjoyed seeing
behavior modification almost come to life. Like the other sections, this one really had me thinking a little more in depth about behavior modification, along with applying it to my own life and the real world. It was neat being able to use real life experiences in the example exercises. Another thing that I really liked about this section was the reference to B.F. Skinner and his thoughts on punishment (which I will elaborate on later)
Three things I will remember from this section include:
1. 4 reasons to change a behavior- At the beginning of the section, the text discusses what behavior modification is and why we want to change behaviors in the first place, referring to 4 main reasons in why people tend to want to change their behaviors. Those four reasons include the behavior bothers the individual, the behavior bothers others, the behavior could potentially lead us to trouble, and the behavior is illegal.
2. B.F. Skinner- Skinner believed that when trying to modify a behavior, reinforcements should be used as much as possible rather than the use of punishments. Skinner believed that new behaviors would only be learned with the use of reinforcements and the use of punishments simply momentarily displaces the behavior and will be acted again at a later time. When changing a behavior form one that has been previously punished to one that is now reinforced in order for higher chance of modifying a behavior as discussed in the section is called differential behavior. This concept will really stick with me because I think Skinners views is very interesting and really makes a lot of sense to me.
3. Context in which the Behavior Occurs- Along with referring back to target behavior which was discussed in the previous chapter, this section discussed the importance of the context in which behaviors occur. When looking at behavior, the antecedent plays a key role in the consequence, or outcome, of that particular behavior. This section put a huge emphasis on how in one situation, laughter for example maybe an appropriate behavior but in a different context it is not. The fill in the blank exercises were very useful in applying this concept and really had me thinking about the importance of context on behavior.
These readings defiantly build into what I have learned so far in this course simply by adding to my list of terms and understandings of different concepts I have already learned in behavior modification.
Terms: behavior class, topographical, functional, target behavior, reinforcement, punishment, context, behavior, punisher, differential reinforcement, antecedent, consequence.
I feel like this section did a good job of showing the differences between topographical and functional ways of thinking about different classes of behavior. To describe topography the text gave the example of waving. Waving behavior can be performed in different ways and by performing different hand gestures, but we call this group of hand gestures a behavioral class. We can then say that waves are topographically similar, because they mostly look the same on the surface. On the other hand waves may look similar but they do not all serve the same function. Functional behavior groups can be described using the example of opening doors. There are many different ways to open doors but they all look differnt. The behaviors do not have the same topography, but they all belong to a functional behavioral class. I really liked this example because I feel like it made it clear. I was slightly confused about these words before this chapter and it is now clear to me what exactly they mean and how to distinguish between the two. I also really liked that the chapter explained why it is so important to be specific when describing target behaviors. The example about the teacher was helpful. It made me realize that a behavior that may be disruptive durring class, may not be disruptive in another situation. It showed that the context in which the behavior occured is very important if you are looking to change it. We have to be specific when describing a behavior we are trying to reinforce. I also really liked the table at the end of the chapter. It's so helpful! It made it very clear when reinforcement occurs and when extinction occurs. It also made it clear when nothing at all occurs, which is usually a good thing.
There wasn't really anything that I disliked about this section. I found it all very helpful. The three things that I will remember from this section will be the differences between topographical and functional ways of thinking about behavior, why the context of a behavior is so important, and when reinforcement and extinction occur. I will remember these things because they were the most confusing to me before I read the chapter. I think that I have a fairly clear understanding of these things now that I have read it all.
Something that I liked about this section was that it went over some of the terms we have already learned again. I think it helped me be better understand all of the terms sinse there have been quite a few of them. I also liked that it described the 4 reasons we typically change a behavior. We change the behavior because it is displeasing to us, displeasing to others, can lead to some form of trouble, or they are illegal. I also liked that this chapter explained that we can reinforce desirable behaviors that offset undesirable behaviors. This is called DRO(differential
reinforcement of other). I did not know about this term until I read the chapter. The only thing that I disliked about this section is that it felt like it was getting a little repetitive. It is good that the terms are being gone over again, but I think that I would have been able to move on without reading this section.
Three things that I will remember from this chapter are that reinforcement and punishment can occur in a natural setting, there are typically 4 different reasons that we change our behaviors, and we can reinfoce desirable bahaviors that offset undesirable behaviors and that it is called differential reinforcement of other. I will remember these things because they stood out to me as things that I needed to remember in order to fully understand the process of behavior modification.
Terms: Behavior modification, punishment, reinforcement, DRO, topographical, functional, reinforce, punish, reinforcer.
Section 1.5
One thing that I really enjoyed about this chapter was how well it expained why it is important to be very specific when describing behvaior modification procedure. This includes describing the behavior classes that behaviors falls into as well as defining the target behavior. Doing the activities and seeing the examples of how specific the target behavoir really needs to be were helpful in understanding the misunderstanding and failure that may occur in behavior modification if things are not specific. We learned in previous sections of the first chapter the importance of using specific and accurate language of behavior so that it is clear what it trying to be conveyed so this chapter emphasized that main point once again showing that this is something that really needs to be understood and acted upon.
One thing that I felt could be changed to this section to make it more effective would be after we had been asking to write descriptions for target behaviors would be to give examples of what a good description would be so that the answers that we gave could be compared to the expectation. Without this comparison it is hard to be certain if the material has been comprehended completely and accuratly.
Things Learned From This Section
1. One thing that I will remember from this section is the difference between functional and topographical behavior class. Topographical behavior class are a group of behaviors that look the same on the surface. These behaviors may look the same but can produce many different functions which also may vary due to context. A functional behavior class is a group of behaviors that serve the same function. The behaviors in a functional behavior class may not be topographically similar but give the same end result. This difference is important because as show later in the section we must be as specific as possible when defining target behaviors to ensure the best result of reinforcement, and this begins with classification of functional and topographic behavior classes.
2. I will remember from this chapter what inter-observer agreement means and why it is an essential factor of successful reinforcement. Inter-observer agreement happens when multiple people are in a position to record and reinforce target behaviors. For the agreement to take place those multiple people must know exactly what behavior to reinforce, how much reinforcement to give, and in the exact context that all of this must take place in. This is important because if this agreement is not met it can have adverse on the study including extinction of behavior or creating a discriminative stimulus of the different people.
3. I will remember from this section the term intervention. Intervention is what occurs when a consequence is given after the target behavior occurs. This is important because it gives the specific language that is to be used in behavior modification for a process that had been previously understood but not put into the correct terms. As we have been told, it is extremely important to use the correct language so that it is clear what is being conveyed. Intervention allows for it to be made clear for both the person emitting the behavior and the person that is performing the reinforcemnt procedure.
Section 2.1
One thing that I really like from this section was laerning how to use differentioal reinforcement of other (DRO), which is the change punishment procedures into reinforcment procedure. I found it very interesting to learn that using reinforcement is said to be the best and most successful behavior modification technique in most situations, though there are some cases that need the use of punishment. Many times we can view target behaviors as adverse behaviors that we want to decrease the frequency of which would then using behavior terms require a punishment procedure. Using differential reinforcement of other we are able to get the same results of decreasing the aversive behaviors by increasing a pleaureable behavior that takes the place of the aversive behavior that we want to diminish.
One thing that I did not like about this section was the length of review that came at the end of the section. I understand the benifits of reviewing what had been previously learned so that it is easily connected to what is being learned in the present, but I felt as though it was a bit of overkill. I also felt that it should have been put at the beginning of the chapter rather than at the end so that it would have been fresh while reading and learning the new material.
Things Learned From This Section
1. One thing that I will learn from this section are the four agreed upon reasons for the use of behavior modification. This is important because there is always a question of ethics in this field and these reasons give you something to refer to when faced to such questions. The four reasons can still be questioned, but at least give a general guide. The four reasons given for changing a behavior are 1) if the behavior is bothersome to the individual 2) if the behavior is bothersome to others 3) if the behaviors may lead to trouble and 4) if the behaviors are illegal. These can all be turned using DRO so that it would call for a reinforcement procedure rather than a punishment procedure.
2. This section gave me a clarification of what the term discriminative stimulus means. Though this term was given in previous sections I did not feel as though I had a full grasp of what it really was. This section stated that a discriminative stimulus is an antecedent, which allowed for me to take a term that I had a full understanding of and connect it to the term that I was not certain about to get that full understanding. The examples given allowed for me to feel much more confident in my understanding. This is important because, as I have said many times in this post, it is essential to use the correct terminology so that it is clear what you are trying to convey.
3. I will remember from this section the difference between satiation and deprivation, though they both fall under the category of establishing operations. Satiation occurs when a reinforcer does not increase frequency of behavior with the increase of reinforcers. Having overexposure to a reinforcert can decrease the likelihood of the target behavior being reinforced, making it a establishing operation. Deprivation has to opposing effect than that of satiation by increasing the likelihood of reinforcing the targeted behavior. Deprivation is the process of taking away a stimulus that will be used as a reinforcer. This makes the want of that reinforcer that much stronger and pleasurable.
These readings have made it apparent to me that it is essential to use exact behavioral language terms and to specify everything so that what is conveyed to others is what is intended. The examples showed just how important this was, even though it means that sentences and explanations seem wordy and unneccesary. These sections also changed how I look at what type of behavior modification procedure should be used in situations and have made me realize that if possible, reinforcement procedures should be used because they tend to be more successful and are more easily transferred between contexts whereas punishment behaviors many times will simply be kept to the specific context of the procedure. This can be used with my work in the day care to help the children learn and develop in the best way possible.
Terms Used: target behavior, topographical behavior class, functional behavior class, inter-observer, agreement, reinforcement, reinforcer, adverse, extinction, discriminative stimulus, intervention, emit, punishment, DRO, pleasurable, antecedent, establishing operations, satiation, deprivation
Section 1.5
In this section, I really liked the way that the topography and functions of behavior were explained. I learned that behaviors described as topographical refers to what the behavior looks like, whereas functional behaviors refers to what they do or accomplish. It is also important to realize that the topography of a behavior can be very different from its function. For example, during extinction a behavior may look like a tantrum, but functionally it is a good sign that the behavior is going through the extinction burst, and will eventually cease to be emitted by the subject.
I disliked the behavioral classes. It is somewhat confusing to me because I had a hard time trying to think of other behavioral classes. It got more complicated when topographical behavior classes were compared to functional behavior classes. The examples were helpful. Waving is a topographical behavior class, but not necessarily a functional behavior class. This is because all waves look similar, but they can serve different functions (such as signaling for a cab). The functional class example was opening a door. Someone might push, pull, turn a knob, walk on a sensor, etc. These are all very different behaviors topographically, but functionally similar. One example I thought of for a topographical behavior class was smiling. Everyone that smiles is emitting a similar-looking behavior. However, you might smile because you’re happy, or because you want something, or for a school picture. (I’m not sure how good this example is. Like I said, I had a hard time coming up with my own!)
I will remember that target behaviors need to be clearly defined because it increases inter-observer agreement. If I want to be successful in modifying the frequency of my teeth-brushing behavior using self-directed behavior, I will have to clearly define my target behavior. I will also remember that behaviors can be topographically similar but functionally different. The example of a child at school who may get up to go to the bathroom (not to disrupt the class) stuck in my head. I will try to remember behavior classes. Waving and opening a door are good examples. Hopefully we discuss this more in class and I can see some other examples!
Section 2.1
In this section, I liked that we were building on the information that we already learned. For example, the establishing operation is linked with the consequence of a behavior in the ABC’s diagram. Elicit was linked with the antecedent, and emit was linked with the behavior. Discriminative stimuli were linked with the antecedent as well. Linking these behavioral terms to the simple ABC diagram is helping me to synthesize the information that I’m learning. I also like that there is repetition in the reading. There was a lot of review in this section, but it was given with a bit more detail than in previous sections (which helped to make it more of an exciting review).
I didn’t really like the satiation/deprivation review. I feel like it is a pretty simple concept to understand, and I remember reading about it previously. However, I did enjoy the examples of the establishing operations using the terms satiation and deprivation. For example, “In order to maintain a state of deprivation, the researcher only allowed the pigeon to a small grain of food to prevent satiation.” (Section 2.1 ABCs). I can see how reading it could be beneficial; it was just a slightly boring part of the section for me.
I will remember my favorite part of the section (building on the diagram of the ABC’s using terms we’ve learned). I will remember this because I can picture the diagram in my head with the terms. I will also remember that an establishing operation can be something as simple as seeing a commercial and going out to buy what you saw (I love ice cream, the DQ example was a great example for me). Although I was miserable in my introductory economics class last semester, I will remember the law of diminishing return in relation to behavior modification!
These sections didn’t really change my idea of behavior modification. However, it did build on my idea of the concept. Like I mentioned earlier, adding the terms elicit, emit, establishing operation, and discriminative stimulus to the ABC diagram was my favorite part of the reading. I can see what Dr. Otto MacLin meant about building on our knowledge in this class!
TERMS:
Topography, topographical, functional, function, extinction, extinction burst, emitted, behavior, behavior class, topographical behavior class, functional behavior class, target behavior, self-directed behavior, inter-observer agreement, establishing operation, elicit, emit, antecedent, discriminative stimulus
One thing I liked from section 1.5 was learning about target behaviors and how specific a person needs to be when describing a particular behavior if they want to modify it. I liked this because then a behavior is easy to detect and has a better chance at being modified. One thing I disliked from this section was trying to think of examples of classes of behavior that have similar and different outcomes because I still am having trouble thinking of any!
The first topic I’ll remember is that behavior can be evaluated and defined on two levels which include topographical, or the way they look, and functionality, or what they do or accomplish. I’ll remember this because these two levels are essential for understanding this section. The second topic I will remember is the example of functional behavior classes about opening a door. Even though there are numerous different ways to achieve opening a door, all of them fall under the same behavior class. The third topic I’ll remember is that it is important to have a high degree of inter-observer agreement when observing target behaviors. If there isn’t a high degree of this, then trying to modify a target behavior will have a low chance of succeeding.
After reading section 2.1, I really liked learning how to rephrase behavior that require punishment into behaviors that provide reinforcement, or also called differential reinforcement of other, because then negativity isn’t associated with the behavior and a person will be more likely to succeed in their modification. I didn’t find anything from this section I disliked. One thing I’ll remember from this section is the behavioral classes that can be addressed with reinforcement, which include making us feel better about ourselves, making us more pleasant to be around, keeping us out of trouble, and behaviors that are legal. I’ll remember this because it turned the negative behaviors into positive ones. I’ll also remember the discussion of discriminative stimuli because it gave great examples regarding signs and signals that elicit a behavior. The third thing I’ll remember from this section is the difference between satiation and deprivation because associating the phrase, “too much of a good thing,” is very helpful in remembering what exactly satiation is.
These sections have built on to my knowledge of behavior modification because it has gone more in depth and detail about terms. The reading also provided better or more efficient ways to modify behavior. For example, turning a behavior that is addressed with punishment into a behavior that is reinforcing.
Terms: Target Behavior, Topographical, Functionality, Behavior Class, Differential Reinforcement of Other (DRO), Inter-Observer Agreement, Punishment, Reinforcement, Discriminative Stimuli, Elicit, Satiation, Deprivation
ECS
The thing I found the most interesting was how specific descriptions of target behavior has to be. The reason it has to be so specific is because when two different people see the same behavior it is clear so they both respond the same way. This will increase the inter-observer agreement. If the description isn’t exact there could be multiple responses. The target behavior will have a lower inter-observer agreement. The more precise the description is the easier it will for the observer and the individual. I didn’t realize the importance of it and how specific it has to be until I did the exercise. There are so many different aspects of a target behavior that need to be taken into consideration. If the reinforcement is weakened this confuses the individual and creates a superstitious behavior. The individual won’t know what behavior is being reinforced.
The thing that I found confusing from this chapter was the explanation of topographical vs. functional behavior classes. Topographically behavioral classes mean the behavior looks similar on the surface. An example of this is telling kids to wave at each other. Functional behavioral classes are similar but share the same function or purpose. It was hard for me to distinguish the difference in examples.
The first thing that I will remember from this section is that there are two different types of behaviors, topographical and functional. It’s essential to know which type it is so one can distinguish which type of category the behavior belongs in. The second thing is the context of the disruptive behavior that one is trying to manipulate. Some behaviors in different contexts are acceptable while in another situation it is not. An example of this is getting up in class. It could be seen as disruptive to other students but it could to go to the bathroom. The last thing I will take away from this chapter is if reinforcement is delivered at an appropriate or inappropriate time will reinforce, extinct, do nothing or an unwanted behavior will be learned.
The most interesting thing I read about from section 2.1 was about the effectiveness of reinforcement over punishment. B.F. Skinner “was a firm believer that we should always use reinforcement whenever possible. That new behaviors are only learned when reinforcement is used”. He also stated “punishment simply displaces the behavior only to be acted out or manifested in a different context where it is less likely to be punished”. Instead of using punishment for a behavior differential reinforcement of other or DRO is used. DRO is “changing a behavior from one that would ordinarily be punished into one that would be reinforced”. Thinking about it personally I would respond better to reinforcement than a punishment, as would most others. There are certain situations where punishment may be necessary, but reinforcement should be used otherwise. Punishments are less effective than a something that will reinforce a behavior.
A confusing part of this section for me is elicit versus emit. To me they both mean the same thing but unfortunately they do not. Elicit is used when an object caused the behavior whereas the individual is responding to the stimulus and emitting a specific behavior. It becomes confusing for me to distinguish between when a behavior is elicited or emitted.
There are many important things to remember from this chapter. Satiation is the first thing that has stuck in my mind. Satiation is what occurs after an individual has received a reinforcer too many times and isn't responding to that as a stimulus, for example with hamburgers from the book. Receiving a hamburger everyday will cause it to actually become an aversive for the individual. Secondly I will remember deprivation. Deprivation is the opposite of satiation. It causes the stimulus to be more reinforcing, if an individual is deprived of something for a long period of time, once it is reintroduced it will become strong reinforcement to use. This technique is used in animal research. If an animal is deprived of food for a period of time, they will react when food is given to them. Finally, I will remember the four reasons to change a behavior. We change behaviors because it bothers us, others, they are illegal and they may lead to trouble. These are the basics to why behaviors are changed and will be helpful to remember in the future. When determining a behavior to change we always will think about the reason for the modification.
Each section continues to build on the previous chapter. In each chapter reinforcement is discussed along with the ABC’s. Section 2.1 built and reviewed a great deal of things previously learned. At the beginning of the chapter we were to recall information from the previous chapter, which was a good refresher. It also discussed different aspect of reinforcement and punishment. Differential reinforcement of others was an interesting new concept, to change punishment into reinforcement to make their behavior modification more desirable.
Terms: Target behavior, inter-observer agreement, reinforcer, reinforcement, superstitious behavior, topographical behavior classes, functional behavior classes, context of the disruptive behavior, manipulate, reinforce, extinct, behavior differential reinforcement of other, elicit, emit, satiation, deprivation, punishment, behavior modification.
Section 1.5
One thing I really liked in this section was learning how specific you have to be about target behaviors in order to deal with them by using punishment or reinforcement. Being so specific about a target behavior will help people emit the behaviors that others want them to. It will also help increase or decrease the frequency of the behavior. One thing that I disliked was coming up with examples of target behaviors that fell under the behavioral class of overeating, exercising, and cheating. I guess I just wasn't sure what to put down for my examples because I did not understand the material covering this subject clearly.
Three things I will remember from this section are:
1. Knowing how specific you need to be in identifying a target behavior in order to get the results you want.
2. The difference between functional and topographical. Functional is what they do or accomplish (ones that have similar outcomes). Topographical is similar behaviors that may be functionally different (ones that look the same).
3. Giving a precise description of a target behavior should result in a high inter-observer agreement. This means they should have the same observations and recordings of the target behavior.
Section 2.1
I really liked learning about differential reinforcement of other. I never thought about how you could change a behavior from one that would ordinarily be punished into one that would be reinforced. I thought it was interesting to learn that reinforcement is preferred over punishment in most situations. I did not like how much of this section was review. Although going over things multiple times helps me remember things, I would rather learn new material instead of learning the same information that we've learned in previous chapters.
Three things I will remember from this section are:
1. How reinforcement is preferred and encouraged over punishment. I guess it would make sense that people want to by reinforced with pleasurable things instead of punished with aversive things.
2. The four reasons we should change our behavior. Most people would think that their behaviors do not need to change, unless they think about how it affects others or society.
3. How the consequence affects the antecedent. I would normally think the cycle would be antecedent brings about a behavior and a behavior brings about a consequence. After reading this section though I now realize how the consequence would affect the antecedent.
These chapters have both reviewed and built on what I have already learned from previous chapters. Being able to apply these terms and situations to everyday life has really helped the material stick in my mind. Reviewing old terms and applying them to situations with the new terms also helps me understand behavior modification better.
Terms:Target behaviors, punishment, reinforcement, emit, functional, topographical, inter-observer agreement, differential reinforcement of other, pleasurable, aversive, consequence, antecedent, behavior, behavior modification
Section 1.5
I like really how this section of the text takes a deeper look into the context of learning how to define behaviors. There are two ways to be able to correctly define the behavioral classes. The first is by their characteristic functioning or their topographical features. Every behavior can be defined by their outward features. The second way to properly label target behaviors that we want to reinforce, is by looking at their functional characteristics of the behavior that is being emitted.
I thought that the reading started to get bogged down when it tried to cover all the details of inter-observer agreement all at once. Talking about the baseline and if a previously reinforced behavior will experience extinction in the same paragraph seems to be trying to squeeze two seperate issues associated with behavioral modification in a very short explenation.
The three things I will remember from this class include,
1) How to define topographical features of a behavior, and what topographical actually means within the context of behavior modification. These are the outter characteristics of a behavior that can be matched with other similar behaviors beacuse of these similar qualities.
2)The function of a behavior is a completely different subject than topographical features. I learned how to tell them apart by looking at their functioning with the context of the text we read in section 1.5.
3)The third thing I learned from this section is that properly defining what target behaviors you are actually trying to modify is very important. Only after being clearly marked, can behavioral control be put into practice.
Section 2.1
I really liked how section 2.1 looked at the four reasons to change a behavior. They are in order from the online text 1)The behaviors bother us, the individual. This is a major reason to change a behavior. If something consistently bothers us when that behavior is being emitted, we do ourselves a favor to change the behavior through positive reinforcement or punishment, which ever form of behavior control is necessary. 2)The behaviors bother others. Respecting those around us is definitely grounds for changing a behavior. It has positive reinforcement that rewards the change of undesirable behaviors. The last two 3) The behaviors may lead to trouble and 4)The behaviors are illegal, fall into very similar categories. Both of these consequence offer a chance for negative outcomes if the behavior is not altered.
Listing behaviors that we saw in ourselves that fell under one of the four categories of reasons why to change a behavior, seemed like an exercise that could have been left out. They are pretty simple to figure out internally rather than having to focus time on writing them out.
The three things I will remember from this section are,
1) Reinforcement and punishment can both occur naturally in the world. It is a simple concept to think about when it's there in front of you but I wouldn't have thought of that from the reading if it hadn't been reinforced in the summary section.
2) I won't forget the four reason to not emit a behavior. They really brought to light the reasons we would want to change our own behavior or the behavior of others that bother us.
3)The most important thing I think I learned from this section is that it is better to reinforce a behavior over punishing a behavior. I hope we learn in greater detail about this approach to behavior modification.
Terms: Topographical, negative, functional, behavioral class, context, behavioral control, target behaviors, extinction, baseline, consistently, inter-observer agreement, emitted, undesirable
C.H.
Section 1.5
This section was very interesting because it really made me think a different way. I really enjoyed the analysis of breaking down behavior classes, functional classes, topograhpy, and functionality. Understanding how a "wave" can be classified in so many different ways and how it can be broken down by how it functions was interesting to me. Even though there are many different ways to open a door, they all serve the same purpose. Therefore, they fall in the same functional class. I also thought the classroom example was very useful. You need to be able to classify what a disruptive behavior is in the right context or else no one will know how to behavior properly and in the right setting. It can get quite confusing without concrete direction. There needs to be a precise target behavior like the ones he eventually comes up with. Now he is able to have behavioral control.
One thing I did not like was how difficult it can be to measure a target behavior with inter-observers. Like the section described, both of the observers cannot be present at the same time and this causes a lot of controversy with the behavior being measured. There needs to be a specific context to make this successful. Also, both of the observers should be there at all times if at all possible.
1. I will remember that the baseline is where the target behavior starts getting tacked because it makes me think of sports. You must always start on a line.
2. I will remember that there are 4 outcome that can come from inter-observer experiments because there are so many different factors that can affect the results. This can occur because both observers may reinforce or not reinforce for various reasons and they are not on the same page.
3. I will remember that topography means on the surface and that the behaviors look alike because of the wave example.
Section 2.1 (To be finished soon...Will comment off of this post)
C.H.
Section 2.1
This section was a great mix of review and new material. It gave great examples which helped me understand the language of behavior modification much better. I enjoyed how it asked us to give specific examples from our own life in regard to punishment, reinforcement, and activities that we want to change for ourselves. Also, the four reasons why behavior modification occurs was very obvious but useful. I have known many people that have had to deal with all of the examples. Life is different for everyone and we all have behaviors that we emit that we wish we could modify/change. All in all, changing these behaviors can help us become better individuals in society where we can effectively help each other to elicit behaviors which are more appropriate. I also liked the explanation of the term differential reinforcement of other which helped elicit a specific behavior by reinforcing it with another activity instead of punishing. The example used was eating healthy food as a reinforcement for not eating junk food.
One thing I still am having a tough time understanding and I don't like is how a consequence can influence an antecendent. I can't seem to wrap my mind around it because I feel that a behavior results in the consequence, which happens because the individual is in a specific antecendent. I think I can understand this more effectively by discussing it in class and reading more examples.
1. I will remember the four reasons change should occur because they all make logical sense and I have had some sort of experience with all of them whether it be myself or someone I know.
2. I will remember that context is a powerful antecendent because without context, then behavior tends to be much more random and out of the norm.
3. I will remember satiation because of the hamburger example. Eating so many of them after days on end will definitely make them become punishment rather than reinforcement.
These readings are adding onto my bank of behavior modification terms. It is making it much easier to understand the material with all of the examples. I am using the language more and more each day with my peers and family members.
Terms: reinforcement, context, behavior modification, satiation, consequence, punishment, elicit, emit, antecendent, behavior, functional, topography, behavior classes, functional classes, target behavior, behavior control, inter-observers, baseline,
Section 1.5
After reading section 1.5 I found a few things that I liked about the section. The first rule I enjoyed was the idea that you cant always judge a behavior by what it looks like. For example there are many types of waves but some could mean very different things depending on the situation. I found this to be interesting because we always think of a wave as a positive thing but depending on the situation it could be very different. Someone drowning in a pool could wave for a lifeguard which isn’t a friendly gesture. Two other terms I liked were topography and functional. These two terms are similar but mean different things. Topography is when behaviors look similar. Functional is when behaviors lead to the same outcomes.
The one thing I didn’t really like was the section on target behavior. The only reason I didn’t enjoy this is because we have discussed it already. I felt I understood it well enough but it never hurts to reiterate the main points since its important in behavior modification. I always like to learn new terms and this was one we have already discussed so I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did the first time we heard and learned it. The three things I will remember from this section will be the diagram at the end of the section. This was beneficial because it gave all four outcome possibilities. This helps me visualize all of the outcomes I need to remember. The second thing I will remember is the terms baseline. This is the measure of the target behavior prior to a behavior intervention. This helps to evaluate if the intervention is a success or failure. This is a basic term we should know so I worked on remember the term and its definition. The third think I will remember is that you cant always judge behaviors that look alike to be alike. I thought this was a common sense idea but also very easy to do without thinking about it first.
Section 2.1
The first thing I liked about this section were the two quizzes. These helped/forced me to recall what I have previously learned and then applied a lot of the words into the section. I was caught off guard at first when I saw the quiz but once I took a moment I named the 10 words pretty easily. The 3 behavior terms also helped me think of ways I have used terms outside of class the last 3+ weeks. The next part was also a thing I enjoyed. Instead of starting out reading regular text it asked things I wanted to increase and decrease. I liked this because it opened up my mind on things I want to do for myself rather than things I want to change in others with behavior modification. When things are meant to applied to your own life it makes it easier for me to remember. I really enjoyed the first few pages of this section for that reason. One of the three things I will remember from this section is 4 reasons to change behavior. These are very important ideas to remembering why you want to change your behavior in the first place. They are because they bother us, they bother others, they may lead to problems, they are illegal. These reasons are all very valid especially number 4. Another thing I will remember is that reinforcement and punishment can occur naturally. I found this interesting because when I think of behavior modification I think of things being planned and expected rather than happening naturally. That’s why I think I will remember it. When you think about it these can both happen naturally. Doing drugs and getting arrested is a good example of punishment happening naturally. The third thing I will remember from this section is B.F. Skinner. I remember discussing him in history and systems. Him showing up in behavior modification text brings back some of the things I remember learning about him. He felt that reinforcements should be used as much as possible compared to punishments. I also agree with this. Although both can be used I personally feel reward will get better results and if it doesn’t you can always use the punishment route. This reminded me of Skinner and some his psychology ideas from the past. The thing I didn’t enjoy was all of the examples from previous sections. I love learning about new sections each week so when old topics come up I get disappointed that it takes up some space for new material. Although the A,B,C are important it was a little to much refreshing for my liking.
I think reading these sections have helped me expand more on terms and my thought process in behavior modification. Each section builds on the last and helps me add more vocabulary to my understanding. The examples always help me retain the most important information in the sections. Each section brings up ideas from the previous section then has you put it into practice while adding new information and terms. It makes each section we read help expand on the previous and make it a fuller understanding of behavior modification.
Behavior modification, intervention, behaviors, topography, functional, extinction, target behavior, baseline, reinforcement, punishment.
B.E.
Section 1.5
The first section was very good about making a clear distinction between functional and topographical. The example of waving was very concise as was the example for opening a door. It makes me think about how many times a day that I say a generalized phrase and just assume that the people around me know exactly what I am talking about and what I want them to do. I also as in the other readings really do appreciate the interactive examples that elicit a critical thinking process from the individual reading.
There really wasn’t anything that I didn’t like about this section everything was well represented coupled with a well thought out example with further explanation to follow. I guess if I would have to say anything I did notice a few more grammatical errors in this section then I have in others but it really didn’t take away from the learning at all—I mostly noticed them when I reread the section.
One thing I will definitely remember is to always be very specific about my directions when I am explaining things to people or asking specific questions so as to understand. Because a target behavior is very precise and if not explained can lead to further complications. The other thing that I will remember is the differences between the topographical and the functional behaviors. The examples in the text were very vivid and stuck with me—will be good reminders of what each concept means. Lastly among the many other things that I will remember from this text, I will remember that a baseline is the initial screening of the behavior before reinforcement or punishments (interventions) can be doled out.
Section 2.1
The second section provided an excellent review session in order to elicit a critical thinking process and apply the terms and understanding to what we are learning now. I also feel as though the examples that start out in a general term and then continue to get more complicated and require more afore thought are awesome. They really push the limits and help the individual reading to understand the complexity required when discussing some of the behavior modification techniques.
As with the first section I really didn’t find anything that I didn’t like about this section. Everything was well laid out including the review sections as well as the new terms and theories. I also liked the real life scenarios used to show how we can apply the things that we have learned so far to our normal lives or to experiments and research that we may conduct later on.
One thing that I will remember is that signs are created as a discriminative stimulus with the intent of eliciting a certain ‘feeling’ or enigma around them so as to emit a behavior from the individual seeing them that is considered pleasurable or desirable. Another thing that I will remember is how one behavior can counteract another simply by reinforcing the later behavior and not the previous behavior. Could be used when dieting or studying. I also will remember that establishing the operation can lead to the increased strength of the reinforcer and make the subject much more receptive.
It has made it much more clear about how we can apply the things we learn to real life situations and not just to other people but to our own behaviors. All we need to make sure we do is to be specific when deciding what behaviors to change. With that in mind, this has made me a bit more mindful about what I say to people and the connotation used.
Terms: Reinforcer, Behavior, Discriminative Stimulus, Elicit, Emit, Desirable, Reinforcing, Establishing Operation, Functional, Topographical, Target Behavior, Baseline, Punishments
Section 1.5:
One thing I really liked about this section was all of the good examples used for explaining target behavior and why defining a target behavior precisely is important. A target behavior is one that is clearly defined as to the topography, the function, and the context in which it occurs. I understand this better because of the way it was described with the student in the education program here at UNI. There wasn’t anything that I didn’t like about this section. I will remember behavior classes and how behaviors can be alike in the way they look and the example for this one was how people may wave in different ways. So in this aspect waves may be topographically similar because on the surface they look similar and they make up the same behavior class. I will also remember what a baseline is because it was explained well. A baseline is the starting point to which the success or failure of the behavioral intervention is measured. A baseline is important when recording a behavior especially a target behavior. Another thing I will remember is the example about observer A will be reinforced while in the context or presence of observer B he or she will not be reinforced. So this means that observer B will become a discriminative stimulus showing that no reinforcer will be available. I will remember all of these because the examples given to back them up and to further explain what they mean.
Section 2.1:
In this section I really liked the charts that were given to us to explain the ABC’S of behavior modification in a different way then we saw it in the first chapter. I liked this because there were many examples that were put into the ABC sequence to give us more ideas of how to use it and what it is. There wasn’t anything that I didn’t like from this section because everything made sense and was easy to follow. I will remember the part about discriminative stimuli affect the likelihood of emitting a particular behavior. I will remember this because of the example about a stop sign that was used. A+ Stop sign, B= stop, C= no ticket which as a driver we understand this behavior especially if we don’t want to get a ticket or not get in an accident if we don’t stop at the stop signs we encounter. Another thing I will remember is the explanation of satiation versus deprivation. I didn’t know until this chapter that deprivation and satiation are establishing operations as they alter the effectiveness of the consequence. An example is you like hamburgers and you eat one or two for dinner and an extra one is less satisfying. And eating a hamburger everyday can cause satiation because after eating them so many days in a row becomes unpleasant and aversive in some cases. I will remember these things because they stood out to me especially the charts because I am a visual person and those things help me to understand the topic.
Terms: Aversive, satiation, deprivation, consequence, behavior, emitting, discriminative stimuli, behavior modification, target behavior, behavior intervention, baseline, topographically, behavior classes.
EMM
One thing I really liked about section 1.5 was explaining how important it is to be clear and categorize what occurs with a target behavior. I really liked this part about section 1.5 because it helped me better understand the difference between a behavior and a target behavior. It explained that it is extremely important to define a target behavior because everyone needs to recognize and categorizes what occurs, and that everyone can clearly see the function and topography.
One thing that I disliked about section 1.5 was when it discussed in more detail about topographical classes and functional classes. I disliked this part about the section because I felt as though there could have been more detail about what it meant. Also, clearer examples of each class would have helped me better understand topographical and functional classes.
Three things I will remember from section 1.5 are: 1) I will always remember how important it is to be clear about what the target behavior is, 2) I will remember that an Inter-observer agreement is when two people see a target behavior and respond in the exact same way, and 3) I will remember that emitting disruptive behaviors can differ depending on where the disruptive behavior is occurring. I will always remember how important it is to be clear about what the target behavior is because this section explained how target behaviors need to clearly show both the topography and function of the behavior. I will remember that an inter-observer agreement is when two people see a target behavior and respond in the same way because the whole purpose of making the target behavior clear and precise is so that if two different observers are observing a behavior both people can know when the target behavior is being emitted. Therefore, knowing the emitted target behavior elicits the observers to reinforce the same target behavior. Lastly, I will remember that emitting disruptive behaviors can differ depending on where the disruptive behavior is occurring because some emitted disruptive behaviors wont be disruptive if they’re occurring elsewhere.
One thing I really liked about section 2.1 was at the very beginning when it asked us to write down 10 terms that we have learned so far without looking back at previous sections. I really liked this because it showed me how much I have retained and already learned. Therefore, making me feel like I have made progress. After writing down all 10 terms I realized there were more that I knew as well.
One thing I disliked about section 2.1 was how much information there was. I felt as thought it kept going on and on. I didn’t like this because it’s nice to take a couple concepts at a time, and understand them with simple examples and explanations. Although I liked this section, I thought it could have been shorter with simpler, and shorter examples.
Three things that I will remember from section 2.1 is: 1) Establishing Operations are consequences and that satiation and deprivation alter the effectiveness of the consequence, 2) I will remember how to give good examples of behavior that I want to increase and decrease, and how to give a clear target behavior description, and 3) I will remember how to write a target behavior that is trying to be decreased, by increasing another. I will remember that establishing operations are consequences, and that satiation and deprivation alter the effectiveness of the consequence because satiation is when you have emitted a behavior over and over again and you become satiated. A couple weeks later that person might crave to emit that behavior again, and that is know as deprivation. I will remember how to give good examples of behavior that I either want to decrease or increase because this section gave us several chances to practice writing target behaviors that are being increased or decreased, depending on the consequence. Lastly, I will remember how to write a target behavior that is trying to be decrease, by increasing another because while one emitted behavior might be trying to be decreased the same results can be elicited by increasing another target behavior. For example, John wants to decrease his emitted behavior by eating less junk food. John could also want to increase his frequency of eating healthy food. In both cases John is trying to be healthier.
Both of these sections have built on what I have already learned about behavior modification by building on my previous knowledge of target behaviors. I mainly learned how important it is to clarify what the emitted target behavior is, and to be detailed. I found out that this is important so that if multiple observers are observing a behavior that they are observing the same target behavior. Therefore, they are reinforcing the same target behavior. If the target behavior isn’t the same for both observers there could be several problems.
Terms: target behavior, behavior, function, topography, functional classes, topographical classes, inter-observer agreement, emitting, emit, emitted, elicited, elicits, disruptive behavior, establishing operations, consequences, consequence, satiation, deprivation, deprived, behavior modification, punishment, reinforcement, reinforcing
Section 1.5
I liked the detail that this section went in to about inter-observer agreement because it helped me to understand why it is important to clearly define a target behavior, and helped me learn more about discriminative stimulus, which was briefly mentioned in a previous section. This section elaborated on a scenerio where two different observers of a target behavior were not reinforcing the same thing. The one who was unclear about the target behavior became a discrimintive stimulus that leads to extinction because the previous behavior is only reinforced by one observer. That also explains why some people may emit a target behavior in particular circumstances vs others.
1. The topography of a behavior can look very different ( like several different ways to open a door) but can serve the same function, the door opening.
2. The topography of a behavior can look similar (like a wave of our hand) but can serve very different functions such as saying hello, saying goodbye, signaling an object to come closer, or farther away etc.)
3. The context of a target behavior is important and needs to be precise.
I will remember these things because the course requirements elicited a learning response due to the reinforcer of roughly 9 points, the likelihood that I will remember these terms is increased by emitting studying behaviors.
Section 2.1
I really appreciated the four reasons why we might want to modify behaviors for a few reasons. It assured me that taking this class has a purpose, and also gives me something to repeat back to other people when they ask me why learning behavior modification is beneficial. It also gave me a better understanding of how to sue the term behavioral class in a sentence because it stated each four reasons as behavioral classes at the bottom. I don't really dislike anything about these sections that I haven't ready mentioned in previous posts. Perhaps it's because stating something that I dislike about another persons work is usually followed by a punishment, so stating reasons why I dislike something in the reading tends to be aversive to me.
Behaviors may want to be modified befor the following reasons...(what I learned)
1. a class of behaviors bothers us about ourselves
2. a class of behaviors bothers other people
3. a class of behaviors might lead to trouble in the future
4. a class of behaviors are illegal
Reading these sections just really makes me feel like I am a psychology major because I learn terms that I can apply to the real world. There is more technical jargon in this class than any other Psychology course I have taken before and if you can apply what you learn in the classroom later on than I think you got your moneys worth!
Terms:
inter-observer agreement, target behavior, discriminative stimulus, extinction, topography, emit, elicit, reinforcer, aversive, punishment, behavioral class
Section 1.5
What I really liked about this section was the examples that were provided to help explain the material. For example, when it explained how waving shows a difference in the topographical aspect of actions. It also explained how functionally waving can be different each time (Ex: wave hello, wave goodbye, wave to a taxi). The one thing that I didn’t really like about this section was finding three functional classes of behavior, just because I struggled with finding examples for this. Other than that, I thought that this section was pretty helpful and did a pretty good job of explaining everything, especially some of the examples that I explained earlier. Three things that I will remember most from this section:
1.Topographical – The way that something or someone looks
2.Functional – what someone does or accomplishes
I will remember the two terms above most because of the waving example that I mentioned above
3.Target behavior – the text really emphasized how this must be clearly defined, and in order for it to be clearly defined we must know the topography, function, and context as to which it occurs. I really liked when the text talked about a student who needed to go to the bathroom so they just got up to go, but the teacher thought they were being disruptive so made them stand up in front of the class, embarrassing the student badly.
Besides Target Behavior I think I will also remember inter-observer, which really ties right into the concept of target behavior. If two people are observing a target behavior they have to make sure that they are in agreement as to what the behavior is EXACTLY and what really can be considered as that exact behavior.
Section 2.1
I really liked the beginning of this section where it asks three different behaviors that I want to personally increase and decrease. I thought this was interesting because it really made me think of different behaviors that I do that really bother me and that I want to change. It was cool to reflect on the different behaviors that I emit on a daily basis. I also really enjoyed reading B.F. Skinner’s take on punishment, that punishment really never solves anything (such as a child getting in a fight, gets punished, so simply moves the fight to another location). Although I’m not sure that I completely agree with Skinner’s view on this matter, I’ve always thought this was a really interesting take on punishment. There really wasn’t a lot from this section that I didn’t like. It was pretty long, but everything was explained pretty well and I found that it was really interesting, because it was easy to relate this section on a personal level. Reading these sections has helped build on what I have learned so far because it really emphasized how our target behavior effects everyone around us and how it ultimately impacts ourselves.
Three Things I will remember:
1.Behavior bother us, bother others, may lead to trouble, and are illegal – These are all reasons why we practice behavior modification, because of the aversive consequences they can create
2.A discriminate stimulus always acts as an antecedent, this was exemplified really well with the stop sign, which is definitely an easy example for me to remember
3.The “Eating Hamburgers” chart was great and is definitely something I am going to remember. It does a great job of explaining satiation, and I really like their example of economists calling it a diminishing margin of return. I had already learned about this concept last semester in an economics class, so it was really applicable and was cool seeing it in this and represented on the graph.
Terms Used – Topographical, Functional, Target Behavior, Inter-observer, Emit, aversive, consequences, behavior, discriminate stimulus, antecedent, satiation
One thing I really enjoyed in reading section 1.5 was the chart on the four outcomes that can occur when targeting a behavior. It really helped put into perspective how important it is to have a clearly defined target behavior. If the behavior is not clearly defined then you will have little to no success. It is important to reinforce when the target behavior occurs. This way it will increase the frequency of the behavior. If not, extinction occurs and the reinforced behavior is unlearned. This means all that work in reinforcing the behavior can be undone unless you clearly state and recognize the target behavior. When the behavior doesn't occur, it is important not to reinforce the behavior. If you do, you will be teaching unwanted behaviors. This can really mess up everything you have done to have success. The fourth outcome is that if the behavior is not emitted and you do not reinforce, then obviously nothing will happen. The chart really made the four outcomes easier to understand.
There are three important things I will take from reading this section. Number one is that you cannot always judge a behavior by what it looks like. You must try to understand why the behavior occurred from that person's point of view. If you judge it incorrectly, it will be very hard for you to modify the behavior. The second is pretty much what I was talking about before. You must clearly define your target behavior so that both the participant and the observer are positive as to when it happens. The target behavior should have high inter-observer agreement. This way we know that the behavior is being clearly identified correctly by each observer. The last thing I will take is to remember to get a baseline recording of the behavior. This way it will be way easier to see if the behavior modification is working or not. You can do this by comparing your new set of behavior frequency to the baseline.
One thing that I found really interesting was when they mention that Skinner believed that the only way to learn a new behavior is to use reinforcement. I believe this to be pretty true. If you think about it, when you emit a behavior that you usually never do (such as taking the garbage out at work) if you do not receive some sort of thanks or acknowledgment, we are way less likely to do it again. If we receive praise every time we do it, we are highly likely to do it again. I did not agree with the argument on not modifying behavior because of free will. We should always work to be the best person we can be and no one is perfect.
One thing I will always try to remember is that punishment and reinforcement can occur naturally. I have never really thought about this before. Such as going outside in the cold without a jacket, the intense cold is a punishment for not wearing a jacket. The second thing I will remember is that it is always better to reinforce than to punish. This will make it easier when trying to modify a behavior. The last thing is that establishing operations can change the strength of the modification. You can use it as a tool in reinforcement.
This section does a good job building on what we already know. It reinforced at least ten terms for use right at the beginning. I like how each section has a little information from the last to reinforce and remind you of what you have already learned.
terms: target behavior, extinction, baseline, frequency, modification, inter-observer agreement, outcomes, unwanted behavior,observer, reinforced behavior
C.L.C.
Section 1.5
Section 1.5 discussed the differences between topographical and functional classes and how they relate to behavior modification. I liked how simply the concept between the two behavior classes was, to understand involving the good example with the wave. We learned in an earlier section that topography is what you see on the surface. Functional classes are described as serving a function or purpose for the class of behaviors. For instance, something might look the same on the outside (topography) however, it serves many different functions. The one thing I’m confused on right now instead of ‘disliking’ something is the chart that has ‘Behavior occurred’ and ‘Reinforcer Delivered’ on the sides. I need to look back at the chart again and figure it out. Three things that I will remember from this section is that just become a behavior looks the same on the outside doesn’t mean it emits the same behavior and functions the same way. From the example about the wave, just because of the wave’s topography appearance is the same, doesn’t mean the functions are the same. The second thing I will remember is that target behaviors need to be very specific. The more specific you are while trying to describe the particular behavior being modified the better. That way you know exactly what behaviors need to be reinforced or punished. The final thing I will remember from this chapter is that before even starting to modify a behavior you need to keep track of the ‘baseline’. The baseline is how many times prior to modifying the behavior you actually do the behavior being targeted. That is very important to keep in mind because how you are going to see any results if you don’t have a starting point.
Section 2.1
One thing I thoroughly enjoy about reading this book is how the sections review previously learned information periodically. That way we review them often and keep them fresh in our brain. That’s my favorite part about this section. I recently started writing the new vocabulary words in my notebooks so I can go over them whenever needed. I can’t think of anything I disliked about this section. Everything we went over was all very helpful. Something new we learned in this section that I will remember is the four reasons to change behavior. The reasons include, because they bother yourself, they bother other people, they may lead to problems and they are illegal. Another piece of information I will take with me from this reading was that I learned was that new behaviors are seldom learned with punishment. That might sound simple, but I have never really thought about that before and I thought that was interesting. Finally, I will remember that reinforcing desirable behaviors can offset undesirable behaviors which are called differential reinforcement of others.
This section has helped me review the material we have previously learned but I also learned new material as well. Things are starting to link together and are starting to make sense to me. We keep building on the information we learned the week before but we are also reviewing information. I like this technique because it keeps the information fresh in my mind.
Terms: reinforcement, target behavior, punishment, topography, differential reinforcement of others (DRO), functional, reinforcer, behavior class
Section 1.5
In this section one thing I really liked is taking the new information and putting it into a story like format with the teacher and the disruptive students. It allowed me to get a better understanding of the material if i didn't in the explanations before it. I liked everything in this section. The section was well laid out except for the couple gramatical errors. It allowed me to easily obtain the information and the information flowed well.
I will remember the use of the teacher needing to modify his students behavior. I will remember this because it allowed me to really understand the need to clarify the behavior and because it has a real world application to my life. I will remember the baseline. I will remember this because I have taken a lot of science classes and the need to record things from the beginning to the end has been hammered into my mind. I will also rememebr the gramatical errors in the section. Im not sure why i will but I cant stop thinking about it. After reading this section I now know that when talking about behaviors you need to be very sepcific when talking about it and talking about how to change it.
Section 2.1
I liked in this section that we went over old material but in a different contexed. It refreshed my memory on key terms and the differences between them. When talking about them they put them in examples which made it easier to understand and put into real world aplicaiton. I really didn't not like anything in this section. It was easy to read and information was well explained. Three things I will rememeber are ABC's, how the discriminative stimuli affects the responses to the behavior, and establishing operations. They all are intertwined and hit on the consequence. The consequence and repetitiveness of the behavior depend on these three things.
This chapter was a review of terms we already convered so it just solidified my knowledge of behavior modifiction.
Terms used: distruptive, discriminative stimuli,response,establishing operations,consequence
1.5
I liked the example of the teacher, for I want to be a teacher and I took this class hoping I could walk away more confident in classroom management settings. I liked learning about how ‘disruptive behaviors’ really are in a variety of forms/functions. Not all of them necessarily bad. So I have taken from this that I should really look for specific behaviors, target behavior, and focus on one at a time finding their purpose. Then I should recognize it as a good target behavior or a bad target behavior I want to modify. I also like the explanation of what a behavior looks like, topography, and its actual function are imperative to know how to go about modifying the behavior.
So far I have yet to read anything that I truly dislike about behavior modification. Most of chapter 1 is kind of an introduction; so far a lot of the material is new to me, therefore interesting to read about.
Three things I will remember are 1) sometimes what a behavior looks like and the behaviors function is not always clear. It is best to identify and defined precisely before action can be taken. 2) The target behavior, once successfully identified, can therefore successfully be modified. 3) There are four ways a target behavior can be reinforced. Reinforced a target behavior, behavior increases; reinforced a non-target behavior, unwanted behavior increases; a target behavior is not recognized and the wanted behavior could possible become extinct; and a non-target behavior is not recognized nor rewarded and nothing happens.
2.1
I found your statement interesting, ‘in reference to problem behaviors these would be behaviors we would reduce with punishment.’ This makes sense if you look at the reasons stated about why one would want to change a behavior. The problem behaviors are either a bother to us or a bother to others. A punisher is what first comes to mind. And although I like the idea of B.F. Skinner, a reinforcer is optimistically always better than a punisher, it’s not always the most instinctual.
I also liked that the review brought back what we already knew and used it to clarify our new material. Establishing operations deal with the consequence whereas the antecedent deals with a discriminative stimulus. Again, I didn’t find much I disliked about this section.
Three things I will remember are 1) reinforcement and punishments are naturally occurring/ instinctual. 2) New behaviors are more likely to be learned and repeated with reinforcement, for reinforcement is more desirable than a punishment. 3) Satiation and deprivation are establishing operations, a part of the consequence; satiation shrinks the reinforcer and deprivation increases the reinforcer.
So far I’ve learned that the target behavior is very important when wanting to modify a behavior. It needs to be correctly identified and defined as to successfully change the behavior. Also reinforcement is more desirable than punishment; it can also have its negative sides, such as leading to extinction of a wanted behavior.
Terms: target behavior, topography, reinforced, extinct, punishment, problem behaviors, punisher, reinforcer, establishing operations, antecedent, consequence, discriminative stimulus, reinforcement, satiation, deprivation, extinction.
After reading section 1.5, I have to say that I really liked the diagram that looked like a Punnett square that had all of the behavior modification results of whether or not the behavior occurred and the reinforcer is delivered. I need to remember that I learn very well from visual diagrams and not very well from reading paragraphs.
I am going to remember the example of John trying to identify target behaviors of disruptive students, because it was a very good point that some behaviors are not necessarily always bad, like getting out of one's seat. I will also remember that it is important to target small specific things, because it is not effective to just say "stop being annoying."
It is also important to know that although some behaviors are topographically similar, they do not always mean the same things. This is why context is so important.
One thing I didn't like is one of the descriptions of hand waving. The description of how they wave in Mexico was extremely confusing at first, and then once I followed the instructions I figured it out and felt like an idiot for not knowing what the book was talking about at first.
I really liked the surprise quiz in the beginning of section 2.1. It helped refresh/rehearse some of the terms that I have learned and actually used in a real world setting since beginning chapter 1.
I like this chapter a lot because it feels like now that we have learned some of the basics, we are beginning to learn fun things to do.
I will remember the four reasons for justifying behavior modification. They are good ethical guidelines.
Also I completely agree with Skinner that things can only truly be learned through reinforcement, and that punishment only displaces the unwanted behavior.
I like thinking of things in terms of reinforcement as opposed to punishment. For instance, in my hometown (although some cops are just huge jerks), if you are a friendly law-abiding citizen, some police officers will act very friendly to you. This reinforces a happy and law abiding attitude.
It is also very important to realize that reinforcement and punishment happen naturally. This goes with the idea of karma. People misunderstand karma (and hilariously, some Christians try to say that they believe in karma as part of their religion). Karma is the idea that upsetting the natural order of things will naturally result in punishment, as well as helping the natural order of things will naturally result in reinforcement. It is important to remember this when we feel like the only option is to retaliate when somebody wrongs us.
Terms:
Reinforcer, Target Behaviors, Topographical, Context, Rehearse, Behavior Modification, Ethical, Reinforcement, Punishment, Displace
I.B
In this section I liked the diagram that shows reinforcement versus behavior. I like graphs because they make the information presentable in a clear manor that just summarizes everything in the best way. What I disliked was how waving was an example of a topographical behavior. At first, it described all the ways a wave can be preformed with a simple greeting connotation intended. However, after that the various functions were illustrated. I am aware this makes it topographical, but when they can all be used as greetings i feel it may be a confusing example for a section differentiating between topographical and functional behaviors. From this section I will remember how to precisely determine a target behavior and why it is crucial to the process of behavior modification. I will remember the difference between topographical and functional behavioral classes.
In section 2.1 I liked the use of visual aids, such as the graph illustrating satiation on an excessive intake of hamburgers. I also really like the differential reinforcement of other segment. This is because reinforcement is generally more effective than punishment. I really like the sediment that comes with this. It's like an optimistic outlook hidden within the often dark field of psychology. What I disliked was the stereotype "What is... Wiki defines" format part way through. Three things I will remember are the satiation hamburger example, the four reasons to change behaviors, and the example about depriving a pigeon to 90% of it's free feeding weight so that it never gets satiated setting up an establishing operation further amplifying the reinforcing power of the food.
Terms: Behavior, Topographical, Functional, Reinforcement, Satiation, Deprive, Establishing Operation, Punishment, Differential Reinforcement of Other
1.5 Something that I really liked in this section was right off the bat we started learning about self-directed behavior and the behaviors of everything that surrounds us in society. It is true that everyone feels like they know all about behavior when that is not the case. I am learning new things about behavior every day, some things I had no idea existed and how big a role they played in everyday life. Something that was a bit confusing for me at first was the Topographical vs. Functional which was aversive for me but eventually after I read through it a few times I got the hang of it. There was not much that I didn’t not like in this reading. It is hard to find something you don’t like because it all applies to what we are learning and the point of the class. Three things I will remember are, there are different outcomes that you can come across when dealing with reinforcement on a target behavior, behaviors that look similar are topographical, and target behavior is better if inter-observer agreement is better (they can work together)
2.1 Something that I really liked and already somewhat was aware with is that reinforcement and punishment occur pleasurable and aversive and occur in everyday life. We are always surrounded by the both of them. There was not a whole lot that I didn’t like from this section. Some things take a little time to read over but as soon as you fill out the boxes and keep reading then it is easy to understand and obtain. Three things that I will remember is that it is better to reinforce then to punish because no one’s wants to be punished for something and will most likely keep up the wanted behavior if they are getting something pleasurable out of it, context is a powerful antecedent, and deprivation increases the efficacy of reinforcement.
The more I read, especially these sections just seem to back up more and more what we have learned already and it is all tying together and making more sense. The more examples of punishment and reinforcement that I see, the easier it is to understand it and notice it in my everyday life.
1.5
I like the examples in this section. The examples made each term very easily understood. It was also nice that there were multiple examples given. A lot of the time terms are hard to understand when there is just a definition especially if you are reading it from a book. There was not anything about this section that I disliked. It was all clear and understood.
Three things i will remember:
1. I will definitely remember topography. A behavior can look different but mean the same thing. Like your example was waving- there are many different types of waves but they typically mean the same thing. Also, there are many ways to open a door though they can look very different.
2. Target behaviors- Target behaviors are very specific. A disruptive behavior, like john was talking about, can be so many different things. If someone is wanting to change a behavior they must have know the very specific behavior that they want to change. If you are wanting to change a behavior that is too broad, like disruptive behavior, then results will not be very promising.
3.I will also remember that an Inter-observer agreement is when two people see a target behavior and respond in the exact same way.
2.1
In this section i liked the four reasons that we would want to change behaviors. They are legit reasons to want to change behaviors and better a person.
Again, there wasn't anything i particularly disliked about this section.
Three things i will remember from this section:
1. I will remember the four reasons that we would want to change a specific behavior- They bother us-individuals, They bother others, The behaviors may lead to trouble, and they may be illegal.
2. I will remember that descriptive stimuli can affect the likelihood of emitting a specific behavior.
3.Deprivation increases the efficacy of the reinforcer.
These sections have kept me reminded of what we have already learned in behavior modification and the things we can do with behavior modification.
1.5
When reading section 1.5 I really liked how detailed it was. The book gave specific definitions and explanations of each topic. Specifically I liked the detailed descriptions between topography behaviors and functional behaviors. Topography behaviors are what you see on the surface. The book used the example of waving. All types of waves look similar but they all don’t mean the same thing. To illustrate functional behaviors, the book gave the example of opening a door. The door can be opened in many different ways but no matter how it is opened, it served the same purpose. I appreciated these examples and their detail because they were easy to understand.
Something that was hard for me to understand was target behavior. I know that a target behavior is the behavior that you are trying to change but I couldn’t understand how this section was explaining them. When it came time to give example of a target behavior of overeating, exercising and cheating, I didn’t understand what answer you were looking for.
Three things that I’ll remember from this section are topography class of behavior, functional class of behavior and that target behaviors need to be precise. I will remember that topography class of behavior is what you see on the surface. The behavior may look the same in general but the purpose maybe different. I will remember that a function behavior is something that looks different or might be different actions but serve the same purpose. I will remember that it is important that when discussing target behaviors you are clear on the behavior.
2.1
I like this section quite a bit because it was easy to understand. There were many examples and the concepts seemed simple. I also liked that previous sections were recapped at the end of the review. It is helpful to take another look at what we’ve learned because of how the concepts build on one another.
The one thing that I did not like about this section was that the last parts seemed kind of jumbled and hard to understand. It was hard to read and I don’t think I really retained much of the information after reading it just once.
After reading this chapter, I will remember that it is better to reinforce than punish. I will also remember how to change a punishment into reinforce. I will remember the 4 reasons why one might change behavior. 1) the class of behavior might bother us about ourselves. 2) the class of behavior might bother others. 3) The class of behavior might lead to trouble and 4) the behavior might be illegal. One of the last things I’ll remember from this section is how I can change my disliked behaviors and have the behaviors I want to emit be reinforced.
This builds on my knowledge of behavior modifications because I did not know how to change a punishment into a reinforce. I knew that reinforcement was more beneficial than punishment but I didn’t know how to modify behaviors without it and now I do!
Terms: topographical classes of behavior, functional classes of behavior, reinforcement, punishment, emit, behaviors.
1.5
I liked the story about John from this section. It was easy to relate to, as he supposedly went to UNI as well, and it helped me to understand why being specific when it comes to behaviors we want to change and or modify is so important. I never would have thought of it being that important, but it makes a huge difference when it comes to trying to modify that behavior.
One thing I did not really like from this section was the chart at the end depicting behaviors and reinforcers. I felt like I was understanding everything pretty well up until that point and then the diagram threw me for a loop. It makes sense when I read through it slowly, but I’m having trouble remembering what happens when a target behavior is emitted and recognized as a target behavior, or not recognized etc. It just seems like too much in one diagram to try to remember.
I will remember the difference between functional and topographical. Topographical is the way they look—like how different waves appear similar on the surface. Functional is what they do or accomplish—like how different waves mean different things, even if they appear similar. The waving examples make this easy for me to remember.
I will also remember that the context in which a behavior occurs is very important. This was evident in the example of John. He doesn’t want to tell his students that they cannot talk because it would be acceptable to talk before class actually started. The context here is very important. He should be sure to be specific and tell the class that they should not talk to their neighbors while he is in the middle of teaching, unless instructed to do so.
Lastly I will remember that baseline is the measurement of a behavior prior to trying to change or modify a behavior. It is needed to determine whether the behavior change was effective or not. This will be easy to remember because it is like a starting point—or a baseline.
2.1
I really liked the 4 reasons to change a behavior. They made a lot of sense and were easy to understand. I think it’s important to know when we should be or could be changing our behaviors. Some people are oblivious to the fact that they should probably be changing their behavior, but these reasons helped remind me why and when it is important.
I did not really like the fact that this section went over the ABC’s again. I know it is important to continue to apply terms we learned in the beginning to get a better and fuller understanding of behavior modification, but antecedent, behavior, and consequence we learned in the first paragraph of the first section of this book. If you don’t know them by now, you are probably going to have a difficult time with this class. I just found it slightly counterproductive to learn the terms again.
I will remember the 4 reasons to change a behavior because I found them easy to understand and agree with them fully.
I will remember that it is better to reinforce than to punish. This is important to know and remember because it is something we will be doing our entire lives when we want to change or modify a behavior. If we want to be successful it will be beneficial to reinforce rather than punish the behaviors we are trying to change.
I will remember that context is important to the antecedent. If the context of a behavior is different it can have a very different consequence on the behavior. We would not want to wear a white poofy dress in the context of a wedding, but we could wear one in the context of a Halloween party.
So far everything that I have read in these sections keeps adding to my knowledge about behavior modification. Context is important when talking about antecedents, it’s important to know the reasons for wanting to change a behavior, etc. Everything is important to know and be aware of for the ultimate goal of actually changing/modifying a behavior.
Terms: behaviors, reinforcers, context, target behavior, emitted, functional, topographical, baseline, antecedent, consequence,
Section 1.5
One thing I liked about this section was the behavioral classes. It was interesting learning about Functional vs. Topographical classes. It's adding to what we already learned about behavior but making it more specific. Like the wave example, there are many different ways a behavior can be interpreted. Something as simple as a wave can elicit different responses. One thing I didn't like or kinda confused me was inter-observer agreement. The way it was explained in the chapter was long and I got that you need to be consistent when administering reinforcement. But I was confused by the example with the two people, I guess this would be an experimental situation? I understand the importance of consistency though because when my aunt and uncle were training their dog they didn't reinforce her every time. Or my uncle would punish her but my aunt wouldn't. She is quite a handful now, and I think it is because they weren't consistent with her. The three things that I will remember are 1) Target Behavior, I learned in this chapter that is important to be specific with what exact behavior you want to address. 2) Intervention I will remember because it something that happens when a consequence is administered after the behavior. 3) The third thing I will remember is superstitious. This is like what happened with my aunt and uncle's dog. It occurs when reinforcers are given out when the behavior occurs and when it doesn't. This confuses the organism and doesn't change the behavior.
Section 2
The one thing I liked about this section was it explained more about what Behavior modification actually is. It also explained why we might want to change our, or others behaviors. Sometimes it is a good idea to help people change their behaviors because they might not even realize their behavior is bothering others. The four most common reasons to change a behavior are 1. Behaviors bother us 2. The behavior bothers others 3. The behavior may lead to trouble and 4. The behavior is illegal One thing I didn't really fully get was the idea of Differential Reinforcement. I understand the concept and I think its a good thing to try and change behaviors we usually punish into behaviors we would reinforce. I'm just having trouble coming up with examples for it. When we talk about it more in later chapters I'm sure I will catch on and be able to come up with more examples of my own. The three things I will remember are 1) Elicit versus Emit. We have gone over this before and I feel i have really got it down now. I liked the examples given in this chapter. 2) I also feel that I have got a pretty firm grasp on Satiation versus Deprivation. Again I liked the examples in this chapter with the experiments done with animals. 3) I will also remember Naturally occurring punishment. When I think of the word natural I think of things beyond our control like the weather. If we don't respond correctly to mother nature we surely be sorry for it.
The readings in this section really built on what we learned before. We learned more about why we might change behaviors, how to use the ABC's with newer concepts and the different behavioral classes. There were things in these chapters that were re stated because they are important to comprehend fully.
Terms: Naturally occurring punishment, Satiation, Deprivation, punishment, elicit, emit, target behavior, supertutious, differential reinforcement, inter-observer agreement, Functional and Topographical
SECTION 1.5
What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? Why?
I enjoyed reading about functional and topographical behavior. Considering behaviors can be very similar, differentiating between these two obvious qualities was interesting. Understanding these concepts allowed me to have a good think about how many of my behaviors are topographical, and in fact would mean something different in another society or culture, thus the alternating functions of topographical behaviors. It seems behaviors are topographical because they have different functions in different societies.
What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? Why?
Once again, I didn’t dislike anything form this section. Only that it would be great if reading through an article once provided the same recall that reading through an article 3 times does to save time!
What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?
Target behavior - I clearly remember reading about the importance of clearly identifying a behavior that’s being analyzed. The importance of clearly identifying the target behavior is essential to gaining behavior control, which is the basis of behavior modification!
Baseline - There has to be a baseline behavior for behavior modification to be relevant. The target behavior must therefore have a baseline? It was easy to remember this concept because it seems like one of the first important steps to the modification process. E.g identify the baseline of a target behavior.
Inter-observer agreement - This term stuck with me because I have consistently been reinforced of its importance in research method classes, statistics etc. The importance of two independent judges agreeing on a construct definition is high. As in most psychological experiment, inter-observer agreement, or inter-rater reliability, is vital to producing statistically significant results, and behavior modification is no different. Two individuals identifying a behavior must have similar descriptions.
SECTION 2.1
What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? Why?
I enjoyed reading the section reemphasizing the importance of behavior modification. Specifically, the reinforcement that, under Skinner’s beliefs, reinforcement is key to shaping wanted and unwanted behaviors! Skinner also emphasizes the importance of reinforcement over punishment, stating that reinforcement reproduces a behavior whilst punishment does not- it only displaces behavior! Such a simple and obvious concept, when we train our dogs, when we train our children, when we train ourselves..reinforcement and behavior modification is such a huge part of our lives!
What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? Why?
I am having a little difficulty getting my head around the concept of establishing operations. I understand it directly affect the consequence however I have been confused about what it really means, how it can really be applied. It changes the strength of pleasure or displeasure but how, I am having a hard time understanding. I think the best way is to look as it simply, it changes the effectiveness of the consequence. So it emphasizes strong or weak reinforcement, ie. lots of candy vs. one piece of candy in response to doing an hour of homework - more candy would be more reinforcing then less for most children.
What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?
DRO - Differential reinforcement of other -This concept stuck in my mind because it seems as if it would be the most common form of behavior modification. Everyday individuals want to change individual behaviors they don’t desire into those they do desire, such as eating unhealthy to healthy. Behavior modification seems as if it would used mostly to fix up undesirable behavior then teach new behaviors, in every day life that is.
This section reinforced the concepts of functionally and topographical behavior classes, emphasizing that a behavior in one setting may be reinforced in one environment but punished in a different environment. This concept stuck with me because it the revision of information acted as a reinforcement.
Discriminative behavior elicits certain behaviors was easy to recall because much of the stimuli we see on a day to day basis acts as discriminative antecedents to our actions, such as stop signs and stop lights. Even a cafe in the morning? Personally, a cafe acts as a discriminative stimuli because it elicits a particular behavior from me, get a coffee now!!
How has reading these sections changed or built on what you have learned so far about behavior modification? How so?
Section 1.5 and 2.1 have reinforced the importance of behavior modification! The repetition of information combined with the introduction of new terms has been effective in increasing my ability to recall the information, especially with the use of examples.
Terms: Functional behavior, topographical behavior, target behavior, baseline, behavior modification, inter-observer agreement, reinforced, shaping behavior, punishment, establishing operations, pleasure, displeasure, consequence, DRO, desire, undesirable, environment, discriminative behavior, elicit, stimuli, antecedent
MKH
Section 1.5
I really like the idea of making us write our own examples and being able to try to explain the concepts in our own words. I found each definition and examples helpful in my understanding. For example, when the book talks about behavioral classes, it discusses the concept of having different meanings behind how we wave. We wave goodbye, hello, to hail a cab, or to get someone's attention. Before reading that section, I never realized how different each wave is, and how meaning behind the gesture can change in different situations. I also found the part about target behaviors to be interesting, and easily applicable to my everyday life; seeing as how we're using our own examples for it anyway.
The diagram showing behavior and reinforcement reminded me of a Punnet square (genetics). It seemed to be helpful when thinking about the diagram as a Punnett square.
There's nothing I can think of that I disliked about the section.
Section 2.1
I found the beginning of this section to be a bit challenging when actually having to pick my brain for all the terms we've used so far and having to put them down on paper (without looking of course). There were alot of write-in boxes but I feel it is helpful to write about what the section had been talking about and trying to find examples to explain the content. The diagram where we had to fill in the ABCs of behavior again gave me a visual description of the content and helped me to visualize the A-B-C concept.
I didn't find anything I didn't like in the chapter. I killed my hand trying to write in the boxes but they were helpful nonetheless.
Behavior modification is becoming more and more understandable as we go, and each section helps me to build on my existing foundation of the subject.
Terms Used: Target behavior, behavior modification, behavior, reinforcement, ABCs of behavior
While reading Section 1.5 I found the example of topographical behaviors very helpful. At first I was slightly confused, but once I read through the “hand waving” everything clicked and it all made sense. I really enjoyed this section because everything was very clearly defined and so it was very easy for me to comprehend. There wasn’t anything I disliked about this section. Some specific things I remember is that you can do basically the same action but the reason you’re doing that could be different. So in other words, the purpose is not always the same. Being vague in what behavior you’re trying to change is not helpful and will cause problems down the road, so it’s best if you’re very specific and everyone knows what behavior you are identifying. The target behavior must be clearly defined for good inter-observer agreement. The reinforcer needs to be able to identify a good behavior and do it consistently. If this doesn’t happen then it will weaken the reinforcement procedure and create a superstitious behavior.
For section 2.1 I enjoyed the recap in the very beginning, the quick review refreshed my mind. I also enjoyed the numbered reasons why we would change behavior and the examples of them. One thing I wasn’t quite fond of was the reviewing over elicit and emit as well as satiation and deprivation, because I thought it wasn’t very useful to go over that information again. However it did help me understand establishing operations a little better. Some things I learned in this section would be specific reasons why you would want to change a behavior, we can reinforce desirable behaviors in place of focusing on decreasing bad behaviors, establishing operations change the strength of the reinforce or punisher.
Terms used: topographical behaviors, behavior, reinforce, superstitious behavior, elicit, emit, satiation, deprivation, reinforcer, establishing operations, punisher.
Section 1.5
One thing I liked about his section was learning about being more descriptive on what behaviors you want to change. I never would have thought about saying something like 'I want to stop overeating' sounded so vague. Knowing that there are many target behaviors for this behavioral class helps me understand how to make a behavior extinct.
One thing I didn't like about this section was the inter-observer agreement. I didn't really understand how to describe target behaviors. It would have been better if there was an example that I could have used to help me understand it better.
Three things from this section I will remember are:
1. How to define a target behavior and that it is very important to do so or else it will be more difficult to change the behavior.
2. Topographical classes because this explains that you can emit a behavior to something very similar to another behavior, but they can mean something completely different.
3. Functional classes because this explains how you can do many different things that can all lead up to the same outcome.
Section 2.1
One thing I liked about this section was learning about the four different reasons to change a behavior. I thought it was very interesting to think that there are that many. We all do this but it never really crossed my mind as to why I was changing this behavior or who I was changing it for.
One thing I didn't like about this section was going over the emit and elicit section again. I feel like we have gone over this enough times to understand it all.
Three things I will remember from this section are:
1. What satiation and deprivation to do a behavior. You would think that if you were satisfied with something and it kept happening, it would reinforce the behavior to get what you want but it does the opposite in punishing you when you have had it enough. Also that deprivation reinforces a behavior instead of punishing it. You would think that if you didn't have or do it for a long time, you wouldn't think about or want it anymore.
2. Learning that the consequence happens because of an antecedent. When we first learned the ABCs, I thought the behavior would occur or not occur because of the consequence.
3. Discriminative stimuli is an antecedent because you are more likely to emit a behavior because of the context you are in.
These sections have helped me learn that there are many ways we can use the ABCs. It does not just go in order but we get a consequence because of where we are.
Terms: target behavior, behavioral class, extinction, inter-observer agreement, topographical classes, emit, functional classes, elicit, satiation, deprivation, reinforcement, punishment, consequence, antecedent, discriminative stimuli
What I liked in section 1.5 was how it taught me to think about behaviors, I can now take behavior and place them into classes. I think being able to place them into classes is important because it makes you think more critically about the function of the behavior and how it’s perceived. One thing I didn’t like about the section is how it didn’t go into enough detail about the establishing operations. I think that it needs to explain that establishing operations is specific to the reinforce, or punisher. I can change the consequence to make it better or worse, I have to change an element of the specific consequence to make it better or worse. The things to sink in from this section are: 1) Behaviors can look similar but have very different functions. 2) Establishing an operation is not very easy and it takes some thought, but if you can master establishing operations you will be that much better at behavior modification. 3) That pretty much EVERYTHING is a discriminative stimuli.
What I liked about section 2.2 was how it made me aware of differential reinforcement, and how that reinforcing behavior is more effective than punishing behavior. As far as something that I didn’t like was how redundant its becoming reading what punishment and reinforcement are for. Three things that will stick in my head from this chapter are: 1) A consequence will not be effectively reinforced if the subject is satiated and that is why establishing operations is KEY when trying to modify behavior. 2) Discriminative stimuli play huge roles in behavior that is emitted by eliciting the behavior from the subject. 3) That in order to make behavior modification scientifically empirical that a baseline must always be recorded to compare the changes made.
Terms: Establishing Operations, Reinforce, punisher, consequence, descriptive stimuli, differential reinforcement, reinforcing, punishing, reinforced, satiated, emitted, eliciting, baseline.
What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? Why? What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?
I really liked the section about behavior classes because it helped me understand how I interact with people and the behaviors I do that can be perceived differently by a variety of people. I disliked that the four possible outcomes after a target behavior aren’t explained using examples. I will remember that behavior classes are separated into functional and topographical. Also that topographical that a behavior is on the surface similar, smiling is examples of a topographical behavior some smiles are saying hello while some maybe hiding deceit. A functional behavior is a behavior that shares the same function such as wrapping a birthday gift. There are so many different ways to wrap or bag the gift for the birthday kid.
What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? Why? What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?
I liked the section that there are four reasons that a behavior would be changed. Because the four reasons are realistic and they make me think of times that I have changed my behavior, especially the reasoning about because the behavior might be illegal. I hate to get in trouble or getting punished so most of the time I will change my behavior if it is risking me getting in trouble. I one thing I did not like about this section was there was so many activities and fill in the blanks, because I was getting annoyed with writing so many examples even though I know they will be beneficial. Three things I will remember are the reasons a behavior would be changed. One reason is that the behavior bothers oneself. Second reason is that the behavior will bother others. The third reason is that the behavior could potentially get you in trouble.
How has reading these sections changed or built on what you have learned so far about behavior modification? How so?
It seems that sections seem to reintroduce vocabulary so this will help us remember the vocabulary. These sections have built onto understanding how behavior is more defined and broken down. Being able to understand how behavior works will be influential for daily interactions.
Section 1.5
I liked how this section talked about target behavior and reinforcement. I thought that the way it talked about the do's and don'ts of reinforcement was very helpful and interesting. In this chapter I thought some of the examples where helpful while others not so much. How this section talked about topography and the examples that were given were helpful. I would have liked more examples to go off of though. The first thing I will remember from this section is about functional behavior and the example that was given with it. Second thing that I will remember is to make sure that you have to be very precise about target behavior. And the third thing is the topographical view of behavior modification.
Section 2.1
I enjoyed this section because it was a good review of all the sections before and I found that to be very helpful. In this section I liked how it make me think of ways that I can make changes to behaviors that I have that I would like to change. Since this section was mainly review their wasn't to much that I didn't like from this section. A few things I'll remember from this section is that reinforcement is better than punishment for changing a behavior. The second thing that I remember is that context is a very important antecedent. A third thing that I will remember the four reasons not to emit a behavior.
Terms: target behavior, reinforcement, punishment, topography, functional behavior, behavior modification, emit, antecedent
Section 1.5 & 2.1
What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section?
One thing that stands out in my mind and throughout the previous sections as well is the way it defines a word that needs clarification or just in case you forgot. For example, right in the beginning of the section, 3rd paragraph; it uses words like topographical then reminds you of what it means through parenthesis (the way they look) and also uses the word functional (what they do or accomplish). Clearly defining both words make things very simple for the reader.
Why?
Because, it not only does it do it at the beginning but throughout the remaining of the section as well, it is very helpful and it is definitely something that I really like about this section. It is especially help when learning new words and concepts alike. I learned the concept or what behavior classes and stimulus classes mean now.
What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section?
There was nothing that I did not like about this section only that I was not able to discuss it in class due to being out sick with the flu. I would have really enjoyed being there to discuss this in class. And since I don't have anything negative I would like to go ahead and just include another reason why I liked this section just because. You see I took this class to help change some of my own behaviors and because of this section I now know that the process is called self-directed behavior.
Why?
I thought the section on the Inter-observer agreement was very interesting. Once again, I would have liked to hear the discussion on that subject. Although, I have already placed some inter-observer agreement in place her in my own home. It should be interesting to see the outcome, which I will shortly.
What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section?
1) The one that that I will surely remember is how the better the definition of the target behavior the better the inter-observer agreement will be.
2) And that a baseline is the measurement of the target behavior prior to a behavioral intervention and is used to evaluate whether or not the intervention was effective
3) And that there are four outcomes that can occur when attempting to reinforce a target behavior.
Why?
I think that those three things are extremely important from this section. Because now I am able to define things in my own words and link them to personal aspects of my life. Finding the baseline is a very important part of behavior modification and whether or not the interventions are working are the only ways to determine if there is progress. And lastly, because the four outcomes will occur so that behavior modification can also occur is the foundation in my opinion.
Section 2.1
What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section?
There were some many things I liked about this section to pick on will be difficult by here it goes. In the very beginning of the section it started off by asking for ten words off the top of my head about section which I did not find aversive. And then it asked for three words I could define and use in context. I found this to be almost like a game for me and it was so much fun.
Why?
I think because it was challenging for me to remember them without looking up the answers. I don’t know if that is the best response but as silly as it sounds when you have four other psych classes sometimes the information gets tied into each other and sometimes I don’t remember which class I learned which word. The antecedent was the first section; target behavior is learning the material through reading and the consequence is learned new terminology. The little intro section was a refresher and helped me to re-learn the words and actually put them once again in my filing cabinet of a brain.
What was one thing that I disliked that was in the section?
Sometimes too much repetition gets boring and makes the section difficult to read. Going back to reinforcement and punishment felt like going backwards instead of learning something new. But then again I don’t know if it’s something that I really disliked because sometimes people need repetition and I can understand why it’s being done and what consequence would like to be achieved, (retention).
What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section?
1) That we can reinforce desirable behaviors that offset undesirable behaviors and the process is called DRO (Differential Reinforcement of Other)
2) Also that satiation reduces the efficacy of the reinforced while deprivation increases the efficacy of the reinforcer
3) And lastly, discriminative stimuli are antecedents in that they tell us what behaviors will be reinforced or punished.
Why?
I will remember those three concepts because I read the sections over and over so that I can truly understand the meanings. I feel that they were some of the most important parts of section 2.1 although it was a lot of information given. Knowing the differential reinforcement of other can really help to modify a behavior with ease.
Terms: baseline, behavior modification, intervention, target behavior, functional behavior classes, stimulus classes, topographical, functional, inter-observer agreement, self-directed behavior, antecedent, behavior, consequence, emit, aversive, elicit, reinforcement, punishment, operant behavior, response, satiation, deprivation, differential reinforcement, and discriminative stimuli.
MKH
Section 2.2
This section was interesting in differentiating the different kinds of reinforcement and punishment. I’ve studied the different types before, but it’s nice to have it reiterated as a refresher. I again enjoy the boxes that make us come up with our own examples.
Pavlov’s dogs weren’t unfamiliar to me but it was interesting to read the experiment in behavioral terms instead of the basic psychological terms.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs have been explained to me before, but it’s nice to have a refresher section on the subject.
I’m not completely unfamiliar with a lot of the behavioral concepts, but it’s helpful to have a reminder of what each concept is about.
Section 2.3
Positive and Negative Reinforcement were restated again in this section. I also appreciate each box that requires our own examples.
With the issue of the campus police having guns, I agree that they should be allowed to carry weapons. In the case of a school shooting, they would be able to properly act to the problem. If someone knows the campus police are carrying, it may deter those who are a possible threat to others or themselves. Personally, I would feel more comfortable on campus if the campus police were allowed to carry guns.
With the examples of how we were punished as kids, I’m a terrible example. I got punished for everything. I used to snowboard outside after dark with my friends while my mom was at work. We would be right in our yard on the hills that the plows made after a snowstorm. My grandma would be home, but if I didn’t answer the phone when my mom called, she would come home and ground me. However, I continued the behavior because I wanted to play with my friends, and I just kept the phone around so I could hear it ring.
I also used to IM my friends a lot online. I would only get a one hour allowance of internet time, and if I were to exceed an hour, my mom would come home from work and ground me from the computer. However, when she would leave for her ambulance shift, I would hop back online and continue to talk to my friends even though it was late and my mom had grounded me.
I got punished for a lot of things that I didn’t and still don’t agree with. I got spanked a lot, and not just one quick swat on the behind, it was more like a beating…at least to me it was.