Reading Activity Week #6 (Due Tuesday)

Section 2.4

This section really goes into some depth on the subject of extinction. This happens when a behavior that was previously reinforced ceases to be reinforced for emitting a specific behavior. The objective is to be able to remove reinforcement and still have the target behavior continue to be emitted. If this step was not included in the behavior modification process, we would continually be reinforcing the same behaviors. There would be no progress in behavior modification.
The main thing I did not like about this section was how many new terms were thrown at us in the attempt to clarify what extinction means. It’s a little hard to use all the terms in our writing when there are that many thrown at us all at once. I know there are words that have to be used to describe extinctions’ traits and characteristics, but they could be spread out in the reading just a bit.

The three things I will remember from this section are,
1) Extinction bursts occur when a target behavior is emitted over and over in hopes of eliciting reinforcement. The individual that was previously being reinforced is so used to the reinforcement that they continue to perform the target behavior in order to be reinforced.
2) Variability is related to extinction bursts in the fact that there is variability in the behaviors that will be emitted by the subject while trying to gain the reinforcement.
3) Aggressive behavior is fairly common when extinction bursts occur. This is when a subject starts to respond in angry outbursts when the previously targeted behavior is emitted but not reinforced.

I will remember these details of extinction because I am being reinforced by the idea that we may be tested over them and knowing them will allow me to answer questions regarding what we read. I also will remember them because they made the act of extinction more clear by explaining some of the other behaviors associated with it.

Section 2.5

I liked how after reading about continuous reinforcement or intermittent reinforcement, I was able to make the connect as to how we are reinforced in almost every behavior we emit. The details in this section on continuous reinforcement were a huge help to my understanding of reinforcement in general.
I did not like the part that asked us to fill out what the notation was for each of the examples. It would have been helpful if there had been a little more explanation before having us try to fill them out for ourselves.

The three things I will remember from section 2.5 are,
1) Ratio schedule refers to the amount of times a subject needs to be reinforced before they emit the target behavior.
2) Interval schedules refers to being reinforced with some time that passes between each behavior reinforcement.
3) Both the ratio schedule and the interval schedule can be either fixed or variable in nature.

I will remember these points that were made in the text because they are important to the continued increase in knowledge of the behavior modification process.

The topics that were talked about in these two sections were helpful because they expanded on the basics of behavior modifications they have been previously talked about. It is easier to understand something when you know more of the details about it.

Terms: Extinction, emit, reinforcement, behavior modification, extinction burst, variability, aggressive behavior, target behavior continuous reinforcement, intermittent reinforcement, ratio schedule, interval schedule

2.4 Additional Concepts
The example of extinction made it very easy to understand. When the child in class is behaving badly in class and the other kids laugh at him, that reinforces him to continue with the behavior. When the teacher tells the kids to ignore him, he would not be reinforced for the bad behavior therefore his behavior would be extinguished. I understand that generalization means, for example, that when you tell someone you are a psychology major, they immediately assume that you are going to analyze them because they have not yet been able to discriminate between psychologists and psychiatrists or researchers, but I am having trouble understanding how it relates to reinforcement.

Three things I will remember:
1) Extinction is a procedure associated with reinforcement but it is considered aversive.
2) Extinction burst happens when the behavior that was previously reinforced happens more often.
3) Spontaneous recovery is when the target behavior that has been extinguished begins happening again.

2.5 Schedules of Reinforcement
I like the examples explaining continuous reinforcement (CR). Saying that we receive continuous reinforcement from typing on keys on the keyboard make it very clear to understand. In this section, like one or two of the previous sections, there was a lot of information. There were too many new terms introduced for me to be able to completely understand one and then understand how it applies to the next term. I would really like to talk about this section in greater detail in class.

Three things I will remember:
1) Continuous reinforcement is important to get a target behavior under stimulus control.
2) Sometimes intermittent reinforcement can work better than continuous reinforcement.
3) When talking about ratio, it is talking about the number of behaviors being emitted.

Terms: extinction, extinguished, extinction burst, spontaneous recovery, target behavior, generalization, discrimination, continuous reinforcement, intermittent reinforcement, emitted

2.4 While reading section 2.4, the thing I liked the most was the general overview of extinction as a whole. Reading more about extinction allowed me to have an even better understanding of the concept as well as allowed me to think of ways in which extinction is used in real life situations. The thing I disliked about this section was the fact that the section seemed to repeat itself at times which made it a little long to read, but at the same time I know it was helping better understand the concept even further.

The three things I will remember from this section include the concepts of extinction, extinction burst, and the discussion of superstitions for the fact they all provided a better understanding of behavior modification and why we do what we do when it comes to our own behaviors.
1. Extinction- Extinction is an aversive process of stopping reinforcement of a particular behavior which was previously reinforced. As the book mentions, extinction is a process just as reinforcement and punishment are a process. With extinction the main goal is to extinguish a behavior. In the processes of the extinction, the previously reinforced person often becomes angry with the reinforcer which can become problematic.
2. Extinction Burst- Extinction burst occur when the reinforcement it initially withheld, the behavior that led to the initially reinforcement will occur more frequently in order to obtain the reinforcement that was previously received. Extinction bust can often lead to the successes of an individual to once again receive a reinforcer for their obnoxious repeated behaviors.
3. Superstitious Behaviors- Superstitious behaviors develop when and individual believes that a reinforcement occurs at seemingly random instances. For example a football player who has lucky socks that he wears to very big game and never washes. People who have superstitious behaviors tend to believe that a specific behavior will lead to a specific reinforcement, even if there is no real chance of saying a specific behavior is pin pointed to a specific reinforcement.

2.5 The thing I liked most about this chapter was the discussion of how scheduled reinforcements affect the effectiveness of both reinforcements and punishments. A lot of examples were used that helped me better understand this somewhat complicated concept of deciding which term means what. I really liked the section where we were asked to determine what type of reinforcement schedule was being used base on the example given and the answers’ were provided at the end of the exercise. I liked having the answers because often when we are asked to determine the type of reinforcement or come up with examples, there are times I am very unsure about my answers and may have the wrong idea about a topic. Having the answers provide allowed me to check myself to make sure I was on the right path to understanding the material. The thing I disliked about this section the most was it was a little bit confusing with all the acronyms for the terms being used. I know with more practice I will get the hang of the terms and their abbreviation’s it just made reading this section a bit of a challenge.

Three things I will take away from this section include the following for the fact that the concepts were challenging to understand, yet at the same time were easy to apply to real life examples of reinforcement.
1. Continuous Reinforcement- Continuous reinforcement is a form of reinforcement that is continuous in our environment. With continuous reinforcement, we automatically expect the reinforcement to occur after we emit a specific target behavior. With the use of continuous reinforcement, there is often the chance that when a target behavior that was previously reinforced is no longer reinforced, extinction can occur which in some cases can be problematic to the person or object doing the reinforcing.
2. Fixed or Variable Schedules- Both fixed and variable schedules are considered intermittent reinforcement meaning that it is a form of reinforcement that happens every now and then. Fixed schedules are held constant meaning that a target behavior must be emitted exactly 5 times in order to be reinforced every time. These schedules become predictable after you figure out how you will be reinforced for a behavior. Variable schedules are based on an average occurrence rate that tend to have a maximum and minimum point at which a reinforcement can occur. These reinforcements tend to happen randomly within the average occurrence and keeps participants on their toes.
3. Ratio and Interval schedules- Along with fixed or variable, the terms ratio and interval come into play. Ratio refers to a certain number of responses needed for reinforcement to take place. Interval schedules refer to the amount of time in which needs to pass before a reinforcement is given. Both ratio and interval schedules can be either fixed or variable and can have different affects on how reinforcements work.

After reading these sections, I am starting to see the complexity behind behavior modification and how it can be challenging to get people to alter their behaviors or make a change in a specific target behavior.

Terms: extinction, extinguish, aversive, extinction burst, superstitious behavior, continuous reinforcement, reinforcement, emit, target behavior, fixed schedules, variable schedules, ratio, interval,

Part 1- Section 2.4

This section was very beneficial to me because I was confused on the differences between extinction and punishment. The text describes how extinction occurs when something that has been reinforced for emitting a target behavior is no longer reinforced for emitting that same target behavior. What really helped me grasp the concept was the Family Guy example with Stuey and his mom. The more he said mom and used variability, his mom finally gave in. This led into discussing variability and extinction bursts. The examples given about extinction bursts such as drug addicts made it seem obvious as to why overcoming addictions are so challenging. If these extinction bursts and variability can be monitored, their chance of success will rise. I also really enjoyed the section about superstitious behaviors because my car is very old as well. I honestly think that I know exactly how to get my car started in cold weather. However, my girlfriend calls me crazy and superstitious and I can see where she is coming from now.
I thought the section about generalization and discrimination was not the easiest thing to comprehend. I was confused when it was considered generalization or discrimination when using the psychology example.

1. I will remember the difference between extinction and punishment because punishment involves the addition or subtraction of something aversive although they both are aversive.
2. I will remember that extinction can cause the organism to emit indicative behaviors because of stress of not being reinforced for previous behavior.
3. I will remember what superstitious behavior is because of the car example.

Part 2- Section 2.5

This section was probably the most challenging thus far. However, the Consumer Behavior class I took last year illustrated the definitions of variable and fixed ratio and variable and fixed intervals. Even back then, it took me some time fully comprehend each. I liked how the examples and questions were given for each type of scheduled behavior. This gave me a great opportunity to determine which type of schedule was being emitted. The graphs and explanations/examples that were provided were beneficial in illustrating why each schedule functioned the way it did. Something I did not like was how there were no answers provided for the examples given in which we had to answer which type of schedule was being asked. I wish the answer could have been provided at the bottom of the page so we could determine if we comprehended the material correctly.

1. I will remember that variable ratio and variable interval will elicit a high steady rate of responding because the organism never truly knows when the behavior will be reinforced.
2 I will remember that fixed interval will elicit high steady rate of responding with some pause because of the paycheck example for every two weeks.
3. I will remember that variable ratio is probably the best type of schedule to enforce because it makes the employee put forth more effort because they never know exactly how much effort it takes to do a great job.

These sections have built upon my foundation of behavior modification because it has added to my arsenal of vocab and understanding. It also helped me better understand the terms and to not confuse them with similar terms.

Terminology: behavior, elicit, emit, punishment, extinction, discriminative stimulus , variability, extinction bursts, superstitious behavior, aversive, generalization, VR, VI, FI, FR, schedule behavior.

Section 2.4
I really liked how this section went into more detail on extinction. It helped me distinguish the differences between extinction and punishment. I am now easily able to identify extinction bursts, variability, and extinction in real life situations.
I disliked how few examples there were for discrimination (detecting subtle differences between stimuli and contexts to be able to tell them apart). It made it harder for me to really grasp the term and apply it to examples and every day life.
Three things I will remember:
1. Superstitious behaviors will occur when reinforcement is random. This will help me understand why organisms develop an unusual behavior and will allow me to manipulate their behaviors if need be.
2. Extinction bursts are best ignored. If you give into them the process of extinction is ruined. This will be useful information when I have kids and want them to behave a certain way.
3. The difference between punishment and extinction. I will now be able to distinguish if a target behavior needs punishment or extinction.

Section 2.5
I really liked learning about continuous reinforcement and intermittent reinforcement. These help explain the different types of manipulations that are required to get an organism to emit a desired behavior.
I disliked how much information was thrown at you. Everything seemed to run together when it got to learning about the different intervals and schedules. I think things needed to be broken down a little better.
Three things I will remember:
1. Intermittent reinforcement is better to use than continuous reinforcement because we may not always be reinforced for every behavior we emit or every time we emit the desired behavior.
2. The number of behaviors that are being emitted is called ratio.
3. How there are different ways to be reinforced such as: Ratio schedule and interval schedules. These different techniques can be used for manipulation of certain behaviors.

I have built on what I have learned in previous sections by tying these new terms and examples in with the old ones. Being able to really understand extinction has helped me realize the difference between that and punishment and how to use them correctly.

Terms: Extinction, punishment, extinction bursts, variability, discrimination, superstitious behaviors, reinforcement, target behavior, continuous reinforcement, intermittent reinforcement, emit, ratio, ratio schedule, interval schedule

Section 2.4
I liked the differentiation between extinguished and extinction because they are very similar and I was probably using it incorrectly before. Extintion is the procedure that extinguished a target behavior. I disliked the explanation of the difference between generalization and discrimination. I do understand generalization. For example if someone gets drunk they may generalize that all alcohol is bad when in actuality in moderation wine can be very good for your health. But I did not understand from the text exactly what discrimination means in psychology, unless it is just the process of learning not to generalize...
I will remember the following because it was stated clearly in the text:
1. Superstitious behavior may occur from random unintended reinforcement.
2. Generalization occurs when the same behavior is emited when other variables are not considered.
3. Variability is using a behavior other than the target behavior to try and get reinforcement, seeking out similar behaviors in desperation.

Section 2.5
I appreciated the examples on the schedules of reinforcement. I did a project with schedules of reinforcement using a virtual rat named Sniffy. It had an operant chamber (Skinner box) and I had to determine when Sniffy would recieve food for the target behavior of bar pressing based on the schedules.But this has been awhile and it can be kind of confusing to learn all of them at once so I learned the key words to help me out!
I don't think I disliked anything but here is the less complex version of the schedules of reinforcement that helps me distinguish between them.
1. number of times= ratio
2. passage of time= interval
3. fixed = constant
4. variable = at times
5. CR is easy because continuous reinforcement can be thought of as every single time. So every time X behavior occured there was reinforement.

Terms: continuous reinforcement, schedules of reinforcement, ratio, interval, fixed, variability, operant chamber, emit, generalization, discrimination, superstitious behaviors, extinguish, extinction, reinforcement, target behavior.

Section 2.4
One thing I really liked about this section was the extent of the examples, espessially the use of Family Guy refrences because they relate to the younger crowd. It really allows me to understand the material better and make use of it it everyday life. I did not dislike anything in this section.
1)Supersticios behavior- I will rememeber this because it applies so well to eveyday life, especially in sports. If you do something that you think will help your team win and it "works", then you will think that eveytime you emmit that behavior then the desirable response will occur.
2)Generalization- I will rememeber this because people use this in so many ways when you talk to them. When it happens to me I am ususally to lazy or just dont care to get into specific terms because i assume that the people I talk to know what I am getting at.
3)Extinction- I will remember extinction in regards to the Family Guy reference. I have seen that episode so many times but never put together the extinction term with the scene. So now everytime I watch the episode now extinction will come to my mind.

Section 2.5
One thing I liked about this section is all the boxes that offer a chance to see how much you learned about the reading. Since there is a lot of information it really helped to have a lot of chances to review the newly learned material instead of just reading a bunch of information and try remember it all. I didn't like all the typos and at points the text jumped around and made it hard to stay focused on the information.
1)I will rememeber the Schedual of Reinforcement because it is very similar to stats with ratios and intervals. I feel that I rememebr information more if it is similar to information in another subject.
2)I will rememebr Skinners operant container. This is the second time I have been told about this so by going over it again in more detail it will stay in my memory more.
3)I will rememebr that a fixed ratio has a higher extinction burst rate than variable. This is because it makes sense to me why it would happen and after reading the section before this, which has a lot of information about extinction, I am able to connect it to other aspects of behavior modification.

After reading this section I have learned a lot about different types of reinforcement and the frequency in which they are applied using either fixed or variable ratios or intervals. Also I learned a lot about extinction and why it happens. I did not know about it let alone that there were different types of it. After reading about these I am much more aware and conscious that in behavior modification there are many sub catigories to each broad topic in this field.

Terms: emmit,desirable,response,extinction,supersticious behavior,generalization,schedual of reinforcement,ratio,interval,fixed ratio,extinction burst,frequency

2.4
One thing I liked about this section was the new information that was given. I felt that I could easily think of situations for each new term that I have personally witnessed or have done myself. One thing I did not like though, was that there seemed to be a lot more information in this section to remember. Also, extinction and punishment are very similar and I feel confused about them still a little bit. If I was given a situation and asked if it was extinction or punishment I'm not 100% positive I would be able to distinguish the two.
Three things I will remember:
1. Extinction occurs when an organism that has been reinforced for emitting a target behavior is no longer reinforced for emitting that same target behavior.
2. Extinction burst: When reinforcement is withheld, the behavior that used to lead to reinforcement will occur more often. There will be an increased amount of the behavior as the individual tries even harder to obtain reinforcement.
3. Variability: During an extinction burst the person trying to get a specific behavior will vary in ways to get the behavior- like stewie saying “mom, mum, mommy, lois” to get the attention of his mom.
2.5
One thing I liked about this section was the examples given for terms and the charts. Really helped me understand everything better. What I didn't like again, was the extent of the information given. Previous sections were hitting on a certain couple points that did not bore me with reading. These last two sections kind of bored me a little bit.
Three things I will remember:
1. Biological continuity is the belief that all living things in the world can be arranged according to their complexity .
2. Continuous reinforcement- Continually being reinforced so we continue to do that specific behavior. Example- every time I hit a key on my keyboard, the letter of the corresponding key is showing up on my screen. If that letter only came up every once in awhile I may just give up on typing.
3. Fixed Ratio- Doing something a certain number of times to be reinforced- Pigeon has to peck a key 10 times to be reinforced.

Section 2.4

1) I liked how this section broke down extinction and even compared it to punishment so the reader can better understand the material. The example used from Family Guy was also very helpful in understanding the literature because it is something that most of us have seen and can even relate from some point in our lives whether in partaking ourselves or having siblings. I found the section about extinction burst to be particularly interesting. It is hard to imagine that something would get worse before it gets better but this seems to be the case if even in an extreme way.
2) The section on discriminative extinction and discriminative extinction stimuli was a little lacking in explanation as some points. I just feel like it could have been explained better. Other then that I thought that this section was well written filled with good interactive examples.
3) One thing that I will remember is how superstitious behavior can emit from spontaneous or sporadic reinforcement. I know in high school being an athlete, we all had our pregame rituals, the game spandex, or the special headband we wore every game until we lost. I also will remember how discrimination can be a good thing when it comes to classifying ideals or professions. Another thing that I will remember is that some behaviors that are extinguished can reoccur later in life known at spontaneous recovery.

Section 2.5

1) I liked the picture included in this section of the hierarchy of biological beings it helped to solidify the fact that conditioning and learning can be applied to all beings. The flow of this section makes it easy to follow the step-by-step schedule of the reinforcement function. The examples were much more visual and added to the section especially when some of the material can be kind of heady. I look at it as some sort of break for my brain.
2) Reading this section at a later hour of the night was not the best idea because all of the letters and connotations all started to run together making this a tough read. However when I reread this same section the next day it made much more sense. Other then that I really didn’t find anything wrong with the section and as I stated before I thoroughly enjoyed the colorful graphs.
3) One thing that I will remember is that using fixed reinforcement or variable reinforcement can result in different behaviors—using variable reinforcement can actually result in a stronger base. I will also remember that Skinner believed that all things can learn in a similar fashion—maybe I can train my boyfriend like I do my cat! The last thing that I will be sure to remember is that the ratio of a behavior in a set interval can ultimately alter what the reinforcement is or the schedule it is on.

A) It has correlated statistics and behavioral psychology in a way I did not see possible. As I do not particularly like math, I hope it stays with just reading graphs and the like.

Terms: Reinforcement, Fixed Reinforcement, Variable Reinforcement, Behaviors, Base, Ratio, Interval, Conditioning, Learning, Superstitious Behavior, Emit, Spontaneous Recovery, Discrimination, Extinguished, Discriminative Extinction, Stimuli, Extinction, Punishment, Extinction Burst

Section 2.4 – Additional concepts related to reinforcement and punishment

What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section?

One thing I really enjoyed about this section was the way it introduced additional concepts related to reinforcement and punishment was how the text flowed from on term that I knew into several others that were similar or related to the term but somehow different. For example: extinction, I knew that word but then that word turned into a source for new terms to be identified i.e. Extinguish and extinguished. The three would seem to be the same but when used in the psychological reference they are different. But that was probably the only thing that I liked about this section.

Why?

Why I liked it well, because by reviewing the basic definition of the term it makes it to learn and understand new terms down the like especially when the original term is redefined and relearned in my memory. And because it’s down the line and throughout the section that it really does make a difference if and how I retain the old and all the new information. I also enjoyed learning new terms like spontaneous recovery because that’s just the way I am but it was a little overwhelming I bet for others who are not fluent readers like myself.

What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? And WHY?

Honestly, there were several things that I did not like about this section. It was a little confusing actually it was a lot confusing at times. There were too many new terms and definitions being used and all at once for that matter. For instance, when dealing with extinction and the variability during the extinction burst. Really? What does that really mean? I had so many questions after reading this section and as I did the box exercises I was very puzzled at whether or not I actually understood the difference between extinctions. Once again, I always think I am doing it right but without a definite answer I am always second guessing myself. I really don’t like that about the boxes, I know I said that before. Oh and I also think this section is too long and definitely crams too much information in just one section. There is just so much going on throughout the section that by the end I really did feel like my brain was overloaded and honestly, I don’t think I retained it all. I even had to read it several times just to write the summary.

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

1. Well, from the very beginning or first part of the section I have put into my memory that extinction at the beginning will produce what is sometimes called an extinction burst and that it involves an increase in the behavior you are trying to decrease.

2. Secondly, sometimes or in certain circumstances behaviors that have been extinguished could or may reoccur after some time and that would be called spontaneous recovery.

3. And finally, superstitious behaviors will occur when a behavior, though it may lead to reinforcement but not actuality directly related to the reinforcement.

Why?

Those three things are what I really learned or understood plus a few more. But once again this section was too complicated to be just on section. I really think it could be more simplified because it was too much information to try to remember or consume in just on section.

Section 2.5 – Schedules of Reinforcement

What was something that you really liked about this section?

I really liked hearing and learning the vast number of new terms like ratio schedule and continuous reinforcement. The way the text simplifies the terms and puts them into ways that I could understand them by using examples and putting the boxes right in places that need me to think about the term and the use it in an example so that I can move on to the next section.

Why?

Personally, I like learning new things and learning new terms, especially. I really enjoy using the verbiage on a daily basis so that my extended psychological vocabulary is continuously growing and I am preparing myself for conversations with other psychologists as well.

What was something that you disliked about this section? Why?

Just like my complaint in the last section, unfortunately I feel the same way with this one, IT WAS TOO LONG AND way too much information especially all at once which made things seem extremely overwhelming and then my stress turned into frustration during my readings. I feel that it was extremely way too long and definitely way worse than the previous section. AND WHY?

When I feel overwhelmed or stressed out my learning capabilities seem to start to diminish. I seem to lose concentration because the words or terms begin to blend all together and I couldn’t remember one thing for another by the middle of the section. For example, there are several types of intermittent reinforcement which are classified as either fixed or variable and ratio or interval; that left me perplexed and then it said something like the ratio versus Interval Schedules of Reinforcement. Every time the text referred to ratio, I thought of math and it just confused me more. And then all the abbreviations all started to get mixed up too. It was just too long and too much information all at once. I can’t say too much good about it because of all the sections this one was the worst for me.

What are three things that you read that you will remember about the section?

If anything that I will remember from this section it would be the 3 simplest things:

1. That B.F. Skinner tested his learning theories using laboratory animals and he generalized that his findings were to humans a biological continuity along with the animal species.

2. Secondly, the basic definition of CR – Continuous Reinforcement refers to getting reinforced every time a behavior is emitted.

3. And finally, for a behavior to be under the control of reinforcement, it does not need to be
reinforced every time.

Why?

Well, because those there the first few things early on in the section that I really remember and can define. Somewhere on the 2nd page is where things get really complicated and begin to start getting confusing. This section should probably be divided into two section or a part one and part two kind of thing and probably could stand to be a lecture discussion on its own for the sure fact that were so many things covered in this section.

Terms: reinforcement, punishment, extinction, extinguish, extinguished, redefined, relearned, variability, spontaneous recovery, memory, behavior, extinguish burst, superstitious behaviors, ratio schedules, continuous reinforcement, B.F. Skinner, laboratory, biological theories, reinforced, species, and emitted.

Section 2.4
One thing that I liked about this section was how it explained how and why extinction is associated with reinforcement and should not be considered and punishment. When first reading the definition of extinction I did not understand why it was not considered a punishment because I saw the end result as reducing the frequency of the targeted behavior. Once I read through the explanations that showed that to be extinction the behavior must of at first been reinforced. Though extinction is aversive and takes away the desired reinforcement of the subject it does not make it a punishment. It is also explained that extinction is not always done under the control of another party but can take place in uncontrolled contexts. This concept of understanding exactly how extinction is classified is important because it determines when such tactics can be used with particular target behaviors and as it has been repeated numerous times in this book, it allows for teh correct language usage in behavior modificatoin which makes sure that everything is communicated clearly and understood by those who are recieving the information.
One thing that I did not like about this section was the section on generalization and discrimination. The rest of the section went into great depth with the explanation of all of the terms in regard to extinction and I felt that that aspect was not as strong in this part of the section. The definition of generalizatoin left me especially confused as to what would fall into it simply because I found it to be broad (though I do understand that it is a term that allows for many different stimuli and stituations to fall into it) and did not give enough direction as to what it all included. I felt that the examples did not connect it to modification of behavior or extinction which is what this section focused on which may be why I am unsure of my understanding of the terms. I feel as though I am overcomplicated the term which is probably the source of my confusion.

Things To Remember
1. One important thing that I will take from this section is what an extinction burst is and what it can tell you about the extinction procedure. An extinction burst is the increased frequency of the previously reinforced emitted behavior which occurs due to the initial withholding of reinforcement. This is when some people can be discouraged about the success of their exinction proecudre because it is elicitting the opposite of the desired outcome. This is a common mistake and people need to understand that an extinction burst does not mean the procedure is failing, but quite the opposite in means that it is beginning to work. Many times during this period procedures will fail because the person witholding the reinforcement will give in simply beacuse they can not stand the increased behavior. This is important to know so that when performing an extinction process the person allows for the extinction burst to take place without giving in or losing morale about the success of the procedure.
2. Another important characteristic of extinction is variability. This occurs during the extinction burst and can be what causes so many people to give into reinforcing the behavior once again. Variability involves emitting behaviors that are topographically different but belong in the same functional class. A variety of different types of behaviors are used in hopes that one of them will lead to the desired reinfrocement. This is important because in many cases the behaviors tend to increase in aversiveness to the one that is withholding the reinforcement and so they must remain firm in their standing in order for the extinction to be successful. It also gives a better understanding to our own actions as to why we try multiple different strategies in order to get to the same solution which will allow for us to better analyze our own actions.
3. Another characteristic that is important to remember about extinction is the occurance of spontaneous recovery and why it occurs. Spontaneous recovery is when a behavior is emitted again after it has been extinguished. Context and history are main factors in this because they are what have created habbits of the emitted behavior. Sometimes previous experiences can be so strong that they lead one to emit the behavior once again in hopes the the extinction will not continue to occur and they will once again be reinforced. This is important to know that performing extinction procedures because you must stay consistent in witholding the reinforcer in order for the effects to remain successful.

Section 2.5
One thing that I liked about this section was all of the examples and activites that helped to explain and allow me to better understand the efinitions of each type of reinforcement schedule. I felt that all of the practice boxes really helped to lay out what fit into each different type of schedule. I especially appreciated this for the schedules that included variable as an aspect because previous to this class I did not have a full understanding of what was meant and included in a variable reinforcement schedule and the examples allowed me to understand that it is not just a random occurance but it also, and mainly, includes averages which give it the unknown factor but within limits. The examples also allowed me to become familiar with the type of notation that is used when describing reinforcement schedules which I had never seen used before this section and allows for me now to be able to understand those abbrevations when they appear in data and text.
One thing that I was left confused (which would be why I do not liek it) about with this chapter was how to do proper notation when the definition involves the term "a couple". I was uncertain as to how to put a numerical value to this statement in which is needed for the proper notation, I feel this is subjective and therefore can mean different things to different people that read the statement.
Things To Remember
1. One thing that I will take from this chapter is the definition of the four different types of intermittent reinforcement. This comes with the understanding of the differences between ratio and interval as well as between fixed and variable. When a reinforcement schedule is fixed the reinforcer is presented consistently within the parameters of the number of times the behavior is emitted, which would be a fixed ratio schedule, or within the paramaters of a given amount of time elapsed, which would be a ixed interal schedule. When a reinforcement a range is determined and an average is defined in which then the reinforcement can be administered between a the range of number of times that a behavior is emitted, making it a variable ratio schedule, or administered between a range of time passed and the behavior is emitted, which would be a variable interbal schedule. These defintions are important because it will set up how a reinforcement procedure will occur and allow clear guidelines for those running the procedure in order to recieve the desirable resultes. Having a structure allows for a more controleed process.
2. An important thing to take away from this section is that variable schedules elicit constant behaviors where as fixed schedules elicit a fluctuation in behaviors. This is because in a variable schedule the person can not be certain when of the exact moment that the reinforcer will be adminisistered and so the behavior is constant in hopes that they will do what it takes to get that reinforcer that they desire. In a fixed schedule that subject is able to learn when the reinforcer will be coming and do the bare minimum required in order to get that reinforcer and will then after recieving it many times take a post-reinforcement pause where they do not emit the behavior because they know what it takes to once again have the reinforcer administered. This is important to know because it shows that the variable schedules elicit success in the procedure and also shows that the most efficient reinforcement schedule is to use a variable ratio technique whenever possible. This gives background when it is being decided how to set up a reinforcement procedure.
3. One thing that I will take from this section is that the use of continuous reinforcement, which is what is generally visualized when one first begins to talk about reinforcement, is not the most effective way to modify a behavior and it can have set backs. One of the major set backs of using continuous reinforcement is that when extinction occurs it comes across as much more adversive and more sever actions are put into place by the one that is no longer receiving reinforcement.

These sections have built on to what we have already learned about reinforcement procedure and have shown that there are many more options, that tend to show better success, than simply continuous reinforcement which is what we have covered up to this point. It helped to explain extinction and how it can be used instead of a punishment procedure which we have been taught to avoid if possible. I learned from this chapter more depth about interval reinforcement schedules than I had known from previous psychology classes which simply had the definition as not consitent in the administration. These sections allowed us to have more options when coming up with reinforcement procedures and allowing us to see what procedures could bring about the best success in different situations.

Terms used: extinction, reinforcement, punishment, aversive, generalization, extinction burst, emit, elicit, variability topography, functional class, spntaneous recovery, extinguished, reinforcement schedule, variable, intermittent reinforcement, ratio, interval, fixed, variable, post-reinforcement pause, continuous reiforcement

Section 2.4

What I really liked in this section was the ongoing reference of Family Guy in regards to the extinction, extinction burst, and variability. I liked this because although you didn't write the book this year, it is still a recent and relatable example. I used to watch that show a lot and I enjoyed seeing it used to demonstrate the relevant topics in a psychology class. I generally don't dislike things. I find myself neutral to the majority of things I encounter on a day to day basis. However, as I am being asked to dig and find something that I dislike in this section, I would say it would be the inclusion of superstitious behaviors without a better tie in to the behavior modification process. I found that section interesting, but it didn't talk about how to avoid superstitious behaviors while reinforcing someone's behaviors. The three things I will most remember from this section are:
1. Extinction is an aversive behavior, and should still not be used in lieu of reinforcement. It is only to be used if one wishes to change a behavior that was previously reinforced.
2. Variability is the term used to describe the subtle variations of behavior one emits when searching for reinforcement during an extinction burst.
3. While extinguishing a behavior, an extinction burst will occur that you will have to be sure not to reinforce. Otherwise, it would be harder to extinguish the behavior.

Section 2.5

I liked this section in general, but one thing I really liked was the drawing of the great chain of being. It looked super official, and I liked the relation that we learn from experiments on animals because they are just simpler beings than us. I've often wondered exactly how relatable animal research is to the human behaviors. I also liked how birds were above fish. I hate fish. One thing I disliked was the table on page 12 of whether or not something ratio, interval, fixed or variable. I disliked this because you clarified if it were ratio or interval, and fixed or variable. Then you simply combined the words. It seemed like an unnecessary graph. Three things I will remember from this section are:
1. The different reinforcement schedules will elicit different patterns of responding, such as Variable ones leaving a marginal pause, and the other combinations create differing patterns.
2. I will remember the abbreviations, such as a fixed ratio of 15 button pushes would be FR15.
3. The Fixed Interval follows a scallop shaped graph for responses until the reinforcement occurs.

This section has greatly clarified my knowledge of the various patterns of responding when being reinforced. It also added to my knowledge of extinction and added the entire concept of spontaneous recovery. It also brought generalization and discrimination to my grasps of psychology. It also showed me how superstitions begin.

Terms: Extinction, extinction burst, variability, superstitious behaviors, behavior, reinforcing, aversive, emit, ratio, interval, fixed, variable, elicit.

What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? I really liked the section of this reading that talked about the example of extinction bursts. Because it made me think of the movie Wedding Crashers, when Will Farrell and Owen Wilson are in Will's house and will is yelling at his mom to get the meatloaf. it can be assumed that his mother typically reinforces will's immature behavior by yielding to his beck and call. As will continues to call for his mother she does not respond so his behavior becomes more aggressive, but his mother does not come and bring the meatloaf so will Farrell progresses to using aggressive behavior by yelling the "F" word at his mom. HILARIOUS.

What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? I disliked the section about generalization and discrimination. Because I feel like the reading did not give a clear definition to the difference between the two. its almost as if generalization was described the the act of not discriminating. so I am confused to what the exact definition is and how it is used in behavior. I need clarification.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?I will remember that an extinction burst is when the reinforcer is paused then the typically behavior will occur, and may become more aversive depending on the situation. Because I can relate this to my everyday life and makes me think of my own behaviors where I have not got what I wanted so I changed my behavior in hope to achieve the same reward as before.
Secondly I will remember that aggressive behavior is a common response to a extinction burst goes wrong. This is easy to remember because my brothers typically react in an aggressive way when they get upset because things aren't going their way.
thirdly I will remember that a spontaneous recovery is when a previously extinguished behaviors is revisited for example this would make me think of revisiting my elementary school when in Cedar Rapids even though I know that it got closed.

What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? I really liked that this section had alot of pictures and graphs, because sometimes it is helpful to see the information displayed in another way. I am a visual person so being able to see a graph that shows the relationship between two variables shown in the variable- ratio schedule.

What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? I did not like the heavy load of reading because the difference between FR,FI,VR,and VI are hard to remember so I started to get confused when the very next paragraph started using the acronyms instead of writing out the actual word.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?
first is that a variable ratio would be if you weren't allowed to advance to another level of your favorite game without achieving a certain amount of points. so being able to achieve the points would be a positive reinforcement for the gamer.
secondly is that continuous reinforcement is when a behavior is reinforced every time it is produced. this would make me think of how whenever i get good grades i get reinforced by an intrinsic reward of a high GPA and also a extrinsic award of money from my parents.
thirdly i will remember that interval and ratio to not mean the same thing. a ratio is the number of behaviors emitted while an interval does count the number of times a behavior was emitted but instead the amount of time that has lapsed between each behavior.

terms: behavior, extrinsic, intrinsic, reinforcement, positive reinforcement, aversive, variable, extinction, extinguished behavior,spontaneous recovery, aggressive behavior, interval, ratio.

2.4
One thing I really like about this section was that it went into such great detail on extinction. This was helpfully in order to fully understand the concept. Extinction is when something stops being reinforced for a behavior that was once reinforced. Extinction is used in order to have the behavior still be emitted without the use of a reinforcer. An example of extinction would be a child getting a sticker every time he brushes hid teeth. Over time, the child no longer gets a sticker because brushing his teeth is expected of him. The behavior of brushing his teeth is still continued without the reinforcer of the sticker because brushing his teeth is now done out of habit. There wasn’t really anything I disliked about this chapter. I like the content because it is repetitive which ensures that I am learning what I’m reading.

Three things I will remember from this section are extinction bursts, variability and discriminative extinction. Extinction burst is when the behavior that was once reinforced happens more often. Variability is when the organism emits behaviors similar to the behavior that was previously reinforced to continue being reinforced. Discriminative extinction is when a particular stimulus in the environment indicates that no reinforcement will result for emitting a target behavior.

2.5
I found the schedules of reinforcement interesting and I really liked how it was explained. Schedules of reinforcement tell us that by learning how one organism learns, we can better understand how another organism learns. One thing I didn’t like about this chapter was that it was a lot to take in for one section. I thought maybe it could be broken down into two different sections. That way it wouldn’t have been so much information to focus on all at once.

Three things I’ll remember about this chapter are continuous reinforcement, intermittent reinforcement and schedules of reinforcement. Schedules of reinforcement suggest that you can learn how one organism learns be looking at how another organism learns. Continuous reinforcement is when each response is reinforced. This is a type of ratio schedule. Intermittent reinforcement is being reinforce happens every now and then.

Reading these sections has given me greater insight to extinction. It has also built on the terms and examples of previous sections.

Terms: emit, behavior, reinforce, extinction, extinction burst, variability, discriminative extinction, stimulus, target behavior, schedules of reinforcement, continuous reinforcement, intermittent reinforcement, ratio schedule.

2.4
I liked that this section was an overview of extinction. Reading this helped me have a better understanding of extinction and how it is used in real life situations. Going over how you must keep ignoring the behavior for it to finally become extinct, and if you give in it will be harder to try and get rid of that behavior later on. Learning about extinction bursts and how they will happen when trying to make a behavior extinct but that you must keep ignoring the behavior if you want it to work. Some things that I will remember from this section are:
1) Extinction bursts and how they must be ignored when they happen
2) Superstitious behaviors happen when you do something that you think will cause reinforcement.
3) Spontaneous recovery is when a behavior occurs again after it has already been extinguished.
I'll remember these because of all the good examples that came with them and easily I could relate them to my life

2.5
In this section I enjoyed the explanations between continuous and intermittent reinforcements. Learning the difference between the two was pretty easy for me. I also found that the part about schedule of reinforcement to be interesting. There was a bunch to try and learn in this section which is something that I disliked. Three things that I learned from this chapter are:
1)The difference between continuous reinforcement and interval reinforcement.
2)The different types of intermittent reinforcements
3)Interval and Ratio schedules and the difference between the two, how ratio relates to the amount of responses that are needed for reinforcement.

Terms: Extinction, extinction bursts, superstitious behavior, spontaneous recovery, continuous reinforcement, intermittent reinforcement, schedule of reinforcement, interval, ratio

Section 2.4

I liked how the section gives a good review of extinction and extinction bursts. When I first read the section on extinction I had a hard time remembering about extinction burts. This refreshed my memory on extinction but also helped me get the idea down on extinction bursts. Then I used the examples from the section to further my understanding. This was very beneficial.

The one thing I didn’t really enjoy bout the section was the amount of terms thrown in. At first I thought I was learning the term extinction but then several other words got thrown in there trying to describe extinction. I felt like it was hard to separate all the terms and get a good understanding of each. It was very packed with information. I think that I would have gotten the idea more quickly if so many weren’t included in the section. It was interesting how many terms related to extinction.

The three things I will remember will be. The term of 1)extinction: process that’s associated with reinforcement. 2) Spontaneous Recovery is when a behavior that was extinguished reoccurs again.3) Supersticous behavior. There was a good example involving the car.

Section 2.5

One thing I liked in this section was how there were several good examples to practice yet we also could look up youtube videos. This was a nice mix up between sections to get some of the terms down properly. The section with the terms interval schedules, ratio schedules, fixed ratios, and variable ratios helped me get good practice and to use a visual aid.

The one part of the section I didn’t like was how packed it was. There were numerous terms thrown into this section in only 14 pgs. All the terms and text seemed to run together. It was difficult for me to desipher where one topic started and ended. All the information was good it just needed to be separated better and expanded on a little more.

The three things I will remember is 1) fixed interval and fixed ratio terms.
2)Ratio: is the number of behaviors that are being emitted. 3) Continuous and intermittent reinforcement were two terms that stood out to me. These are the different types of manipulation that can be used in order to get the desired behavior.

Term: interval ratio, ratio schedule, fixed ratios, variable ratios, extinction, extinction bursts, spontaneous recovery, supersticious behavior,

2.4
One thing that I liked in this section was the example that shed new perspective on extinguishing behavior. I have always seen extinction, as being something that was not wanted, we didn’t want behavior to go away just because we no longer enforced them. But in the example provided on how the child would interrupt the mother gave me an Aha moment on the fact that sometimes we want behavior to elicit change in behavior that has been reinforced previously. (Which bring up something I would like to share at the end of this post).
Something that frustrated me was the example of extinction brought on by a non-organism. Even though a vending machine isn’t exactly an organism, I think the example was a little sluggish in its attempt to provide an example. And its not like you would completely stop using vending machines in general it’d just be that vending machine. But that’s just me being picky. And at the middle of page 7 right before the workbook portion section its missing extinction in an important part. It says discriminative stimuli and it should say descriptive extinction stimuli.
I think the most important things to take away from this section are: That subjects going through the extinction process will begin to emit a behavior with changes in topography. This can be good as stated in a previous example about the bird trying to fetch water out of the jar in a pervious section. I have narrow mindedly perceived extinction burst as only something that was good for the species in adaption and trying to get to a result but now I can also see it as a fix of some sort. Another thing that I found important to remember is that extinction only occurs when reinforcement is no longer given. And this can sometimes be misconstrued with punishment because of its ability to put an end to the likely hood of a behavior. And I will also remember how superstition applies to behavior and how a person will try to mimic the behavior that allowed them to receive the reinforcer previously.
2.5
I liked that this chapter points out the fact that it can be hard to reinforce behavior continuously. While it is ideal there are other methods to which behavior can be reinforced while still increasing the probability of the subject emitting the target behavior. One aspect that I didn’t like was how I was given a lot of graphs and am forced to automatically take them as truth. In all things I like to think critically on the info given and like to check data and review sources. I trust you though, three things that I will take away from this chapter are: The fact that variable ratio intervals are the most conducive to increasing the target behavior. I will also remember that each reinforcement schedule has a different impact on behavior, they do not all have they same patterns of increase. And lastly, the fact that there is a major difference in behavior emitted based on the timing of the reinforcement.
I think that 2.4 played more influence on shedding new light. But now after reading the sections, I am that much closer to saying that I know a thing or two about behaviorism. I also know that I have gained insight on how to look at specific terms and come up with examples that could give someone else learning about behavior a solid understanding.
Terms: Extinguishing, Extinction, Enforced, Elicit, Reinforced, Descriptive Stimuli, Descriptive Extinction Stimuli, Emit, Topography, Reinforcement, Punishment, Superstition, Reinforcer, Variable Ratio, Target Behavior, Emitted.

Section 2.4
1) I really enjoyed all of the examples used in the text. It really helped me distinguish between the information and how the behaviors effect people. I was able to see connections between the examples and people in my daily life, which I found very interesting.
2) The beginning almost seemed like too much of a review. It was very dull to read because I felt like it was the third or fourth time I was reading that same information. Maybe I feel that way because we have read the information in the past few sections and have disused it in class quite thoroughly. But I was very bored when reading the beginning of the section.
3) (a) I will remember that extinction is a process because the section compared it to how reinforcement is a process. That helped me to be able to better connect the two behaviors and understand and remember them more effectively. (b) I will remember that variability involves making slight changes to a behavior in order to elicit the desired response. I will remember this due to the clip from Family Guy that we watched during class, and the section reusing that situation as an example in the text. (c)
Section 2.5
1) At the end of the section, the real world situations used to describe the aspects of schedules reinforcement really helped me to understand them better. More so than the examples of the animals and how they learned from the different intervals. Also I like when we were asked to think about what boxes were hardest or easiest to fill out because it caused me to think more abstractly about each of those examples as well.
2) Similar to my statement above, I disliked how repetitive this section was to the sections we have previously read for our assignments. It took a long time before I reach any new information.
3) (a) Continuous reinforcement is something that occurs most often in our day to day life. I will remember this information because after reading this section I am beginning to see more examples of this in everyone’s daily existence and am staring to think more automatically in terms of behavior modification. (b) Ratio strain involves the concept of post-reinforcement pause. I will remember this because it give me a little bit more of an idea why such things like replaces occur within people and their behaviors. (c) Because of the real world examples at the end of the section I will remember that schedules of reinforcement can be used in everyday situations to improve peoples’ quality of life.

After reading these two section I feel that Behavior Modification has many different levels of information that are essential in understanding behavior. It seems that every section just goes a little bit deeper into the next level of the information. For example, previously we learned just about extinction and these sections greatly expanded on that topic. It is clear that Behavior Modification is all go giant web and is connected in some way. Everything we learned in the previous sections always resurfaces and I am learning that all of the information feeds off each other in some way or form.