Think of a behavior you would like to reduce and list out the steps (based on section 4.2) you would take to go about changing it.
Let us know if you have any question,
--Dr. M
Think of a behavior you would like to reduce and list out the steps (based on section 4.2) you would take to go about changing it.
Let us know if you have any question,
--Dr. M
Based on the steps listed in section 4.2 I started off by utilizing step one to change or implement a behavior by setting a broad goal. My goal was to eat healthier foods; the goal of eating healthier is broad enough and has to do with changing a behavior so it is categorized under step one. Step two tells me that I need to define/specify my goal as a set of target behaviors. I kept in mind that my goal of eating healthier needed to be reduced down to something that was precise, manageable, measurable and fit within my lifestyle so I took my goal of eating healthier and changed it to a target behavior of wanting to eating six small meals a day with one vegetable being included in each of those meals. The third step tells me that I need to keep a record of my behaviors in a behavioral diary and that I need to determine a baseline for how I eat currently. I started to, without changing any eating habits/behaviors, eating what I wrote down after every meal/piece of food I consumed. This made me more consciously aware of what I was consuming and therefore helped me determine my baseline of performance. Step four tells me that I need to graph a baseline. To measure the behavior of eating I used number of vegetables eaten as my dependent measure (Y-axis) and days of the week as my independent measure (X-axis) and made a line graph illustrating various changes in my consumption of vegetables throughout the week. After I completed the line graph I then moved on to step number five which is determining contingencies; this is where it gets interesting and I got to start implementing behavioral interventions for myself. Since I wanted to increase the likelihood that I would eat healthier, I decided I wanted to use reinforcement. If, after reviewing my behavioral diary, I had eaten 35 or more vegetables that week (at least 5 a day) then I would get to show the diary to one of my friends or boyfriend and they would choose fun activity for us to do that weekend. If I did not achieve that target behavior I would not show them the food log/diary and therefore would not have the fun mystery of allowing them to choose something random for us to do. This brought me to the next step which is determining the antecedents. The antecedent for eliciting healthier eating was to have an abundance of whole foods around such as more vegetables, fruits, and NO junk food. I controlled my environment by going grocery shopping more and getting rid of the junk food in my house so even if I did want junk food it wasn’t there for a quick fix. Moving on to step seven then had me implement and adjust the contingencies. I started showing my friends and my boyfriend my food log and they all were really surprised that I was doing this. They would reward me with praise, increasing my self-efficacy that I could do this, proving that this form of reinforcement worked. The only thing that I really needed to adjust was the way in which I was recording my eating habits. I found that hauling around a notebook in my purse was troublesome so I just went to target quick and grabbed a smaller more reasonably sized notebook so I could continue to log what I was eating. After two weeks I decided to create another line graph just to see how I had been doing and from week one to week two I had successfully increased my intake of vegetables considerably!
Instead of reducing a behavior, I have chosen a positive behavior that I want to increase. In doing so I may use reinforcement to help achieve my goal.
1) Set goal: Make the dean’s list at the end of the fall semester 2013
2) Define the goals as a set of specific target behaviors: attend every class, do all homework assignments, read assigned readings, and study at least a week in advance for tests.
3) Keep a record: follow scores on blackboard, keep a planner, record own scores, reading assignments, and attendance in a notebook. With my notebook recordings I can describe problems I may have experienced with certain material which may help me determine the antecedents that led to the issues (ex: procrastination).
4) Graph a baseline: make line graphs of scores (different color line for each class). Have multiple graphs, one for homework scores, one for test scores, one for additional assignments/projects, and one for attendance. The X value will be the days they were due throughout the semester. With the graphs I will be able to view my academic weakness and when they occur.
5) Determine the contingencies: I will use reinforcement to help achieve my target behavior. After every 10 A’s I receive in all classes for homework only, I will reward myself with cold stone ice cream. After every B+ to A I receive on tests and projects I will reward myself by buying an article of clothing or jewelry. At mid semester, if I have perfect attendance in all my classes I will reward myself with my favorite pizza from Pizzeria Uno. Finally at the end of the semester when I achieve my goal and make it on the dean’s list, I will reward myself by going on a trip (to the dells, Vegas, not sure where) sometime over winter or spring break.
6) Determine the antecedents: I could set the antecedent by scheduling a set time for studying and homework that can be elicited through an alarm on my phone. I could make sticky notes as reminders for upcoming assignments and tests. I can also set up a desk in my room and leave homework out on my desk to remind me to study or to do homework.
7) Implement and adjust the contingencies: If my intermittent schedule of reinforcement is ineffective I will reinforce more frequently and/or use other forms of reinforcement. An example: I may change my reinforcement for homework from 10 A’s to 5 A’s or I may change the reinforcer from cold stone ice cream to going bowling.
Overall I am fairly confident in my ability to increase my GPA to make the dean’s list as long as I follow the seven steps listed.
Terms: contingencies, reinforcement, target behavior, elicit, antecedent, self-directed behavior, intermittent schedule of reinforcement
A behavior that I would like to reduce is watching TV. By reducing this behavior more I could get more studying/homework done and be more productive with my time.
1. The behavioral goal that I have is to reduce the amount of TV watched each day. More specifically, my goal would be to watch no more than 2 hours of TV per day.
2. A set of Target Behaviors that specify the goal further are:
- Make a daily schedule or agenda to work around
- Set a sleep timer on the TV whenever watching in order to not go over the daily total of 2 hours
I feel like both of these target behaviors fall under the required criteria (Precise, Manageable, Measurable, Measurable, and Fits within the practical scope of our daily lives) and could help to reduce my behavioral goal
3. On each daily agenda or schedule, I would be able to record how much TV I watched that day, and look to see if my data went over or under the target time of 2 hours. I would then keep each schedule with the records in a folder so I would have access to each day.
4. After personally recording my times from each schedule I will be able to graph the data on my computer in order to see the results. The timeline that I will use would be a single school week (Monday through Friday, not including the weekend)
5. Initially, my thoughts behind decreasing the amount of TV watched was that my reward would be increasing overall GPA and getting assignments done ahead of time in order to have more time on the weekends. If grades are not improving, then the behavioral goal needs to be adjusted. As for setting up a certain system for reinforcing, I could reward myself for every test ranging from a B+ to A -- I would reward myself with a dinner out somewhere that I like or with a 6 pack of my favorite beer. I am only doing so for good grades on tests because it would get pretty expensive doing so after individual assignments.
6. My antecedent ties in with my Target Behaviors that I listed above; having a TV timer as well as a schedule ready from the night before.
7. Adjust reinforcers as needed and any other adjustments along the way; keep up to date with the schedule and recording the target behaviors.
When thinking of a behavior in which I would like to reduce, the first thing that comes to mind is eating healthier in the dinning center on campus.
Step One- Set Goal:
My goal is to eat healthier in the dinning center on campus.
Step Two-Define/Specify the goal and set Target Behaviors:
In defining my goal and making it more specific, I will:
1.) not eat fried food from ‘Sparks’ the fried food station in Rialto.
2.) Eat one fruit or vegetable at every meal in the dinning center.
3.) Do not drink soda or chocolate milk while in the dinning center.
4.) Only allowed 3 deserts throughout the week.
Step Three- Keep a Record:
Before starting at my goal, I will first record my behaviors in the dinning center by taking pictures with my cell phone of each meal and what I eat. After determining my baseline, I will continue to record the food I eat at each meal using my cell phone to be sure I am staying on track.
Step Four- Graph a Baseline:
Using Excel, I will record my baseline behaviors in the dinning center for a week to see when I tend to eat the most unhealthy fried food, how many fruits and vegetables I am eating at each meal, which meals I tend to struggle with, and what days of the week do I eat the worst.
Step Five- Determine Contingencies:
With the changes I want to make in my behavior, I am cutting out some things from my everyday life that I really like, fried, unhealthy food. Because of this, I have decided to reinforce myself every Friday with a ‘cheat’ day in which I am allowed to eat fried food, drink soda, and so on in the dinning center if I met my goals for the week. I will continue to self-evaluate through the record keeping of what I am eating at each meal during the week.
Step Six- Determine the Antecedents:
The biggest antecedent in this situation in order to avoid the fried-unhealthy food in the dinning center, is to sit in a section of the Rialto in which I do not need to walk past the Sparks station at any point to get my food. By doing this, I will not be tempted to even have to look at the food they are serving for the meal.
Step Seven- Implement and Adjust Contingencies:
After actually implementing my goal, I am sure I will encounter many different aspects of my goal that needs to be changed. As I continue with following through with my goal, I would make adjustments to contingencies along with other things in order to be sure I am successful at achieving my gaol.
I chose to bring back the New Year's Resolution that I had set but did not get very far with. I made it into a goal in which I would like to increase the frequency of behaviors so that I could use reinforcement which has been suggested througout the term.
1. Set a Goal
I would like to live a healthier lifestyle.
2. Define/Specify the goal as a set of target behavaiors
1. Work out at least three times per week for at least fourty-five minutes.
2. Get seven or more hours of sleep each night.
3. Consume up to 1800 calories each day.
3. Keep a Record
I will use the dinning center's website which lists all of the nutrition information for every food that they serve in any of there establishments to keep gain the information needed to record my calorie intake while at school. I will make sure to carefully read labels or ask for nutrition information if I consume food outside of campus. I plan to keep a running notepad on my ipod to keep track of my intakes everytime that I eat or drink something and then compile the numbers on an excell sheet at the end of each day.
I will keep a pad of paper up in my loft and write down the time that I go to bed and then right away write down what time I wake up in order to record how many of hours of sleep that I get each night. That information will also go into an excell sheet.
I will also track the number of times that I work out in my ipod and transwer the data onto an excell sheet.
4. Graph a Baseline
I will compile the data collected and create line graphs weekly for each target behavior. For the calorie intake I will graph how many calories are intaken each day of the week. For the hours of sleep I will graph the number of hours of sleep I have for each night out of the week. For the work out target behavior I will graph how many times graph out the number of times that I work out each day. Though the target behavior for the working out is set for a certain number of times each week, graphing out each day of the week will allow me to see patterns as to what day of the week I work out which can help me identify possible antecedents or discriminative stimuli.
5. Determine Contingencies
I plan to use a fixed ratio schedule for each target behavior.
For the calorie count target behavior the fixed ration will be each week that the target behavior is continually met. The reinforcer will be one food or drink item for one day the following week that will not be counted towards that day's calorie count.
For the work out target behavior be the reinforcement schedule will be every two weeks that the target behavior is successfully emitted. The reinforcer for this target behavior will be going out one night for entertainmen, such as going to the movies or going dancing.
For the hours of sleep target behavior the fixed ration schedule will be every week that the target behavior is continually emitted. The reinforcer will be renting a movie one night the next week to watch while going to bed rather just watching tv.
6.Determine Antecedents
The baseline data that I collect will help to identify some antecedents and discriminative stimuli that I may not be aware of. An antecedent for the calorie intake will be eating my meals in the dinning centers rather than in the union or at places outside of campus. There are many more healthy options in the dinner center and the smaller sized plates help me to have accurate portions of food. An antecedent for the work out target behavior will be my schedule of classes and other acitivies. Another antecedent for both the work out target behavior and the sleep target behavior will be the amount of school work that I have each day. I can attempt to control the amount of work from being more overwhelming one day than it is another by being organized and working ahead when I know that I have a lot of other things to do for that week.
7. Implement and Adjust the Contengencies
This can be done once the first six steps have been implemented. Once they have been followed for a couple of weeks then I can look back on the data that I collected and the logs that I have kept and analyze if the reinforcers and reinforcements are bringing about the results that I want. If not they may need to be altered.
There are seven steps to self-direct a behavior that was discussed in section 4.2. I would like to improve my diet. Here are the steps that will get me there.
1. Set Goal: To eat healthier foods, such as fruits and vegetables.
2. Define/Specify the Goal as a set of Target Behaviors. They must be precise, manageable, measureable and fit within the practical scope of our daily lives.
a. Only eating out for one meal a week.
b. Eating one serving of fruits or vegetables at each meal.
c. Chocolate is my weakness, so I need to allow some in my diet. I will allow myself one small snack each day in the evening.
d. Shopping the outside aisles of the grocery store where the healthier foods are located.
e. Creating a budget so I can afford to purchase healthier foods.
3. Keep a Record
I need to establish a baseline performance. To do this I need to determine what I typically eat during the week. The best way to do this is by keeping a journal in my phone, since I always tend to have it on me. I will also have to look at the fat content and type of fat each thing I’m eating has it in. Keeping track of this it will help me to determine healthier options and which items I could reduce or cut out of my diet.
4. Graph a Baseline
I will be using excel to create a graph to track my progress. My baseline will be my eating habits without any modification to my intake. I will graph each meal by the fat intake, totaling it each day. This will help me pick out the specific days when I eat the worst and also allow me to figure out what triggers my bad eating habits.
5. Determine Contingencies
Now that we have determined a baseline, it’s important to know the antecedents and consequences around the behavior. Observing these things will help me to cut out the unhealthy foods that I frequently consume. For example, this would help me to notice that I tend to eat out more on the weekends, so to reinforce healthy eating I will allow myself a free day on Saturdays since those tend to be days with the worst food choices. I’m only allowed a free day if I have been eating healthy the rest of the week which consists of not going over 25 grams per day. If I have not met this goal I will not be able to have a free day.
6. Determine Antecedents
Antecedents for my good behaviors are working out. After working out I tend to eat healthier. Increasing the number of days I workout will help me to modify my eating habits for the better. By doing this it will increase the likelihood that I will eat healthier each day the more I work out. This will not only promote eating healthy, it will help me to feel better overall.
7. Implement and adjust the contingencies
After starting my modification plan, there will be things that come up and need to be tailored. As the weeks go on, I will hopefully be eating more health. To make sure that I continually eat healthier I will have to modify my contingencies for the reward of a free day. This will help me to achieve my goals.
Using the seven steps from section 4.2 I would like start working out and changing my eating habits.
1. Set a goal: To start working out a few times a week and buy healthier food options.
2. Define/Specify the goal as a set of target behaviors: A. Go for a run on days I don't have to go to work after class. B. Buy healthier food options when eating out. C. Buy healthier food options when grocery shopping. D. Allow myself to have foods that I like but in moderation. E. Run/walk a distance that is a little further than the distance I ran before. F. Keep chocolate fix to a minimum or substitute it with a healthier option like chocolate almond milk.
3. Keep a record: To do this I think that I will keep a food journal. That way I will be able to see exactly what I have eaten and I will be able to see progress as a eat more healthy options. For exercising more I think that I will keep track of what days I can go for a run in my planner. I will also keep record of it so that I can try and do it the same amount of times every week.
4. Graph a baseline: To do this I think that I will create a graph on my computer. That way every time that I go for a run I can keep track of my distance. I am hoping that by doing this I will be able to see if my distnace has improved. If it doesn't improve I will be able to that I need to try harder at going a little further every time I run. I will do the same thing for healthy food. I think that I will graph how many healthy meals I eat a day. I would like to see that number increase and I think that by visually being able to see it on my computer screen will help me keep on track and stay motivated.
5. Determine contingencies: I think that to reinforce my behavior I will let myself have an ocassional time to have a not so healthy meal. For example if I have been eating good all week and go out to eat with my friends, I will allow myself to eat what ever meal I want, whether it be healthy or not. I think that it is important to not completely deny yourself the foods you like. I think that that is a miserable way to diet and I think that I would be more successful if I allow myself to cheat every once in awhile.
6. Determine antecedents: To do this I think that I will make a meal plan and keep it on my fridge. That way if I go to the fridge I will have to look at the meal plan and decide wherther or not I should be digging for snacks in the fridge. For working out I will leave myself reminders on my phone. I will set it to go off when I have days off from work to remind myself that I should probably work out at some point that day.
7. Implement and adjust the contingencies: Once I start doing this I know that things will come up that prevent me from being able to work out or eat a healthy meal. I will adjust things as I go and I will try to keep in mind that it is ok to have off days. This is where I struggle most because I am an emotional eater. When I'm stressed I eat junk food. I'm not really overweight but I feel guilty when I do this. I will just have to remind myself that it is ok to have an off day and that I will still be able to reach my goal if I keep at it.
4.2
1. The goal:I would like to get more organized so I don't end up procrastinating or missing important deadlines.
2. The target behaviors:
a)I need to write down all of my appointments, deadlines, assignments, and exams in my Panther planner.
b) My planner will let me know my free time and I need to set aside one day per week for cleaning such as laundry,dishes, and rubbish removal.
c) One day per week I need to spend getting ahead on upcoming assignments and job applications, studying, and projects to allow time for unexpected events or interviews.
d) One day per week I will allow myself to relax which includes playing video games, listening to music, going to the bar, calling friends, or anything that doesn't generally cause me stress.
3. Keep a record: My panther planner is going to be my record because it will determine my baseline. It will tell me what days I am most busy and those aren't practical days for having fun, or practical days to set aside to keep up with general housekeeping. It will also let me know what days I have more free time to use for getting ahead on assignments, or to relax if I am caught up, or to use for finding a good job.
4. The contingencies: I am going to use stickers for reinforcement so if I did the things I was supposed to by the end of each day to stay organized I will give myself a sticker. This will reassure me that I have stayed on task and if I notice that I have not been on task two days in a row I cannot allow myself another procrastination or free day for the remainder of the week.
5.Determine antecedents: My baseline will help me become aware of the antecedents. On the days I notice that I don't meet my goals I will have to consider what I did that made me unorganized. I am assuming the antecedents will be my video games, too much time with my boyfriend, or not writing in my planner. To avoid these things I will need to set contingencies on playing video games (free day or if i have stickers), time with the boyfriend only on free days or a day i already have achieved a sticker, and if I have nothing written in my planner for the day I must double check if it's because I really have nothing to do or if it's because I didn't fill in my next few days worth of activities.
7. Adjust the contingencies: While on my way to achieving my goal I will need to evaluate if its working. If I notice I am less stressed or have been on task then I will know my plan is working. If it's not I may need to find different or additional reinforcement, or perhaps set extra reminders such as phone alerts. I suppose this would be continuous reinforcement to start with because every day I am on task I get a sticker and get an alloted free day/ time. I am not directly punishing myself as that is aversive.
(I know this wasn't specified but I decided it's a good idea to keep doing it) Terms: aversive, contingencies, reinforcement, punishment, baseline, antecedent, behavior,target behavior.
1. Speak with my sister more often and build a closer relationship
2. Call her twice a week--Every Sunday and Wednesday. I will talk to her about issues going on in her life and what her thoughts are. Also, the conversation must last longer than 5 minutes.
3. I will keep a record by monitoring my phone call history. I will also keep notes in my phone about what we talked about and how long the conversation was.
4. I will graph a baseline by recording my results into a line graph. This will allow me to see the times I am speaking with her on a weekly basis and if I am exceeding the goals or not.
5. I will use reinforcement as my contingency for this behavior change. I will reinforce myself with an ice cream cone if I hit my goal of speaking with her at least twice a week.
6. To determine the antecedents, I will set reminders on my phone to call my sister on Wednesday and Sunday. This will help me stay on top of this behavior change. Also, I will have notes on what I would like to discuss with her each time I call.
7. I know that there will be events that come up that will inhibit me from speaking with my sister. Things such as how hectic I am some days to one of us not being able to talk for long. I will have to adapt to this and either choose another day or time to speak with her. I will have to evaluate this every couple of days to ensure my plan is effective.
Terminology: reinforcement, baseline, contingency, antecedent, behavior change
I chose to increase a behavior rather than reducing it. The behavior I would like to increase is the amount of miles I run per week from ten miles to twenty miles.
The first step in self-directed behavior is to set a goal. My goal is to run at least 20 miles per week. The second step says to define the goal as a set of specific target behaviors. So to achieve my goal, I am going to plan out different weekly exercise plans that will total 20 miles ran by the end of the week (Sunday). I can either run 3.3 miles 6 times a week, 4 miles 5 times a week, or 6.67 miles 3 times a week. My warm-up and cool-down of walking won’t count towards the miles ran. Since I am a regular runner anyways, this is practical within my normal life. The third step requires that I keep a record of my target behavior. I will be keeping a journal each time I finish my run and write down how many miles I ran. If I run outside, I have a pedometer that I can use to keep track so then I can record that. For the fourth step of graphing a baseline, the best way of graphing my data would be through a bar chart where on the X-axis would be the days of the week and on the Y-axis would be the number of miles. As my contingencies go, to reinforce my behavior I will give myself a day of rest after my twenty miles are achieved and I will only reinforce once a week if I complete my mileage. To elicit my behavior, I can make sure and lay out my running clothes and shoes so that I see them and will have them ready so I can’t change my mind before I dress.
1. As listed in section 4.2, step one of the behavioral change process is to set a goal. The goal that I have chosen is to brush and floss my teeth more often. This is somewhat broad and undefined, which is characteristic of step one. I thought it was a good choice because it is manageable, measurable, and can fit into my life. It also bothers me (and potentially others if I have bad morning breath!). In step two, I will break it down into specific target behaviors.
2. In order to define the goal as a set of specific target behaviors, I have to think about what I actually want to accomplish. I would like to brush my teeth three times per day (after each meal), and floss at least once per day (my baseline for flossing is much lower than that of my teeth brushing, so I wanted to start smaller with that). The next step will be to record how often I emit these behaviors in order to construct an accurate baseline.
3. I will keep a record of my teeth brushing and flossing behaviors by saving notes to myself in my phone. This will work for me because I always have my phone with me. I will record the date, whether it is a morning, afternoon, or evening brushing, and make note of the setting or antecedent as well as the consequences. Once I have recorded a baseline for my behavior, I will make a line graph.
4. In order to graph the baseline, I will need to determine what goes on my y-axis (dependent measure), and what goes on my x-axis (independent measure). I believe that the number of times that I emit the teeth brushing behavior is the dependent measure that will be on the y-axis, and the values will be 0-3 (I can’t brush my teeth less than 0 times, and I wouldn’t want to brush them more than 3 times per day). The x-axis will be days of the week.
5. Now it is time to determine the contingencies. This is a behavior that can be reinforced directly, so I don’t need to worry about finding ways to use reinforcement instead of punishment. I think a good reinforcer for me would be buying something small off of ebay for every week that I brush my teeth 3 times per day. It would be something relatively small, I would limit myself to a $10 purchase every week. (I’m somewhat addicted to buying beauty products on ebay because they’re so cheap!)
6. Next I will determine the antecedents. It will be useful to refer back to the records I kept in my phone. I can look at the antecedents of all the times that I brushed my teeth and see if there are any patterns. Was I more likely to remember to brush my teeth when I took a shower? Did my bad morning breath remind me?
7. Finally, I will implement and adjust the contingencies. I will use the reinforcer stated above. However, if this does not increase the frequency of my emitting the target behavior (teeth brushing), I will have to try to modify the reinforcer or come up with something new. This is something that I will have to figure out as I start my behavior change.
1. Set Goal: Watch less TV, movies, and Netflix.
2. Define Goal as Set of Target Behaviors: Watch less than 4 hours of TV, movies, and Netflix over the course of a week. This does not include music videos or other media for school, work, or religious functions.
3. Keep a Record: I will keep track of the amount of time spent watching these various types of media by creating a google document that is specifically for recording the time I watch TV etc.
4. Recording the Baseline: I will graph a baseline by recording my results into a line graph. The unit of time that I will be measuring is the amount of media I watch in a week defined by minutes. The totally number of minutes of media watched cannot exceed 4 hours in a weeks time.
5. Determine Contingencies: I want to use positive reinforcement of getting to watch a 2 hour movie after successfully achieving the target goal of not watching more than 4 hours of media during the week. I would not be allowed to save my 2 hour movie for another week. I only have one full week after completing the target behavior to accept my positive reinforcement of watching a 2 hour movie. I cannot let them add up over several weeks.
6. Determine Antecedents: Watching TV, movies, or Netflix requires the antecedent of a media player such as a TV or computer. I will limit my time around or near these types of devices unless I need them for school, work, or a religious function. This will help cut down on the amount of media I watch because I won't be tempted to use the computer to watch Netflix or my iPod to watch a TV show etc.
7. Implement and Adjust the Contingencies: After a few weeks, I will need to see if the positive reinforcement is working to help me lower the amount of time spent viewing media. I think it will have the desired affect but I will definitely need to look at the weekly record of how many minutes of media a week I have been viewing to see if I am staying within the target goal. If not I may need to evaluate my strategy and see if I need to change the reinforcer or maybe change the antecedents in which I am functioning during my regular living pattern.
The broad goal that I would be trying to change would be me trying to be more productive and get more done in a given day. The specific target behavior I am looking to increase is waking up for breakfast. This is specific enough because when I say breakfast I am referring to the Rialto which closes 9:15. Also, I would like to do this at least three times a week. It is easy to reinforce, because the breakfast acts as the reinforcer for the behavior of waking up. The reinforcement schedule will be continuous because I will have breakfast every morning that I wake up in time. However, as it is a continuos reinforcement schedule, I would have to figure out some extra incentive for the third time it happened within a week. This could be something along the lines of going to Piazza for breakfast instead of Rialto, or possibly just going to Starbucks after breakfast and treating myself to a venti espresso. This target behavior will increase the general goal of being more productive because I will be awake for the day and can properly get ready for class by studying or what have you. Keeping record of this will be incredibly easy, because I either got up for breakfast or I didn't. Baseline performance is not getting up in time, target behavior is getting up in time. There is no in between that would complicate the recording process. I would not be able to make a line graph of this, but I would think a box chart would suffice. I suppose some ways that I could alter the antecedent so that the reinforcer may hold more reinforcing power would be not eating too late the night before so that I would be more hungry in the morning. If I were to also start running in the morning, it would be beneficial for multiple reasons. It would wake me up more for the day, I would get the benefits of exercising, and I would work up an appetite to make the breakfast more reinforcing. I have faith in my plan for this project as I have looked at most aspects fairly closely, but should the need to adjust contingencies arise, I will be prepared. If Rialto loses it's reinforcing power, I can go to Piazza. If Piazza is no longer reinforcing I can shop at Wal Mart for readily made breakfast items, but then I wouldn't be restricted by time limits and could get too lenient with reinforcing.
Step 1: Set Goal
My goal is to stop drinking pop.
Step 2: Define/Specify the goal as a set of target behaviors
First I am going to go down to one pop a week and eventually go to no pop at all.
Step 3: Keep a record
To keep a record I am just going to record in my phone when I have my pop one day a week and eventually I will not drink any pop at all.
Step 4: Graph a baseline
For the graph I will graph the amount of pop I drink and start replacing pop with lemonade or ice tea and compare those two. On the graph the tea line should go up since I should increase that behavior and the pop like should go down as I want to decrease that behavior.
Step 5: Determine contingencies
To reinforce myself for every two weeks that I don’t drink a pop I will treat myself with a Gatorade since Gatorade isn’t that healthy either and I enjoy it.
Step 6: Determine Antecedents
To decrease my pop drinking behavior I will not have pop in my fridge and while in the dinner center I will not drink pop. When around pop I will avoid it and drink something healthier instead.
Step 7: Implement and adjust the contingencies
To implement my goal I will keep a journal and reinforce myself when necessary. I will also adjust to this goal accordingly to make it successful.
Terms: implement, increase, decrease, behavior, punishment, reinforce, contingencies
Step one: My goal is to get into better shape. I feel like I am doing alright but I really wanna push it further.It is broad because there are many different things that you can do to get into shape.
Step two: I have a couple different specific target behaviors that I would like to accomplish. First, I want to do at least twenty minutes of cardio each day. Next I would also like to stretch at least twice a day. The last thing I would like to do is not each fast food as much. I want to cut that down to only twice a week.
Step three: To keep a record I am going to keep your basic workout book and also record days that I eat fast food. I will have to time the cardio because I would like it to be more than twenty minutes. To stretch I would like to do it once in the morning and once at night. The easiest way is to do it right when I wake up and right before I go to bed. That way I can associate it with the starting and ending of my day.
Step four: I will graph a baseline focusing mainly on the cardio sessions. My x-axis will be the day of the week and my y-axis will be the minutes spent on that specific session. This way I can see what I am already doing, then bump it up so that it will always be at least twenty minutes.
Step five: For my reward after each cardio session that is over twenty minutes, I will allow myself to drink a glass of chocolate milk. I love this drink and it is my favorite to drink right after working out. If I do not hit my desired goal I will not have a glass after the workout.
Step six: To increase the frequency that I stretch I will put a reminder on my nightstand. I will see it every time I wake up and every time I go to sleep. This way I will never have the excuse of forgetting. I will also avoid drinking chocolate milk at any other time other than workouts so that it is a true reward. I will also keep less money in my wallet so I am not tempted to eat fast food.
Step seven: The journal will make it obviously whether these specific goals are obtainable or not. If I need to cut down the cardio I can always tweak the desired time. As mentioned earlier I will not drink chocolate milk outside of the process.
terms: frequency, reward, specific target behaviors, record, x-axis, y-axis, process
I behavior I would like to decrease would be watching TV. By decreasing this behavior I would be able to get more homework/studying done, go to different events on and off campus, and even make positive changes like working out more.
1. Set the Goal- Reduce the amount of TV I watch and substitute positive things instead.
2. Define/Specify the goal- Reduce the amount of TV I watch to 3 hours a day.
3. Keep a record- To keep an accurate record I will, after each time I watch TV, write down the amount of time I spent watching it. This will allow me to get numbers down on paper and know if I am achieving my goal or not.
4. Graph a baseline- I will use a line graph including each day of the week and the number of hours/minutes I watch TV each day.
5. Determine contingencies- If I reach my goal everyday, I will reward myself with getting things done such as; making a checklist of the homework assignments I have and being able to check them off, going for a relaxing run, or attending an event or go out with friends.
6. Determine antecedents- To decrease the amount of time I watch TV each day, I will stay out of the rooms that have TV's in my apartment. I will try to busy myself with other things and hang out with my friends instead of sitting in front of the television.
7. Implement and adjust the contingencies- The graph will help me determine if I am reaching my goal and will help me determine what I need to do differently on the days that I tend to watch more TV. It will help me realize that I need to do things differently or change my reinforcers so I can accomplish my goal.
1) Set Goal: My base goal is to get healthier and on a side note save some money. After high school and my inability to participate to sports due to physiological constraints, I let myself go—out of depression or form of bad habits or what have you. I started to work out last year at the University of Iowa but once you stop taking classes it costs an arm and a leg to work out there so I stopped until this February. So as of now I have a gym membership to Anytime Fitness that I use maybe twice a week—on a good week. I want to get back into shape—my target behavior being to work out more frequently.
2) Define/Specify the Goal as a set of Target Behaviors: To make my goals more precise, I would like to work out, using my set routine that I used in high school to prep for and during my multiple sports seasons, at least five days a week (trying to get all of this done during Monday through Friday) leaving two days as emergency makeup days if anything comes up during the week as a preventative measure. I can work out any time of the day because my gym is open 24 hours a day seven days a week. It is also possible for me to count how many days a week that I fulfill my goals.
3) Keep a Record: In order to keep a thought record I have enlisted the help of my boyfriend to emit a reminding behavior to make sure I stay on track. I also will use my calendar and put stars on the days I complete my work out and put an extra star on the days that I went without having to be reminded or prodded—I would do this right away when I get home.
4) Graph a Baseline: I would do a line graph. The x-axis would be the days of the week and the y-axis would be the number of minutes spent working out—a good work out is at least an hour long. I would like to eventually use these graphs to set new work out goals that include length of time working out as well.
5) Determine Contingencies: For my reinforcement, I thought about how I want to save money, and decided to use shopping as my reinforcer. Since I like the rush I get when I do one large shopping spree rather then just a few things here and there, I decided that every three weeks, I would go shopping and pick up three different items one for each week of completion—be it a book, clothes, shoes, etc.
6) Determine Antecedents: Since my gym is open 24/7, I have the luxury of going whenever I can; however, I work at 6 am every day and don’t get off work until 5:30 pm so my days are long and do not leave a lot of extra time. I would like to work out at the same time every night—roughly 8 pm that way I have enough time to complete my work out and still get my night’s rest that I need.
7) Implement and adjust the contingencies: Eventually, if I get salient with the shopping spree technique, I would morph this to making one big purchase a month in order to keep my spree loving satisfied. I do not journal very well so keeping a journal is not very realistic however, I do love my calendars and it will be easy for me to keep track of my progress and make alterations as needed—like during the school year got at least three times a week and over breaks increase it to five.
Terms: Goal, Target Behavior, Precise, Emit, Baseline, Contingencies, Reinforcement, Reinforcer, Antecedents, Salient, Elicit.
After reading section 4.2 I feel more confident about being able to change modify my own behavior as well as someone else’s. I will use reinforcement to help increase my behavior. My target behavior will be to increase the frequency of the amount of sleep I get at night.
1)Set Goal- My goal is to increase the amount of sleep I get at night. This is a broad topic because many variables could disrupt my sleep at night. Therefore, my goal would not be achieved.
2)Define/Specify the Goal as a Target Behavior- To achieve my goal I will: Make sure that I am laying down in my bed no later than 10:30 from Sunday night to Thursday night. Make sure that my face is washed and teeth are brushed before going to bed. Turn my television off at 10:30. Turn my cell phone to silent to avoid being woken up at night. I believe that these goals are precise, measureable, manageable, and fit into my daily life.
3)Keep a Record- To get an idea of where I’m at in hours of sleep at night I need to find my baseline performance. I need to start tracking the amount of sleep I get every night for about a week. I will keep a record of my performance in a behavioral diary. Each morning when I wake up I will record what time I went to bed (should be no later than 10:30) and what time I wake up (usually 6:15). I will keep a notepad and pen right next to my bed. By doing this I should start to feel more energized during the day and be more focused in school. Also by getting more sleep at night it should eliminate the naps I have to take during the day and I can use that time to be more productive.
4)Graph a Baseline- In excel I will make a line graph to graph the amount of sleep I get each night for the first week that I found from my baseline performance. This graph will help me visually see the progress I will make. On the y-axis I will be 0 to 10 (to represent the amount of hours I sleep each night) I think that 10 is high enough before I have never slept more than 10 hours on a school night. The Y-axis is the dependent variable, the variable that we measure. The x-axis will contain the days of the week that I am tracking for my behavior. This graph is very useful when it comes to finding the antecedents of my target behavior.
5)Determine Contingencies- Now that I determined my baseline performance and I know what more about my antecedents and consequences I am ready for a behavioral intervention. For my reinforcer I will use staying up as late as I want to on Friday and Saturday night. If I don’t fulfill my target goal I will not be reinforced with that privilege.
6) Determine Antecedents- To help elicit my behavior I need to make sure to get my homework done before 10:00pm, I need to turn the television off earlier even if my favorite show is on, I need to make sure to not stay out as late and I need to make my nightly phone calls earlier than usual.
7)Implement and Adjust the contingencies- I realize that when I actually implement my target behavior obstacles will come up. Sometimes I won’t be able to get to bed by 10:30 no matter what. I need to try and find a way to change things within my contingencies. Nothing usually works as planned.
Terms: Reinforcement, Target Behavior, Frequency, Variables, Baseline Performance, Behavioral Diary, Antecedents, Consequences, Contingences, Behavioral Intervention, Elicit
1.Set Goal: My goal is to eat healthier. I feel like I too often eat junk food and rarely eat fruits and veggies. I am hoping to change that with self-directed behavior.
2.Define/Specify the goal as a set of Target Behaviors: Since my goal was simply to eat healthier now I need to be more specific and define a target behavior that I can manage and that can be recorded. I thought one of my target behaviors could be eating at least one serving of fruits and veggies a day. I could keep a food journal and write down what I ate every day. I could also limit how much candy or other forms of sugar I eat.
3.Keep a Record: I will keep a journal to write in very day what I eat. This way I can look back and remember what I ate and if I kept my goal of eating fruits and veggies every day. If I don’t record it right away I know I will forget. I plant to keep notes on my phone until I can write it down in my notebook.
4.Graph a Baseline: Ugh I don’t like graphing. I guess I would use time, in days of the week for one my axis. The other could be how many servings of fruits and veggies I eat a week. I don’t really expect the graph to go up crazy numbers but rather just stay at two or three because I want to eat them every day, because know I eat them maybe once a week.
5.Contingencies: I usually reward myself with food, which wouldn't be good in my case because I’m trying to eat healthier. So instead I think I will reward myself with TV time. I’m pretty obsessive when it comes to TV watching. I watch a lot of shows so I could reinforce myself with an extra hour of TV watching. If I have too much to do to watch another hour of TV I could reward myself with downloading a song. Music is another thing I really enjoy so I could get a song for my i pod each time I meet my fruit and veggie goal.
6.Antecedents: I know that my having junk food around my room only makes it easier for me to absent mindedly pick up something and eat it. So I think my getting rid of my junk food and not having that temptation it will be easier for me to stick to eating healthy. I could also replace these unhealthy items with healthy snacks for when I do get hungry in-between meals.
7.Implement and adjust the contingencies: Along with getting rid of the junk food I keep in my room, I will have to remember to keep up with writing in my journal. I might need to post reminders for myself to write down what I ate for each meal, because it’s very important that I record this so I know if I met my daily goal.
1)Set goal: My goal is to increase how much water I drink every day.
2)Define target behaviors based on my goal: Drink 42oz of water or mare every day.
3)Keep records of behavior: I will use my Camelbak water bottle to keep consistent measures of my water intake. Based on my goal I would need to drink two water bottles of water every day. I will carry my water bottle with me. Each time I drink a full water bottle, I will record it on my phone.
4)Graph a baseline: I will transfer my recordings into Excel weekly and graph my progress. I feel a line graph would be the most accurate representation of my data. My y-axis would be my intake of water in ounces for that is the dependent measure and my x-axis would be the days of the week. By making weekly graphs I can visually make conclusions about my progress and be able to better identify any patterns.
5)Determine contingencies: I am choosing to use other drinks besides water as my reinforcement. Before I go to bed, I will check to see if I achieve my goal of 42oz for the day. If I accomplished my goal, I will reinforce myself with one (12oz) non-water beverage the next day. If I failed to achieve my goal, I will not reinforce myself and stick to drinking water the next day.
6)Determine antecedents: After I collect my baseline data, I will have better knowledge as to what I can do to help further my chances of achieving my goal. As of right now I can think of one antecedent that would definitely be beneficial to me; which is carrying a water bottle around with me.
7)Adjust contingencies: My weekly data compiles will help me recognize if I need to make any changes to achieve my goal. Whether they are my initial target behavior or perhaps my reinforcement.
Terms: target behavior, baseline, dependent measure, contingencies, reinforcement, antecedents
1)The goal: My goal is to increase the amount of jewelry I wear on a daily basis.
2)Define/Specify the Goal as a set of Target Behaviors: In order to achieve this goal, my target behavior is to A) wear a ring at least 5 days out of the week, B) wear a necklace at least 3 times a week and C) wear a bracelet one day of the week. Jewelry is not allowed at work so I would have to wear the jewelry the days I do not work and go to class.
3)Keep a Record: To keep a record of what type of jewelry I wear and when I wear it, it would be best and easiest for me to write it down on the calendar in my room. This would work best for me because the calendar is next to where I keep my jewelry, next to my mirror. This will work best because I will be able to record the jewelry as I put it on in the morning.
4)Graph a Baseline: Using excel I will be able to graph the number of pieces of jewelry each day. The days of the week will be on the x-axis and the amount of jewelry will be on the y-axis. At the end of each day, I will graph the amount of jewelry worn.
5)Determine Contingencies: To reinforce my target behavior, I will allow myself to buy a new piece of jewelry after the first successful week completed. I will again allow myself to buy more jewelry after a month of a successful target behavior.
6)Determine Antecedents: The biggest antecedent in this situation in order to wear the desired amount of jewelry is to be sure I wake up early enough to remember and decide what I am going to wear for the day. It might be helpful to keep certain jewelry in my car until a habit forms.
7)Implement and Adjust Contingencies: I acknowledge that there may be flaws in the plan of my current goal. I am prepared to adjust and change the steps to achieve my goal if I find that changes are necessary.
1) Set goal: My goal is to read the bible more everyday instead of the 15-20 minutes I cram in before I go to bed every night. I would like to read the bible for 30-1hr every night before bed.
2) define the goals as a set of specific target behaviors: A target behavior will be for me to go bed earlier so that I do not get sleepy while reading the bible because then I feel awful if I fall asleep on accident because reading the bible is a essential and important part of the day.
3) Keep a record: I would a record of the time I started reading and when I stopped reading. Because then I could measure the amount I’m reading but also the time I start reading to then maybe cut out fall asleep and be able to determine if there is a certain time of day that I am able to read and comprehend what I read.
4) Graph a baseline: my graph would show the relationship between time and the amount of time spent reading the bible on the daily. Or I could also do a frequency graph, where i graph the amount of times i read for 30-1hr instead of the actual minutes ive read.
5) Determine the contingencies: The reinforcement for this behavior would be an intrinsic reward of knowledge and spiritual growth. So my reinforcements will be from within and what I want for myself the reinforcement will be how I can and will grow as a Christian.
6) Determine the antecedents: An antecedent would be to go to bed earlier so then I can begin reading earlier, hoping influencing my behavior to read more.
7) Implement and adjust the contingencies. If I found that recording both the time I start reading and the amount of time I am reading is getting to be too much information then I will have to adjust it. Also keep a diary would be helpful to be able to see if I am also retaining the information I read and making sure I don’t drift off to sleep.
1. Set Goal: I would like to drink more water during the week.
2. Define Goal as Set of Target Behaviors: Drink at least 34 ounces of water per day ( 2 cups at the dining center and one full water bottle). I know I don’t drink enough water, and I feel like it would be beneficial to my body and my skin to keep hydrated.
3. Keep a Record: I will keep track of the amount of water I drink per day by recording it on the calendar in my phone each time I consume water. I will also make a table as well so I can visually see and compare the days.
4. Recording the Baseline: I will graph a baseline by recording my results into a bar graph. The days of the week would be on the x-axis and the number of ounces on the y-axis. This way I will be able to compare each day of the week and how much water I drank that day- to the other days of the week.
5. Determine Contingencies: I want to use positive reinforcement by rewarding myself at the end of the week with a chocolate bar if I am able to meet this goal. I don’t normally buy chocolate bars- so this would be reinforcement for me. If I continue to meet my goal, it is possible I will need to change the reinforcement to something different, such as a night out with friends, or splurging on something.
6. Determine Antecedents: Drinking water on a daily basis shouldn’t be difficult to facilitate. Some ways I have decided to do this is by buying a plastic water bottle and carrying it with me everywhere as well as stocking up the fridge and buying flavoring for the water as well. By doing this things, it will make it easier for me to continue working towards my goal and by making it more appealing to me.
7. Implement and Adjust the Contingencies: After a few weeks, I will need to see if the positive reinforcement is working to help me increase the amount of water I drank throughout the week. If the behavior is increasing and the reinforcement is working I will continue with this, and maybe even change the reinforcement to a different food so that I don’t get tired of the chocolate bars.
My ultimate goal is to get in good physical shape by developing a healthy exercise routine.
My specific target behaviors are to go to the gym on three specific days of the week at a specific time, complete a set amount of time running and riding a bike, and complete a set amount of reps on free weights and weight machines (increasing in weight weekly), and limiting the amount of times I walk over to the drinking fountain by bringing a water bottle. The total amount of time for my workout will exceed 60 minutes per session.
I will keep track of how I meet these target behaviors on a worksheet that I bring to the gym.
As for a baseline, I will keep track of how far I can ride/run in a set amount of time, as well as the volume of weight I am lifting.
My reinforcers will be the ability to eat what I want one day per weekend. If I do not complete all of the requirements, I must do double of what I failed to complete on my day off, and only then can I eat whatever I want on the weekend.
1) My behavioral goal is to spend less money shopping on things that I don’t really need. This doesn’t just apply to clothes or going to the mall. By ‘’things I don’t really need’’ I mean ALL things that I don’t need, like hockey tickets or spending money going out to eat or to get drinks.
2) This goal is pretty broad, and can be broken down into target behaviors. My target behaviors will be A) spend only X amount of money on material things such as clothes per week. (I can’t really put a dollar amount on it right now because I have no idea how much I spend in a week currently) B) allow myself to go out to eat or to the bars only 1 night a week and spend $25 or less.
3) Next I will need to keep a record of how much I am currently spending to get a baseline performance. I will keep a behavioral diary of how much I spend in a week. Every time I swipe my debit card I will write down what amount it was for, and what I bought. If it was something I needed, like groceries or paying rent, I will make a note of that too and not count that in my total of how much I spend in a week. This will be easily kept track of because I can just save all of my receipts or look at my online banking statements. I never have cash on me and I only use checks to pay rent so I think this will work well. In addition to writing down how much money I spent, I will write how I was feeling at the time of purchase. Was I happy and in a good mood? Or was I upset and feeling stressed out. This will help me better understand why I shop and under what circumstances I tend to spend more money. It might work best for me to just write everything down in my phone and keep my behavioral diary there because that is something I almost always have with me. I won’t have to dig out a piece of paper and a pen.
4) The next step is to graph a baseline. I think it will work best if I use a line graph for my particular behavioral change. The y-axis will be dollar amounts, probably in increments of $50 or $100. And the x-axis will be time. I will simply write week 1, week 2 and so on. This way I can graph how much I am spending each week and hopefully see my line go down. This will encourage me to keep spending less money if I see myself actually improving each week.
5) Now I need to determine some contingencies. Although my behavior involves spending less money, and is therefore considered punishment, I would like to think of it as reinforcement. My goal is to spend less money, but it could also be that I am saving more money. I will reinforce myself if I stick to my target behaviors by allowing myself to buy one thing I want each week, but it can’t be more than $50. If I allowed myself to buy something I wanted and didn’t put a limit on it, I would buy the whole store and would have made no real progress on my spending. I will reinforce my behavior once every 2 weeks.
6) Next I need to determine some antecedents. I already mentioned that I rarely have cash on me, but I will make sure that I never do because it makes it so much easier for me to spend. I rarely have it on me now because I spend it the second I get it. If I should come into some cash I will put it in my dresser drawer so at least I am not carrying it around with me to spend. Also, I will only carry 1 of my 3 debit cards around with me. When I have 3 I take turns with which card I make the transaction on. It makes me feel like not a ton of money is coming out of any one account and therefore I haven’t spent that much. If I have only one card with me I won’t want to continuously swipe it. I will start to feel really guilty about my spending.
7) As the last step I will have to go back and change a few things if they do not seem to be working. I have a feeling I may have to add some more target behaviors and be more specific, but we will see when the time comes.
Plan of Action: Go to the GYM!!!!
Step 1: Define a goal:
My goal is to work out at the gym and eventually get back to running as much as I did in high school.
Step 2: Define/specify a goal as a set of target behaviors:
In this step, your target behaviors must be specific, manageable, measureable, and able to fit into your everyday life. My first target behavior will be to schedule a time in the day to work out. If I have it scheduled like I do other activities, then it is more likely it will happen. When I am at the gym, I plan to have a specific warm up routine (not sure what that will be yet) that will get me pumped up and motivated.
Step 3: Keep a record:
I will come up with a running schedule for my mini goals of how far I want to be able to run each week. I am going to keep track on my calendar by writing how far I go and how long it takes me to get there. I would like to go about five days every week.
Step 4: Graph a baseline:
It is important to me to be able to run in a timely manner so I almost feel like each week will need to have a new graph. For week 1 (and so on…) the x-axis will be the time (in minutes) to reach the set distance I have for that week and the y-axis will show the distance (in miles).
Step 5: Determine contingencies:
“What will we use as a reinforcer? When and how often will we reinforce?
What criterion will we use to determine if our behavior should be reinforced or not?”
I plan to reinforce myself with a sticker that I can put on each calendar day that I make it to the gym and run. Every week will be another time for reinforcement. I will allow myself to have a “bum” day. If I am constantly on the move, then a “bum” day is actually very reinforcing.
Step 6: Determine antecedents:
At home, I will make sure the night before I go to the gym, I have everything all ready to go by the door so even though it’s always hard to get out of bed, knowing that everything is just waiting on me can be very motivating.
Most importantly, DO NOT GIVE UP!!!!
#1-Set Goal
My goal is to keep a diary daily to organize and review my thoughts and ideas, actions and future. I can jot down notes, ideas, thoughts, feelings and experiences. I don’t have to write page after page, I can jot down a sentence or two or maybe page or two. I want to carry it around with me if possible or buy a smaller one for ideas that occur during the day and keep a larger one for daily thoughts and experiences. The goal of this diary is to organize and work through my thoughts.
#2-Define/Specify the Goals as a set of target behaviors:
To initiate this desired behavior with success I have set three target behaviors that will generate my overall desired goal:
To jot down a couple sentences before I turn my bed light off
Keep a diary right next to my bed
Keep a diary in my bag/backpack
#3-Keep a record
It is effective to keep a record of how often one is performing the desired behavior. In general, a diary is an effective method. Because my desired behavior change is to keep a diary I will record how often my behavior change occurs on a separate piece of paper. I can analyze this piece of paper at the end of each week to see how often I have written in the diary at the end of each week.
#4-Graph a baseline
An effective gauge on how consistently I aim performing my desired behavior is creating a graph to display the baseline behavior and subsequent changes. To graph the baseline I will use a line graph and put Time on the X axis and Number of sentences on the Y axis.
#5-Determine the contingencies
By developing contingencies that pair with the success of the desired behavior, I will be motivated to achieve the desired behavior change. There are two contingencies I will use to motivate my desired behavior change.
1. If I write down a couple sentences before bed time, a good sleep will be a contingency.
2. At the end of a successful week, I have the personal joy of working through my thoughts and ideas.
#6-Determine antecedents
Bedtime
Leaving journal near the bed
Leaving a smaller journal in my bag
#7-Implement and adjust in the contingencies
I may need to adjust how often I intend to enter passages into the diary. I will also start with one dairy only, next to my bed. Using sleep as a contingency seems reliable enough, if anything needs to be changed, I assume it will be how often I write in the diary.
#1- My behavioral goal is so spend more time working on school work.
#2- 1) Read text books for an hour
2) Spend 2 hours studying for tests
3) Get assignments done the day of being assigned
#3- Keeping a record will be a great help for this. As far as getting the assignments done because once they are done ill know. I will need to write down how many hours I spend studying each day and reading books for class. Writing the hours down will keep me in check and allow me to see if I am acomplishing my goal.
#4- Graphing a baseline will help me know how much I am studying and reading now. I will use two lines to represent reading books and studying. My Y axis will be number of hours and my X axis will be days of the week.
#5- For my contingencies I will use and hour or two of playing xbox at night to reinforce my behavior
I will reinforce this behavior everyother day so I do not saturate the reinforcment.
#6- Some discimulative stimuli I can place around my room are my books and home work out on the table to I see them and know to do them. I can also put an alarm on my phone with a message saying do your home work. After class is also an anteceedent to doing homework after it is assigned.
#7- I might have to adjust my time of reading depending on how my schedual and free time. I could either do more or less reading and studying. Using class as a contingency for getting homework done but might need to adjust placing books on desk and alarm depending on their effectiveness.
After reading section 4.2 i decided to make my goal saving money while decreasing my spending habits to only needed products. I figured this would be a good goal. These are the steps and ideas i will use to change my behaviors
#1 Set your goal: My goal is to increase my savings and decrease the amount I spend each week.
#2 Define target behavior: My target behavior would be to set an amount each week as my budget for spending and in return this will increase my savings. My specific goal is to only spend $100 or less a week on all extra expenses (not including bills or gas), such as, groceries, dining out, clothing, household items, nights out, vacation or any other thing that isn’t my main set budget.
#3 Keep records of behavior: First, I will track the amount I will establish a baseline a week prior to implementing my behavioral contingencies. I will do this by tracking my purchases on my phone and then adding them at the end of the night and putting it in my planner. I will use this method throughout my self-directed behavioral change.
#4 Graph a baseline: Using Excel, my y-axis will be the amount I spend each day. I will measure this by increments of $10. The x-axis are the days of the week.
#5 Determine contingencies: At first this will feel as though it is a punishment, however, I will use reinforcement by allowing myself to buy something outside of my budget if I do not go over budget for 4 weeks (or 30 days).
#6 Determine antecedent: First, I will be buying groceries at the beginning of every week, this will cut back on eating out. Secondly, I will pack a lunch for every shift I work. Third, I won't go to the store without a list and I will follow that list. I will only pay with cash and if I don't have enough I will put the items back.
#7 Implement and adjust contingencies: I will reevaluate at the end of four weeks to determine if my goal is working. If not, I will take the appropriate steps to adjust. Also, I will decrease my budget according to the amount of shifts I have. For example, typically I have 4 shifts a week but I give away a shift I will deduct $25 from my budget, but I won't increase my budget if I pick up a shift.
1)The goal I have is to have more time management and to stop procrastinating so much.
2)The target behaviors I will have are to keep a daily schedule of what I should be doing to not waste as much time. Each day that I follow this schedule will result in me having more time to relax at night instead of having to be doing homework that should have been done throughout the day.
3)I will make a schedule that shows when I should be doing homework or something productive and times that are allotted for free/relaxation time mainly at night. Even if I don't have homework on a particular day I will still read or do something productive to help keep a schedule and help change my behavior. I will also record each day whether or not I stuck to my schedule or if I didn't. With sticking to my schedule I will have more free time at night.
4)I will graph a baseline by using a line graph to show what I use my time for throughout the day. I will record whether the time was used for productive purposes or not.
5)To determine contingencies if I do follow my set schedule and things such as exams or schedule conflicts which will be special occasions it is fixed into the schedule that I will have more free time at night.
6)To determine antecedents while sticking to my schedule I will have to make sure that while it time for studying that I not be in a room that has a tv or my computer as they will be very distracting and counterproductive to my behavior schedule. I know that at sometimes I will need to use my computer to study and in those cases I will have to make sure that I am not on distracting sites or if its during the day I can go to a computer lab on campus because I never sign into social networking sites while on those computers.
7)To implement and adjust contingencies I will look at my graph and schedule and I will make sure to stick to my schedule and if times are better suited for studying then I will have to adjust my schedule and find the optimum schedule to being productive and changing my behavior. With exams and conflicts I will need to adjust my schedule accordingly but I will make sure to do that at least a week in advance so that I will be prepared for the schedule change.
#Step 1: Set a Goal/ #Step 2
My main goal is to be healthy. Therefore, my target behavior goal is to jog for at least 30mins three times a week. I figured that adding in my goal “at least” would allow me to jog for longer if I would like to. This goal is also manageable for me, and possible for me to achieve. I have plenty of time during the day to be successful with my goal.
#Step 3: Keep a record
To keep a record of my target behavior and how I am progressing I will write down every time I jog for at least 30mins. I will write down the day, time, and for how long I jogged for.
#Step 4: Graph a Baseline
In order to keep track of my progress I will graph my data from what I have written down in my journal. The graph also shows how much writing I actually do each time I emit my goal behavior.
#Step 5: Determining Contingencies
After figuring out how I am going to set up my graph I will need to figure out what my reinforcer will be. At the end of each week, if I have successfully emitted my goal behavior, I will reinforce myself with a small portion sized bag of chip. I think reinforcing myself with chips will help me continue my behavior, and successfully achieve my goal.
#Step 6: Determine Antecedents
In order to make sure that my target goal is met I will need to pick out the antecedents that led up to my behavior. Instead of having my workout clothes put away, I will leave them on my bed so that I will have to pick them up at some point and therefore be more apt to use them.
#Step 7: Implement and adjust contingencies
As I start my behavioral project along the way I will need to adjust and change certain aspects of my plan in order to succeed. I could possibly end up added more days onto my workout plan. For example, I might end up jogging more than three times a week. I might need to change my reinforcer, or make it every other week instead of every week.
A behavior I would like to reduce is chewing tobacco. I started when I was 17 and did not think it would turn into a terrible habit, but it did. I've tried multiple times to quit but have failed every time. I think taking this class and learning about how to modify a behavior will be extremely helpful to help quit my addiction.
Step 1- Set goal
My goal is obviously stop chewing. Quitting cold turkey is probably not an option at this point but I would eventually like to stop completely. For now I would just like to reduce the amount of tobacco that I chew.
Step 2- Define/specify the goal
I would like to cut down my chewing by 50%. That way when the time comes that I want to stop completely, it will be easier. I will also save money by only chewing 50% of what I do now because chewing is an expensive habit to have, especially in Iowa where a can of Grizzly is nearly 5 dollars where in Missouri its only 2 dollars.
Step 3- Keep a record
I will try to keep a record of how many times I chew in one day. This will help me keep track of my goal to see if I am making my goal or not. I will make a mark on a piece of paper designated for my records after every time I chew.
Step 4- Graph a baseline
I will make a baseline the exact same way I will by keeping a record. Simply make a mark everytime I put a dip in on my designated piece of paper.
Step 5- Determine contingencies
I will use a reinforcer to help me make my goal for the week. If I chew 50% less of my baseline for the week then I will reward myself with a day of chewing as much as I want and not having to worry about marking it down. Though people might think this wont help me quit, I think it will make me want to chew less during the week so I can have that one day of as much as I want.
Step 6- Implement and adjust contingencies
I will need to make a back up plan incase my day of chewing as much as I want isn't good enough to help me go through the week and only chew 50% of what I do now. I buy multiple cans at a time when I buy tobacco so if I only buy one can at a time then I think I will slow down because if I run out and can't make it to the gas station I will not be happy that i'm out. Its like having one steak left. If you ate steak for lunch and want steak again for dinner but only have one left then you might save it for another time when you want it even more.