What we would like you to do is to continue applying what we are learning in class to real world matters. Some might ask, "What good is learning psychology if we can't apply it to real world matters?" So that is what we are going to do with this week's topical blog assignment.
What we would like you to do is to either go to NPR (http://www.npr.org/ ), the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/ ) there are some good news source links at the bottom of the following page (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ listed in their news sources) and read, watch, or listen to something that is interesting to you and relates to schedules of reinforcement VR, FR, VI, FI (not continuous reinforcement).
For your news I would like you to 1) briefly describe/summarize your piece, 2) tell us what behavior (target behavior) you are using that illustrates reinforcement, 3) tell us what the consequence of the behavior is, 4) tell us how, that consequence will increase the frequency of the behavior, 5) tell us if the consequence involves the addition of something desirable or if it involves the removal of something undesirable, finally 6) how that particular schedules of reinforcement is controlling the behavior.
Please then list the ABC's of the behavior
A=
B=
C=
1) The article I choose is called “Suitland High School Student Shot Dead; 6th Prince George County Student Killed in 6th months”, which is basically what the title says. It talks about how there have been 6 students from this county that have been killed within the last 6months. At the end it discusses how there needs to jobs and insurance for these young kids who are using violence because they haven’t been taught differently. Also, that they need to be influenced by positive role models to be able to figure out where they want to go in life.
2) The behavior that is being emitted is the killing of the 6 kids within the 6months, by other children. Many children are dying during short periods of time.
3) The consequence of the behavior is that adults are standing up against gun violence and talking to kids about gun violence.
5) The consequence involved the addition of something pleasant because they’re trying to talk to kids about gun violence.
6) The schedules of reinforcement are variable intervals because there isn’t a set amount of children that are being shot during a certain amount of time. At one point it was only a couple children murdered during a certain amount of time. Overall, there isn’t a set amount of children that can or wont be murdered; therefore that is why it is a variable interval. The schedule of reinforcement used in this example is controlling the behavior because it is controlling how often it occurs.
A= Children wanting other children’s shoes or belongings
B= Kids being killed within 6 months
C= Adults trying to talk to children about gun violence
If the schedule of reinforcement was changed the behavior of children being killed in short periods of time could be changed to not being killed within 6 months.
Terms: schedule of reinforcement, behavior, reinforcement, consequence, variable interval, emitted, and pleasant
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/20/suitland-high-school-student-shooting-sixth-death_n_2725587.html?utm_hp_ref=@education123
1. This article was about Oscar Pistorius being granted bail in the Reeva Steenkamp case. He claims he shot his girlfriend thinking she was an intruder in his home (so there is no question about whether or not he shot her). This defense seems a bit unbelievable to me. How do you not know that your girlfriend is coming home? And I’m sure she wasn’t coming through the window or something sketchy…
2. The target behavior that illustrates reinforcement is shooting someone and killing them. There were rumors that the couple had been fighting. Perhaps she knew something that he didn’t want others to know, so he took care of it by killing her. (Maybe I’ve been watching too many crime TV shows.)
3. The consequence of the behavior is getting out on bail, and potentially getting away with murder. In the instances where he may not be reinforced, the consequence would be serving time in prison.
4. The consequence could increase the frequency of the target behavior because he may think that he will get away with it every time, or that it is a simple way to solve his problems.
5. The consequence involves the removal of something undesirable: being in jail. This means that it is an example of negative reinforcement.
6. If we assume (hypothetically) that he gets away with murder, he will be more likely to do it again. It may seem like an easy way to fix his problems. This could become an example of variable ratio. He gets away with it this time, then maybe next time he goes to jail for a few years, then he gets out and does it again and is reinforced by not getting caught or getting out on bail.
Please then list the ABC's of the behavior
A= He’s home alone (apparently with a gun)
B= He shoots his girlfriend (claiming he thought she was an intruder)
C= He gets out on bail
If he hadn’t been reinforced by getting out on bail, maybe he wouldn’t kill again. A different schedule of reinforcement, such as fixed ratio, would likely decrease the likelihood of the target behavior being repeated. Fixed ratio schedules of reinforcement are more susceptible to extinction. (This is all hypothetical, he hasn’t been convicted and there is no way of actually telling if he will commit another muder).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21548865
http://abcnews.go.com/US/daytona-500-jimmie-johnson-wins-nascars-biggest-race/story?id=18580066
1. This article is about the Daytona 500, the horrific crash incident, and Danica Patrick finishing in 8th place. During the race at Daytona yesterday, there was a massive 12 car pileup. The crash led to a car being disintegrated against the catch fence which threw pieces of the car into the stands. 28 individuals were injured by metal and pieces of the engine. The fence was repaired overnight for the Daytona 500 today. Danica ended up finishing in 8th place, the highest place for a woman in history.
2. There are a number of target behaviors in this article. One could be driving in the race around the track to win the race. The second could be sitting in the stands to observe the race.
3. The consequence of the behavior could be to win the race, get in an accident, witness a good race, or be involved getting hit by the cars debris.
4. The consequence will increase the behavior if you are to win the race because the potential of winning first place elicits the behavior of continuing to race.
5. The consequence of winning the race involves the addition of something desirable- acquiring a trophy and gaining pride and glory.
6. The schedules of reinforcement would be a fixed interval because the people racing need to go around the track a certain number of times. Depending on how well their car operates, the number of times and how quickly they circle the track varies. This controls the behavior because they need to circle the track a fixed amount of times to win the race.
A= The race track at Daytona, FL
B= Racing around the track a specific amount of times
C= Winning the race or getting into a crash
If a different schedule of behavior had to be used such as variable interval, racers would need to complete the race at certain times to acquire their places.
Terms: target behavior, consequence, behavior, schedules of reinforcement, fixed interval, variable interval, elicit, emit
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/50933025#50933025
This is an example of a Variable Ratio Punishment schedule, because I couldn't find any news reports that had to do with non-continuous reinforcement.
1. This is the news report of a massive crash at a NASCAR event that happened recently, and due to spectators being injured, it raised concerns for the safety measures of the track.
2. The target behavior is maintaining a safe race track.
3. The consequence of NOT emitting this behavior is the risk of injuring and killing spectators.
4. Now that there was a crash that injured people, officials are considering changing the safety requirements of the tracks, therefore increasing the target behavior.
5. The consequence involves the addition of something undesirable (injury of fans).
6. This is a Variable Ratio Punishment schedule because the number of crashes are based on the number of races. One could also argue that it could be a Variable Interval schedule, but I think that it is more based on the total number of races than the time interval. It is a ratio schedule as opposed to continuous because there is not a crash at every single race.
A: NASCAR race, which is dangerous
B: Failing to maintain safety precautions
C: Spectators get hurt
1) The article I decided to write about was on the NPR website titled, ‘Pediatricians Urged To Treat Ear Infections More Cautiously’. The main focus of the article was to reinforce the medical professionals to use more discernment when prescribing antibiotics to those with ear infections. Infections have been evolving at a high rates and the antibiotics that used to work in treating these infections are not getting the job done.
2) The target behavior in this article is prescribing medication with caution when treating those with an ear infection.
3) The consequence of the target behavior is the effective treatment of infections without the risk of having them evolve and become untreatable.
4) If doctors emit the target behavior of using more caution when treating ear infections, and as a result antibiotics are able to treat more infections, the reinforcement will encourage more doctors to follow these guidelines.
5) In this article the target behavior is positively reinforced by the addition of a desirable outcome, that being the successful treatment of more patients with ear infections.
6) The schedule of reinforcement that has been used up until recently in the medical field has been on a variable interval bases for reinforcing this behavior, that is why antibiotics have start to not work in treating certain infections.
A=Treating patients with eat infections
B=Prescribing medication cautiously
C=Infections are treated more efficiently
If the schedule of reinforcement had always been continuous, we would not having the problem of viruses evolving to the point of not being curable. If doctors had been taking caution when treating ear infections in the past, more people would be living healthy lives and not having the negative side effects from ear infections.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/02/25/172588359/pediatricians-urged-to-treat-ear-infections-more-cautiously
1) This article is about factory workers in Egypt. They went on strike for three days and demanded that the company pay them more and work normal hours during the week and have weekends off. Since the strike disrupted factory production, the company negotiated and gave the employees what they wanted for their reinforcement by using a fixed ratio.
2) The target behavior is the employees emitting the behavior of not going to work when they were supposed to (going on strike)
3) The consequence was that the employees got the raise they wanted and they hours they wanted to work.
4) This consequence will increase the behavior of the employees working hard and doing what they are told to earn their money and keep their good hours.
5) This consequence involves the addition of something desirable (raise, reasonable hours)
6) By using the fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement they waited 3 days to get their message across to the company that they were not going to come to work until their demands were met. Once their demands were met, they would work hard to keep them.
A= Not getting paid well, working poor hours
B= Going on strike to get what they want
C= Company meets their demands
If ratio schedule was used, the company could have given the workers who did what they were told and showed up to work on time the weekends off and even a raise. Doing this could have avoided the strike and probably would have motivated their employees to work hard so they could get what they wanted.
Terms: reinforcement, fixed ratio, target behavior, emitting, consequence, ratio schedule
http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/02/23/police-arrest-faragalla-workers/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/six-strike-system_n_2759408.html
The article I read was about internet pirating. This is when internet surfers download illegal things such as movies and music for free which robs the companies producing it of billions of dollars yearly. The internet companies along with production companies have partnered together to try and stop the theft of these things. 2.The target behavior they are trying to eliminate is the theft of downloadable things such as music and movies. 3.The consequence of this is the users getting strikes toward them and their internet use which slows down the more they use it 4. The customers wont want to lose their internet speed which will slow down anything they do online. 5. The consequence involves the removal of something undesirable. They are taking away internet speed which could lead users to surf the web with slug like speed. 6. Each time they get caught it’s a strike towards 6 strikes. So each time they slow the internet connection down until its lost or slowed to an almost standstill.
A: internet surfing online
B: downloading illegal things such as music/movies
C: getting their internet slowed each strike they get
The behavior could be different if they used a different scale of strikes. For example if a typical 3 strikes rule was applied they may take the first incident more seriously that using a 6 strike rule. This would make each infraction more serious and less desirable to repeat by the user. If they used a 10 strike rule or just a list of people that download illegal content the punishment would be less severe and more likely to be repeated by the user. So there is a fine line between punishment and expected response of users. To much and it isn’t taken seriously enough. Not enough it would slow down the illegal content much more quickly.
Part 1-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21572686
1) The story I read was from the BBC Website and was entitled “Bad Sleep ‘Dramatically’ Alters Body.” In this story, researchers did studies to watch the effects that not getting enough sleep elicits on the human body and mind while also looking at the behavior emitted from the body after being deprived of sleep. These researchers concluded that there were roughly 700 genes that had been altered or affected in some way after the patients were only allowed six or less hours a sleep a day. As they concluded, a huge consequence of not sleeping is the development of degenerative diseases and a decrease in the functionality of the immune systems and stress levels. In future research, researchers are going to attempt to find a way to eliminate these aversive consequences to sleep deprivation but as of now, they do believe that sleep is a necessity in the regenerating of all living cells.
2) The target behavior is sleeping an adequate number of hours (more then six) in order to have a fully functional body.
3) The consequence of having more then six hours of sleep is cell regeneration, which can help reproduce proteins, build the immune system, and help cope with stress—create a better body process.
4) With sleep being on a fixed ratio between being awake and a sleep, the individual will feel more rested and essentially healthier then the alterative option.
5) The consequence can be looked at either the removal of a negative feeling or fatigued and stressed or the addition of something positive with the increased ability to deal with stressful situations and better fight off illness.
6) I believe that this is on a fixed ratio schedule because it is based off of a ratio between the hours awake and the hours asleep. When the hours awake are significantly greater then the hours asleep (should have at least eight hours of sleep), aversive side affects emerge and can be detrimental to the individuals’ health. The ratio is controlling the variable by creating a schedule that is ideal to follow in order to be at the prime functioning mode.
A= The human body of the individuals in the research projects.
B= Sleeping an adequate amount of time (hours awake/hours asleep).
C= Following a set ratio of hours, the individual can better cope with stress and fight off illness.
7) One could look at to see what a variable ratio would do to the individual—such as getting enough sleep every night versus getting an adequate amount of sleep some nights and not enough other nights. It would be interesting and fall back on the sleep debt theories we discussed in personal wellness last semester.
Terms: Variable Ratio, Ratio, Fixed Ratio, Aversive, Variable, Consequence, Negative, Addition, Positive, Target Behavior, Elicits, Emitted, Deprived,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20875453
1) The article discusses a study done trying to prove that quitting smoking can help lower anxiety levels. When they went back after six months, 68 participants reported that their anxiety levels had “significantly decreased.”
2) The target behavior in this study is quitting smoking
3) The consequence of the behavior is significantly lower anxiety levels
4) The consequence of having lower anxiety levels will increase the behavior of not smoking and developing healthy habits instead
5) It involves the addition of something desirable: low levels of anxiety, healthy lifestyle
6) In this case, I believe that the schedule of reinforcement being used is a fixed interval (FI) because it is an experiment so they want to measure anxiety levels at the end of exactly six months. If I was talking about a person in “real time” I would then switch it to variable interval (VI) because the person can look forward to seeing significantly lower anxiety levels in about six months (no one know if it will be exactly six months). Knowing that it may take about six months, the person will feel they need to continue to not smoke instead of giving up right away because it isn’t working.
A= anywhere someone smokes: their house, car, etc.
B= not smoking
C= significantly lower anxiety levels (after about six months)
Terms: antecedent, target behavior, consequence, schedules of reinforcement, fixed interval, variable interval
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130226/us-supreme-court-dna-collection/?utm_hp_ref=homepage&ir=homepage
1) briefly describe/summarize your piece
Ths article is about DNA sampling that was taken from a suspect who was being charged with rape which is a felony. After he was swabbed, his sample was then entered into a world wide data base. In the meantime, he pled to a lessor charge than rape; a misdemeanor therefore the DNA sample should have been thrown out. Yet, the results of the DNA that was entered came up linked to an unsolved case 7 years prior. He was then arrested but under according to the current law; since he was never convicted of the first crime that the DNA sample was taken then it should have not been in the system. They have since let him go and now it is being reviewed and the supreme court will be making the following decision.
2) tell us what behavior (target behavior) you are using that illustrates reinforcement
The target behavior that I am using to illustrate reinforcement is to be able to use DNA samples once they are arrested despite establishing innocents.
3) tell us what the consequence of the behavior is
Right now the consequences is not being able to use DNA if they are not convicted
4) tell us how, that consequence will increase the frequency of the behavior
Thousands of samples will have to be purged and disposed of; possibly letting out several possible criminals.
5) tell us if the consequence involves the addition of something desirable or if it involves the removal of something undesirable
It involves the removal the something that is desirable to the law enforcement which is the ability to use the samples against unsolved cases
6) how that particular schedules of reinforcement is controlling the behavior.
It is having a negative impact on the whole situation. And right now there is a grave dilemma because they know for a fact that he did commit the crime prior to the arrest for which the sample was taken. And now they let him go even though they know he did commit a crime 7 years ago and that is a negative reinforcement for the criminals.
Please then list the ABC's of the behavior
A= Taking a DNA sample before being convicted
B= using the DNA sample, getting a match on a previous crime
C= they had to release him even though they got a match because of they law about having to have been convicted of initial crime
If you can discuss how the behavior might be different if a different schedule of reinforcement were to be used.
The behavior would be different if the law was different. The would not have to ask anyone to enter the sample of DNA from people who are arrested. In the eyes of the law it should be the same as taking their fingerprints which I do find to have some validity.
The more I relate the ABC's of behavior modification to the real life issues I can honestly say I can see them more so in my daily life, and I mean daily!!!
Terms: behavior, target behavior, reinforcement, schedule of reinforcement, positive reinforcement, desire, negative, DNA, consequence, and ABC's of behavior modification.
http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/02/26/cute-break-watch-this-otter-shoot-hoops-to-help-his-arthritis/
1) The article I did this assignment on was about a 16 year old sea otter that developed a skill for dunking balls into a children’s toy in order to relieve him of his arthritis.
2) The target behavior I would like to point out is the behavior of the otter dunking the ball into the hoop.
3) The consequence of this behavior can be viewed in two ways; the otter was taught this skill by his trainer, by reinforcement using a primary reinforcer, but for the purpose of alleviating the arthritis. So there are in fact multiple consequences to this target behavior.
4) The target behavior will be increased because of the continuous reinforcement used originally to teach the behavior. However if the otter has the mind to be aware of the relief that this behavior of dunking the ball into the basket caused him then that would be another aspect of reinforcement.
5) As I stated before, the behavior involves more than one consequence. In the two consequences I pointed out, the relief of arthritis involves negative reinforcement and receiving food involves positive reinforcement.
6) The article was not clear on the schedule of reinforcement, but I was led to believe the primary reinforce was received after every time the behavior was emitted, making it continuous. Now for the relief of his arthritis, I feel like that would be a VI schedule because relief of the pain would not come immediately but only after practicing the target behavior for some time, but not for any specific amount of time.
A= In the holding pool A.K.A his home when not on display
B= Dunking a toy ball into a platic hoop
C1= Receiving food from his trainer
C2= Relief from his arthritis
If the schedule of reinforcement were to be different I think that the training aspect would have taken more time. The article mentions that it only took a day to train him, with CR. I think that if there was a different schedule then it might have taken more time. With the arthritis, I don’t think its possible to change that schedule.
Terms Used: Target Behavior, Consequence, Reinforcement, Primary Reinforcer, Continuous Reinforcement, Negative Reinforcement, Positive Reinforcement, Schedule of Reinforcement, Emitted, Variable Interval (VI),
1)In this article the New York Times talks about how a rocket from Gaza hit Israel is what the Palestinian's call a retaliation in the death of Mr. Jaradat. This man was was supposably tortured and dies of that in prison. The autopsy was unable to determain how Jaradat died but broken ribs and bruising are the evidence the Palestinians are using for the torture acusations. The rocket hit on the side of the road in southern Israel but no one was injured. This is the first break out firing in three months between the two parties since the intense fighting months ago.
2)The behavior being emited that illustrates reinforcement is the firing of missles into Israel. This is reinforced by the public support of the populace in the Gaza Strip.
3)The consequence of this behavior is Israeli retaliation in some form or another.
4)If Israel emits a consequence towards Gaza's initial behavior then it will elicit a response from Gaza to fire more missles.
5)The consequence involves the removal of something undesirable. Gaza felt like it was being kept in the dark about descisions that Israel and the West Bank were making. With this action the consequence is the removal of Gaza being ignored.
6)The type of schedualed reinforcement in this story is variable interval because there is no fixed amount of time that goes by that a behavior is emited. Gaza will emit the rocket firing behavior at any random time.
A= Mr. Jatadat died in prison
B= Gaza fires rocket into Israel
C= Israel is trying to figure out how to handle this delicate situation.
If a different schedual of reinforcement was used such as fixed interval, then each of the two sides would know when rockets would be fired and be more prepared for it. They could also be more capable of finding a way to stop the conflict because they would know how soon they need to get the deal done by.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/world/middleeast/rocket-from-gaza-hits-israel-breaking-cease-fire.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&hp
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/02/20/172098418/money-replaces-willpower-in-programs-promoting-weight-loss
The article above begins in explaining how nurses at Bowie Health Center struggle with their own obesity. It also talks about how the nurses have come together and decided to enter a national weight loss contest sponsored by HealthyWage. The contest is for three months and if at the end of the three months if they have lost 10 percent of their weight they will win 10,000 dollars.
The article also talks about a social network they have created between each other to keep track of each other. The Article also mentions a man named Demel, who pledged on a website called StickK to shed a pound every week, and if he fails to emit the target behavior (losing the pound a week). He would have to pay 5 dollars to a cause he did not agree with. (anti-charities).
The example of Demel, shows a continuous reinforcement with a fixed ratio, the fixed ration in this example is the $5 he must pay for every week he does not lose a pound. It is a continuous reinforcement in the sense that it repeats itself every week. The consequence of not losing the pound a week, Demel will have to give 5 dollars to anti- charity he does not approve of. This would be an example of a consequence that involves the removal of money.
A- being overweight
B- losing a pound a week
C- if not will have to pay 5$
fixed ratio, continuous reinforcement, consequence, target behavior, emits
1. In the article that I chose to read it explained the lawsuite against Anheuser-Busch. The company is being sued by mutiple people for watering down their beer but still claiming that it has the same percent of alchohol in it, as well as still charging the same price for a beer with less alcohol and more water. The company claims that it is an extremely slight difference in which saves them a lot of money. They claim that they are not breaking any labeling laws. The complaint is that they have to buy more of the same product and at the same price to get the same result as they did before the product was watered down.
2. The behavior that can be taken from this story is drinking Anheuser-Busch products
3. The consequence of the behavior of drinking Anheuser-Busch is becomming intoxicated.
4. When intoxicated people feel good. Therefore the good feeling is will lead people to drink the Anheuser-Busch products. The good feeling is a primary reinforcer which is paired with the Anheuser-Busch products creating the frequency of drinking the target behavior.
5. The consequence involves the addition of something desirale which in this case is the good feeling that comes after drinking the products.
6. Here a variable ratio schedule is used because there is not an exact number for how many times the target behavior must be emitted before the consequence of having a good feeling will be presented. It can only be given in an average number, especially because there is a large varieyt of how much alcohol it takes for a particular person to being to feel its effects. It is a ratio schedule because it deals with how much a person drinks not the duration of time that a person drinks. The change in watering down the products elicits the needs for the target behavior to be emitted more times in order to recieve the same consequence that they have been conditioned to recieving.
A-The antecedent is wanting an alcoholic beverage
B-The behavior is drinking Anheuser-Busch products
C-The consequence is a good feeling
Terms Used: Target behavior, primary reinfrocer, secondary reinforcer, consequence, desriable, emits, elicits
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/02/26/more-water-less-buzz-in-bud-michelob-beer-lawsuit-claims/
1)I read an article about whether skipping breakfast causes one to gain more weight. Some evidence says that if you skip breakfast in the morning, you are more likely to be hungrier later and consume more calories throughout the day.
2)The target behavior is to eat breakfast every day, especially if you are on a diet.
3)The consequence is consuming fewer calories throughout the day.
4)If you are on a diet, then your goal is usually to cut back on calories, and if this works, then you are probably more likely to not skip breakfast.
5)The consequence involves the removal of something undesirable.
6)I think this is on a fixed ratio schedule because if one skips breakfast one time when they have been eating it every day, it could have aversive effects on their diet.
A=One is on a diet
B=Eating breakfast
C=Consuming less calories throughout the day
Terms: target behavior, consequence, undesirable, fixed ratio schedule, aversive effects, antecedent, behavior
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130304-skip-breakfast-pile-on-weight I chose this article because I am constantly calorie counting, and I was wondering what it would have to say about skipping breakfast and its effects on the consumption of calories throughout the day.