Topical Blog Week #14 (Due Wednesday)

I choose this week to research whether punishment changes behavior. We have talked in class a lot about punishment and reinforcement in ways to change a behavior.
Punishment involves an unpleasant consequence to a behavior.Punishment imposed by parents can lead to fear that may influence a child to not trust parents and be dishonest to avoid punishment. Instead of teaching a child right from wrong, punishment may teach the child the opposite, how to avoid being caught doing something wrong. Punishment may not change behavior in the short term, and can negatively affect behavior in the long term. Punishment can create distrust between parent and child because kids don't feel they can rely on parents for loving guidance.Natural consequences are better. Natural consequences are consequences that occur naturally as the result of behavior. They are not imposed by anyone. There is no one to blame but oneself.When natural consequences are obvious, children often learn quickly from them, provided that adults do not interfere by distracting children with unnecessary and irrelevant punishments. When natural consequences are not so obvious, children can still learn from them when adults help them understand those consequences and refrain from imposing unnecessary punishments.When adults teach children to behave to avoid punishment, children sometimes believe that the only reason to behave is to avoid punishment. They lose sight of other reasons to behave well, such as the approval of their parents, having friends who like and trust them, being safe and healthy, or getting an education. In situations where they cannot get caught or punished, they have only their impulses to guide them.

http://www.spinedu.com/punishment-change-student-behavior/#.U1aZlFem1mA

http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/punishment-effectively-change-behavior-19487.html

http://www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-0605-stein.html

TERMS:punishment, reinforcement, emit, behavior,natural consequence

I chose to do more research on punishment. It fits into what we have covered in class because we spent the first few weeks talking about reinforcement and punishment, but more so on reinforcement. A whole section (2.3) was dedicated to it. We have talked about many scenarios where reinforcement is the desirable technique to use when modifying behavior and I wanted to know what is so bad about punishment or why it shouldn’t be used more often.

Punishment is a term in operant conditioning that refers to a change after a behavior that reduces the likelihood of that behavior happening again. Punishment focuses on reducing or eliminating unwanted behavior. B.F. Skinner identified two types of aversive stimuli that can be used as punishment. Positive punishment involves the addition of the aversive stimulus after the behavior has occurred. Negative punishment involves taking away a desirable stimulus after the behavior has occurred. Research has been done to see how effective punishment can be on reducing behaviors. Researchers have found that punishment is more likely to reduce a behavior if it immediately follows the behavior and it is consistently applied. One drawback to punishment is that any behavior changes that result from punishment are often temporary and there isn’t any information on a more desired behavior to take its place. Another drawback is that punishment can have unintended consequences. An example of this is spanking children. This can lead to antisocial behavior and aggressiveness. Skinner suggests that any short term gains from using punishment can result in potential long term consequences.

The definition of punishment has changed from its traditional meaning. Now punishment is something that happens to behavior rather than something that is done to a person. In psychology punishment is always effective in changing behavior even when that person doesn’t feel punished. There can be natural consequences like riding your bike down steps and falling and deciding to never do that again without being scolded or punished by someone. Sometimes with the traditional punishment adults teach children to behave to avoid punishment. Children then think the only reason to behave is to avoid punishment. They lose sight of other reasons to behave well like being safe and healthy or getting an education. It’s not necessary to punish every misbehavior, but it is often necessary to teach children.

Terms: punishment, reinforcement, desirable, modify, behavior, operant conditioning, aversive, stimuli, B.F. Skinner, positive punishment, negative punishment, consequence

http://psychology.about.com/od/operantconditioning/f/punishment.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8G2XOCyoMQ
http://www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-0605-stein.html

The topic I would like to examine this week is the idea of observational learning and its effect on behavioral modification. I am interested in this subject because I am currently training a new fitness trainer at the gym I work at and she has had to job-shadow a few classes I teach. My goal is to get a better understanding of how she can learn to act as an effective coach by observing what I myself do when I teach.
My research brought me to Albert Bandura, who was the most widely known psychologist who studied learning through observation. He learned that humans are innate to learn specific behaviors through observation and this begins at a very young age. During a study Bandura had done with his colleagues, he found that babies as young as 21 days would begin to imitate the facial expressions and mouth movements they see in others.
To better understand the importance of observational learning, Bandura constructed a very famous study known as the Bobo doll experiment. In this experiment, Bandura studied the aggressive tendencies of boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 6. He began the study by developing a model for how aggressive each child was before exposed to the demonstrated behavior. The child was then exposed to an adult physically and verbally attacking the doll for a specific amount of time. After witnessing this event the child was then asked to play with the doll for 20 minutes. During this time, the researchers documented violent behaviors such as punching, kicking, and yelling at the doll.
The belief was that a child would not naturally emit such aggressive behavior without having learned to do so through observation. This means that behavior does not necessarily have to manifest itself in the presence of punishment or reinforcement. Instead, observational learning occurs when an individual is focused on another completing a task or displaying a behavior with success. The individual will then begin to emit this behavior whether they will be reinforced or punished for the action.

http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_doll_experiment
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3139552/

Terms: Albert Bandura, behavior modification, emit, behavior, reinforcement, punishment, and Bobo doll experiment

I chose to do my topic on the Trayvon Martin case. I heard a lot about this case but didn't know the actual details. My boss mentioned it to me and I noticed through her description that there was definitely some ABC patterns involved as well as reinforcement in this case.

This case is interesting because after reading the summaries of it, it almost seems ridiculous that George Zimmerman was not prosecuted. He was simply sitting in his car "patrolling the neighborhood" and felt that Trayvon Martin looked suspicious. He called 911 and was on the phone with the dispatcher. In the meantime, Martin is walking with skittles and iced tea that he had just bought at a gas station. Zimmerman decided to get out of his car to follow Martin even after the dispatcher told him not to. He ended up wrestling with Martin to the ground and then shot Trayvon dead.

After this case became national news more information was brought up on George Zimmerman. It turns out that police told Trayvon's father that charges had not been pressed on Zimmerman because he was a criminal justice student with a clean record and they didn't test him for drugs or alcohol after the incident either which is standard procedure. It turns out, however, that Zimmerman had been arrested years earlier Zimmerman had been arrested for battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest. However, the charges had been dropped. It was also found that Zimmerman had called 911 dispatchers 46 times throughout an eight year span and that he actively searched out young black men in his neighborhood. The first ABC pattern I saw in this trial is that the antecedent is Zimmerman assaulting an officer. The behavior was his charges being dropped, and the consequence of that was that he was allowed to carry a concealed weapon. Another ABC pattern is that A= his charges were dropped. B= He was able to carry a concealed weapon even after his behaviors, and C= he had a false sense of authority leading to him shooting Martin.

Even crazier to me is the law passed in 2005 in Florida called the "stand your ground" law which gives residents the right to use deadly force against a threat without attempting to back down first. How is a threat defined? I guess there's only one person alive to tell that piece and it's too late for the other person. This brings about another ABC pattern. A= stand your ground law, B= people using deadly force and it being excused due to them feeling threatened, C= juries are unable to decide on self-defense cases, and justifiable homicides tripled in Florida since the law was made.

As this trial was taking place President Obama spoke about the situation and how the nation could help change future situations like this. He brought up a really good point. Our country is still very racially biased and if there was more training across the state with police departments on how to keep their racial biases from getting in the way of their professionalism then many things would improve. A= being a racially biased police officer. B= stopping African Americans more than white people. C= disproportionate amount of African Americans arrested for crimes committed fairly equally by everyone. President Obama also mentions that African American boys receive a lot of negative reinforcement and that sets them up to fail. It is societies job to set up a foundation that elicits the behaviors we want to see from those young boys. We so often use punishment to attempt to teach right from wrong when what youth truly need is to be reinforced.

After looking at this information the tables were turned and it was considered how things may have been different if Martin had shot Zimmerman due to feeling threatened after Zimmerman followed Martin in his car and then began chasing Martin. I can only guess that the case would have been completely different and no one would really even know about it.

Terminology: antecedent, consequence, behavior, negative reinforcement, elicits, punishment

The Trayvon Martin Killing, Explained
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/03/what-happened-trayvon-martin-explained
This source gave a lot of details about the case as well as audios of the 911 dispatcher conversations. It was very helpful with giving me that background information on the case.

Remarks by the President on Trayvon Martin
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/07/19/remarks-president-trayvon-martin
This source was interesting because it gave President Obama's take on the incident and on steps the nation can take to make this happen less. His thoughts were interesting and helpful and involved different behavior modifications.

Black Pain
http://africam.berkeley.edu/content/black-pain
This source was educational and thought provoking. It switches the tables and puts things in the perspective of if Martin had shot Zimmerman due to feeling threatened after Zimmerman followed him in his car.

The topic I choose to write about this week is Ivan Pavlov and his contribution to psychology or more specifically behavior modification of psychology. The text slightly covered him and his basic principles, but I wanted to learn more about the impact of his findings. I am interested in learning more about him because I believe that he is a much larger figure in the research world, than we have learned him to be.
Ivan Pavlov was a Russian Physiologist who was indefinitely known for his contribution to classical conditioning or more specifically the conditioned reflex. The conditioned reflex was found while Ivan was studying the rates of salvations among dogs. He discovered that when the sound of a buzzer or bell was paired with their food being presented in consecutive sequences then the dog would eventually associate the sound with the food and salivate upon that stimulus, which would be come to known as the conditioned stimulus. Before Ivan’s findings on the salivating glands of dogs, physiologists believed that salvation was a result of actually eating the food. Ivan’s surgical procedure proved that dogs definitely salivated before the arrival of their food. This was initially a small finding and wasn’t known until the writings of John B. Watson helped spread the idea of conditioning. Ivan’s findings on classical conditioning seemed to be a huge influence to see how humans perceive themselves, their behavior, learning processes, and the center to modern behavior therapy. An interesting fact I learned while researching Ivan was that it is widely believed that he signaled food with a bell, however his writings prove that it was done with a variety of stimuli, including: whistles, electric shocks, metronomes, and sometimes a bell. Something that isn’t widely known about Ivan’s research is that he also experimented on children similar to how he experimented on dogs.
A major finding following most of Ivan’s research concluded that conditioned reflexes originate in the cerebral cortex. Many physiologists loved following Ivan’s work because they were set on developing the basic laws governing the cerebrum. Ivan’s research led to many other findings within the nervous system, digestive system, and the brain.

Terms: Ivan Pavlov, conditioned reflex, stimuli, behavior, learning process, conditioned stimulus, classical conditioning,

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1904/pavlov-bio.html
http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/pavlov.htm
http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/pavlov.htm

This week I decided to look into observational learning. This is something that people do often in taking on new roles or starting a new job. We also use observational learning to teach children. I wanted to learn more about observational learning and what makes it so effective.

Observational learning happens when you observe the behavior of another person. This type of learning was discovered and proven by Albert Bandura in the 1980's. The Bobo Doll experiment is an excellent example of observational learning.

Observational learning occurs without reinforcement, but someone is needed to model the proper behavior. This person is normally someone who is older or more experienced in the behavior that is being modeled. The model is important because it facilitates cognitive process behavior. Modeling allows the observer to encode the information into their memory and retrieve it later to imitate it.

Observational learning is not always intentional. This can be seen whenever a small child repeats a swear word uttered by their parent. Observational learning can occur at anytime and in any situation. What a child learns and observes can vary based on the culture that they are in. For example, in some countries it is polite to burp after eating dinner and shows that the food was delicious. This is something that is not acceptable in our culture and is modeled infrequently.

Some cultures use observational learning as the main method of teaching. In these societies the adults are rarely separated from the children. This type of teaching occurs more frequently in second and third world countries, where the focus is on accomplishing tasks and mastering a trade instead of academic learning. This is also how people who learn trades in the United States do so, but with a mix of traditional educational style learning thrown in as well.

There are four stages of observational learning: attention, retention, initiation, and motivation. In the attention stage the observer must focus their attention on the person modeling the behavior. The feelings of the observer towards the modeler often influence how effective the modeling will be. Retention is the next stage. A person must remember the modeled behavior for a period of time in order to encode the information. The learner must then rehearse and repeat the behavior. During the initiation stage the learner must be physically or mentally able to repeat the act. It is important that the learner has all of the skills and abilities of the modeler. The final step is motivation. The learner must have the desire to replicate the behavior in order to do so. Encouragement is often used to motivate the learner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observational_learning
This link gave me background info on observational learning

https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Observational_learning.html
This link informed me of the steps to observational learning

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples/examples-of-observational-learning.html
This link provided me with examples of observational learning

terms:
observational learning, behavior, bandura, bobo doll, reinforcement, modeling, encode, memory, retrieve, imitate, attention, retention, initiation, motivation, rehearsal

I decided to do research on token economies, specifically in the classrooms. I was very interested in this because we started doing one in class and also because I think they are very useful. I use to volunteer in a 1sr grade class my senior year in high school and they had a token economy in there for good behavior. They had both class wide economies and individual economies specifically for the most troubled kids. I specifically worked with the student that was the most trouble, I would do one-on-one work with him and everytime he did as he was told he would receive a sticker on a sheet where he kept record. I actually saw an improvement in this student’s behavior when he had more one-on-one attention from me rather than being part of a small group or part of the classroom. Thinking about this example made me more interested in how the token economies worked and how they can be adjusted for each student or classroom.

Token economies are a system used to increase good behaviors and decrease bad behaviors. They have target behaviors and reinforcers because they are a way of behavior modification. The tokens are reinforcers for students that can later be traded in for rewards. Some types of tokens used in classrooms are: tally marks, stickers, smiley faces, money and even clothes pins. It all depend on the age group to decide which token will work the best. You probably don’t want to use smiley faces for seniors in high school. The example from the video I watched used money as a token. Each student had a checkbook and each started with $100 each week. They had a classroom store that open every two weeks in which they could use their money to buy stuff with their money. Prices ranged from $20 to $200 in the store, the nicest stuff being the most expensive. Students had “fines” and “fees” for not completing desired behaviors and had bonus opportunities to get more money. When students didn’t do the good behaviors they had to write a check from their checkbook to pay the teacher for their noncompliance. I thought this was a very cool example because it was related to real life examples of money, such as paying fines when breaking the law. I think it’s good to teach students how to use their money wisely at a young age (3rd grade and above) because it’s an important life skill that will benefit them in the future.

Some things to keep in mind when doing a token economy is that you should prepare to make changes in our economy to avoid it to fade. If you keep your reinforcers the same all the time it will get boring and the students will get bored until the whole economy fades away. Having reinforcers that are more expensive could help and also lengthening the time in which the students are allowed to get their rewards. It is also important to not let students go “bankrupt” and have no opportunity to earn tokens at all after losing all of theirs. Its good to have ways for them to earn points again so they don’t feel like it’s pointless for them to keep participating in the activities when not being reinforced. Another thing to remember is to have a target behavior that is easy for everyone because it helps reinforce it. It’s much better to start out with a simple economy and make it more complicated as time goes by than it is to make a complicated one to be easier. It also good to keep in mind to be consistent with the reinforcement and to keep reinforcers attainable. The easier the system the better chance for it to be successful.

Terminology: token economy, reinforcers, target behavior, behavior modification, reinforcement

http://bringingaba.com/2012/10/14/token-economies-examples-of-class-wide-and-individual-token-economies-for-inclusive-settings/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip_n-D2_gqM
http://theautismhelper.com/dos-donts-token-economy/

The topic I have decided to research is the four reasons we change our behavior and how we can use this to our advantage. Our text lists the reasons as (1) the behavior bothers the individual, (2) the behavior bothers other people, (3) the behavior could eventually be trouble, and (4) the behavior is illegal.

The first reason, the behavior bothers us as the individual, is one that I think so many of us can relate to. Sometimes we find our little quirks and think maybe it isn't one of our greater qualities and want so badly to get rid of it. I think one of the main examples of this would be New Years resolutions. We see something wrong with ourselves and we want to change it, and what better time than the start of the year? But with behavior modification techniques, you can start any time and stick with it. For the second reason, the behavior bothers other people, we may do things that really hit the last nerve in our roommates or even significant others. The third reason, is that the behavior could lead to trouble, the example given in the text was cheating in high school could let to cheating in college. Lastly, speeding while driving could be a behavior we would want to change because it is against the law.

I feel as though for the first two examples, it is easier to find why we do these behaviors we wish to change. A great way to be mindful of the reasons, is to keep a journal. This will help you to keep track of why and in what situations you emit the behavior. Secondly, for all of the reasons, a good thing to remember is that changing behavior isn't just black and white. Sometimes, we slip up, I mean come on, we're only human. But all too often, we see that we've broken our pact to ourselves, and give up entirely. Just becauase you slip up doesn't mean you should give up. This could also be a good excuse to use that journal of yours and write down why you think you slipped up, and even your feelings after the fact. This could serve as a reminder for you when you feel you're about to make a mistake! This can also help you learn what elicits this behavior so you can avoid it. Don't put yourself into situations where you feel tempted, and really focus on the positive. Keep in mind the things you're doing right, it's the little victories that can really make a difference!

If we know that behaviors bother others, or that there is a possibility we could get in trouble for it, this could work in our favor. Knowing a behavior bothers someone could make you more aware of the aversive behavior. I think a part of habits we consider to be a nuisance is that we don't always know when we are emitting that behavior. Sometimes it just comes naturally. When the behavior is brought to our attention along with the fact that it bothers another, it can make us more self-aware. Knowing when to change our behavior as well as ways to change it will certainly help us in life.

Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/15/how-to-change-your-behavior_n_4791184.html
http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/behavior/5-steps-to-changing-your-behavior.htm
http://www.city-data.com/forum/psychology/1834807-reasons-why-our-behavior-changes-around.html

Terms: Elicit, Emit, behavior, behavior modification, aversive

Edward Lee Thorndike was born in August of 1874. Amongst others, he attended Harvard University where he was quite interested in ethology, or the study of how animals learn, and worked under another famous American psychologist William James. Thorndike has influenced psychology in many ways, especially the sub category of behavior modification because of his work with puzzle boxes and his Law of Effect, which stresses the importance of a reinforcer.

Unlike other experimental boxes we have learned about in this class, Thorndike’s differs. There are no levers or buttons the cat must associate with a stimulus in order to be released. Yet, the animal needs to understand that they are able to bump the door in order to get out. Thorndike theorized that the cat merely learned by trial and error, classifying it as operant conditioning. He also theorized that the presence of a reward, or reinforcer, would increase the likelihood the cat would elicit the desired behavior, whereas behaviors that were emitted and followed by a punishment, or mere adverse outcomes, would eventually decrease over time.

Thorndike’s Law of Effect stemmed from his research and observation of animal behavior that I previously explained. This law explicitly states that responses to a situation that are immediately followed by reinforcement are strengthened, whereas those that are followed by a punishment, or non-reinforcement, are weakened. He thought that this also proved intelligence in animals because of their ability to form connections, such as humans do.

http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/thorndike.htm
http://www.simplypsychology.org/edward-thorndike.html
http://www1.appstate.edu/~beckhp/puzzlebox.htm

Terms: Thorndike, behavior modification, puzzle box, reinforcer, Law of Effect, stimulus, conditioned, elicit, emit, punishment, operant conditioning.

For this weeks topic I would like to do it over is Importance of Goal Setting. This was covered in 4.2. This to me is a very useful and important section because everyone has some type of goal whether it be about your weight, being healthy,school grades or even a goal for your career. This chapter can be very useful for most people so help them put there goal into perspective.
There are a few major things that need to happen when setting goals no matter what it is. Understanding this few factors will really make or break your goal when it comes to achieving them.
Be realistic. The first thing that I found that was on many websites was being Realistic. When you go about setting your goals you need to be realistic You need to consider many factors. Why would you set a goal that you know you cannot possibly achieve? For example a non realistic goal would be to become an astronaut at 70 years old its just not achievable. Keeping your goals few in numbers also helps. Keep them few in number. Productivity studies show that you really can’t focus on more than 5–7 items at any one time. And don’t try to cheat by including sections with several goals under each section. This is a recipe for losing focus and accomplishing very little. Instead, focus on a handful of goals that you can repeat almost from memory. Another thing would be t takes time for a change to become an established habit. It will probably take a couple of months before any changes like getting up half an hour early to exercise become a routine part of your life. That's because your brain needs time to get used to the idea that this new thing you're doing is part of your regular routine.
http://www.uni.edu/~maclino/bm/book/sec4.3.pdf
http://michaelhyatt.com/goal-setting.html
http://teenshealth.org/teen/your_mind/problems/goals_tips.html

I am choosing to write my blog this week on token economies, we spent the class last week coming up with our own token economies and figuring out how they will work for a specific age group. Our group chose to work with 1st graders in a public school setting.

Our example was keeping track of when the kids raise their hands and rewarding them or punishing them for not raising their hands. I wanted to pick this topic so I could expand on my opinion of the topic and also do some research to collect the opinion of others on the topic. We thought it would be a good idea to start with the children all having something; our example consisted of a stop light and they start with all of the colors and they lose a color each time they don't raise their hand, when they get to red they would know if they lose that one they will be punished. Dr. Maclin explained how this probably wasn't the smartest idea because the kids might not react very well to it.

Research shows that for children token economies create a strong learning environment for children. They are overall very affected in conditioning the children to learn what they should and shouldn't be doing. Token economies can also be used at pretty much any age (one website discuses how we are our own token economy with money) and in learning purposes for children they are one of the easiest ways to teach children to follow a certain behavior.

My second link I have posted below also associates token behaviors with children with ADHD. Stating that giving the children something like a sticker or a stamp when they do a desired behavior can be more rewarding in their "fast paced" minds then even in other children. Giving this small reinforcement can give the children something to work for, and a reason to follow the desired behavior.

Token economies, though very popular, can easily fall apart if they aren't well organized with a system that everyone understands and follows. If we are constantly changing the rules of the provided token economy it can become confusing, and easily fall apart.

http://tokeneconomies.wordpress.com/

http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/children-274799-5.html

http://www.educateautism.com/token-economy.html#.U1hTiDVOXrc

For this week, I chose the topic of goal making. This topic fits into self-directed behavior modification and our behavioral modification projects in this class. I was interested in this topic because I’m a very goal driven person, enjoy making New Years Resolutions, etc. Since I use goals often in everyday life I figured it would make a beneficial topic to explore further.

One such theory that looks at this topic is goal setting theory. Like what our textbook was getting at, characteristics of fruitful goals include: being meaningful to the person, being clear and observable (so there is a known threshold when the goal has been achieved/it would mean the same thing to different people), making subparts of the goal and chunking it, including deadlines, and publically stating the goal. More specific tips include “[making] a self-reinforcing context that makes it impossible to fail” and changing the environment or antecedent since consequences are “often a function of context, not willpower”. Goal setting theorists have found in a review of studies that by improving the specificity of the goal, people were 90% more likely to achieve the desired result than people who used vague and easy goals or people who didn’t use any goals whatsoever. These are definitely things that I will keep in mind as I make new goals in the future.

http://www.theminimalists.com/maneesh/
http://www.questia.com/library/psychology/personality-and-emotions/goal-setting-theory
http://www.neurobx.com/great-tutorial-in-setting-effective-behavioral-goals/

My topic is over reinforcement itself and how it influences our behavior in general. Reinforcement can increase the likelihood that a behavior will keep occurring. The behavior that we would like to increase must be measurable and specific enough. If it’s not specific enough then we are more likely to not follow through with the behavior. Also, if it is unattainable or harder to accomplish, the harder it will be for us to achieve it. Punishment is mostly thought of as a bad technique compared to reinforcement. Unless the situation is extreme, like murder, then punishment should be avoided. If we alter the antecedent then we can hopefully avoiding punishing offenders. An example of avoiding punishment would be reinforcing a child in a classroom setting more often than punishing a behavior. So if a child is emitting an aversive behavior, rather than punishing more often, it’s better to reinforce when then are eliciting desirable behaviors. If we isolate the child from others, while also offering others benefits at the same time, we can strengthen the association between good behavior and reinforcement.
Working with children, it’s also important to remember, that if they’re already enjoying what they’re doing/learning, it’s better to let them be. If they have intrinsic motivation, it’s better to let them be than to try to use extrinsic motivation on them. If we do, we could ruin that behavior modification process for them. Leaving that target behavior alone and working with those ABC’s and that frequency of behavior is better than trying to intervene. If they don’t have intrinsic motivation, then it is okay to try to alter the behavior as the consequence of the stimulus.
Experts do find that reinforcement is better than punishment. In an experiment, children were given a computer task to complete. When the children correctly answered, they were reinforced with a reward, but if they were wrong, they were punished for their aversive behavior. Repeated tasks showed that performance improved when the feedback was positive.
Another source has shown that positive reinforcement leads to a desirable behavior compared to punishment. Reinforcement can strengthen relationships, is learned more effectively, and doesn’t lead to avoidance.
http://www.larimerhumane.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=159&Itemid=15
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/family-affair/200809/rewards-are-better-punishment-here-s-why
http://kristinhricko.weebly.com/reinforcement-and-punishment.html
Terms: Punishment, reinforcement, behavior, emit, antecedent, behavior modification, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, ABCs, target behavior, frequency of behavior, consequence, experiment, desirable, positive reinforcement, aversive, reward, stimulus.

TERMS: behavior, emit, reward, behavioral modification, reinforcement, functional, antecedent, consequence, ABC’s of behavior, punished, negative, positive,
With all the talk about breaking bad habits for our final project, I wanted to explore the internet to review the steps of breaking a habit. With all of our knowledge of human behavior, what are the components that go into breaking a habit? I know we discussed them in the chapter but I think a refresher would help me with my final. Before I can understand why we cannot break bad behaviors, I need to look at why we form them in the first place. Habits form through the repetition which is a normal part of life. When being to do these habits without even thinking about them such as getting up, showering, brushing our teeth and combing our hair. When begin to emit these behaviors through the form of repetition and our brains do not have to conscious to perform them. This is why so many people struggle to break habits because they begin to not realize they are enough behaving in such a way and it begins part of their everyday life.
Habits are formed because our brains see them as a reward such as overeating, smoking, or even gambling. There are simply five steps in breaking a habit which is awareness, wanting to change, commitment, consistent action, and perseverance. In order to quit a bad behavior, we need to be aware of what they are and want to stop them. Next we must commit to the behavioral modification and have consistent reinforcement in order to change the behavior. Last we need to persevere and become comfortable with our newer and healthier habit. With more research, I saw that there are smaller steps which can help you kick the habit as well. We need to look at the functional aspect of the behavior and think about why we do it. What is the antecedent in which we do the habit? For example, smoking could be the behavior, the person smokes when they are in social settings. What is the consequence? Think about how that behavior is helping or hurting you in the long run. The ABC’s of behavior as well as the functional aspect of the behavior are very important to think about when trying to break a habit. Another small step to take when breaking a habit is to join forces with a friend. Studies show that people well break habits faster when being rewarded or punishment by an outside force. Last by not least, keeping a journal or record of your progress is a great way to see how far you have come. It will give you that extra push when you are doubting your strength and feeling negative about your behavior. Always think of the positive side instead of focusing on the negative. Overall, I enjoyed researching more about breaking a bad habit since I am trying to break a habit in my final project.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Breaking-Bad-Habits---5-Simple-Steps-for-Changing-a-Habit&id=71021
http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/issue/Jan2012/Feature1
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-clear/breaking-habits_b_3540148.html

For this week’s topical blog assignment I decided I wanted to know more about John B. Watson’s “Little Albert” experiment. Record shows that I’m not the biggest fan of Watson because I believe his experiments were fairly cruel. But It cannot be denied the impact him and his experiments have had on the world of psychology and behaviorism. Though I find Watson a douche and the “Little Albert” experiment fairly cruel, I do, for some reason, have an interest in it. The reason this fits in to what we’re talking about in class is because right now we are doing projects over changing behaviors (even though we’re changing our behaviors and not a nine-month-old).

The experiment was conducted by Watson and his assistant (whom he had an affair with), Rosalie Raynor. The basis for this experiment was Watson’s fascination in the experiments that physiologist Ivan Pavlov did with dogs and the salivary glands. Watson was determined to be able to classically condition emotional reactions in people, much like Pavlov did with his dogs. Watson and Raynor chose a child, whom they named “Albert B.” for privacy reasons, from the Harriet Lane Home for Invalid Children.

To get a baseline of emotions, Albert was first shown all of the animals without any accompanying sounds. The animals included a rat, a rabbit, a dog, a monkey, masks, and burning paper (neutral simuli). Albert, initially, showed no reaction to any of the items that were presented to him. Then, the next time that Albert was shown the rat, Watson paired the rat with a loud clanging noise he made by hitting a metal pipe with a hammer (unconditioned stimulus), which caused Albert to cry (unconditioned response). After many repeated trials with each item, Albert soon began crying whenever he saw the item (conditioned stimulus) without the need of the loud clanging noise (conditioned response). Watson noted that it was not just the white rat that Albert began to cry with, but any white object that was presented.

The experiment caused a lot of criticism towards Watson. But it can’t be denied the impact that the experiment had on psychology. Many years after the experiment, the question rose about whatever happened to baby Albert. It was a common rumor that the boy more than likely grew up to be a man afraid of rats and any white objects. But recently, after extensive research to figure out who the boy was, researchers were able to track down who the boy’s mother was and found out that the boy’s name was Douglas Merritte. It turns out the boy died at the age of seven due to hydrocephalus (buildup of fluid in the brain). They researchers discovered that the boy had had hydrocephalus since his birth, which raised the question on if Watson knew about it the entire time he held his experiment.

http://psychology.about.com/od/classicpsychologystudies/a/little-albert-experiment.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMnhyGozLyE
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/01/little-albert.aspx

Terms: “Little Albert,” John B. Watson, psychology, behaviorism, Ivan Pavlov, physiology, classical conditioning, baseline, neutral stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, conditioned response

I chose to do my topic this week on Skinner, because we have talked about him throughout the class and other classes I have taken.
B.F. Skinner worked in the psychology department at Harvard, and was a leader in behaviorism. He created a box called “the Skinner box” that was used for rats to get food if the pressed a lever. His views were not as intense as Watson’s. He looked at the actions and the consequences of the behavior. He also did a lot of inventing throughout his life. He made a crib for his daughter called the “baby tender.” This crib was heated so that the infant did not need blankets. As I was reading of his growing up he seemed to be a very curious person. He originally wanted to become a writer, but that didn’t turn out so well for him so he went to Harvard for psychology.
Skinner is famous for his research on operant conditioning as well as negative reinforcement. He found that behaviors are dependent on what happens after the response. His operant conditioning was based off of Thorndike’s work of the Law of Effect. He found that there are neutral operants, reinforcers, and punishers. He worked a lot with behavior modification using positive and negative reinforcements. Then followed through with critical evaluations of the behavior that was the target.
Skinner taught penguins how to play ping pong.

Behaviorism, Skinner box, operant conditioning, negative reinforcement, behaviors, Watson, consequence, Thorndike, Law of Effect, neutral operants,
http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/bio_skinner.htm
this website was a small biography on Skinner.
http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
Goes into detail on his work with operant conditioning
http://www.biography.com/people/bf-skinner-9485671#final-years&awesm=~oCjKqEFjunuPGt
this website talked about some of his inventions and what he did throughout his life.

I have chosen the section that discusses the importance of goals. I find this topic particularly interesting because I believe setting goals is important in every aspect of life, not just with behavior modification. Throughout life you will always hear people at school, work, family, friends, ect either telling you to set goals or talking about their own in which ever way they apply.

In the first website I found, it relates strongly to the reading we had done in class. When talking about the importance of goal setting, it is in a step by step process which breaks it down a bit more. Make sure your goals are realistic, make sure you have a timeframe, ect and this web site does basically the same in different wording. It explains to make sure the goal is feasible, measureable, and allowing your self to be a bit flexible when necessary. A lot of the examples are very similar to the reading, but reading this article kind of described it in a different light that explained the ways of setting a goal, and I was still able to relate them with behavior modification in any given environment.

The second link I found was a slide show expressing, in their opinion, the top three importance of goal setting. First it talks about imagining living life with out goals, you will be living a mediocre life and feel as though it has very little or no meaning. Second it explains that setting goals will help you stay focused in life, and third is that it will help you overcome procrastination. Which is something I can strongly relate to. Personally if I make a check list of things I need to do, I do actually start to get things done rather than just trying to remember and get to them when I will. I think this can relate to this class because everyday there is something you could be improving on yourself. Maybe there is a certain behavior you emit about your self you are wanting to change, if you set goals and reinforcers and help yourself get to them, you will feel much more accomplished.

In a youtube video I found, motivational speaker Billy Riggs is talking about the importance of setting goals. At 0:28 he explains that there is nothing more important you can do in your life than to write down goals for yourself. At 2:35 Billy says it perfect, he says "life is short, so you'd better figure out what your gonna do with yours, and get after it." I believe out of all the little goals we set, whether to complete a particular task, or something that will take longer, they are all to get to a point where at the end you can look back and say I did it and I am happy with what I have done. Especially when what you are looking back on, is your life.

http://getlevelten.com/blog/sumeeta-kumar/importance-goals
http://www.slideshare.net/Kaiser8798/the-top-3-importance-of-goal-setting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vbw5sqD7lc

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Behavior modification, goals, reinforcement, behavior, emit, environment, measurable.

My topic is extinction. I chose this because it is something we only touched base on. I found it too interesting to not go more in depth into. I think it is interesting because it happens all the time. We are surrounded by extinction and extinction bursts. Extinction is the gradual fading of a conditioned response that results in decreased frequency of desirable consequences. In turn, it makes the behavior gradually disappear. In classical conditioning, it is when a conditioned stimulus is no longer set up with an unconditioned stimulus. For example, Pavlov’s dog and bell study resulted in the dog ceasing to salivate after the bell was taken away. The food that was taken away was the unconditioned stimulus. In operant conditioning, it is when the behavior stops being reinforced or the reinforcement stops being reward enough for the person. For example, in the video below, a shopping addict uses several different credit cards and gets extinguished by the machine when it declines her last card. If she were to finally find a means of payment, she would go through spontaneous recovery. This means that she returned to her behavior after previously being extinct. This idea of extinction is found everywhere and in everyday life. It is very prominent in lives of credit card holders who emit risky spending behaviors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zexs1ocMxE
http://psychology.about.com/od/eindex/g/extinction.htm
http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/07/07/extinction-burst/
Terms: extinction, extinction bursts, conditioned response, frequency, desirable, consequences, behavior, classical conditioning, conditioned stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, operant conditioning, reinforced, reinforcement, Pavlov, extinguished, spontaneous recovery, emit

Since reading the story earlier in the week, I have been more inclined to wonder how daily behaviors such as paying bills and commuting to work represent the ABCs of behavior. This led me to thinking how our behavior is often modified by negative reinforcement, which is what I have decided to learn more about this week. As we learned about in class, and I reviewed on About.com, negative reinforcement is defined as something being taken away (something aversive consequence), therefore increasing the future occurrence of the behavior. For example, a behavior which might be modified by negative reinforcement is late bill payments. The credit card company can apply expensive late fees. Wishing to avoid late fees, you pay your bill on time, and are reinforced with the removal of late fees. Late fees, repeated phone calls from bill collectors, and home visits are all methods utilized, the removal of which encourages the desired behavior, paying bills on time.

As pointed out in the Pearson reading, reinforcers are most effective when they are of sufficient magnitude, delivered promptly, and meet the motivation level of the subject. In the case of negative reinforcers, we are removing an undesirable consequence. For example, when a sufficiently hefty fee is assessed, or the bill collector calls right away, the reinforcement procedure will be more successful.
Pearson and About.com both address the difficulty in distinguishing negative reinforcement from punishment. To do this, we must determine whether the behavior is increasing or decreasing. If it is increasing, a reinforcement (probably negative) procedure is being performed. If the behavior is decreasing, we are using a punishment procedure. We can further assess negative or positive by deciding whether the consequence is being added or taken away. Therefore, if we are removing a consequence in order to increase a behavior, we are utilizing a negative reinforcement procedure. If we are either adding or removing a consequence to decrease a behavior, we are utilizing some type of punishment procedure.

Terms: behavior, negative reinforcement, consequence, aversive, reinforced, undesirable, punishment procedure, reinforcement procedure

Wordpress:
http://awesomedogs.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/negative-reinfocement-the-bill-collector-quadrant/
Pearson:
http://www.pearsonhighered.com/assets/hip/us/hip_us_pearsonhighered/samplechapter/0205361374.pdf
About.com:
http://psychology.about.com/od/operantconditioning/f/negative-reinforcement.htm

The topic that I chose to use for this assignment is operant conditioning. I decided upon this topic because it is one that I believe is used a lot in day to day life, that I had not even noticed before learning more about it when reading the section that discussed Skinner's experiments. B.F. Skinner was the psychologist who first came up with the term operant conditioning. He then invented the Skinner Box, which was based off of Thorndike's puzzle box.

The Skinner Box is used to observe rats or pigeons that press a lever in order to receive reinforcements like food and water. I decided I wanted to know more information though, and so I looked up what operant conditioning consists of. He identified that three types of responses can follow behaviors. Neutral operants are responses from the environment that don't increase nor decrease the chance of the behavior being repeated, reinforcers are responses from the environment that increase the chance that the behavior will be repeated and can be positive or negative, and punishers are responses from the environment that decrease the chances of the behavior being repeated. In time, punishers weaken the behavior and reinforcers enforce the behavior.

I noticed while at home, that my parents use a form of operant conditioning while training our puppy. They invested in a remote training collar to aid in her training. They can control the collar to either shock her at different levels, or just beep at a high pitch to warn her that she is doing something wrong. At the beginning they had to shock her to get her to respond to them. For example, they would shock her after she ran out of the yard. After a little while, if they saw that she was going to leave the yard they would just beep the collar and she would stop, and now all they have to do is hold up the remote. I believe that this collar would be an example of a punisher because since they started using it, it has caused a lot of her naughty behaviors to either stop, or decrease a lot. Its really interesting for me to see things that I learn in class outside of class, because it really makes me feel like I am learning something that I might actually use one day!

Terminology: operant conditioning, reinforcers, punishers, B.F. Skinner, Thorndike, puzzle box, Skinner Box, neutral operant

http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=484
http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Skinner+Box

The topic that I chose to do my blog on this week is the topic of the token economy. This is something that found to be interesting and something that is easy to apply to your life. It fits into the class because it was talked about in a previous section. I want to talk about this because of how diverse its usage can be. It can be used with young children in the class room by giving them a sticker for every time they wash their hands or are a good listener. It can also be used in prisons by giving the inmate something that they want like cigarettes or actually tokens that they can cash in to get more time out of their cell. It can be used with so many people at so many ages in so many places. It can seem like a lot of work to keep track but it’s an actually a great system that can easily be learned and used for a long as you need to use it.

A token economy is a form of behavior modification that is designed to increase desirable behavior and decrease undesirable behavior with the use of tokens. The participants will get a token right after they display a desirable behavior. These tokens that they receive would be collected and added up so that later on they can be exchanged for an object or an action they desire. One other place that the token economy can be used that I didn’t mention before is in institutions like a psychiatric hospitals. They the token economy can be used to manage the behavior of people in this hospitals that can be aggressive. When they follow the rules and do what they are told to do then they get the token.

The big goal of a token economy is to teach the right behaviors as well as the right social skills that the can use in the real world outside of the classroom or facility. A great thing about token economies is that they can be used individually or in groups. The token economy was used by B.F. Skinner as he was working on applying behaviorism in many different situations. In order for a token economy to work you must make sure that you have a reinforcers that works. If the person doesn’t want the prize or won’t be interested in obtaining it then they will not try or want to take part in the system. You also have to make sure that the exchange for the tokens isn’t too far away. If they have a long time to get the tokens than they might not emit the target behavior till the end because they know that they will have more time to get all the tokens. You want the goal line to be closer. You also have to have a dependable way of recording the data if you do it wrong then it would be pointless. The participants need to be able to trust that you will be able keep track of what they are doing so that they get the credit that they deserve. Other all there are many great things about the token economy and as long as you do it right it should show results in many different setting with many different individuals.
Terms
Token economy, reinforcers, emit, target behavior, B.F. Skinner, behavior modification, desirable behavior, undesirable behavior
URLs for the three websites.
http://www.educateautism.com/token-economy.html#.U1iQRfldWAU
http://vkc.mc.vanderbilt.edu/assets/files/tipsheets/tokeneconomytips.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW7pvVMmZ6k

This semester we have talked a lot about changing a target behavior. A target behavior is a behavior that we are trying to alter or change. I have learned a lot about how to alter a target behavior, and one of the things I have learned is that it is best to reinforce an alternate behavior, rather than punishing the target behavior. Behaviorist believe that reinforcement is the key to higher success in behavior change.
When it comes to defining a target behavior it is important to be specific. We need to look at the behavior and decide what it is and when it occurs. It is important to avoid asking why the behavior occurs because that may make it harder to solve. What and when makes the behavior easy to monitor and will make it change.
Once you have found the target behavior you may take the steps need to make the change. You may reinforce an alternate behavior. When you are using reinforcement you may use a schedule of reinforcement to help monitor the behavior. This is important so you can gradually wing off using the reinforcer.
This term is probably the most important to understand because without defining the target behavior, the change in behavior cannot be made. Understand the importance in being specific will make altering a behavior easier and more effective.

http://practicaltrainingsolutions.net/2014/04/28/selecting-and-defining-the-target-behavior/
gator.uhd.edu/~williams/aba/CH03.ppt
http://www.state.ky.us/agencies/behave/bi/target.html

Behavior, target behavior, reinforcer, reinforcement, punishment, alternate behavior, reinforcement schedule, behaviorist.

One area I wanted to research on was Neuro-Linguistic Programming. This is the study of communication and how we communicate with ourselves and with others. This can in turn affect the way we react to certain things and also behave. We have not discussed this topic in class at all, but I still found it to be something relevant and interesting that could easily tie into what we are learning since it is still a technique used to modify behavior. I have talked/learned about it from friends and other class as well. I also thought this was very interesting because it discusses behavior modification in terms with communication and how they may change the way we behave.
When it comes to NLP the neurological system regulates our thoughts and how our body functions, the language determines how we interface and communicate with others, and the programming we use determines the models we create. The programming we use describes the processes between our mind and language and how this affects our body and behaviors. NLP has the tools that allow the development of states of one’s own individual excellence and what communication is and how to go about changing that.
This was created in the 1970’s by Richard Bandler. NLP can be used to optimize individual and organizational performance and is an extremely powerful concept. It can be helpful in nearly all aspects of personal and inter-personal relations. It can better communication styles, better self-awareness and self-control, and better the appreciation of others feelings. NLP can be great for stress management, developing self-belief, self-confidence, and assertiveness. Although many of the sources I found used and discussed NLP being used in the work place there is no reason that NLP could not be used to better the things listed above in the home or even individually.
Many times families have great difficulties communicating and possible the NLP technique would work for them. They would then be more aware of other family members emotions, be more confident, and also assertive. All ideas are important to take into consideration especially in a family.
I believe that NLP is an important and relevant topic for this class because behavior modification techniques are useful and necessary in all parts of life, not only in the individual aspects. To be able to apply a behavior modification technique with in a workplace would be difficult, but by being successful in doing so could benefit not only the employees, but also those who are customers and are affected by the decisions that the business makes.
I really liked researching about this topic because I’m a social work major and believe in making people happier and the world a better place. On the robbinsmaddenstraining link there is a video and the guy talks about jus this and going beyond it. Neurolinguistic Programming encourages people toward new behavior by re-framing and shifting the context or meaning of one’s thoughts and feelings. I loved this opening sentence underneath the video and this is why I wanted to research more on this.
Terms: neuro-linguistic programming, behavior, behavior modification, technique, communication
http://operationmeditation.com/discover/8-useful-behavior-modification-techniques-for-adults/
http://www.businessballs.com/nlpneuro-linguisticprogramming.htm
http://www.nlpu.com/NewDesign/NLPU_WhatIsNLP.html
http://www.neurolinguisticprogramming.com/
http://www.robbinsmadanestraining.com/landing-site/pages/nlp/index.php?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=N_America_Search_NLP&adgroup=Neuro_Linguistic_Programming_Exact&network=g&device=c&aw_key=neurological%20linguistic%20programming&matchtype=e&creative=34151276869&gclid=CK-0urfFisICFYFDMgodAEYAbA

I decided to write about non-violent responses to violence behaviors. More specifically, the Mandt System. It relates to this class because the Mandt System is trained to staff members at residential treatment facilities whose main goal is to help redirect and change behaviors of those clients. Mandt does not allow many unsafe practices such as holding wrists or arms, sitting on or straddling clients, pushing, or other behaviors that would result in injury to the client. Mandt helps staff learn that their behaviors can affect the behaviors of the clients. The staff are responsible for altering the antecedents and doing what they can to end with a positive consequence. Mandt covers two main areas, the idea of verbal de-escalation and physical restraints. If staff is unable to effectively communicate with the client to alter their unsafe behaviors, they are able to physically intervene. This includes body positioning along with hands on restraints that are proven to be safe for both the staff and clients.
For example, if a client is emitting self-harming behaviors and gets ahold of a sharp object, what needs to be done? If the client is not using the object to physically harm themselves or others, the first thing would to be to emit a verbal de-escalation behavior to help the client return to baseline. Say the client lunges at peer. Staff is then responsible to adjust the antecedent and ask for the peer to leave the room and the staff member would body position herself between the two peers. Now the client begins to cut herself. Staff at the time would need to physically intervene because the client’s behavior will result in an adverse consequence. The item would be removed from their hand and a one arm restraint or a side body hug would be put into place. The maximum time for a client to be placed in a restraint should be no more than three minutes. Once the client can commit to safety or has been placed in a safety room, the restraint is no longer needed.
I find this topic very interesting because I personally have taken this class annually for three years. It is a very informative training that not only teaches you restraints you would not likely know of, it also teaches you helpful, positive ways to interact with clients who are behaviorally defiant. We are not there to control their actions and make them emit specific behaviors. We are there to assist and redirect and ultimately make a difference in their lives during their stay at the residential treatment facility. The first URL is a link to the Mandt system page. The second link is an organization that also uses the Mandt Systems. It goes to show this system is well known across organizations and even countries. The last link is an example of a misleading YouTube title and the behaviors being shown are not required to be emitted by all staff. But helps us realize the importance of teamwork.
URLS:
http://www.mandtsystem.com/
http://www.militaryfamilies.psu.edu/programs/mandt-system-mandt-managers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O4J7assVxs
Terminology:
Behavior, antecedents, consequence, de-escalation, emitting, baseline, adverse consequence, emit.

For this week’s blog post, I decided to research productivity and motivation. I think this topic fits into class because it examines what makes people emit certain behaviors more, what makes them motivated and produce more. I am interested in it because I have my own issues with productivity and motivation, and anyway to increase those things is extremely desirable. I found a couple different TED talks about these issues and they all approached them differently, but seemed to have the interesting and connected conclusions about how to increase motivation and productivity. I found a mix of positive psychology, and behavioral psychology explanations. Each of which focused on increasing positive motivation and feelings toward work and decreasing negative emotions and motivations. One study done in a talk discussed the amount of effort being put into work made people more proud of it, and the amount of appreciation greatly affected our pride and motivation. Being lowly appreciated for work would destroy people’s mental conditions and remove their motivation, and being highly appreciated would produce positive effects on productivity and motivation, regardless of actual payment. Also, they found when people put more effort into something appreciated, they found that people valued their work more than people who didn’t see the work put into them. These results all point to the consensus that more than just payment is regarded in what motivates people. It means peoples pride, effort, challenge, ownership, identity in relation to work will cause them to work harder for longer and feel more motivated about it. This was also connected to happiness. One research study found that making people happy increases their productivity and success at work. This researcher suggested besides making people feel appreciated and proud of their work, it starts with making them happy. He suggested people do some of the following activities to increase happiness in people’s lives: journal daily a good thing, commit 3 acts of gratitude, exercise, mediate to focus the mind away from the culture of multitasking, and lastly, commit 3 acts of random kindness. Doing these things for 21 days straight can increase the positive feelings and increase productivity in return. So combining this with being proud and all those aspects that play into motivation before will increase productivity and motivation. The last talk I watched kind of through me through a loop. He said that rewards based on contingences caused worse production levels when dealing with problems that required creativity things and not automatic processing. This aspect is vital to understanding the production necessary for the 21st century workplace. Now, we have the technology to make simple, clear, defined tasks easier to do, and so the jobs left to do require more skill and creativity. So these means the using a rewards system in a complex system narrows the mind to that goal, and when the rules are undefined it makes productivity lower. So in the future this tells us to make work more productive and motivating, it needs to have a more advanced and idea cultivating rewards paired with happiness and appreciation that stems from pride, identity and other aspects. Adjusting the antecedents and consequences can greatly affect the productivity, and motivation of people, and increase the desired behaviors. In these cases, antecedents would be putting someone in the right state of mind before emitting the desired behavior. Another antecedent would be opening the rules and methods allowed to accomplished the behavior; this will allow more creativity and production. Consequences that would increase productivity and motivation would be showing the behavior is greatly appreciated, and using creative new rewards.

Terms: rewards, desirable, emit, behavioral psychology, consequences, antecedents, behaviors, increasing, productivity and motivation.

URLs:
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what_makes_us_feel_good_about_our_work
http://www.ted.com/playlists/60/work_smarter
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation

For this weeks topical assignment I decided to look further into John B. Watson. I studied him this summer in my History and Systems of Psychology class and think that his life is very interesting.

In high school, John B. Watson had poor academic performance, as well as a criminal record. In college, he started by studying philosophy and made contacts with many professors who later helped him in the field of psychology.

In his personal life, he had affairs and did not show much love for his children. One of his children committed suicide, and the other attempted suicide.

He is most famous for his Little Albert experiment. He conditioned a small child to fear a white rat which was generalized with all white, furry objects. The study today would be ethically controversial, but it showed that children are easy to condition.

Watson was interested in behavioralism, the study of people's actions and controlling and changing people's actions. Through his career he studied animals as well as children.

Terms:
John B. Watson, behavioralism, condition, ethics, control, actions, Little Albert

For this week’s topic I choose to do more research on punishment. It relates to class because in the beginning of the year we spent a lot of time talking about reinforcement and punishment in section 2.3. This topic got me very interested because all year we learned how reinforcement was the more desirable technique when modifying a behavior instead of punishment. I’m curious to get a better understanding of what exactly punishment is and when it is the correct time to use punishment verses reinforcement. Also the different types of punishments there are. Along with some of the effects punishment has on individuals and animals.
Punishment is a form of operant conditioning, punishment is any change in a human or animals surroundings that occurs after a behavior or response which reduces the likelihood of that behavior occurring again in the future. Verses reinforcement is the behavior, not the animal that is punished. An example of this is painful stimulation which would serve as a punisher in many cases serves to reinforce some behaviors.
When it comes to punishment there are two different types of punishment in operant conditioning. The first is positive punishment. Punishment by application or also commonly called type I punishment. An example of this is an experimenter punishes a response by presenting an aversive stimulus into the animal’s surroundings a shock for example. The second type of punishment is negative punishment, punishment by removal. Or also referred to as type II punishment this is a valued appetitive stimulus removed. As with reinforcement, it is not usually necessary to speak of positive and negative in regard to punishment.
Punishment is not a mirror effect of reinforcement. Found through studies and experiments with laboratory animals and studies with children, punishment decreases the likelihood of a previously reinforced response only temporarily, and it can later produce other emotional behavior and physiological changes that have to be removed equivalently in reinforcement. Punishment is sometimes considered by some behavioral psychologist to be a primary process which is a completely independent situation of learning, distinct from reinforcement. But it has been debated and others just see it as a category of negative reinforcement, creating a situation in which any punishment- avoiding behavior is reinforced.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punishment_(psychology)
http://psychology.about.com/od/operantconditioning/f/positive-punishment.htm
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/punishment-vs-positive-reinforcement-18224.html
Punishment, reinforcement, behavior, independent, negative punishment, positive punishment, operant conditioning, stimulus, and response.

Ivan Pavlov is a famous psychologist most people know from his findings on classical conditioning. He gained his passion of science from D.I Pesaro in the 1860’s. He had a strong passion for physiology. He was a professor at the Military Medical Academy for five years and then moved to the Chair of Physiology.
Ivan wanted to demonstrate how he could cause an unconditioned response to become a conditioned response through the use of reinforcement. He conducted a famous study of classical conditioning using dogs.
Pavlov started the study by showing the dogs an unconditioned stimulus of food that caused the dogs to do an unconditioned response of salivating. He paired the food with a natural stimulus of a bell ring with the unconditioned stimulus. This means that every time the dogs saw the food they would hear the bell. He did this number of times until eventually the dogs would start salivating at the sound of the bell only. He trained the dogs making the salivating a conditioned response to the bell.
Before he conducted the research on classical conditioning Pavlov worked to develop a surgical technique that scientist could use on animals without casein them pain. He discovered that the secretory nerves of the pancreas and found a lot o data on the gastrointestinal glad. These finding won him a Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine.
Ivan Pavlov was a great contribution to behavior modification. His major study found that behaviors can be trained through a series of reinforcements and a fixed schedule. This finding help psychologist in year on develop a better understanding of behaviors.

http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/pavlov.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov
http://biography.yourdictionary.com/ivan-petrovich-pavlov

Behavior, Pavlov, conditioning, stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned response, unconditioned response, reinforcement

After reading about the article on the girl who was in poverty I decided to also write on the antecedents and circumstances of behavior,but in the field of my other major and that is criminal justice. To make it more interesting I will narrow it down to homicide.

There are many different motives to homicide, and they all seem to negate a person's abilities to fear the consequences if they are to get caught. It is pretty common knowledge that homicide (not vehicular) is one of those crimes that anywhere you go in America there are harsh punishments received. It is on the same level of things such as rape and armed robbery, and less subjective as drug crimes. Yet people continuously make the decision to take another's life.

First there are for too many motives for me to cover in this assignment so I will only be mentioning a few.
One of the most common ones that you see in the news and makes for many plots to movies is someone trying to collect life insurance. To me this is the saddest excuse for a killing because often it includes a loved one most commonly a parent or spouse. Many people in America suffer from greed issues, and when people are in their mid to late adult years they typically are in their best financial situations and if they aren't they can get awfully desperate to achieve it. In one story I picked off the internet a lady poisoned her husband she was separated with, and got caught because the husband had told his family that if he ever died suspiciously to figure she had something to do with it, and when he did with a .436 alcohol level in her front yard and she pursued a $100,000 life insurance policy they investigated and figured out she had stolen morphine from work and put it in some food she made for him. She thought that risking her life as a free woman was worth a couple years of income.

Another motive high on the list of reasons for homicide is revenge. The antecedents to revenge can vary, maybe a person you loved was killed/raped, you got an identity stolen, or someone testified at your trial and you ended up serving time off of it. Human emotions are sometimes unexplainable and overwhelming. There is a good chance when you read those 3 examples of things to get revenge on you thought why would someone kill over those? But it happens all the time, and these people have all made a decision (usually not spur of the moment either) to end another person's life because they did them wrong in one way or another.

Drugs and alcohol are one of the few excuses for homicide that actually may not apply to what I am trying to say with people deciding to kill is more important than the consequences of getting caught. It is not uncommon for someone to get shot during a drug deal or while they are impaired simply because their ability to make rational decisions is gone. If they would have been sober they would've been too scared of the punishments that can occur, but when they got high or drunk that fear was gone and they were only thinking short term.

terms: Antecedent, circumstances, behavior, punishments

http://books.google.com/books?id=RlzQDgghaLoC&pg=PA71&lpg=PA71&dq=rational+ability+when+intoxicated&source=bl&ots=s6cw6zDgER&sig=FstWeG5apazf3_tweZafV2eysVc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=E19-VJbdI835yQTf84K4Bw&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=rational%20ability%20when%20intoxicated&f=false

http://listdose.com/top-10-reasons-why-a-person-kills-someone/

https://www.jrcinsurancegroup.com/murder-for-life-insurance-scams/

The topic I have chosen to research is B.F. Skinner. He fits into what we have covered in class, because we have discussed some of his ideas about operant conditioning and behavior in the past. I am interested in researching B.F. Skinner because I did not know that much about him, and I would like to know more about his life and more details about how he contributed to any theories of psychology.
Skinner is very important because he introduced people to the concept of reinforcement and explained that behavior that is reinforced, or has positive consequences will be more likely to occur in the future. Behavior that is not reinforced and encouraged can become less frequent. He displayed this with the somewhat famous "Skinner Box" which can display how a rat can learn with operant conditioning. This box can display multiple types of operant conditioning, including negative reinforcement, which we have learned about in class. It involves the removal of something undesirable in order to increase the likelihood of a behavior occurring. These are not the only ideas that Skinner introduced and explained in depth, and many of his ideas are used in work places, classrooms, and other places in which behavior can be modified.
It was very interesting to learn about Skinner's past and a little bit of his personal life. He graduated from a very small school, and he was rebellious during his college years. Even though he was rebellious, he still learned, thought, invented things, and could build. He seemed to have a unique learning style. Although he seemed to develop many "theories," he was never very concerned about hypotheses or theories, but instead he just continued his studies and research without being very formal. He became a writer himself and wrote about multiple different aspects of therapy and behavior modification. Before much writing had taken place, he decided to pursue studying in the field of psychology. Clearly that was an important decision, because he influenced psychology greatly, and helped people to learn new insights and concepts about conditioning and how behavior modification can be effective. There were people that Skinner learned with and learned from that impacted Skinner and his journey through academics. For example, a man named Fred Keller taught him to work hard in order to be successful.
B.F. Skinner had a large influence on the way people view behavior modification. Specifically, he pointed out that reinforcement, specifically positive reinforcement can be very helpful when shaping behavior, and it doesn't just have to be all about undesirable behaviors that people emit being punished. It can have a lot to do with reinforcing people for the desired target behaviors. Not only is this more pleasant for the people that are emitting behaviors, but it tends to be better in regards to ethical treatment of humans. Skinner valued the ethical and humane treatment of people, and he could still be effective when studying people and drastically modifying behavior. I believe that this could've helped people realize the fact that it is not very difficult to change behavior while still treating people in a humane way.
Terminology: B.F. Skinner, emit, target behavior, desirable, punishment, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, consequences, operant conditioning, behavior modification, shaping behavior, ethical treatment.
URL's: http://www.bfskinner.org/
http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/skinner.htm
http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html

For this week’s blog I decided to research further into the idea of learned helplessness. Upon reading the article for Monday, it was discussed that the author may be experiencing learned helplessness. The author spoke of being poor and always being poor and she had no other way out. After reading that it made me wonder how the idea of learned helplessness came about and how it affects people’s lives.

Learned helplessness is the idea that a person or animal is exposed to an aversive stimuli that have painful or unpleasant consequences. After being exposed several times to the stimuli the person or animal becomes unable or unwilling to avoid future encounters with those stimuli. The behavior of being unable to unwilling to avoid the stimuli continues even if the stimuli is escapable because the organism has learned that they cannot control the situation. Learned helplessness has been linked to causes of clinical depression and other related mental illnesses. Some researchers argue that these mental illnesses may result from a perceived absence of control over the outcome of a situation. Learned helplessness can lead a person to falsely believe that they are powerless which can result in poor decision making. This pattern of behaviors can create a vicious cycle and lead to depression.

Learned helplessness was created by the American psychologist Martin E.P. Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1960s and ’70s. While conducting experimental research on classical conditioning as an expansion of Pavlov’s work, Seligman unintentionally discovered that dogs that had received unavoidable electric shocks failed to take action in future situations. Seligman restrained dogs in a hammock while giving them an electric shock after they heard a loud noise. While conducting the experiment, Seligman found that the dogs would quit trying to escape the hammock despite knowing that a shock was coming. Seligman expanded his research and moved the dogs to a confined box where they could easily jump out of because he wanted to see if the dogs would learn to jump out. To his surprise, the dogs after hearing the loud noise and knowing that a shock was coming would still lay there and try not to escape even though On the other hand, Seligman found that dogs that had not received the unavoidable shocks immediately took action in future situations. The experiment was replicated with human subjects using loud noises instead of electric shock and the results were similar to that of the dogs. People who could use a switch to turn off the noise had improved performance, even though they rarely bothered to do so. Simply being aware of this option to turn off the noise was enough to offset the distraction. On the other hand those that were not given the switch simply appeared as though they had given up on trying to focus on the task. Seligman coined the term learned helplessness to describe the expectation that outcomes are uncontrollable. In his book Helplessness (1975), Seligman argued that, as a result of these negative expectations, other consequences may accompany the inability or hesitancy to act, including low self-esteem, chronic failure, sadness, and physical illness.

Although the experiments were repeated and the results replicated there are still critics for how Seligman and others applied the results. Some researchers and Seligman applied the findings of learned helplessness to mental illnesses such as depression. Critics, however, have argued that a variety of different conclusions can be drawn from Seligman’s experiments and therefore broad generalizations are unjustified. The most common example of over-generalization is to mental illnesses such as depression. Critics argue that the application of the theory to clinical depression is viewed as an oversimplification of the illness that fails to account for the complex cognitive processes involved.

URLS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1380861/learned-helplessness
http://outofthefog.net/CommonNonBehaviors/LearnedHelplessness.html

TERMS: learned helplessness, aversive, stimuli, consequence, clinical depression, Martian E.P. Seligman, classical conditioning, Pavlov, over-generalization

For this assignment I choose to investigate more on what behavior modification is, more in depth. I remember way, way back on the first day of the class back in August thinking what the heck is this class going to be about? I had no idea what behavior modification was, I had taken several psychology classes but those were all basically the same thing, just a different way of explaining the information. However, what has stuck in my head the most is when you told us what behavior modification was. A certain behavior to either increase or decrease a certain behavior.

There are different techniques one can use in order to increase or decrease a behavior. If you really want a behavior to reoccur then you must increase the likelihood that that behavior will happen again, and vise versa if you don't want that behavior to reoccur. Another way is through positive or negative reinforcement, or by the reduction of a certain stimulus also known as extinction.

Behavior modification is a lot like operant conditioning the only difference is that behavior modification doesn't search for the antecedent. Behavior modification is often considered a treatment approach, you must decide if you want that certain behavior to reoccur or not, by either positive or negatively reinforcing whatever that certain behavior was.

There are several different steps one must go through in order to change a behavior. For instance you could try teaching your child a different way of behaving. It may take your child a while to get used to this new behavior, so reminding them of the appropriate times to act in certain ways.

Terms used: antecedent, behavior modification, behavior, positive, negative reinforcement, extinction, stimulus.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavior_modification
http://www.minddisorders.com/A-Br/Behavior-modification.html
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/behavior/behmod.html

The topic I choose was classic conditioning. We discussed classical conditioning in section 3.3. Classical conditioning was founded by Ivan Pavlov and it is an automatic type of learning that is paired with a stimulus and response. Pavlov was awarded a Nobel Prize for his classical conditioning on digestion process with dogs. In his experiment Pavlov isolated a section of the dogs stomach so that the ingested food would not enter the saliva. To study this process he used a surgical process by implementing a duct to reroute the saliva to the exterior to collect the saliva. Pavlov found that the dogs were salivating before food was present. He realized the dogs would salivate when they heard the footsteps of their owner. By hearing the footsteps the dogs knew it was time to eat this is known as the conditioned reflex. His experiments were much more than dogs salivating. They involved the process of inhibiting the inhibitory neurons. Pavlov presented the dogs with meat powder after the ringing of a bell. The ringing of the bell was the conditioned stimulus and the salvation paired with the bell was the conditioned response. He also furthered this study using discrimination. He presented an ellipse and circle shape as the stimulus to observe if dogs could distinguish the difference. He found out dogs could discriminate, but when the shapes became similar the dogs became very anxious.
Terminology: Classical conditioning, Stimulus, response, conditioned reflex, conditioned stimulus, inhibitory neurons, conditioned response, discriminate
http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/pavlov.htm
http://www.learning-theories.com/classical-conditioning-pavlov.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rzr2grHCRs

This week I chose to look at how effective grades are towards helping kids learn. In this blog I will use several sources along with my own experiences into there effectiveness. I think this topic ties into this class in many ways. First we do receive grades in this class for our blogs and graphs and such these are behavioral modifiers. It also talks about the punishment effect of grades. Behavioral modification is based around punishment and reinforcement.

When ever kids complain about grades the first response is that they are just the ones that are lazy and have bad grades. I was a high B's and A's student and I think the whole idea of grades is flawed in today world. Grades do not elicit kids to do well in school, rather they are a aversive part of the whole ordeal. It is a well know fact that reinforcement works better then punishment to get a target behavior. while knowing this then why are kids sent to school to get these grades as their consequences. Almost any student will tell you that they are afraid of grades. Then there are some times when the students fear their parents reaction to bad grades, in example one girl had to get above 85%'s or she was grounded till the next report. This is an extreme example but this goes to show another reason with students are afraid of bad grades. Some people may respond to this by saying , Good they are afraid of bad grades so they will get good ones. Yes they will get those good grades but how will they get them I knew many students in my high school classes that would pay or bully the smart kids for their answers. They did this out of the need to emit those good grades and all of the pleasurable things that go with.

These grades are a stimuli but they are not a pleasurable one, they are a negative reinforcer. Needing good grades to be able to have a pleasurable social life is a pretty strong antecedent to cheat. Many kids that I knew did not want to really learn, they just wanted to pass that class and appease their parents. We need to find a better alternative to grades to get kids to actually want to learn the material so we do not wind up with a generation that just knows the fastest way to do the least amount of work possible and still get what they need for it.

Terms used: punishment, reinforcement, elicit, aversive,consequences, target behavior, emit, pleasurable, stimuli, negative, antecedent, behavioral modifier, behavioral modification

Links used:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/family-affair/200809/rewards-are-better-punishment-here-s-why

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/practical-wisdom/201101/do-grades-incentives-work

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/emily-thorp/punishment-not-effective-_b_1018282.html

This week I am writing about behavioral modification and weight loss. Personally, I have never struggled with my weight. However, I known several people who have and I found myself stuck when I tried to help them with their lifestyle changes. I decided to take this opportunity to educated myself to be better at assisting my friends and family; as well as making sure I maintain a healthy lifestyle and don't have to go through a behavioral intervention in the future.
As children we learn much through observational learning. The shopping, eating and cooking behaviors emitted by parents are generally also elicited by their children. This includes the groceries purchased, filling the refrigerator, and what is made for dinner. Also the types of reinforcements used by parents seem to lean towards “treats”: candy, pop and/or fast food. For example, telling a child if they are good in the store they can get ice cream afterwards. Or giving candy to toddlers that are being potty trained. Although effective, these reinforcers could be changed to something other than junk food. Both of these trends in parenting behaviors can build a foundation for weight gain and obesity. If behaviors can aid in weight gain, behavioral modification can also help with weight loss.
Some people can relate to growing up and being told to finish their plate. For myself, if I ate all my dinner I also got dessert, and having to eat my squash was always a form of punishment. Other people might look to food as a way to deal with stress. For anyone wanting to manage their weight, behavioral therapy has been found to be very useful. The goal of behavioral therapy is to change the behavior which contributes to obesity, food intake and activity levels, etc.
Several techniques are used in behavioral therapy when used for weight loss. It's important to monitor current eating and exercise behaviors, like with many behavioral interventions. After gathering a baseline one can decide what they would like to improve. This may mean changing antecedents, identifying the target behavior one wants to change and finding reinforcers that will help to reach the final goal. This might mean changing the types of foods you keep in the house, having a low-calorie diet, or increasing exercise. Characteristics of successful behavioral interventions are making goals realistic, developing a modest plan to achieve the goals, and making small changes versus drastic adjustments.
A person who sits in front of the computer with a bag of chips everyday after getting off work is going to have a difficult time quitting “cold turkey”. Instead of going to the office, something a behavioralist might suggest would be to avoid the office and change into workout clothes and go for a walk. Two important behaviors are taking place. The person is reducing their bad calorie intake and increasing their physical activity.
Many times when addressing the ABCs that factor into access weight or obesity, the long-term consequences are forgotten about. For example, heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Although they may not be present at the time, intervention is a great start for prevention. It not only helps to get rid of excess weight but also manage it in the future. Behavioral modification for weight loss does not stop at self-monitoring, it can and usually includes counseling, group support and education. It is the self-monitoring that helps identify the aversive behaviors leading to weight gain. Counseling offers additional insight into why one over eats, or has negative feelings towards exercise; it also helps the client to understand that their thoughts and actions are similar to others. Research has shown that self-monitoring and the accountability of behavioral modification therapy has shown positive effects for many people.
http://www.americanobesity.org/behavior.htm
http://www.centerforhealthandnutrition.com/weight-loss-blog/behavior-modification-for-weight-loss
http://www.livestrong.com/article/18843-behavior-modification-techniques-weight-loss/

Terms: Behavioral Modification, Behavioral Intervention, Observational Learning, Behaviors, Emitted, Elicited, Reinforcements, Reinforcers, Punishment, Goal, Baseline, Antecedents, Target Behavior, ABCs, Consequences, Aversive.

My topic for this paper is anorexia, specifically treatments for anorexia. This fits into what we have been covering in class because in order for this disorder to be treated, behavior modification must occur, which is the subject of this entire class. Not eating is a behavior, and the treatments involved seek to change this behavior. I am interested in this topic because I believe eating disorders are something many people struggle with, especially young girls. I do a lot of volunteer work where I work with high school girls, so I want to make sure I am equipped with the proper knowledge to assist girls who may be struggling with this disorder. I don’t want to be their source of treatment, but want to help aid them in making sure they get pointed in the right direction for treatment I also want to be able to understand what they are going through and communicate with them on the topic.

Anorexia nervosa is a type of eating disorder characterized by people who have an intense fear of gaining weight so they limit the amount of food they eat to the point where they can become dangerously thin. Ultimately, anorexia is not about weight or food, but is instead a behavior that is elicited from antecedents of deeper struggle like depression, loneliness, insecurity, pressure to be perfect, or feeling out of control. Serious health problems can occur as aversive consequences of the disorder. Anorexia affects the mind and the body. Thinking about food, dieting, and weight consume the mind of the patient and the way a patient views his/her body is far from reality. Anorexia usually begins in the teen years, with it being more prevalent in females than males. Early detection and treatments of the disorder leads to the greatest success.

Treatment for anorexia is unavoidable; all of those who struggle with the disorder must undergo treatment to move forward with the disorder no longer in their life. Before treatment can begin, a patient needs to admit they have a problem, take to someone, and avoid people, places, and activities that trigger the weight obsession. If anorexia is severe enough, a hospital stay is necessary at the start of treatment. Hospitalization often occurs if a patient is severely ill, has relapsed, or is below 15% of the healthy body weight. If a patient is hospitalized, they remain there until they have gained weight and are medically stable before they move to outpatient treatment. The goal of all possible treatments is to restore a healthy weight and healthy eating habits, and change how the patient thinks about herself/himself and food. Treatment can be difficult for patients who have a fear of gaining weight, but their mind must be changed to think of weight gaining as life-saving. Treatment for anorexia often involves a team of three: a mental health professional, a medical health professional, and a registered dietitian.

Work with a mental health professional helps patient’s deal with the emotional causes of anorexia. Things that can be discussed during these sessions are life stresses, negative beliefs about food and weight, or personality traits that may be causing or contributing to the problem of anorexia. During these sessions the patient also learns how to deal with negative emotions, relationships, and stress in a productive way rather than a destructive way. Out of all the psychotherapies used to treat anorexia, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the treatment of choice. CBT helps the patient understand how their negative thinking, negative self-talk, and negative self-image can directly impact their negative eating behaviors. CBT identifies these negative thought patters and then changes them. This therapy also then makes these thoughts a reality by integrating behavioral interventions into daily life, with these new behaviors often receiving a reinforcer if emitted. Family Therapy can also be used to treat anorexia. Family therapy helps members of the family see what behaviors they are emitting that contributes to the patient’s anorexia and it helps the patient see how their anorexic behaviors are impacting their family.

Medical treatment is often the start of treatment if malnutrition or starvation has caused break downs in the body. The medical treatments given will be to treat the conditions that have occurred because of the disorder, the common conditions are osteoporosis, heart problems, or depression. A registered dietitian works with those suffering from anorexia to help them take control of their weight in a healthy manner through learning about healthy eating patterns and nutrition. The nutritionist will help the patient develop and follow meal plans that include enough calories to maintain a normal, healthy weight gain. Throughout the United States there are residential treatment facilities for anorexia where the team of specialists needed to treat the disorder are all in one place.

There are also a few self-help methods used for treating anorexia. For starters, self-help support groups allow for emotional support as the patient is trying to make behavioral changes in their life. Self-help books and finding a healthier coping skill are ways to begin this self-help process. Also, changing the way the patient see their body image can be done through the changing the antecedent: wearing clothes they are comfortable with, staying away from the scale, staying away from fashion magazines, doing nice things for their body, and staying active.

URL’s:
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/eating-disorders/anorexia-nervosa/anorexia-nervosa-topic-overview
http://psychcentral.com/lib/treatment-for-anorexia/000101/2
http://www.helpguide.org/articles/eating-disorders/anorexia-nervosa.htm

Terms: behavior modification, behavior, elicited, antecedents, consequences, emitting, changing the antecedent, reinforcer, aversive

I consider myself an old soul. I prefer old-school dating techniques, limited to no technology, bicycles, and all of the actual home cooked meals that I can have. If I could live in a time where these were still the practices, I would in a heartbeat. Much of the social expectations that are common now include rushing from one task to the next. Very rarely do you see someone at ease while they are on their way to work, school, or late for a social gathering. I was watching a TED talk by Pico Iyer, the author of the book “The Art of Stillness,” and everything he was saying hit home for me. He wasn't talking about how he too is an old soul, but he was talking about the beauty of just taking time to sit and not have anything to do or think about. As time goes on and people become more consumed in their careers and other responsibilities, we lose the sense of peace and quiet that we use to have. He explained how once he had what he thought was the perfect life, he up and moved to a place in the middle of nowhere with limited resources that he was use to. By doing this he put himself in a situation where he was experiencing self-directed behavior. When I think of behavior modification, I rarely think of someone doing it to themselves. I more so think of them influencing someone else’s behavior with these skills. Iyer’s goal with this life change was to make himself slow down and appreciate his life and the world. Most people don’t take the time to just do nothing and enjoy their time while doing so. The reason so many people shy away from doing nothing is maybe that they just don't know how to. Robert Krulwich mentions two ways in his article that explains the two types of nothing. There are patches of space and patches of art (from
http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2014/09/26/351735981/2-ways-to-think-about-nothing-one-mo-time). Each of these offer to people the opportunity to question what they see and what is there but they cant see. The way this relates to doing nothing is that by doing nothing, we put ourselves into a patch of space. The space is that when we are doing nothing, our brains are still typically thinking of something. This leads us to realize that we are never actually not doing anything. A consequence of this is never feeling fully rested and revitalized after a break or after sleeping. Our society is so use to having lack of sleep and dealing with a multitasking brain. When we actively multitask, we are actually becoming less productive than we would be if we would have just done one task at a time (from http://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2014/10/08/multitasking-damages-your-brain-and-career-new-studies-suggest/). It is unfortunate that society has taken on this role of busy multitasks because we are taking away time from our loved ones, free time, and just overall beauty of the world around us. If we were to just take time to slow down and emit a few more meditating behaviors, I think that we could all start to feel like we are accomplishing more every day, and we may find that we enjoy our lives a little more in the process.

Terms: self-directed behavior, behavior modification, consequence, emit, multitasking, patch of space, patch of art, expectations

https://www.ted.com/talks/pico_iyer_the_art_of_stillness#t-451925
http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2014/09/26/351735981/2-ways-to-think-about-nothing-one-mo-time
http://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2014/10/08/multitasking-damages-your-brain-and-career-new-studies-suggest/

AJD
Self-regulated behavior.

This week I chose to learn more about self-directed behavior. Self-directed behavior is when you use behavior modification techniques on yourself. With self-directed behavior you are relying on yourself to manage the behavior and administer the consequences. The steps of self-directed behavior are to set a goal, define the goal as a set of target behaviors, keep a record, graph a baseline, determine the contingencies, determine the antecedents, and implement and adjust the contingencies With self-directed behavior reinforcement is often used instead of punishment. DRO is often used with self-directed behavior as well. Self-regulation and monitoring yourself are also a part of self-directed behavior. You must first decide what behavior you want to change and in what setting. It is important to remember that there could be obstacles along the way. Any act that used to be reinforced but no longer is will start to weaken and then disappear. Giving yourself feedback is a good way to see how you are progressing. By organizing your goal into antecedents, behaviors, and consequences you can better see what happened before and after your behavior.

Terms: self-directed behavior, behavior modification, consequences, steps, goal, target behavior, baseline, antecedents, reinforcement, punishment, DRO, feedback, behavior.

http://www.powershow.com/view/a73a9-YTRmN/SelfDirected_Behavior_Modification_Project_powerpoint_ppt_presentation
http://www.uni.edu/~maclino/bm/book/sec4.1.pdf
http://www.uni.edu/~maclino/bm/book/sec4.2.pdf

The topic I chose for this week is phobias. It’s something that I’ve always been curious about. Why are some people deathly afraid of things? We covered it a little bit earlier in the semester, but I was curious to dig deeper into the subject and learn more about it.

A phobia is defined as an intense fear of something that poses little or no actual danger. Some common phobias would be people being afraid of heights, spiders, snakes, needles, flying, storms, public speaking, and many, many more. Some symptoms of phobias would include: feelings of panic, dread, or terror, recognition that the fear goes beyond normal boundaries, reactions that are automatic and can’t be controlled, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, trembling, and extreme measure that are taken in order to avoid the fear. Many phobias are developed through personal experience. For example, a person who has a fear of dogs probably had a past experience with a dog that triggered the phobia.

There are many different treatments to phobias. One treatment option is to face the fear head on, one step at a time. A very effective way to overcome a phobia is to gradually and repeatedly being exposed to the feared object or situation. There is a fear ladder that can be very useful. Instead of trying to overcome the fear at once, it works very well to take baby steps in trying to overcome the phobia. An example of this would be with someone with a phobia of dogs. The first step of the ladder would be to just look at pictures of dogs. A couple of steps later to step three would be to look at a dog through a window. Step six would be to stand five feet away from a dog on a leash. Step eight would be to pet a small dog that someone is holding. Finally, the tenth and final step would be to pet a larger dog that is off its leash. Going through these steps will help someone slowly get used to their fear, which was a dog in this case.

Another treatment option is to get cognitive behavioral therapy. In this treatment option, an individual meets with a trained therapist and confronts the phobia in a carefully planned way. The individual then learns to control the mental and physical behaviors that are caused by the phobia. An example of this is in the YouTube clip. A man is afraid of dogs, especially pit bulls, because he saw a pit bull maul someone when he was five. When he first sees the little pit bull puppy, he becomes very afraid and wants to run away from the situation. With help from a therapist, he comes back, and the therapist encourages the man to let the dog approach him and to pet him. As he’s reaching down to pet the pit bull, he’s visibly shaking, but he does pet the puppy pit bull.

Learning different relaxation techniques is another solid treatment option. Different relaxation techniques people could use include: deep breathing, meditation, and muscle relaxation. When people are anxious, they take quick, short breaths. After a few minutes of deep breathing, people will feel less tense and less anxious.

Terms: Phobia, treatment, cognitive behavioral therapy, behavior

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/phobias-and-fears.htm
http://www.psychiatry.org/phobias
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDvDCqLCdEE

The Premack Principle can be used in allowing a commonly occurring behavior to function as a reinforcer for a behavior that occurs in low frequencies or a behavior that is less desirable. In order to determine which behaviors require reinforcement and which behaviors an individual desires is referred to as a behavioral hierarchy. Individuals often expect a reward for behaviors that would otherwise not occur if not reinforced.
Unknowingly I often use this principle in my household in order to elicit certain behaviors from my son. If I want him to brush his teeth and get ready in the morning without complaint, I offer to let him watch a few minutes of television so that I can get ready while he is preoccupied-this works for us both. His favorite television shows serve as reinforcers of him emitting target behaviors associated with getting ready for school. I place high valence on him getting ready, while he prefers television.
This principle is not solely used for children, adults and animals can also be under its influence. As a form of operant conditioning, a dog can be trained to emit “good” behaviors through use of a reward system. This is how I trained my dog when I was a child in 4-H. My dog Fred would receive a small treat incentive whenever desirable behaviors occurred. At first he hated being trained until he learned that if he did what I wanted him to do, a treat or extra attention would follow.
As for myself, I found a lovely little website that says I am not alone with my procrastination. Many adults find it hard to juggle life between work, kids, and unexpected events, etc.. In order to avoid punishments by not getting things done on time, I occasionally offer myself a reward, such as time alone at a coffee shop, even a small nap sometimes does the trick. I can only reward myself if I have completed my tasks, but often I find myself rewarding the small steps that I am taking to accomplish tasks so that I do not become overwhelmed.
The Premack Principle can and is used in many facets of life. Even my son uses it with me, though he does not understand what exactly it is he knows that if he does not want to do something, he is not satiated with the desired reward. If he is deprived of what he wants he will work to get it. I think that it is important for people to remember that sometimes we have to accomplish undesirable tasks if we want the consequence of a desirable outcome.
http://www.teachingdogobedience.com/2009/01/premacks-principle.html
http://www.gettingstronger.org/2010/12/stop-procrastinating-use-the-premack-principle/
http://www.iloveaba.com/2013/01/the-premack-priniciple.html

Terms: satiate, deprive, target behavior, punishment, reward, premack principle, elicit, emit, consequence, valence, behavioral hierarchy, low frequency behavior, function

The topic I would like to examine this week is the idea of observational learning and its effect on behavioral modification. I am interested in this subject because I am currently training a new fitness trainer at the gym I work at and she has had to job-shadow a few classes I teach. My goal is to get a better understanding of how she can learn to act as an effective coach by observing what I myself do when I teach.
My research brought me to Albert Bandura, who was the most widely known psychologist who studied learning through observation. He learned that humans are innate to learn specific behaviors through observation and this begins at a very young age. During a study Bandura had done with his colleagues, he found that babies as young as three weeks old and would then begin to imitate the facial expressions and mouth movements they see in others.
To better understand the importance of observational learning, Bandura constructed a very famous study known as the Bobodoll experiment. I remember learning about this in my intro to psychology class. In this experiment, Bandura studied the aggressive tendencies of boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 6. He began the study by developing a model for how aggressive each child was before exposed to the demonstrated behavior. The child was then exposed to an adult physically and verbally attacking the doll for a specific amount of time. After witnessing this event the child was then asked to play with the doll for 20 minutes. During this time, the researchers documented violent behaviors such as punching, kicking, and yelling at the doll.
The belief was that a child would not naturally emit such aggressive behavior without having learned to do so through observation. This means that behavior does not necessarily have to manifest itself in the presence of punishment or reinforcement. Instead, observational learning occurs when an individual is focused on another completing a task or displaying a behavior with success. The individual will then begin to emit this behavior whether they will be reinforced or punished for the action.
http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_doll_experiment
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3139552/

Terms: Albert Bandura, behavior modification, emit, behavior, reinforcement, punishment, and Bobo doll experiment

The topic I have chosen for this week is superstitious behavior. It relates to the class because it was discussed in the ABC's textbook as well as in class.
I don't think I've ever heard of anyone that doesn't have at least the slightest superstition or superstitious behavior that they emit regularly. For me, mine seems extremely ridiculous, and it probably is. But I feel like superstitions are just a form of comfort for people. For me, it's wearing the necklace that my significant other bought for me every single day. If I don't, I feel like I have worse luck throughout my day than when I wear it. I know, probably completely untrue and all in my head. But that's why I say its a comfort thing. It's something that we can use to say "well, this happened because I didn't do this like I normally do."
Even if the behaviors emitted are totally irrational, we still for some reason take comfort in the completely unreliable idea that they could help us! In section 2.4, the book says this:
"Behaviors are sometimes emitted that don’t directly lead to reinforcement. Simply because they are associated with a reinforcer or a behavior, the behaviors do not lead to reinforcement
themselves."
At some point in time, you emitted a certain behavior, were reinforced by it (most likely totally by chance) and ever since then you can't imagine the thought of not emitting said behavior because one of two things could happen. Either you simply won't get that same reinforcement, or even worse, you could receive and adverse or negative consequence. It's crazy what we humans will do just out of the most bizarre reasons. In my personal opinion, I almost see it as some weird form of OCD...

http://www.corsinet.com/trivia/scary.html (A list of different superstitions/"old wives tales")
http://www.psychologistworld.com/superstition.php
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/psychology-of-superstition

Terms: Superstitious behavior, emitted, behavior, adverse/negative consequence, reinforcer, reinforcement, consequence.

The topic that I chose to complete for this blog assignment was differential reinforcement. I chose this topic because it was last topic we discussed in class, and it seemed interesting and a bit confusing to me as well. I figured by spending more time researching it I would have a better understanding of it, and also be able to apply it to me behavioral change project as well. As we talked about in class, there are many different types of differential reinforcement. As it sounds, differential reinforcement involves finding ways to reinforce behavior in order for the desired behavior to occur and the undesired behavior to become extinct.
According to a website that provides training and educational solutions to children with autism, differential reinforcement is the implementation of only reinforcing the behaviors that are appropriate, or the desired behaviors. On the other hand, extinction is applied to all the undesired or aversive behaviors. Extinction as we know is the process of discounting a behavior in hopes that it doesn’t ever occur in the future. According to psywww.com, differential reinforcement is unlike the concept of shaping because during the process of differential reinforcement the behavior already is occurring and has good form. Although the behavior already occurs, in differential reinforcement, it may get lost among other behaviors, hence the reason why when the desired behavior occurs it is paired with a reinforcement, in order to get that specific behavior to occur more in the future.
One basic principle that is talked about in relation to differential reinforcement is the concept of discrimination. Discrimination is used in differential reinforcement when reinforcement is provided for certain behaviors and not others. An example of discrimination used in differential reinforcement is providing a reward after a child does their homework right after school, and withholding that reward if they do not do their homework right after school and wait till later at night.
Another aspect of differential reinforcement is that it is normally it is applied to a group of behaviors. A good example of this is for someone who works in a daycare or at school with children. They may reward any behaviors that show cooperative play, and disregard and not reward any behaviors that involved fighting or bickering among the kids.
Just as we discussed in class, there are many different types of differential behavior. I will be talking more in-depth about a few, including; DRI, DRL, DRO, along with why differential reinforcement may not work to change some behaviors.
Differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviors (DRI) allows us to be positive in reducing the presence of inappropriate behavior (behavioradvisor.com. We talked about this one in class as a good one to use for our behavioral change project. One person in class wanted to decrease the amount of sweets or dessert that they ate. Using DRI, you could reinforce their behavior for eating carrots, because if you are eating carrots, it is better than you eating sweets. Special-learning.com mentions that, DRI is the reinforcement of behaviors which are incompatible with problem or inappropriate behaviors that are behaviors which the child cannot be doing simultaneously (special-learning.com).
Two other types of differential reinforcement that I looked in more are differential reinforcement of lower rates, and differential reinforcement of higher rates. These two types of differential reinforcement seemed to be the most popular in our behavior change projects. These types of differential reinforcements are easier to understand because you are simply rewarding the behavior if it happens less or if it happens more. For example, for my behavioral change project I want to reduce the amount of money I spend on fast food and sit down restaurants. If my behavior lessens, I reward myself at the end of the week with a cup of coffee that it not made in my tiny little coffee pot (usually I go to Caribu).
The last type of differential behavior I want to discuss is differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO). I found learning about DRO the most interesting out of all the types of differential reinforcement that I explored. “One technique of applied behavior analysis that has proven to be useful in decreasing frequent, severe, or repetitive behaviors, especially in those students who are labeled mentally retarded, is known as differential reinforcement of other behaviors (DRO) (behavioranalysis.com).” DRO is a technique that involves reinforcing (rewarding) a student if an undesired behavior is not displayed during a designated time period. Let’s say a student has a hard time keep his hands to himself, and the teacher notices that he does a great job of playing nicely with the other students all through lunch and recess, the teacher may reward the student using differential reinforcement of other behavior, because the of the absence of the unwanted behavior persisted for a longer period of time.
Lastly, while researching differential reinforcement, I ran across multiple reasons why people think differential reinforcement may not work. First, the reinforcer may not be reinforcing. This is something that we learned in the first few weeks of class. In order for the reinforcer to be affective, it has to be something that is appealing to the individual receiving it. Next, some believe, especially those dealing with students who have a learning disorder, which the student may be unable to engage in the alternative desired behavior. It is important that you are aware of what the individual can and can’t do physically and mentally before you try and use some of these different types of reinforcement. Lastly, differential reinforcers will not work if there is an inconsistent delivery of reinforcers. If you want a behavior to increase, you can’t pick and choose when to reward that behavior, especially with young children, this can be very confusing to them and not affective at all.

http://www.special-learning.com/article/differential_reinforcement
http://www.psywww.com/intropsych/ch05_conditioning/differential_reinforcement.html
http://www.behavioradvisor.com/DRintro.html

Differential reinforcement, reinforcement, reward, extinction, shaping, discrimination, behavior, aversive, implementation, DRO, DRI, DRH, DRL,

For this assignment I decided to research more about functional analysis of behaviors. Functional analysis of behaviors was one of the most recent sections that we were assigned to read. The section talked all about understanding the antecedents and other specific stimulus and how they impact a person’s behavior is a key to emitting or eliciting certain actions and modifying ones behavior. I thought this was a very interesting topic that many people overlook in behavior modification. As I continued to ponder the topic, I started to think about children with behavioral problems and how this impacts them. Obviously children exhibit different aversive behaviors as they grow up, but some children are known for having a behavioral problem that can negatively affect their social skills and overall life. I believe that the way to find the most success in altering a child’s behavioral problem is for the adults to become aware of the functional reasons behind the behavior rather than reacting just to the topographical behaviors of the child.
Yale University did a study that said that approximately 5,000 children were expelled from preschools in the past year. The study also said that one in ten children are impacted by a serious behavioral problem that follows them into later stages of their lives. The research talked about how it is crucial for adults to be able to help the children work out these behavioral issues by discovering the underlying reason that they are occurring. One of the most important aspects is that the adults need to be committed and consistent to the needs of the children when addressing their aversive behaviors.
As found in most cases, children respond more positively to positive reinforcement, but negative reinforcement is also known to be successful. However, children with behavioral problems most likely only respond to positive or negative punishment in the first initial stages of the behavioral change, according to the research. In most cases children’s bad behaviors arise due to significant life changes and the children are trying to figure out the proper way to adapt to the changes. In most cases the children are able to adapt quickly and the negative behavior diapers, but in other cases the children try to continue to use the challenging behaviors.
After understanding the functional analysis of the problem behaviors, the adults can being to account for known antecedent and develop appropriate consequences to modify the behavior. The adults need to use words and explain things so the child can understand why they should not emit the negative behavior. It may seem repetitive to the adult, but the research said that the most success comes when the adults continue to explain why the behavior is wrong every time after the offense occurs. The early the function of the problem behavior is discovered and address, the easier it is to modify the averse behavior.

URLs: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1284183/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eCfnrGu5xo
http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/development/behavioral/problems-you-shouldnt-ignore/
Terminology Used: functional analysis of behavior, stimulus, antecedents, emitting, eliciting, functional, topographical, aversive, behaviors, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, negative punishment

I would like to focus this week on the critiques of behaviorism. By understanding what others may deem wrong about behaviorism I may be able to better understand, apply, and explain to others what it is. We have spent the whole semester learning what it is, learning how to apply it, and then how to analyze the system. I am looking to find critiques that may challenge the way we use behavior modification.
One of the most-used critiques of behavior modification is that is over-simplified. In psychology we like to abide by Occam's Razor -- the simpler the better. However, can we really say that complex human behaviors can be simplified? In some cases I think that it would be appropriate but in others not so much. Some behaviors are simply too complex to break down into the ABCs. If you use a serial killer for example, would their behavior of killing people be able to be broken down simply? Is it possible that there is more than one antecedent and multiple consequences? This is where behavior modification is over simplified.
Behavior modification is also critiqued because when used on those with severe developmental or neurological disorders it is not always effective. However, whether or not it is effective depends both on the therapy itself, how well the therapy is administered, and on the person it is being administered to. In some cases it is said that those with severe impediments are unable to use behavior modification. I don't believe this to be a fault of behavior modification: treatment never is universal. I think the critique-rs here are implying that all treatment should be effective for everyone and that simply is not true. A treatment should not have to be 100% effective to be used.
Behavior modification is centered around the social learning theory. While the social learning theory is widely accepted it is not the only theory around and behavior modification does not take into account the other types of learning. People simply critique behavior modification because they don't believe that altering antecedents and consequences really can effectively alter behavior in the long run. This may be because they do not properly understand behavior modification or are not employing it properly. Basically they are judging whether or not it works by what they see immediately.
In general there are critiques involving punishment. Should we purposefully administer something aversive? Is this appropriate? My response would be the daily life of any given individual is aversive at some point. Why is it any different if purposefully given to help change a behavior? This involves an ethical dilemma: do we have the right to elicit certain behaviors? Don't people have the right to emit whatever behaviors they want? When does behavior modification go too far and become social engineering? This is also why we focus on reinforcement rather than punishment because there are less ethical agendas and it is more effective in treatment.
There are a lot of critiques for behavior modification. A lot of them come from when the shift to behaviorism happened. Challenging the way psychology was seen at the time led to behavior modification to being challenged quite a bit. A lot of the claims made seem to be easily disproved. A lot of people feel that behavior modification is hokey and doesn't work but if used properly can be. At the very least it is worth a try: most of the time it is not very invasive and does not require a lot of work or time.

http://uwf.edu/wmikulas/Webpage/behavior/chapterten.htm
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF01064839#page-1
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Behavior_therapy

TERMS: behavior, aversive, antecedent, consequence, behavior modification, ABCs, Occam's Razor, elicit, emit, social engineering

For this week’s topical blog, I wanted to look more into the topic of observational learning. This topic interests me because next year I will begin an internship and observational learning will play a big part in that. Albert Bandura studied observational learning with the classic “bobo doll experiment”. This type of behavior does not require reinforcement in order to work, but instead requires a model. The model may emit many behaviors without knowingly doing so, however the learner will pick up these behaviors in order to become more like the model. Some commonly seen examples of this would be when you have a young child that begins swearing because they have heard an older sibling or parent using these bad words. This would be considered an undesirable behavior, and thus would most likely result in the child being punished. An example of a desirable behavior would be for example a student solving a math problem after being taught how to use a certain formula.

A few factors that may increase the likelihood of observational learning would be finding a warm or pleasurable behavior in a person, being with people that receive awards, when you have been rewarded for the behavior in the past, people who are similar to us, or people who we admire or look up to.

Observational learning was broken down into four main steps:
1. Attention: the person notices something in the environment.
2. Retention: the person remembers what was noticed.
3. Reproduction: the person then recreated or re-emits this behavior.
4. Motivation: the environment produces a consequence, which either supports or does not support the behavior that was emitted.

Terms: behavior, observational behavior, desirable, undesirable, punishment, experiment, reinforcement, emit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observational_learning

http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm

http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/soccog/soclrn.html

For this week’s topical blog, I chose to research more about observational learning and behavior modification. The reason I am interested in this topic is because some of the topics discussed in this course make me think about observational learning. I am also interested in learning more about it because we are discussing this concept in a different course I am taking this semester, psychology of personality, and I have enjoyed learning about it. I also work with babies and toddlers quite a bit, and they literally learn how to behave socially by copying people and observing people. Adults also learn quite a bit through observational learning and I think it’s an interesting topic. The idea of observational learning fits into what we have discussed in class because one of the ideas of self-directed behavior is modifying our target behavior by looking at others for ideas.
Observational learning is also referred to as social learning. This concept is based on the research done by Albert Bandura. He demonstrated that using consequences is not necessary to teach someone a new behavior and for learning to take place. Instead, learning can occur through simply observing someone else’s behaviors. Bandura found that there are four steps in this process. They are 1) attention: the individual notices something in their physical environment, 2) retention: the individual remembers what they noticed, 3) reproduction: the individual produces an action that is a copy of what they observed, and 4) motivation: the environment delivers a consequence that changes the probability the behavior will be emitted again. In other words, a person might notice somebody behaving in a certain way and remember that behavior. Then, when they are in a similar situation as that person was, they copy that behavior that they observed previously. The environment then either reinforces or punishes that behavior, giving the person motivation to behave that way again.
Bandura’s theory of social learning, or observational learning, uses both behavioral and cognitive views of learning. His main idea for this theory is that behavior and the environment play an important role in learning. Bandura’s most famous experiment was his Bobo doll experiment. This experiment showed that children would imitate the violence/aggression of an adult. Children were shown a clip in which an adult behaved aggressively and violently towards the Bobo doll. They were then put into a room with a Bobo doll just like the one that was in the videos. The children were more likely to imitate the aggressive behaviors towards the doll if the adults they watched in the video were not punished or were reinforced than if the adults they watched were given an aversive punishment. This showed that observational learning does happen. The children learned, based on whether or not the adult was punished for acting violently toward the Bobo doll, how to behave towards the doll.
There are multiple factors that increase the likelihood that a behavior is copied through observational learning. We are more likely to imitate people who are warm and nurturing, people who are reinforced for their behavior, people who are in an authority position, people who are similar to us, and people who we admire. Identification is another factor in observational learning. It usually involves a variety of behaviors being copied, whereas imitation usually involves a single behavior being copied. Identification is when a person takes on observed behaviors, values, beliefs, and attitudes of another person.

Terms: behavior modification, observational learning, target behavior, reinforces, punishes, behavior, motivation, reinforced, punishment, aversive, imitation, identification

References:

http://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html

http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm

http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/soccog/soclrn.html

I have already done my assignments for the next week about token economy; therefore I want to extend my knowledge on token economies. I work with my nephew a lot and as he gets older I thought it would be great to know more about this notion and that it would elicit more positive behaviors from him.

Token economy is known to be one of the most important technologies of behavior modifiers and applied behavior analysts over the last 40 years. Token economy is a system for providing positive reinforcement to a child or children by giving them tokens for completing tasks of behaving in desired ways. A token can be a chip, coin, star, sticker, or something that can be exchanged for what the student wants to buy. These are used as a method of strengthening a behavior, or increasing its frequency, because the tokens are a way a paying the children for the completion of tasks.

The main point is to earn a certain amount of tokens by engaging in desired target behaviors and then is able to exchange these tokens basically using them as a payment to gain access to backup reinforcers. The behavior could basically be anything. For example, completing certain tasks like spelling a word right, or engaging in certain activities, playing nicely, and turning in homework on time, etc. But what is mainly important is that it is essential that whatever the child is working for make sure it is meaningful to them. The teacher may also have a list of undesirable behaviors that would cause the child to lose a token. Maybe if the student doesn’t turn in an assignment, they might lose a token.

What I find interesting on one of the website was the option to bank their tokens. This type of banking helps with the students not losing their tokens. The teacher could maybe keep a chart of tokens that are banked. This will be helpful because students are more than capable of losing anything I’m sure. Also some criticisms of token economies, the main first one would be the concern about external rewards and the second is an ethical concern about controlling others.

http://study.com/academy/lesson/token-economy-in-the-classroom-definition-examples-quiz.html
http://www.educateautism.com/token-economy.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvpLpt39c2A

Term: Token Economy, elicit, behavior, external rewards, reinforcement, undesirable behaviors, behavior modifiers, positive reinforcement

The topic I have decided to talk about for this blog is observational learning. We have recently covered this topic in class and in our reading. I am interested in this topic because I would like to learn more about how children learn and pick up certain behaviors that are surrounding them in their environment.

Observational learning can be described as emitting a behavior that a person learned from observing someone elicit the behavior. For the most part, I think that a lot of children learn through observational learning because they are always watching what others, especially their parents, are doing and saying. Children really look up to people older than them, so it's important that people are cautious about the behaviors they are performing around children. There was a study done in the 1960's by Albert Bandura that shows how observational learning works. It is known as the "Bobo doll" studies. He had a few groups of young children all watch a short video of a person emitting aggressive behavior to a Bobo blow up clown doll, like kicking, punching, and yelling at the doll. There were different results to each video. One group watched the ending of the video where the person was reinforced for the aggressive behavior, and the other was punished for the aggressive behavior. The children that were shown the reinforcement of the aggressive behavior were proven to be more likely to emit aggressive behaviors like they saw in the video, and the children that saw the punishment were less likely to emit the aggressive behavior. This is the perfect example of observational learning.

One way to control observational learning is to control the antecedent. For example, remove the word "no" from your vocabulary so the child will not say the word as much either. There are different examples of observational learning, such as a child giving certain facial expressions, performing behaviors that they have seen others do, etc. Even adults learn through this. For example, someone could mow their lawn because they see their neighbor mowing their lawn. Observational learning is a huge part of behavior modification.

URLs: 1. http://www.livestrong.com/article/155023-observational-learning-in-children/ 2. http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-observational-learning.html 3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3139552/

Terms: observational learning, emitting, elicit, behavior, reinforced, punished, antecedent, behavior modification

I chose to talk about observational learning for this week's post. I chose this because I’ve always wanted to learn more about how infants or children learn to do things even without people telling or teaching them how to do so. Observational learning is a theory by Albert Bandura. He states that behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning. He believes that humans are active information processors and think about the relationship between their behavior and its consequences. Albert Bandura performed the Bobo Doll experiment where children observe the people around them behaving in various ways. He went on saying that in society children are surrounded by many influential models, and these models provide examples of behavior to observe and imitate. In another website that I found, it says that observational learning is not the same as pure imitation of another behavior. Observational learning occurs as a result of witnessing another person, but is performed later and cannot be explained as having been taught in any other way.

There are four stages of observational learning: attention, retention, production, and motivation. In the first step, a child starts to develop cognitive processes to pay attention to a model (more developed processes allow for better attention). In this step, the child must observe the model accurately enough to imitate the behavior. The child is more likely to attend to and imitate those people it perceives as similar to itself. Consequently, it is more likely to imitate behavior modeled by people of the same sex. Mirror neurons play a huge part for this. They are the frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. The mirroring of another’s action may enable imitation and empathy. In step 2, the child must remember the aspects of the behavior. The child will start to take imaginal and verbal representations and translating into overt behavior. Step 3 is the child actually performing the imitated behavior. In step 4, people around the child will respond to the behavior it imitates with either reinforcement or punishment. If the consequences are rewarding, the child is likely to continue performing the behavior. This is a form of positive reinforcement, where the presence/addition of a desirable stimulus increases the chances of the behavior reoccurring. With incentives, observation more quickly becomes action.

The child will also take into account of what happens to other people when deciding whether or not to copy someone’s actions. This is known as vicarious reinforcement. Children will have a number of models with whom they identify. These may be people in their immediate world, or could be fantasy characters or people in the media. Therefore, responsible parenting is important: children are heavily influenced by what they observe about their parents, the most influential authority figures they will have through their childhoods. A few examples of observational learning that I found were: an infant learns to make and understand facial expressions; a child learns how to play a game while watching others; a child shows observational learning of how to drive a car by making appropriate motions after seeing a parent driving. After this assignment I have a much better idea of just how large a role observational learning plays in our every day lives.

TERMS: Observational learning, behavior, consequences, reinforcement, punishment, positive reinforcement, vicarious reinforcement.

http://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html
http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/psychology-how-do-you-see-observational-learning-442713
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-observational-learning.html

This week I decided to research Edward Thorndike. I have heard his name in other classes, but seeing that he's important enough to have a chapter dedicated to him in a behavior modification book, I wanted to take a closer look at what he contributed to the field of psychology and, more specifically, behavior modification.
Thorndike studied in animals, usually cats. His work on learning theory eventually lead to the development of operant conditioning withing behaviorism. While B.F. Skinner is probably more prominently known by the public, it is important to know that B.F. Skinner's contributions were, in fact, based on the findings from Edward Thorndike.
"The Law of Effect" was a law Thorndike put forth which essentially stated how behavior modification is intended to work, such that a behavior followed by a pleasant consequence is likely to be repeated, and a behavior followed by an unpleasant consequence is likely to be stopped. Thorndike also was famous for invention of "puzzle boxes", the boxes in which he did his extensive research on learning in animals. The antecedents were being placed in the box.
Because of how applicable his work was in other areas of science, Thorndike is not only a psychology-based name. He was also the number one American Man of Science in 1921, and in 1934 he became president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His work on learning theory revolutionized not only behavior modification through reinforcement, punishment, extinction, extinction burst, etc, he helped the area of science as a whole.
One thing I definitely did not know is Thorndike's concept on connectionism. Through his research, Thorndike came up with this concept which stated that "learning is the result of associations forming between stimuli and responses. Such associations or "habits" become strengthened or weakened by the nature and frequency of the S-R pairings. The paradigm for S-R theory was trial and error learning in which certain responses come to dominate others due to rewards." Without the work of Edward Thorndike, there's no telling where our advancement of psychology, learning, and science as a whole would be. This man is a kingpin in our understanding of a wide variety of things, especially our understanding of behavior.

Terms: behavior modification, reinforcement, punishment, extinction, extinction burst, consequences, behavior, antecedent.

http://www.simplypsychology.org/edward-thorndike.html
http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/thorndike.htm
http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/connectionism.html

Topical Blog Week #14

One thing I have always been interested when learning about behavior modification is the concept of extinction. When I first started reading about it, it was kind of hard for me to understand. I think that it can be a confusing process at first, and I also think that it can be a hard process to carry out. Whether you are trying to change someone else’s problematic behaviors or your own problematic behaviors, extinction is hard to accomplish. Extinction is when a reinforcement (that was usually given before) is no longer given to the person/child so that the behavior will stop happening. This looks a lot like punishment, but it is slightly different. Punishment is when something is done to decrease the likelihood of a target behavior from happening again. But with extinction, we take something that used to be reinforced and stop reinforcing it. This will also cause the behavior to stop happening.
When using the process of extinction, the target behavior will likely increase at first because the person will really want to be reinforced like they were previously. This is what’s called an extinction burst. Extinction burst is when the target behavior (the behavior we are trying to stop) starts to increase after it is no longer reinforced because the person gets upset that the reinforcement has stopped.
The really hard part about this process is not giving in at the beginning when the target behavior increases (when extinction burst occurs). The most common example of when we would use this is with children. Most times, when a child is acting out, it is because they want attention. And when we give them that attention, we are reinforcing them and making the “acting out” behavior more likely to occur again and again. From my research I have found that there is something we can do to make this process a bit easier and more likely to have lasting effects. If we have a child who acts out (ex: screams and throws a tantrum), then we are not to go over and comfort the child when they do this. If we pay attention and attend to the child and their bad behaviors, then they are getting what they want.
This is helpful, but we also can do something else to make it work even better. If we are also able to teach the child to perform the behavior we want (ex: asking for our help, telling us they are upset, etc.), then it will make this behavior modification process a lot more helpful and permanent. Now instead of throwing tantrums when they want out attention, they will not throw tantrums and they will politely ask for out help.
It seems that a lot of times, these behaviors happen in children – especially children with autism. Sometimes children with autism cannot convey what they mean to us so it is likely they will act out in a way that is undesirable. Something I found interesting is that since these children are sometimes not able to communicate with us how we wish, we need to be certain of what they want before acting on it. We really need to be sure of what they want if we are trying to extinguish a certain behavior. For example, say you are a teacher, and you have a child with autism who screams and acts out whenever you walk away. This is a behavior that we may try to extinguish. But it may also be something else. Some autistic children don’t like when you get too close. So we need to be certain that we understand what they are trying to convey by the troublesome behaviors they are emitting.
So as we can see, extinction is a tricky behavioral task – but it can be very useful and it can be very effective. By discontinuing reinforcement for a behavior that was previously reinforced, we can likely decrease that behavior until it no longer happens. The hard part in the process is not giving in when extinction burst occurs. It is also tricky to not give in when spontaneous recovery occurs. Overall, this process can be difficult to follow through with, but if we can do it, it proves to be very effective – for both children and adults.

URLs:
http://www.educateautism.com/applied-behaviour-analysis/extinction-procedure-aba.html

http://www.educateautism.com/applied-behaviour-analysis/extinction-procedure-aba.html

http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-extinction-in-conditioning-definition-lesson-quiz.html

TERMS: Behavior Modification, Extinction, Reinforcement, Punishment, Target Behavior, Extinction Burst, Extinguish, Emit

For this week, I have chosen to talk about Token Economy. By definition, token economy is a behavior modification technique based on the systematic reinforcement of a target behavior. This obviously relates to our class because we have been talking a lot about reinforcement and its affects on behavior. The most common way of using token reinforcement would be reinforcing children, whether it be in the classroom or at home. Little kids are typically very easy to imprint and this makes token economy very effective. One way that token economy can be used at home would be when potty training. Personally, my mom and dad did this when I was being potty trained- they would give me a sticker every time I would emit the target behavior (in this situation, it is going potty on the toilet), and after I filled up the chart of stickers for the week, I would get an ultimate prize. Essentially, this is comparable to going to the arcade and winning tickets to trade in for a big prize at the end. This is good reinforcement because you are winning small things and then at the end, you get a big thing. Operant conditioning is also affiliated with token economy based on the idea of rewarding a behavior after it happens. The consequences of this are supposed to be an increase in the target behavior and decrease undesired behavior.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Token_economy
http://www.educateautism.com/token-economy.html
http://www.minddisorders.com/Py-Z/Token-economy-system.html

TERMS: token economy, behavior modification, reinforcement, target behavior, emit, operant conditioning, consequence

For this week’s topical blog post, I am going to focus on cognitive-behavioral therapy on self-harm. I am interested in this subject because I would like to work with young adults who have anxiety and depression and I know self-harm is a common thing among the youth. I was surrounded by people who would cut during high school so I am interested in helping people who struggle with this. This applies to behavior modification because it is decreasing a behavior and decreasing the bad thoughts that cause the behavior.

The type of self-harm I am focusing on is cutting. This is when a person will make cuts on their skin, sometimes very deep but not meant to be a suicidal gesture. There can be many causes for this behavior but in the Mayo Clinic’s definition for causes, it says the antecedent is usually trying to cope with deep emotional distress. The consequence of the behavior is that the persons mind is not on the emotion for a short time period and the pain releases endorphins in the brain which also causes a positive reward of a feeling happy. Sometimes this can be operantly conditioned because it can turn from just having bad feelings and cutting into feeling sick or sad and feeling the need to cut. In an interview with a person who was cutting, she reported that she would constantly think about self-injury, she read books on it and when she didn’t do it, she felt like something was missing.

One of the therapies for this is called cognitive-behavioral therapy. This is used to treat the self-harming behavior in people who suffer from borderline personality disorder. This therapy focuses on catching bad thoughts when they happen and turning them into good thoughts. This could be considered differential reinforcement of other because there are rewards when the person doesn’t cut and emotional rewards of happiness when they think positively. Cognitive-behavioral therapy also focuses on making people confront their problems instead of avoiding them. The person who self-harms is usually avoiding their aversive emotions so in order to change their thinking, they have to apply positive emotions to their situations instead of emitting avoidance behaviors. If you or a loved one struggles with self-harm, there are options out there that can help you and lead you to a happier life. There are other options to coping with bad emotions than to hurt yourself and there is hope out there for everyone who suffers from this.

Terms: behavior, antecedent, consequence, operantly conditioned, positive reward, differential reinforcement of other, reward, emitting, avoidance behaviors.

Websites: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/01/05/cutting-and-self-injury/

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/self-injury/basics/causes/con-20025897

http://nsrf.ie/wp-content/uploads/journals/07/CognitiveBehavioralTherapy_DSH.pdf

I have decided for my topic this week to cover behavior modification in the workplace using multiple techniques to achieve the desired target behavior from the employees. I find this topic interesting and useful since it is beneficial to my education and learn those skills for my family business. My family has owned a family Hardware store for 30 years and I want to learn how to achieve the best out of my employees by changing their behavior on their job.

One of my sources stated why behavior modification is needed in the work place. It encourages others to behave the way you, as the boss/ manager, while omitting the unwanted behavior. It went on to say that the manager needs to keep a friendly environment to keep the employees working happy and enjoy their job. I am going to start bring weekly treats on Fridays so that the employees understand that we appreciate their hard-working attitudes at the store. I t went on to say to reward the employees who are doing everything they can to help the business, and get the employee to understand, the better they do, the better the store does, the better they will get paid in bonuses. However, it also said not to punish the negative behavior but to help the employee change their attitudes on certain things.
Another source I found about modifying the behavior of employees in the work force talked about how to avoid negative behavior by trying to omit the problem they are having. And try to help them reach the target behavior. As a small business owner we get costumers who try to haggle with the price. We have some employees who feel uncomfortable when the costumer tries to do this. So we tell our employees to find one of the managers/ owners and we will deal with costumer. This takes a lot of the employee and it makes them feel less-stressed over something they have no control over. We are trying to limit the negative interactions between our costumers and employees to make their view on the job better.

As I did more research on this topic I learned many different ways to emit our employees target behavior and help omit the negative attitudes they may have with their job. I've learned to do this I need to reward them when doing good and use negative reinforcement to help omit the unwanted behavior. We as a family need to use the modeling method and have our employees model us and give them all the help they need.

sources:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-using-behavior-modification-workplace-25848.html

https://www.boundless.com/business/textbooks/boundless-business-textbook/motivation-theories-and-applications-11/motivation-techniques-in-practice-77/behavior-modification-364-3199/

http://www.cashort.com/blog/how-behavior-modification-affects-employee-engagement

terms: -behavior modification, target behavior, omit, reinforcer, emit, negative behavior, negative reinforcement, modeling

For my topic this week I decided to research something very different. I decided to research on how to work with children with early onset schizophrenia. Because one of my sisters has suffered from this mental illness her entire life, and I have lived with it, it always interests me on how I can better improve her life or other individuals in the same situation.
When my sister was diagnosed with the most rare form of schizophrenia it was important to be understanding. Because behaviors in this illness can not always be controlled the likeliness of them occurring could be reduced if the illness is well understood. A first step when having a child/sibling who is diagnosed with EOS is to be understanding. A lot of resources are given to those to better understand this illness, and it's important to take advantage of them. It's also good to research and read about it. This is what many sites I found suggested and did, as well as what me and my family did when we heard her diagnosis. You need to be able to recognize symptoms and certain target behaviors so you can be sure when the illness is beginning to take control. Though in some cases, it's not promised that you'll ever reach the desirable behavior 100% through reinforcement, it increases the chances.
Being understanding, respectful, informed, and compassionate can help the individual living with the illness as well as the people living with the individual. For example, one symptom EOS children have is hallucinations. Of course, you cannot get rid of this through behavior modification. But you can help the behavior caused by the hallucination by being empathetic of the child who has experienced it. It is often difficult sometimes when undesirable behaviors are emitted due to a hallucination eliciting it, to parent young children like this because it can take a toll on them. For example if a child is constantly making bad decisions and acting up because "voices" told them to, some parents are quick to say "it's not real" or "that doesn't happen" or "it's all in your head." This is in no way helpful to the child, because now you have punished the behavior causing them to close themselves off, making it more difficult for them to get help because of isolation. Instead, it's important to be open with the child, and talk to them about their experience, so they feel as though they can tell you without being ashamed or judged, and so you can help them. We can break this down using the ABC model.
Antecedent: Child is hallucinating/had a hallucination, causing stress.
Behavior: You tell the child you are sorry that that occurred, ask what happened, how they are feeling, and what you can do to help.
Consequence: The child will find comfort and is more likely to be open if the experience occurs again.
Rewarding a child, like positive reinforcement, for telling you about the experience can be another way to increase the likelihood of it happening again.
Changing the environment or antecedent, can also decrease the intensity of the symptoms of schizophrenia. Alcohol, drugs, and even tobacco/cigarette smoke can have a negative effect on the schizophrenic, causing them to get worse. With teenagers it might be used as a form of self medicating. Getting psychiatric and therapeutic help can reduce these chances. And being around tobacco smoke can have conflicting effects with the antipsychotic medication, meant to improve their stability. Keeping your child out of these environments, and changing the behaviors you have around them can decrease the intensity of the symptoms. Reducing the stress in the environment is also important as it can be known to increase the intensity of the symptoms. This is another example of changing the antecedent.
It's important for someone to change their behaviors and perception when living and dealing with someone who has this illness. Acceptance is important. You must accept that not all things will work out even if you try to reinforce desirable behaviors. This acceptance and patience is key. Also you must have realistic expectations and goals for the EOS child. It is an unrealistic goal to eliminate all hallucinations with reinforcement. Its more realistic that you can improve their personal well being by being patient and understanding. You also must take care of yourself. It is impossible to care for these individuals if you have destructive behaviors of your own. It is good to use self reinforcement to increase the likelihood of desirable behaviors for yourself, to not only be able to take care of the child but yourself as well. It's important to increase encouragement you give and resources to help treat them. By behaving positively, you will increase positive outcomes, this is modeling. It's important to be aware of relapse and plan for a crisis. In the ABC model we can plan for crisis.
A=child has relapsed and is slipped into psychosis that appears to be severe
B=immediately take the child to hospital/treatment place of choice (plan ahead)
C=you've increased the life expectancy and condition and have a better understanding of what to do in these situations to prevent further relapses
It's also always important to monitor medication. Medication is a big part of treating children and youth with EOS, and sometimes it can be difficult to get them to take it daily. By changing your behavior to being more aware and taking it more seriously you can make sure this is done. Reinforcement can also help, especially with EOS, when taking their meds. If they receive rewards for taking medication and going to therapy, their desirable behaviors will increase as well as the likelihood they will continue to seek help/treatment and take meds.

Sources:

http://schizophrenia.com/family/FAQchild.htm

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/schizophrenia/schizophrenia-signs-types-and-causes.htm

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/schizophrenia/helping-a-person-with-schizophrenia.htm

Terms: behavior modification, ABC model, antecedent, behavior, consequence, target behavior, reinforcement/punishment, desirable/undesirable behavior, emit/elicit, modeling, self-reinforcement

I chose to write about setting goals for this weeks assignment. The section 4.3 has a lot of great ideas to help you along your path, there are some things that I disagree with.

Setting the goal to play college basketball has made me the person i am today but if i would have approached my goal a little differently i think i would have became a better person.

When setting a goal it is important to understand a few thing. Understanding that big goals take time is important. To set a large goal and expect to reach it over night is silly. The time frame of your goal can be better understood if your break your goal up into smaller sub goals. Sub goals simply take a large goal and break it into smaller, easier to achieve goals. Personally i set a far to large of a goal without realizing it could be broken into smaller pieces.

One part of this chapter that i do not agree with is setting an achievable goal. Setting a goal that can not be achievable is a bad idea, yes, but why limit yourself? There is a fairly common saying I found online, "Always aim for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." I hear this all the time round the basketball team. I believe what this quote is trying to say is that, while trying is important, if you were to fail you will find success on a whole other level you hadn't thought of before. I would agree that setting a goal that is impossible to achieve is stupid i also think setting a very difficult goal will make you a far better person.

http://breakingmuscle.com/sports-psychology/if-your-goals-dont-scare-you-they-arent-big-enough

Other things to take into consideration when setting a goal is to make sure you have the ability to achieve this goal and making sure it is manageable, If you can not find the time to reach the goal it is likely you will not achieve it. Perhaps the most important part of setting a goal is to have a good support base. It is much easier to achieve a goal with support instead of not having any support from your peers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SpN4b0d1SA

Terms-
Time frame, sub goals, maintenance, support base.

Today, I chose to write my blog post about the use of behavior modification with children. This topic is one that has interested me for a while, and is even part of the reason I am taking this class in the first place. I am a family services major, so a large portion of my future career will deal with families and children. I have been very interested to find out how behavior modification works with kids.

The type of behavior modification which is used most commonly with children is that of positive reinforcement. This is very common especially among parents of toddlers and young children. One of the reasons it is so widely used is because it not only helps to increase the frequency of desired behaviors, but it also helps to boost a child's self esteem and confidence. It also helps children to learn to set positive goals in their lives.

One common reinforcer that is used among parents is that of verbal affirmation. This not only shows a child that they have done something right, but that they are being recognized and appreciated. Many people feel that in order to have success in changing behavior, they need to give physical rewards. That is not the case. Verbal encouragement is a very good reinforcer for children.

Another type of behavior modification which is common for children is that of negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement can be just as effective as positive reinforcement when used correctly. One of the most common scenarios that people think of is the “dinner table” situation. I’m sure many of us can remember being stuck at the dinner table as kids when all we wanted was to be outside playing with our friends. This is a scenario in which many parents will use negative reinforcement. The scenario might play out something like this: You are allowed to get up from the dinner table (negative stimulus) after you have finished all of your broccoli. (target behavior) Another example might be that your mother will lift your grounding if you do the dishes and clean your room.

These two types of behavior modification work so well because they are increasing a desired behavior. With children, it is often found to be much easier to increase a desired behavior rather than decrease an undesired one.

Reinforcement is often also sued to accidentally reinforce unwanted behaviors. For example, say you are going out to eat and are leaving your child with a babysitter. As you are getting ready to go, your child starts screaming and crying. This causes you to decide to stay home rather than go out. Now, this has reinforced your child to believe that if they scream and cry, they will be rewarded.

Because of this, it is important for parents to be aware of the various ways that their child's behavior can be modified, both positive and negative.

Sources: http://kidsmakingchange.com/positive-reinforcement/
http://bcotb.com/the-difference-between-positivenegative-reinforcement-and-positivenegative-punishment/
http://nspt4kids.com/parenting/the-difference-between-positive-and-negative-reinforcement/

Terms: Reinforcement, positive, negative, punishment, elicit, response, behavior, modification, target behavior, negative stimulus,

The topic I chose to explore more completely was superstitious behavior and how it develops both for humans and animals even though the explanation is far easier to explain in animals. Although this concept was explored much earlier in the semester with a brief explanation of the reinforcement with behaviors causing superstitions, it also ties in with understanding and self-modifying our own behaviors. I have always been fascinated with how people deal with or attempt to understand the unknown. I, very recently, watched an Australian suspense/thriller called The Babadook and it got me thinking about all of these superstitious behaviors many individuals do because of the scary tales that permeate their culture. The use of night lights and checking under the bed and in the closet for monsters are behaviors that many children emit, all things that the main character in this scary movie was doing. There are so many behaviors that we emit that we do consistently that we assume avoid an otherwise inevitable consequence. We say bless you when someone sneezes because at one point in time people thought your heart stopped and your soul left when you sneezed so if they did die at least their soul would go to heaven. Now many people emit that behavior without even knowing the back ground to its purpose. It is the phenomenon of doing things without really knowing why we are doing them that is really interesting to me.
We often think of superstitious behaviors as just being things like carrying around a rabbit’s foot for good luck, not opening umbrella’s indoors, avoiding breaking mirrors in fear of seven years of bad luck, and not walking under ladders. However, superstitious behavior happens for very simple reasons in animals. A controlled experiment example is when an animal is randomly reinforced and they attribute whatever behavior they were doing at that time to receiving reinforcement so they repeat the behavior consistently. In the wild animals may use the better-safe-than-sorry mentality running from any noise that is even close to the rustling of grass that would indicate a potential predator nearby.
This simple explanation can also be seen in humans. If the elevator doesn’t come down immediately after the first press of the call button but you press it three more times and it does come, you are likely to press it four times every time you call the elevator, even if it is actually unnecessary. The schedule of reinforcement can be incredibly variable and still cause a behavior relationship with the consequence. Superstitious behavior gets complicated when it is beliefs held as a result of ignorance or fear of the unknown, a large majority of religious beliefs and behavioral practices are a result of this fear. These religious beliefs could be considered superstitions by the non-religious, but are often sinful to think as such by those that are for example Catholic and those that practice Islam as it expresses a lack of trust in God. An example of a superstitious religious behavior would be praying, as many do this a way to please their deity and thus prevent ill fortune. Often superstitious behavior is a means to prevent bad things from happening and to establish a false sense of control over our lives.
So much of life is unpredictable and as the saying goes bad things happen to good people, so it is understandable that we would create behaviors that would shift blame or comfort us into thinking we are preventing these bad things from happening. I was really interested in the history of some of these behaviors. For example, black cats were often associated with women who were thought to be witches so it was thought that any black cat could be a witch, thus bringing evil and bad fortune. In some cultures you have to leave the broom you used in the home when you move to prevent bad spirits from following you. In other places you are advised to sweep something into a new home or apartment before sweeping dust or dirt out as to not sweep out your new luck. If you tempt fate by acknowledging good fortune you often knock on wood, this is done because at one point in time it was thought good spirits lived in trees. I am just fascinated by the fact that even without context the relative meaning and purpose of these behaviors are still understood today and even done blindly by many people.

Terms and Terminology: emit, reinforcement, superstitious behavior, consequence, schedule of reinforcement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04TDoiqohKQ
http://list25.com/25-strangest-superstitions-ever/
http://valeed.hubpages.com/hub/What-are-Superstitions
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/superstitious-behavior-makes-evolut-08-09-18/

As we grow older in life we also want to develop who we are. One of the questions we may think about is morality. Morality, your own specific set of rules, values, and boundaries that one sets for life. Many people have done research on the development of morality but the one that I have the most information on is Kohlberg's Moral Development table.
Lawrence Kohlberg was an American psychologist who developed his stages of moral development quite simply like many others did at this time, he studied children. He would study children with questions and observation and the famous Heinz Question. This is of course the question if it is alright for a man to steal a pill for his dying wife. A very moral question which he asks these kids. As well as the question he might ask what if the man did not like his wife? Trying to see what these children are taking into account. Out of this he comes up with six stages of moral development which is divided into three subsets; Pre Conventional, Conventional, and Post Conventional. In the Pre Conventional stages you will find first the Obedience vs. Punishment stage. This is the first stage of moral development because the person or child still thinks solely based on reward and punishment. These people still do not have a clue that they can influence a situation, which brings us to the second stage in the Pre Conventional subset which is individualism vs. exchange, in this stage the egotistic mind is still very active and things will only be done for other people as long as it makes me feel better. In this stage the person thinks only what is fair and just for themselves and not the people as a whole.
In the Conventional Subset of moral development you have the third and fourth stages. the third being the "Good Girl Good Boy" Stage and the Law and Order Stage. In the good girl and boy stage the person only acts based on what he or she thinks is acceptable for that moment, or by society. They now have a sense that they can control their environment, but their environment is actually controlling them. I think it is easy to become stuck in this stage in your life because of the competition we are raised in to always look the best and be the best. The fourth stage (Law and Order) basically means the person shuts their brain off and decides that the people in charge know what is best so that is the way the world is going to be. These people would let their wife die, because it is illegal to steal, thats just the way it is, thats life.
The Post Conventional Subset a place where some people will never reach and it is a shame. Kohlberg believed that stage five and six are called Social Contract Stage and Universal Ethical principal. People who make it to the Social Contract stage begin to question the whole issue instead of one just from their own mind, or their societies norms. These people develop real empathy where you actually can feel somebody else's pain. In Missouri, somebody in this stage of moral development would most likley be able to step back and see how the police officer must feel and also how the shot man must have felt, and how his parents are feeling. Which brings us to the six stage of moral development which is Universal Ethical Principal. These are your Gandhi', Martin Luther King's, Mandella's. Those who do not only look into and have empathy for all the world, but also act on it. Being the change you want to see in the world. Knowing your research to see what has gone on is Missouri since the shooting, why are police officers not being convicted? People in this stage are willing to die for what they believe in because they are sure that it is the right and just way.
Morality is something that we should all give a little thought. We are on this world for a reason and it might just be to help those who are around you. Using Kohlbergs theory you can see about where you stand roughly and if you are healthy enough mentally and physically you will be able to be self aware and change for the better. I think that this is why psychology is great because it is where people are constantly thinking about how to make life better.

punishment, emit, elicit, reinforcement,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Kohlberg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onkd8tChC2A

http://www.cs.umb.edu/~hdeblois/285L/Kohlberg%27sMoralStages.htm

This weeks blog post elicited me to emit the behavior of doing further research on the topic of taste aversion. Taste aversion by definition is a learned response to avoid food that makes you sick. The smell of the specific food or even a food related to the original food may elicit a response. The taste of the food is the signal and the reflex that follows the initial taste is sickness. Organisms quickly learn to associate their feeling of sickness with the food which results in taste aversion. It is an interesting topic for researchers to study because it is a form of classical conditioning but it violates many of the rules associated with it. For example, the onset of sickness may result hours after the consumption of the food yet the conditioning between the two is very strong. In classical conditioning, the timing should be short for relationships to grow that strong. Conditioned taste aversions are a very common occurance among animals. The aversion to the certain food can last from a period of a few days to several years.

It is also and interesting fact that taste aversion may result even if the individual is aware of the fact that the food did not cause the sickness. This is known as the Garcia Effect. It was named after John Garcia who experimented with rats by exposing them to radiation to make them sick and then providing them with sweetened water in a room with red light. The result of the study was that the rats avoided the water but not the light.

People may also be completely unaware of the reasoning behind their aversion behavior. It can occur both unconsciously and consciously. In the onset of taste aversion the food is a neutral stimulus and it is paired with an unconditioned stimulus, the sickness. However, for some people, the food turns into a conditioned stimulus and the sickness is a conditioned response.

Terms:
elicited, emit, taste aversion, classical conditioning, Garcia Effect, behavior, neutral stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus, conditioned response

Sources:
http://www.intropsych.com/ch05_conditioning/taste_aversion.html
http://psychology.about.com/od/classicalconditioning/f/taste-aversion.htm
http://study.com/academy/lesson/taste-aversion-definition-conditioning-learning.html

I chose to look into the topic of systematic desensitization. This is a topic we covered when we discussed John Watson, as his Little Albert study was the first to condition a fear response in a child. Watson never actually desensitized Little Albert, but his study lead to Mary Cover Jones’s study, which took the first steps at trying to reduce a fear response.

Systematic desensitization is a process to reduce fear. It is not a simple one step solution to a problem. It takes time to develop and implement. The thing about systematic desensitization is that it is very personal. No two people are alike with the exact same fears or level of fear, so this is a process that can be adapted for everybody. Systematic desensitization is based on classical conditioning. It works to reduce fear by pair the thing that elicits fear with a relaxation response. So in the end, hopefully, the thing that originally caused fear will not.

Before a systematic desensitization process can be developed, a few things must be discerned. Is this a phobia or an obsessive thought? A phobia is something that causes anxiety when you are presented with that thing. A phobia of spiders would involve great anxiety when you encounter a spider. But it is fairly limited. You don’t get deathly afraid whenever someone says the word spider, you must encounter one to become anxious. An obsessive thought is a phobia to the extreme. If you can’t get the thought of spiders out of your mind, and the word itself causes anxiety, then you may have obsessive thoughts, which are more severe and systematic desensitization may not work. The next thing that must be done is figure out your hierarchy of fear. This is a list of situations that cause fear, ranging from situations that cause little fear to situations that would be extremely fearful. This is important because it allows you to move in small increments. These steps of fear create a hierarchy that you move along as you become more comfortable in the process of systematic desensitization.

So the process of systematic desensitization itself is fairly simple. There are three things that must be done. First, the individual must learn to relax. Without the presence of the fear stimulus, the individual must learn to relax their mind. This step allows the individual to focus on relaxing even in the presence of the fear stimulus. Control over breathing and muscle relaxation are just two things that can be done to relax. Without a firm understanding of how to relax, this process won’t work because the point of the process is it get a person to relax in the face of fear. If they can’t relax without fear, then there is no hope. I found an interesting video that adds laughter to the relaxation process. The age-old saying is that laughter is the best medicine, and these researchers believe that is the case. In the early process pairing fear and relaxation, laughter is added. It seems to work for the woman in the video, as she becomes relaxed when thinking of silly things to do with a plastic spider and when the psychologist tells her funny stories about spiders.

The next step is to create a detailed fear hierarchy. I already talked about what this is, so I will move on. The last step is to pair relaxation to the steps of the hierarchy. This part is the process of systematic desensitization. When presented with an anxiety-causing stimulus, the individual must learn to relax which will reduce the fear. The individual must work up the hierarchy, which makes this a slow gradual process.

This process seems great and all, but there are a few problems with it. First, it takes a lot of time and commitment. It is not fast by any means, and this can be a drawback for people. Maybe you need to be in Florida tomorrow but have a phobia of flying. Systematic desensitization will not help you. Next, it relies on the imagination of the individual. One way to present the fear stimulus is to actually present a tangible object (for example actually having a spider). But you can’t always do this, so the individual must imagine the situation. Sometimes this doesn’t elicit the same fear. Sometimes after multiple cycles or a long time exposed to the fear stimulus, it won’t create the same level of fear. Another flaw is that this only treats the symptoms of fear, not the cause. We can learn to relax in the presence of something scary, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t still scared.

http://www.guidetopsychology.com/sysden.htm
http://www.simplypsychology.org/Systematic-Desensitisation.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkd7zcvFQ5w

Terms: systematic desensitization, phobia, obsessive thoughts, elicit, stimulus, John Watson/Little Albert.

For this week's blog topic I decided to look more into taste aversion. Taste aversions can happen to many people and can last for days to years or your whole lifetime. What makes one inquire a taste aversion? Any time one gets ill whether it be from the food or for other reasons after one has eaten something they are at risk for a taste aversion. This means that in the future they will most likely refuse to eat that food because it makes them feel queasy again.
Why does our body do this? It's a simple survival mechanism. If we get very sick after we eat something there’s a chance it was from that food therefore there’s a possibility it will happen again and the body will automatically take care of itself and cause you to feel ill again next time you come in contact with that food. Now this can be over come for example, if you know you were sick from the food but from another cause of you could just casually get over it.
Taste aversions first start with the food with is the unconditioned stimulus is then followed by unconditioned response of being ill. This is then followed by the food being a conditioned stimulus and becoming ill is a conditioned response.
This is happened to me on multiple occasions. Once I got sick for unknown reasons but I had eaten at a restaurant before hand and I later threw up. I haven't eaten there since nor do I plan to. Every time I pass the restaurant I always feel a little queasy. Another time this has happened I was eventually able to overcome it. A long time ago when I was a child I ate at IHOP and later I got sick. Today I believe I got sick from other reasons besides the food but I am not positive. Since it happened so long ago I don’t really remember exactly how I felt when I was sick I just remember that I did but I have been able to eat there again since then
This type of survival mechanism is not only present in human but also rats. Once in an experiment, rats were given flavored water, soon after they were injected with a chemical that mad them sick. Later they were given the flavored water again but they refused due to their survival mechanism. They do not want to risk getting sick again or possibly dying if they drink the water again.
Taste aversions can be very upsetting sometimes because they can cause us to dislike food that we once liked. Today we may not necessarily need this survival mechanism I think it is still good that we are aware of our bodies and protect them as much as we can.

This assignment elicited me to emit the behavior of doing further research on dog training. We briefly covered this topic in an online assignment about training pets in a TED talk. For many pet owners, being able to manipulate a dog and to make sure that he can emit target behaviors on command is important.
The first key to training a dog is deciding what tasks you want your dog to learn. It is important to focus in only a couple behaviors that you want to change at a time, or the dog might get confused with schedules of reinforcement and positive or negative contingencies. One website suggested that you start off by teaching your dog simple tasks such as to sit, shake, or lie down, before you try things like fetch, roll over, or heel. By focusing on only a couple behaviors at a time, the owner has greater control over the environment or antecedent, and has the ability to make training more effective.
Some things that an owner might want to train a dog to do will require more strategies than teaching a simple trick. For example, potty training a dog may take several different kinds of schedules of reinforcement and many different forms of reward so that the contingencies are built strongly enough. One website said that the best way to potty train a puppy is by implementing a continuous schedule of reinforcement at first. This way, the dog is well aware that he is being rewarded for going to the bathroom outside. Once the dog completely understands that going to the bathroom outdoors is the way to do it, it is important to lean out the schedule of reinforcement. You don’t want your dog to assume that it will get a treat every time it pees, and you also don’t want dog treats to become satiated because then they will lose effect for future training. It would be effective to then implement a fixed ratio or variable ratio schedule of reinforcement and mix up the consequences by offering the dog toys as well as treats.
Another essential thing to remember about training a dog is that it takes time, trial, error, and modification. This is similar to the processes we talked about in our goals section. What works for one dog may not work for another, and what works for a puppy may be ineffective as it ages. Behavior modification is a complicated process, especially when it comes to animals.
Terms Used—elicit, emit, manipulate, target behavior, schedule of reinforcement, positive contingency, negative contingency, reinforcement, reward, continuous schedule, leaning out, satiated, antecedent, consequence, fixed ratio, variable ratio

For this blog post, I decided to look deeper at taste aversion because I find it interesting how the mind works in relating food or drink with an unpleasant after effect, as well as how these responses can easily become conditioned in an individual. This fits in with the previous sections we have gone over relating to not only conditioning and classical conditioning, but also the subject of taste aversion itself.
When starting my search, I wanted to look at a greater in depth definition as to what taste aversion is. What I found was that taste aversion, also referred to as morbid repulsion, is when the mind develops a resistance towards certain foods or liquids which then becomes a conditioned response whenever that person comes in contact with a specific food or drink item. What this means is a natural stimulus (example food) is paired with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (becoming ill after eating a particular food item), creating a conditioned response to not eat that food in the future, or to even become ill by the simple thought, sight, or smell of that food item. These conditioned responses can stick with a person from only a few hours or days to years of a person’s life.
Along with my research I found a discussion relating classical conditioning to taste aversion. In a web article, authors explain classical conditioning the span in time between when the natural stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus occur. In most cases of classical conditioning, this time span occurs in the matter of seconds, where as in taste aversion, this time span can take place over several hours at a time. When it comes to taste aversion, only one encounter with a foul taste or smell can condition an individual to avoid that item in future situations.
Because taste aversion only requires one encounter with the natural stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus, it often causes controversy to its classification with classical conditioning. Although taste aversion doesn’t fit into the classic cookie cutter model of classical conditioning, numerous research studies have shown that taste aversion is defiantly a development of classical conditioning. One of the greatest researchers to examine the phenomenon of taste aversion and its connection to classical conditioning was John Garcia. Contracting to Pavlov’s pervious findings, Garcia found that when feeding rats flavored water and injecting them with toxins that made the rats sick shortly after consuming the water that the rats would no longer drink the flavored water. From this research, Garcia was able to show that in certain stimuli can have an effect on the conditioning process.
All in all the simple concept of taste aversion is much more intricate than I myself thought it to be. Although I have merely touched on topic of taste aversion, there is a lot to be learned as to how taste aversion and conditioning go hand in hand with one another.
http://www.rinr.fsu.edu/issue2001/taste.html
http://psychology.about.com/od/classicalconditioning/f/taste-aversion.htm
http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Taste%20Aversion
Terms: Taste aversion, conditioned response, classical conditioning, natural stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, aversive

For this blog assignment I decided to look at Edwin Guthrie and his theory of Contiguity. The reason why I chose this is because although he is not as famous as the likes of Skinner and Pavlov, I found his theory of contiguity rather interesting. This can be related to our class because it explains behavior modification in a different outlook. Instead as the stimuli affecting behavior, his theory has an alternative view of it affecting sensory-motor patterns basically saying what we learn movements and not behaviors. Guthrie’s theory of contiguity says that a combination of stimuli which has accompanied a movement will on its reoccurrence tend to be followed by that movement.

The contiguity theory is not only applied in the field of psychology but also in many other fields such as mathematics, philosophy, and physics. In terms of psychology, it associated ideas, memories, and experiences into one. An example would be if you are to see two objects together, it would become linked and the more the association between these two objects, the stronger the link becomes. So, as the memory of one of these objects is activated in the mind later on, the linked memory also gets activated and this is called contiguous association. This process of contiguous association is called priming. Guthrie explained this through his experiments with cats in a puzzle box. He used a glass paneled box to photograph the exact movements of the cats as they learn to escape from the box through association of previous escapes. The improvements occurred because failed attempts are unlearned and not repeated in the successive escapes. The main principles of Contiguity theory are; in order for conditioning to occur there must be an active response from the organism, instructions must present very specific tasks, the exposure of varied stimulus is preferred so that a generalized response is produced, and finally the last response when learning should correct because it is the one that is being associated.

Terms: Guthrie, contiguity, stimuli, behavior modification, movements, association, contiguous association, priming, puzzle box, conditioning.

http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/contiguity-theory.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contiguity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Ray_Guthrie

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
My topic is going back to section 4.3 discussing the importance of goals. It connects to this section because Linda’s story is about how she feels about living in poverty and she mentions that there is not much of a reason to set long term goals for herself because to her no matter what it does not matter. I think it is interesting because in class we discussed the importance of setting goals and she is negating that it is really unimportant for her but possibly by looking at certain applications of goal setting she could see that sometimes it is worth it.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
One aspect of the importance of setting goals that I want to talk about is being realistic. I think that this is a good section to cover because it is really important for Linda to take into consideration. Another aspect of the importance of setting goals is ability, I think for Linda this is important because this is one major part she struggles with when setting goals. The last aspect of the importance of setting goals is a support base which I feel that Linda does not have.
2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
While reading Linda’s story about her life dealing with poverty she mentioned multiple times that she does not see much point in looking at the long term benefits of planning ahead because she has the mindset that regardless she will be in poverty. This struck me as very pessimistic and made me pretty sad because I think that most people believe that their futures will be better than the now and I think that helps a lot of people keep going and keep trying to improve their lives. I went back through the sections that we have covered in our book and I saw that of the importance of goal setting and I think that this would help in Linda’s life and maybe not give her such a bleak view on life. The first aspect of the importance of goal setting that I wanted to focus on is being realistic. Being realistic about goal setting is not saying that unrealistic goals do not happen but that they are unlikely to happen. Now if Linda set a goal to be a millionaire that is obviously not going to happen and that it would be more realistic if she choose something like making a certain amount of money a year. Another aspect of being realistic is the fact that other people need to believe in your goal and that it is realistic otherwise they will not support you. In Linda’s case this would be her husband, possibly parents, and friends. The next aspect of goal setting would be ability. Ability is knowing that you have the means to achieve your goal. If Linda said she would want to become a CEO of a large corporation she would have to be realistic with this goal because she would not have the connections, time, or knowledge to achieve something this grandeur. One section that I found important in knowing your ability was that just buying the “equipment” or tools does not necessarily mean that you will use them. I think that this is important because that is like if Linda went to college and paid for a lot of classes yet they were completely useless to her goal that she wants to eventually achieve, so planning would be needed if she is looking for a certain job to obtain. The last aspect of the importance of setting goals is a support base. A support base is needed because if you do not have that then it will become a lot harder to achieve a goal without them and if the goal is personally challenging like it would be for Linda it would be very useful to find someone who has went through the same struggles as her like finding a better job. If Linda does find someone that has gone through the same struggles as she will have to go through she can learn from their mistakes and also learn from their strategies for success. There are also joint goals that Linda could participate in possibly with her husband or friend to get better jobs or such things like quitting smoking to improve their health.
3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-tirado/meet-the-woman-who-accide_b_4334428.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-tirado/why-poor-peoples-bad-decisions-make-perfect-sense_b_4326233.html
http://www.uni.edu/~maclino/bm/book/sec4.3.pdf
Terminology: Goals, be realistic, ability, support base, importance of goals

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
My topic that I have chosen to talk about is going to come from the very section of the book that we covered which is 1.1 the ABC's of behavior modification. I am going to focus more on the last step of behavior modification and that is consequence. Tis connects with the section in the way that Linda faces a lot of different consequence since she is poor, that is out of her control because she is poor. Linda decides that she has to live with these different consequence because of the situation that she is.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
There are three aspects of consequences that I want to talk about for his assignment. The first aspect of consequence that I want to talk about is what and where consequence is in the behavior modification process, and also what consequence Linda went through in her story. I'm also going to put it in the behavior process with consequence.
The second aspect of consequence that I want to talk about for this assignment is if consequences can positively affect you or negatively affect and which is better. I will also tell you if Linda's consequences are positive or negative and how they affect her.
The third aspect of consequences that I want to talk about is how can that consequence be changed so that it doesn't happen again, in the future. I will also base that information off of Linda's story about poverty and how people live with it.
2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
The first thing I want to talk about for this assignment is what and where consequence is in the behavior modification process, and also what consequence Linda went through in her story. I'm also going to put it in the behavior process with consequence. Consequence in psychology terms is a result of behavior from a chosen scenario. According to Otto Maclin consequence is the 3rd step in the behavioral modification process. The behavior modification process goes as A is antecedent, B is behavior and the last step is C for consequence. From the article that we read written by Linda she encountered several consequences. The first main consequence that she went through was not getting a job or being fired because she couldn't keep up with the job dress code. She also was made fun of and embarrassed for not dressing appealing. The second big consequence that Linda wrote about in her article was her skin being bad from smoking so much, and that she is addicted to smoking as well.
The second aspect that I want to talk about for this assignment is if consequences can positively affect you or negatively affect you and which is better. I will also tell you if Linda's consequences are positive or negative and how they affect her. When you first hear the word consequence you probably think negative. But, from my research that I did I found that consequences can be negative and positive. An example of a consequence being positive would be if you are at dinner with your family and you tell a joke and they all laugh. The consequence would be them laughing which is positive for you and also your family. An example of a consequence being negative would be if you have a test and you only start studying the night before then you fail the test. The consequence would be failing the test which is clearly negative. In Linda's story she faces negative consequences of not being able to get a job and being addicted to smoking. The negative consequence decreases her chances of escaping poverty. The third aspect of consequences that I want to talk about for this assignment is how can that consequence be changed so that it doesn't happen again, in the future. I will also base that information off of Linda's story about poverty and how people live with it. Most consequences can be avoided. They can be avoided by changing the environment in which the behavior is being done in. Also you could just in general change the second step in the behavior process which is the behavior. The last way to change a consequence is to change the first step of the behavioral process and that is to change the antecedent.
3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://www.uni.edu/~maclino/bm/book/sec1.1.pdf
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-tirado/why-poor-peoples-bad-decisions-make-perfect-sense_b_4326233.html
http://psychology.about.com/od/operantconditioning/f/punishment.htm
terms: behavior, consequence, ABC's, behavior modification, antecedent.

The topic I would like to discuss for this week’s blog post is what causes poor people to make bad decisions. It fits into this week’s reading because we read one article written by a woman who explained what it was like to be poor and why she made some of the choices she did. I wanted to find out more about why poor people make poor decisions than just her take because I figured there was a lot more behind those decisions.

The three aspects I will discuss about this topic include what is actually going on in the brain that causes those who are considered poor to make bad decisions. I will also talk about the effects of scarcity and how that feeling impacts peoples’ decisions, as well as different ways to escape the scarcity trap.

We hear all the time that poor people are poor because they do it to themselves, they are the ones who make the decisions to emit the behavior that keep them poor and deserve the consequences of their actions. But it has been proven in studies that that isn’t just the case, there is more going on in the brain than just making bad decisions, it has to do with the concept of cognitive load. The frontal cortex is a part of the brain that is in charge of executive function, decision making, emotional regulation, and long term planning-all of which happen to play an important role in many of the things rich people are considered better at than the poor. Just like other parts of the brain, the frontal cortex has a finite capacity and can only handle so many things and becomes impaired in those who increase their cognitive load with distracting tasks, sleep deprivation, stress, pain, and trying to resist temptations. Poor people are found to have a greater cognitive load, which is what contributes to poor decision making and sometimes counterproductive behavior. It’s not that they lose the capacity to make those decisions, just the ability to fully use the mind for that specific ability.

Besides experiencing cognitive load, the effects of what is called scarcity can be seen, and not just those in poverty. When we feel like we have too little of something it can take control of the mind and the decisions people make, causing them to make irrational or counter-productive decisions. Scarcity is said to steal the mental capacity wherever it occurs, whether it comes in the form of food, loneliness, money, or time. The topic of scarcity relates back to what I discussed above about cognitive load; when the brain is so focused on something you don’t have much of, say money, then all you can think about is money and less detail is given to other tasks. It seems as if a person may be impulsive or make poor financial decisions, but that could be due to the nonstop feeling of scarcity, and that can compromise the mind. In an example of the effects being poor can have on the brain, subjects in an experiment were split into two groups based on their self reported income; “rich” or “poor” and asked two different questions regarding money. In the first question they were asked if it would be easy to make a financial decision regarding their car if it needed $300 worth of repairs, and insurance covered half, whether to fix it or just hope it would last a little longer. In that question there were no significant differences in the scores of the subjects’ performances based on the Raven’s Matrices method. However, when the cost of repairs was raised to $3000, the poor people’s scores dropped the equivalent of 14 IQ points, which is the difference between categories such as “superior” and “average” intelligence, but also between “average” and “borderline deficient.” That means simply raising the monetary concern for the poor lowered their cognitive performance even more than being sleep deprived. That can be contributed to the fact that those considered poor all of a sudden have to deal with a large unexpected expense on top bills, rent, food, taking care of kids, etc. Trying to juggle all that at once can take a mental toll.

So what can be done to escape the scarcity trap? The answer to this requires changes at a much bigger level, particularly a shift in policymaker’s perspectives and not just a shift in policy. It has usually been the case when talking about the poor to blame them for their life and their lack of personal motivation or ability. But really a look needs to be taken about why the situation is enabling the failure. Often the programs designed to assist the poor don’t work because they fail to attract or retain those they’re designed to serve because the people are so mentally depleted by the time they get to them it’s likely they won’t continue to take part. One such example is with job assistance programs where absenteeism and non-completion are a problem. But that is because the people have so much other stuff going on it often becomes difficult to make ends meet, arrange transportation or child care, just so they can attend a session. And when they miss one session it becomes harder to go to the next one, making it more likely they’ll drop out. A suggested way to combat that could be to offer less rigid curriculum, or alter the start at different times and so on; if one class is missed the person could come the following week to sessions that are running a week or two behind. This is just one example of a way a change could happen, although there are many more. It’s important to take a look at the antecedents and what is eliciting the poor people to be in this situation and ways to help change that to get them out of the scarcity cycle.

Terms: antecedent, scarcity effect, cognitive load, consequences, behavior, eliciting, scarcity trap, emit

http://harvardmagazine.com/2015/05/the-science-of-scarcity
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/your-brain-on-poverty-why-poor-people-seem-to-make-bad-decisions/281780/
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-why-poor-people-make-bad-decisions-20131125-story.html

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
The topic I have decided to cover a in the disadvantages and also advantages of poverty. This connects to the reading in that the author was focused on the disadvantages of her low income and the effects on her mentality.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
I would like to cover as stated before the disadvantages that come with being poor. Also the some advantages that can come from being poor. Lastly I would like to cover some ways of overcoming the disadvantages including the mentality of poverty.
2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Thought out her entire paper the author covered some of the main things she had experienced and observed through being poor. I believe that yes there are disadvantages to being poor but there are also good things that can come from being in poverty. I thing one of the largest disadvantages is the mentality that you adopt while being poor. This is the overarching concept I believe the author was hoping to portray. This mentality limits your ideas and leaves you depressed. In the poverty mentality you never have enough to cover your expenses and you’re constantly afraid of the next surprise expense around the corner, whether that be a medical bill, car repair, or a plethora of different things life can throw at you. You get use to never having a leg up on the world and accept that you can’t do it. You eventually adopt this into your behavior and stop attempting to better yourself. It’s similar to the idea of an elephant born at a carnival. It’s tied to a post as a baby that it is too weak to pull out of the ground. It will attempt at first until extinction occurs and it stops trying. Now that same elephant years later is huge and powerful but still will not pull the post from the ground because it thinks it can’t.
There are some advantages to being poor though. These usually seem unimportant at the time but still exist. When you are poor you have access to programs and assistance that the rich do not such as housing and financial programs. Also being poor helps to develop life skills. You learn to cook and clean for yourself along with learning to be resourceful. Instead of paying a plumber to fix your toilet you teach yourself how to fix it to save a dollar. The rich never have the opportunity to learn these things because they pay other to do them. I think most of all you develop a deeper humanity. You learn to be humble and learn from your experiences. Those who come from poverty and gain wealth usually are driven to give back to those who helped them in their poverty. They are more often willing to give to charities and help other gain a foot hold on bettering their lives.
Lastly I would like to touch on how to overcome the poverty mentality once you have removed yourself from being poor. This usually requires help. Like those who were raised in the depression they carry the ideas learned as a child into adulthood and sometimes those are not helpful. As an adult raised out of poverty you may have learned to hold onto objects like newspapers and clothing for use in other things out of necessity but one out of poverty those behaviors are unnecessary and lead to hording which can be detrimental. You may also not buy foods that are healthier for you due to familiarity to the less healthy foods. This usually requires a large life change or help from others to overcome.
3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://hubpages.com/money/What-Are-The-Advantages-of-Being-Poor
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2013/09/24/75320/why-economic-disadvantage-becomes-educational-disadvantage/
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/smart-spending/how-to-overcome-poverty-mentality.aspx
Terms/ behavior, modification, disadvantage, mentality, conditioned behavior

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
The topic I have chosen to talk about is goals. We covered this in section 4.2. Setting a goal is the first step in self-directed behaviors. I believe that this also relates to Linda’s story. I grew up poor, and I always heard my dad talk about all of the goals he had. Some of my dad’s goals were like getting the credit card paid off within the month and other bill related goals. I am sure Linda is the same way.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The first aspect I want to talk about is why people set goals. The second aspect I want to dig deeper in is what makes a good goal? Lastly, I want to look at what we can do to actually complete the goals.
3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Just about everyone sets goals but why do they do it? Setting goals allows people to look farther ahead in their future and then then gives them some motivation to reach it at least in the beginning. Setting goals helps people organize their time better. If you set a goal for the next six months, you will have to plan out your days or weeks so you can achieve this goal. It is better if the goal is specific, measureable, attainable, realistic and timely. It needs to be specific. You need to define the target behavior. They also need to be measurable. If you cannot measure the progress you are making how do you know if you are moving towards your goal? We are working on our behavioral interventions now and it would be extremely hard to do, if we could not measure how much we watch Netflix or how much we work out. Another question people need to ask themselves as they start making goals is the goal we are working towards attainable? If you cannot actually attain your goals, it will become very discouraging if you cannot succeed and it may actually cause you not to attempt other things in the future. This would be a horrible consequence all because of a goal. Is the goal you have realistic? If the goal is not realistic people are more likely to become discouraged if they do not see the results they want. An example of an unrealistic goal would be losing one hundred pounds in six months. Unless you have surgery, this goal is unrealistic and actually quite dangerous. Lastly, the goal should be timely. People should have a time frame in place for their goals. If I said I want to lose twenty pounds, I should put a time frame on it like I want to lose 20 pounds by Memorial Day. This give me a realistic time frame and if I hold myself accountable for reaching this goal, I cannot keep pushing working out back. I would have to start working if I want to actually reach my goal by the deadline. I know how hard it can be to actually accomplish goals. I also set New Year’s Resolutions that I never seem to follow through with but, I found some tips that will actually make it easier to complete our goals. One of the things to make it easier to complete is if the goals that motivate you. A motivating goal would be something that relates to the high priorities in your life. An example of that for me is getting good grades and graduating college. Instead of thinking I must do something, you will actually want to complete it and you will not have to fight with yourself. Another thing that will make it easier is if you have the goals down in writing. If it is in writing it makes it real and tangible. One of the biggest things in setting a goal and actually completing it is to have an action plan. People get so overwhelmed with setting a goal and looking ahead to the outcome that they do not thing of how they will achieve their goals or how to avoid slip ups when things get tough. I know during the Thanksgiving break I did not exercise hardly at all which is my behavioral intervention. I did not give any consideration to the home life and what not have a structured day by day routine there as I do here at UNI. Lastly, we need to remember to stick with our goals. This can be hard, but if we stick to our goals we will overcome it. You have to brush off the mistakes and continue.
4) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
https://www.mindtools.com/page6.html
http://topachievement.com/smart.html
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_90.htm

5) Terms Used
Goals, self-directed behaviors, target behavior, behavioral interventions, consequence,

AAW
ABC's of rich people
Poor people are the ones that are noticed mostly for their behaviors and attitudes, but not the wealthy. Most people do not criticize the wealthy for their behaviors. The reading activity that we had to do for this week involved reading an article about why poor people make the decisions and behaviors they do. However, there are very little statements made about wealthy people’s behaviors. I am going to discuss the behaviors of wealthy people and why they behave the way they do. Three articles are going to show why wealthy people behave the way they do by using the ABC’s, antecedents, behaviors, and consequences. Poor, middle class, and wealthy behave differently than each other, but that does not make them better than others. They all have different environments and consequences that influence those behaviors. People think that money is such a great thing to obtain in our world, but is it really worth it?
Antecedents
Rich people have a variety of environments that they can be in due to fact of their wealth. Overall though they live in a nice neighborhood with wealth and have the ability to travel. Most successful and wealthy people surround themselves with the same social class. Looking more specifically at wealthy people’s homes they are provided with protection. They are usually in gated communities where others cannot get in at night. They also can afford many safety securities to keep things safe. According to How Money Changes the Way We Think and Behave “”Lower-class environments are much different from upper-class environments. Lower-class individuals have to respond chronically to a number of vulnerabilities and social threats. You really need to depend on others so they will tell you if a social threat or opportunity is coming and that makes you more perceptive of emotions.”” Rich people do not have to deal with these issues, showing their environment where people do not deal with struggles there are little emotions. Rich people have everything they need and want around them to allow them to not have to express sorrow, madness, and pain. Their environments also hide what the real world is and what others are struggling through. How do these environments though affect their behaviors?
Behaviors
Wealthy people are looked at differently from their class and others. Their behaviors are even ignored compared to poor people. According to Five Studies: The Psychology of the Ultra-Rich, According to the Research “They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we are.” The article also mentions poor people are looked at for their behaviors and attitudes, but are less likely to look at the rich people. This is an issue because according to the article wealthy people play a big role in subjects such as political politics, corporations. This leads to wealthy people giving raises to their fellow oligarchs. Maybe we should be watching the behaviors of the wealthy if they are making important decision’s for our world. For example, Donald Trump is only in the election because he has enough money and not because he would be productive in fixing the world. Other behaviors that the article covered dealt with their happiness. Rich people are not much happier than others. The only difference is they have stability and have more control over their life. However, their criteria for happiness if different. They want appreciation and respect from others where most would say love. However according to the articles Five Studies: The Psychology of the Ultra-Rich, According to the Research and How Money Changes the Way We Think and Behave rich people have poor behavior when it comes to emotions of others and realization of them harming others. According to Five Studies: The Psychology of the Ultra-Rich, According to the Research higher socioeconomic classes do not test well when try to define emotions on phonographs of human faces as well as in real-life interactions. Researchers have found that if they make people feel they have high- status can reduce empathy. According to How Money Changes the Way We Think and Behave “Research published in the journal Psychological Science also found that people of lower economic status were better at reading others' facial expressions -- an important marker of empathy -- than wealthier people.” Just as it was mentioned earlier rich people are surrounded by no emotion resulting in not being able to recognize others emotions. They also have no boundaries to the destruction they cause. According to How Money Changes the Way We Think and Behave “Affluenza was even used as a defense in a recent, highly publicized drunk driving trial in Texas, where a 16-year-old boy claimed that his family's wealth should exempt him from responsibility for the deaths of four people.” They also stated “A UC Berkeley study found that in San Francisco -- where the law requires that cars stop at crosswalks for pedestrians to pass -- drivers of luxury cars were four times less likely than those in less expensive vehicles to stop and allow pedestrians the right of way. They were also more likely to cut off other drivers.” Rich people are not considered with their reckless behavior and how that can impact others. However, rich people look at their behaviors in a positive way. According to the article According to 21 Ways Rich People Think Differently than the Average Person they mention wealth is focused on knowledge and acquiring it, rich people dream of the future and preserver for their dreams, goals, and ideas, and rich people teach their kids to get rich. The way they think about their life and behaviors could lead to them continuing with their behaviors based on that article. How do these environments and behaviors affect their consequences?
Consequences
Rich people think they is no punishment for their behavior. They think they are above punishment and only deserve rewards. However, according to How Money Changes the Way We Think and Behave wealthy people do deal with punishment for their behaviors. Adolescents with wealthy parents are most likely to have substance issues. This is also an issue in adulthood. Another punishment caused by their behaviors deals with addiction. The article states “While a process addiction is not a chemical addiction, it does involve compulsive behavior -- in this case, an addiction to the good feeling that comes from receiving money or possessions -- which can ultimately lead to negative consequences and harm the individual's well-being.” Rich people might get away with some of their behaviors and be reward even for them, but their consequences seem to be very influential.

Poor people, middle class, and the rich all behave differently. However, it seems that the behaviors of rich people are no better than those of any other social class. Their behaviors are reckless, careless, and emotionless. Not all rich people are this way just as all poor people or middle class. However, rich people’s environments and consequences make it easier for them to elicit the negative behaviors. Maybe we should hold more people accountable for their behaviors and want to emit the negative behaviors and elicit the positive behaviors.

Five Studies: The Psychology of the Ultra-Rich, According to the Research
http://www.psmag.com/health-and-behavior/five-studies-bernie-sanders-says-the-rich-are-deranged
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/06/psychology-of-wealth_n_4531905.html
21 Ways Rich People Think Differently than the Average Person
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-rich-people-think-differently-2015-8
Terms: ABC’s, antecedents, behaviors, and consequences, punishment, rewards, elicit, and emit.

For this blog assignment I decided to look at Edwin Guthrie and his theory of Contiguity. The reason why I chose this is because although he is not as famous as the likes of Skinner and Pavlov, I found his theory of contiguity rather interesting. This can be related to our class because it explains behavior modification in a different outlook. Instead as the stimuli affecting behavior, his theory has an alternative view of it affecting sensory-motor patterns basically saying what we learn movements and not behaviors. Guthrie’s theory of contiguity says that a combination of stimuli which has accompanied a movement will on its reoccurrence tend to be followed by that movement.
The contiguity theory is not only applied in the field of psychology but also in many other fields such as mathematics, philosophy, and physics. In terms of psychology, it associated ideas, memories, and experiences into one. An example would be if you are to see two objects together, it would become linked and the more the association between these two objects, the stronger the link becomes. So, as the memory of one of these objects is activated in the mind later on, the linked memory also gets activated and this is called contiguous association. This process of contiguous association is called priming. Guthrie explained this through his experiments with cats in a puzzle box. He used a glass paneled box to photograph the exact movements of the cats as they learn to escape from the box through association of previous escapes. The improvements occurred because failed attempts are unlearned and not repeated in the successive escapes. The main principles of Contiguity theory are; in order for conditioning to occur there must be an active response from the organism, instructions must present very specific tasks, the exposure of varied stimulus is preferred so that a generalized response is produced, and finally the last response when learning should correct because it is the one that is being associated.
Terms: Guthrie, contiguity, stimuli, behavior modification, movements, association, contiguous association, priming, puzzle box, conditioning.
http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/contiguity-theory.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contiguity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Ray_Guthrie

1. I chose to look more into learned helplessness and how it plays a role in poverty. It's very relevant to what we read about this week because I think people who live in poverty adopt a mentality that their situations are set in stone and there's nothing they can do to change it. This is probably even worse for people born into poverty because it's all they grow up knowing and they are completely dependent upon the adults in their lives and the resources they're introduced to.

2. One aspect I want to talk about is what learned helplessness is, how it relates to poverty and how both of those things relate to and play into the ABC's of behavior.

3. During my research, I found a lot about learned helplessness and how it plays into individuals' lives when they are living in poverty. Learned helplessness is the belief or perception that one has very little to no control over their lives/situation. When someone has adopted this mentality, they've basically convinced themselves that their situations are beyond their control and nothing they can do will change their current predicament. This was very true in the post we read this week. The woman who wrote the piece said a few times that although she knows she makes poor financial choices, she believes that it really wouldn't make a difference in the long run.

People develop this belief for a number of reasons. One reason is that when people are growing up in a poor environment, they see what's going on around them and they only have their caretakers and adults in their neighborhoods and in their lives to look up to. That's the first thing they probably notice growing up is the vicious cycle that goes into living in poverty. Another reason is likely from growing up and making attempts at changing their situations and noticing that things don't get better only reinforces their belief that things cannot get better.

Living in poverty or being poor in America would just be a vicious cycle because, as the girl explained in her post, she's basically punished for being poor because she doesn't 'fit the image" and that only reinforces her feelings of herself and her life which sets her up to remain in the same situation that elicits her to emit the same behaviors over and over again. This being said, the antecedents, behaviors and consequences all remain the same because even if someone tries a different behavior, the consequences seem to be the same so it probably makes it difficult for people to want to try and change their attitudes and behaviors.

TERMS: Antecedents, behaviors, consequences, punish, reinforce, elicit, emit.

Because there was no real behavior topic specifically covered this week, I thought I would run with an idea that I had. In the article that we read this week, it kind of talked about how she had to eat unhealthy because it was cheaper and more convenient. As someone that should probably eat healthier, I decided that I would look at the ABC’s of eating healthier. I figured that this would relate to the topic this week because we talked about the ABC’s of poverty.

Antecedent
To change the antecedent means to change the environment. If you do not change the current environment, the one full of unhealthy food, chances are you may not be that successful with trying to eat healthier. So, the first thing that you can do would be to remove all of the junk food from the environment. Keep it out of sight. As the old saying goes, out of sight, out of mind. If you have roommates, it would be helpful to have them keep the junk food in their room where you cannot see it all of the time. Maybe you can get your roommate to eat healthier as well; having a partner to help keep you on track always helps. There are tons of self-help sites that are designed to help people kick their old habits.

Another antecedent would be meal prep. This means that you prepare your meals ahead of time so that are good to go when you are ready to eat. This saves a lot of time and often makes it easier. Most of the time when I find myself eating unhealthy, it is because I am short on time or just don’t feel like preparing a whole meal. Ordering pizza is much easier. However, if the meals are already good to go, and all I have to do is heat it up or throw it in the oven, chances are I’ll eat at home more.

Behavior
The behavior is eating healthier, if we look at this vaguely. Most of the time, we use reinforcement to better modify our behavior. In order to determine the best course of reinforcement, it is best to get a baseline. Keep track of everything that you eat, so you can see just how bad you have been eating. Then you pick a reasonable reinforcement, something that will be sure to motivate you. Make sure that your target behavior is really specific. For example, our target behavior here could be cutting out all sugar. After doing this for a while, you change your target behavior to cutting out all sugar and dairy. Small changes translate to big rewards over time.

Consequence
There are many consequences to eating healthier. If we look at the bright side, your health should get better and you may feel more confident. People often report sleeping better and feeling more energized throughout the day. However, at first it is not going to be that simple, so there are some consequences that will not seem beneficial. For example, if you are someone who eats a candy bar everyday and you cut out sugar, it could seem really negative.

Terms: antecedent, behavior, target behavior, reinforcement, consequence, baseline, ABC’s, modify

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=1011&page=2
http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/nutritions_news_information/how_to_get_healthy_start_now_with_this_fresh_start_checklist?page=3
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-12325/5-simple-steps-to-start-eating-healthier-today.html

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
With the reading assignment this week there is a variety of ways I could explore the topical blog. This article provided many examples or the ABC's with her behavior. I am going to research more on addictions. When addictions were discussed early on in this course I chose not to further my research on that simply because everyone else was. This time I am very interested in addictions specific with smoking cigarettes. I am interested because if the poor say they are poor why do they keep smoking when cigarettes are expensive.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
I am going to focus on addictions as a whole, consequences and the question listed above, why it is people in poverty buy cigarettes.
3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
The article we read this week was based on poverty and the behaviors individuals in poverty do on a day to day basis. The woman in the article discussed how she was under stress from all these other factors which would then lead her to smoke cigarettes. In my research I found that addiction is nearly always in reaction to being emotionally stressed. This would positively correlate to the example from the article. It doesn't always depend on what the addiction is, the fact that she took action under the stress she was on is the reason behind it. Even though she is poor her behavior of buying the cigarettes and smoking them causes her to become addicted to the nicotine allowing her to keep moving through out her day with her many jobs. This behavior of smoking cigarettes could interfere with her responsibilities such as work, relationships, and health. These are consequences that may occur. “A result of behavior in a chosen scenario” is the definition of a consequence. The gal in the article may think that the cigarettes aren't harmful and that they are curing her stress when that is not the case. Addictions are harmful and cause people to engage in unhealthy behaviors. As I was doing my research I came across this statement, “..people's thoughts and beliefs create their feelings. This in turn determines their behavior. To the extent that someone's thoughts and beliefs are unrealistic or dysfunctional, their behavior will be similarly affected.” Goals come to mind when reading about unrealistic self-directed behaviors. In order to set goals and accomplish them they need to be realistic. To quit smoking you have to take steps, its a process. I believe that their behavior of purchasing cigarettes with the little money they have is because the people in poverty believe that it will take away their stress and help them take care of their problems.
4) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/addiction
http://www.amhc.org/1408-addictions/article/48345-psychological-causes-of-addiction
http://psychologydictionary.org/consequence/

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
For this week I would like to focus on the motivation and behaviors that we read about in the last assignment about the poor woman and why she made the decisions that she did. She talked in the blog about the antecedents that got her to where she is now. The background information she gives us about the reason she can now no longer get a job makes sense to the behaviors she is doing. From class discussion as well as previous readings that we have been assigned, we see that the antecedents, behaviors and consequences are all linked together to make up the reason we do all of the things we do. I find this interesting because this relates to everyone and why we do the behaviors we do throughout our everyday life. I also think this is interesting because I would like to work with adolescents who have been in and out of juvenile homes. I think that learning about their motivation and why they are committing their sometimes illegal behaviors will be helpful for me. I also think it would be helpful to see if motivation can be changed and redirected towards something that is more positive.

2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
Something I want to look at is how motivation can be modified and redirected using the different skills that we have learned throughout the semester. I want to see if things that can change behaviors, like extinction and extinction bursts can change the way that the adolescents or children of any age are thinking. I also would like to see the way that we can increase motivation. Like on the days that the adolescents do not feel like completing the tasks we have assigned. It is easy for everyday people to not want to complete tasks so I am sure that its really easy for juvenile delinquents to not want to do something when they don't even want to be in the correctional center in the first place. This will be interesting to see because I think it could be used everyday on children throughout schools. It could also be used on things like my roommates to get them to work on things like the dishes when they are piled up in the kitchen. Finally I would like to look and see if there are different ways we can avoid getting into that trap of not having motivation to do anything. I think that this will help even myself because I will be able to see how I can avoid falling into that slump where I don't want to do anything (especially with finals coming up).

2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Throughout my first source I saw that there are ways that you have to think that can mentally change your perception on something. Like the website says, it may sound silly to stand in front of the mirror and say positive things about how your day is going to go or positive things about yourself, but it is the way that motivated people claim they feel best about themselves. There has been research done that states that your brain can help the way you continue to think about things by repeating positive things over and over to train yourself. It says there are certain tasks like taking on the responsibility to be in control of your own motivation and being persistent. There was also a very interesting article on goal setting and how it can correlate with obsessive-compulsive disorder for some people. The man in this article had an "obsession" with running and found that he could run 100 miles at a time. This to me was very interesting because the psychologist that analyzed him said that he was different than others with obsessive-compulsive disorder because he was more goal oriented. This man had the mind set that he wants to accomplish something he puts his mind to. This made me think that the same could be thought about for motivation because some people are more likely than others This website points out that although there can be some people who are more motivated than others, we can all control how motivated we are because all capable of controlling our own thoughts. One way to go back to my things I was interested in learning was if we could do things to prevent motivation from declining. One article states that previous stimuli could impact how our motivation and attitudes are going to be in the future. They said that conditioning can be one reason why we do not have internal motivation. It also broke down the extrinsic and intrinsic aspects of motivation and how they each influence an individual differently.
Another aspects I did not think about was the social aspect of motivation and how I could apply this to my future when working with juvenile adolescents. I found that the people you surround yourself with and if you have motivated, positive role models, you will be more likely to do the same. Also if you include yourself with a group or organization then you will be more likely to want to do things and activities with the group. There was a list of sources needed for motivation and biological was only a small section of the list and external and things you can change internally are the rest of the list.
I was very happy with my findings because I saw that there is hope even on the days I feel like I have zero motivation. Or when there are days in the future that the children I am working with do not have the want and motivation to complete the tasks I give them, I can always keep in mind that tomorrow is a new day and they can try to remotivate themselves the next day.
3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/youre-hired/201110/how-do-high-achievers-really-think
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/motivation/motivate.html
https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201103/the-tough-track

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.

I want to make my paper about ways you can change or adjust your decision making to help relieve being poor or on a low income. Being poor makes it much harder to acquire needs and sometimes you have to make sacrifices to get by. When you are making decisions to get by sometimes you make short term decisions that can be damaging in the long run. It is not always obvious and it is natural to make these decisions when trying to get by and survive the moment. I think this fits with the reading because the author of the article explains the thought process of how decisions she makes can seem like bad decision long term, and they may be, but it shows how the situations cause them to make decisions that are bad long term and keep them poor. Being poor can seem like a never ending cycle and a maze you can not get out of so I hope I can input some decision making processes that can make it easier. I have never been truly poor during my lifetime and all my experiences with what the poor lifestyle is like can only be attributed to what I have learned from co-workers and readings such as this one. I think this subject is interesting because I think that it makes people that do not have to deal with being poor can empathize with those that are. I also think that people that have more money tend to have developed better money keeping skills and have the luxury of long term decision orientations can offer some helping advice to help relive those who have not developed these skills or do not have a large amount of freedom to put them into action.

2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?

Not using cigarettes as a stimulant, trying to maintain hygeine, how to make financial decisions/spend money as a poor family

2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.

In the assigned article we read that the author developed a smoking habit in order have energy and help relieve stress of two jobs and not having much sleep. Smoking is not only a very healthy long term habit but also a very expensive one. Smoking causes you to become addicted to the drug nicotine and the more addicted you become the more you need to smoke to meet your nicotine needs, which means more money spent on cigarettes which are only expensive to begin with but also highly taxed. There are alternative stimulants that you can use that I think are not only more cost effective, but also not as unhealthy. I would suggest caffeine in this instance as it is a cheaper product and you can get it from more sources. A very available source of nicotine is coffee, you can buy it for much cheaper than cigarettes and it has less negative health effects. There are some criticisms and concerns to be levied against coffee and caffeine. One is that you are just trading one drug for another and it is still not a net positive health decision. I would say in this instance that coffee is the lesser of two evils in both cost and health effects so it is a better decision than picking up a habit for tobacco products. Also many workers choose to smoke because they can get breaks for smoking and it is easier to pull out cigarettes from your pocket or purse than it is to acquire a cup of coffee. I would agree on the convenience factor but there is a product that puts coffee into a form that resembles tobacco chewing products and pouches that you can do instead during these breaks and in some work environments will even allow you to do while working. A smoking habit is a large money sink and a bad long term decision that I think many stressed out people with thin budgets can do better with avoiding and caffeine and coffee can be a good alternative for.
Maintaining hygiene and appearances can be very hard on a budget when you are trying to keep the water bill low or you are scraping by as it is. That being said health is important and good appearances can help you get another job that is better or provides more benefits. Buying the discount hygiene products is a good start as from experience they are just as effective, or near enough to not be significant, and even from times can come from the same place main brand products do. Hand washing and hang drying some of your clothes can also save money on either water on a washing machine you own or on saving trips to the laundromat. Using product alternative that are available can also be useful if you need to wash before the next time you can afford a store trip, such as blue dawn dish soap can be used to wash in times of need. Not smoking can also help the appearance of your teeth and skin in the long term.
When you do not have as much money to ensure consistent flexibility or security you have to adjust spending habit accordingly. There are some strategies to acquire items you need and save money. Buying used products can save a large amount of money. There are many products that you can buy used that are still in good condition that often time people get rid off and do not try to get the best deal out of. Buying clothes from a thrift shop you can find clothes at a very low cost and can get some in bulk. Checking garage sales and websites likes craigslist can also be very useful and can net you products for cheaper prices. If you have airconditioning having a programmable thermostat can cut energy bills. Avoid credit cards, they can get you in debt and studies have shown people spend 12% more on average with a credit card. Planning meals and avoiding eating out can cut food costs as well.

3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.

http://www.slideshare.net/nictim/4-natural-nicotine-substitutes
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/ohp-enhealth-manual-atsi-cnt-l~ohp-enhealth-manual-atsi-cnt-l-ch3~ohp-enhealth-manual-atsi-cnt-l-ch3.7
http://www.cfinancialfreedom.com/13-ways-save-money-low-income/

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

Behavior, decision making, modification, health, addiction, habits, hygiene, budgeting, experience, smoking

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
For this topical blog, I would like to talk more about poverty in America. This relates to the article from Monday’s reading assignment. I feel strongly about this topic because my family has always been very poor and it has affected me any my life in many ways.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
First, I would like to talk about the causes of poverty in America. Next, I would like to talk about America’s views on poverty. Finally, I would like to talk about how the economic situation of my family has affected me and my life.
2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
There are 46.5 million people living in poverty in just the United States. That is 14.6% of all Americans living in poverty. There are many reasons that cause the high number of people in poverty. Firstly, a bad economy plays are large role. This is pretty self explanatory. People can’t get a well paying job or even a job because of unemployment and a low minimum wage. Not having a job or making enough money can result in a person not being able to provide food or housing for themselves and/or their family. Something that the woman who wrote the article talked about was her smoking habit. She said that though it is expensive, it acts as a stimulant when she is running low on energy and means of relaxation when she needs that. too. Many people that I know who are also fairly poor smoke, as well. For the older generation, it may be an addiction that they cannot overcome from back when cigarettes were much cheaper and they could afford to do so. It may also be because they provide the same things for them that they do for the woman who wrote the article. Other use of drugs and alcohol may function as a coping mechanism to help deal with their situation. Another cause is lack of education. Most well paying jobs require some college education. Paying for college would come secondary to paying for things like food and housing. There’s this vicious cycle with how things work where a person needs a college education to get a well paying job but a person needs a well paying job to get a college education. For many people, an education is out of the question. Another factor of poverty is the expensive medical treatment. I had to got to the hospital for a throat infection last October and all I got was a shot. This cost me nearly $1000. For a shot. If a person was admitted into a hospital and need more treatment, it would cost thousands of dollars. Many people can’t afford health insurance so this would have to come completely out of pocket. Not paying back medical bills could result in people losing their homes. This could also have an effect on drug use, too. Because poor people can’t afford medical treatment, they may try to self medicate. These are just a few of the causes. Another factor that is important while looking at poverty is understanding people’s views on the poor. A national radio poll from 2001 asked people what were the causes of poverty, were people not doing enough or are they just a victim of circumstance. 48% of people said that it is because they are not doing enough while 45% said it is because of circumstance. I have heard people who are not poor say that people are in poverty because they are lazy, they want to live on welfare, they don’t want to get a job, they are drug users, etc. This is a problem because it is them saying that people in poverty do not deserve help because they themselves are not doing enough. There is such a stigma against welfare. My family is very poor, below the poverty line, and I often hear my mother saying how she can’t afford to buy food for the family. I ask her why she doesn’t get food stamps, and when I do her face crumples up in disgust and she says, “I’ve never been on welfare because I work for what I need”. She is willing to turn away help to pay for food because there is the stigma that people who are on welfare are lazy. Another effect that our family’s money situation has had on us is that it has lead to our family to be overweight. I saw on this talk show a woman talking about how little money poor people have for food per week and her response to what if she had to live on that amount of money was, “I would be so skinny.” We live on Mac and Cheese, ramen noodles, and cardboard pizza because we can’t afford fruits and vegetables. The type of food you eat when you’re poor won’t make you skinny. As for my education, I got lucky. Because my family is so poor, I actually get so much assistance that I am able to attend college. My brother before me went for completely free. I see this as my chance to chance to change. The woman who wrote the article said that if you’re poor, you will be poor forever. Many people believe this, and maybe I did, too. My circumstances gave me the chance to change them.
3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2002/AmericanAttitudesAboutPovertyandthePoor.aspx
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/11/30/evidence-poor-people-arent-lazy
http://www.pursuegod.org/causes-of-poverty-in-america/

1) This week's reading covered the antecedents, behaviors, and consequences that surrounded poverty. One of the main things the woman discussed in this blog was that she was too poor to buy groceries that were healthy, so she bought really cheap unhealthy food. However, she did not discuss too much what the consequences were of eating this unhealthy food. For my topical blog this week I am going to research more into what the consequences are for eating unhealthy food, and then on the flip side what are the consequences of eating healthy food. This relates to our reading from this week because it is an expansion of the article that we had to read, and I will look at what is reinforcing to a person about eating healthy food and eating unhealthy food. We have talked a lot about reinforcement in earlier chapters. I am interested in it as a college student on a budget because I often have to buy cheap food that is unhealthy. I am interested in seeing what effects this has on my body, and what the consequences of me buying healthier groceries would be.
2a) The three aspects I am going to cover in this blog are: what are the consequences of eating unhealthy food, what are the consequences of eating healthy food, and what is reinforcing for both of these options.
2b) Going to the grocery store is something that many people do not look forward to. Not only does it take a significant amount of time, but it can also take a significant amount of money. Not everyone has a lot of money to spend on groceries, and this means they will have to buy cheap unhealthy food over more expensive healthy food. The consequences of eating unhealthy food are vast, and not many of them are positive consequences. Eating fast food can cause digestive system problems, cardiovascular system problems, respiratory system problems, central nervous system issues, and have ill effects on a person's skin and bones. Eating unhealthy foods causes a high increase in calories, it can lead to insulin resistance in the body, a spike in your blood sugar, it can cause weight gain which could lead to obesity, it can cause you to have high cholesterol, your body tends to becomes very bloated on puffy when you eat bad foods, you may notice shortness of breath when you eat a lot of unhealthy food, it can cause bad headaches, it is hard on your heart, it will produce acne, and to my surprise eating unhealthily can actually lead to depression. While there are many consequences of eating unhealthy food, there are also many consequences of eating healthy food. Some effects of eating healthy food are that you will be more productive because your bring is getting the nutrients it needs to produce more energy to get tasks done, you will be happier, you will be less stressed because eating healthy foods can help keep your cortisol levels balances, you can help control your weight by eating healthier food, if you are eating healthier food you will eat less because your body does not burn through it as quickly, you will age better if you eat healthier because your skin will be much healthier, you will live longer if you are eating healthier food, and your body overall will function better because it is healthy, and you may even be able to save money in the end because you will not have to pay for as many medical bills in the future/you will spend less money on food ultimately.
It may seem confusing after reading the consequences of eating unhealthy food and the consequences of eating healthy food to see why a lot of people still choose to buy unhealthy food over healthy food. However, to some people the benefits of buying unhealthy foods reinforce them to keep purchasing it even though they know it is bad for them. (Which you would think would serve as a form of punishment.) As I said before some people simply cannot afford to buy healthy food. For instance a single mother taking care of multiple people on minimum wage most likely will not be able to purchase fresh produce for her whole family every time she is at the grocery store. This is not the only reason people are drawn towards eating unhealthy food though, they are also reinforced because your dopamine levels rise after eating high calorie foods. Food that is unhealthy has a much higher calorie count than food that is health, so our bodies are being reinforced to eat food that is ultimately bad for us. On the flip side of this eating healthy food is more expensive and does not release as much dopamine to our brains, BUT all of the consequences I listed previously are indicators why eating healthy food is very reinforcing to our bodies. It is easy to emit the behavior of eating cheap unhealthy food, but each of us should try to elicit eating healthy food if we wish to live the best life we can.
http://www.healthline.com/health/fast-food-effects-on-body
http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/health/wellness/benefits-of-eating-healthy/
http://cleanfooddirtygirl.com/how-to-stop-eating-junk-and-processed-food-vegan-potato-leek-soup-recipe/

Terms: antecedent, behavior, consequence, reinforcing, reinforcement, reinforce, punishment, emit, elicit

Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
Well, this week’s reading was an article for a website and what struck me as interesting is the fact that the author made it sound like she had not motivation to change her quality of life. The fact that she was so accepting of her situation really bothered me and got me wondering about why she had no goals or aspirations to seek out a better life for herself, if not for her children. I understand the examples she provided about how the world is stacked against her, yet no one should feel as though they don’t have any hope in the future. Which leads me to my assignment topic which will be motivation and how it relates to goal setting. Since we are at the crunch time of the semester where motivation can be quite difficult at times, I think that this topic is very appropriate.

What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
I will start off with the topic of motivation and some psychology theories pertaining to motivation. Then I will lead into ways that lacking of motivation can result from depression. Lastly I will mention how motivation ties in with creating goals.

Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Through my research I have found that there are six theories that can be used to explain our various forms of motivation. For the first theory, it talks about the instinct of motivation and how people are inspired to exhibit certain behaviors due to our DNA. Essentially what it means is that people behave a certain way because we have evolved over time to display certain behaviors when certain situations arise. However, this theory only describes behaviors, rather than explaining exactly how they occur. The next theory is called the incentive theory, that states our reason for demonstrating certain behaviors is because we will receive some sort of reward. It is clear that this theory revolves around reinforcement, and how important reinforcement is to encourage people to emit certain behaviors. For the third theory, it talks about why people are motivated to do certain things is to reduce some internal tension. This theory is called the drive theory and it is caused by the individual having needs that are unmet in some way shape or form. This theory focuses more on our basic needs such as hunger or thirst, a theory that could be applied to the idea of poverty in our nation, as most who fall below the poverty line lack the financial resources to obtain food, so their behaviors are dictated by the need to feed themselves. Some of the behaviors emitted would be going to a food bank, applying for food stamps in order to have funds to purchase food, or going to a soup kitchen. These are all forms of behavior that are exhibited when a person is driven/motivated to provide for themselves or others as a result of hunger.
Our fourth theory focuses on the fact that people exhibit behaviors in order to increase or decrease levels of arousal. This theory is called the arousal theory of motivation. The fifth theory is one that also applies to the reading from monday, and that is the humanistic theory of motivation. The main idea of this theory is that people’s actions are based off of cognitive reasoning. It comes in a two part series where the individual is initially motivated to fulfill basic biological needs such as food, water, and shelter. The second part is where the person has met their biological needs and they focus on self-actualization and developing their self-concept. In other words, this is where people exhibit behaviors by which they can seek out resources for self improvement, such as obtaining a higher education, getting a better paying job, traveling, and exploring their interests. By doing these things and reaching outside of their norm, people are able to learn about themselves and develop a positive identity/ a strong self concept.
Unfortunately for individuals who live in poverty, meeting their basic biological needs is a daily struggle, and while they are motivated to obtain these resources as they are necessary for survival, their concept of self suffers as they can never go about focusing on self-actualization. How can you possibly try to plan a trip where you can explore some of your own interests or hobbies when you can barely afford rent? Why waste time dreaming about the impossible? I feel like the author is Monday’s assignment has not had much time to focus on who she is, but rather who she is not. She talked about how she would never be a waitress because she was not pretty enough, or that she would not work in a professional firm since she did not fit the “image” of the company. Instead of finding opportunities to learn about who she is, she learns about who she is not. After so many times being punished for who she is not, and not reinforced for who she is or what she has to offer in the workforce, the author has no motivation to find ways to explore who she could become as a person
. With limited resources, poor people are unable to reach their full potential in life because they are unmotivated to do so. Why is this? Because they have been beaten down so many times that they don’t like who they are, and rather be motivated to change, they simply focus on fulfilling their biological needs and only achieving the first level of the humanistic motivation theory. These people have no goals in life to see themselves grow and develop, but rather they have goals just to try and meet your basic needs. Now, I am not trying to say that making goals that pertain to fulfilling your basic needs are bad, but I am saying that developing your sense of self should also be a part of your goals. You should want to see yourself succeed and achieve great things in life, unfortunately people who are in poverty often times do not feel that they will ever accomplish much in life.
The last theory on the website I found was the expectancy theory of motivation. This theory focuses on how as humans, we have a tendency to set expectations for what we believe our futures should hold. That being said, I feel that this theory could also be applied to the reading, because the author’s outlook on her future was quite bleak. She made the prediction that nothing would change, and by having this mentality that “once you’re poor you’ll always be poor” you sort of set yourself up for failure by creating a self fulfilling prophecy. If you think you are poor, and you think you will never not be poor, then you will choose not to take action and change your life so you get out of poverty. These negative thoughts show a person who is very unhappy with how their lives have turned out and may be borderlining depression. That being said, the reading talked about how people were depressed but had no way of treating their depression or to obtain any counseling assistance.
One true way to continue to stay motivated is to have a positive outlook, and not to let any negative thoughts hinder you in your progress to achieve your goals. Another way is to find people who have like-minded goals as you and you support one another in your journey to accomplish these goals. When people are in poverty, often times they seek companionship in those who are also in poverty because they can relate to one another. Sadly though, any impoverished individual hoping to aspire to make positive changes in their lives may lack the support group which is key to successfully achieving goals and maintaining motivation. Motivation and goals go hand in hand with success, and trying to accomplish such feats can be quite difficult for an individual who is poor.

Please include the working URLS for the websites
http://allpsych.com/psychology101/motivation/
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/motivation/motivate.html
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/coaching-and-parenting-young-athletes/201311/keys-effective-goal-setting
http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/84292/52720/mobilization/

Terms: Reinforcer, reinforcement, punisher, self-concept, cognition, emit,

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
For this assignment I want to talk about people in poverty. This relates exactly to what we talked about in Mondays assignment with a girl explaining how it is to be someone in poverty. In this last section is was a little different because we didn’t have a textbook reading assignment but we still got to talk about antecedent behaviors and consequences with the ABC’s. The reason I am interested in this subject is because I’m curious to find out how peoples mind set work and how they should overcome it.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The three aspects that I would like to talk about that is relating to people in poverty are mind sets of people in poverty with depression, how to overcome it in setting up a self- directed behavior, and how people are trying to end poverty.
3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
The first thing I would like to talk about are the mindsets of people in poverty. Usually you may not think about, but it everyone think of you poorly because the amount of money you have or the poor decisions you made because not having money for it. Most people in poverty also suffer from depression. They think about all the bad thinks in there live and not enough about the good things. The next thing I would like to talk about are telling that people in poverty should set a goal of self-directed behaviors too help them improve their lives. First of all to even begin you need to set goals for yourself. An example of this for someone in poverty would be, finding education to get a higher paying job. But you also want to make sure that this behavior isn’t a behavioral class. This means that’s the behavior has multiple meaning for example get healthy. Does that mean you have to eat less sweets, work out more, or eat more healthy food? You always want to be very specific. Next you need to define and specify the goals as a set of behaviors. In order to do that you need to check off these four things, precise, manageable, measurable, and it fits in with your daily lives (practically). I could go more into depth with these but they are pretty self-explanatory. Next inline would be to keep a strong record of your behaviors you are trying to achieve even if you not doing the behavior at all. This helps you realized how much you actually are doing and then you can tell if it’s not working. If it’s not working you need to change a few things up then. Now the first thing you do before you start your behavior modification you need to graph a base line. This just helps you understand how it was before you started rewarding yourself. The last few thing you need to do is determine your contingencies antecedents. Doing this well help you bunches more in the long run. For example I want to call my sister more but I forgot so instead I set an alarm when I’m usually free so then I am not forgetting. The antecedent is me wanting to call my sister more often. Lastly if you need to, make sure you implement and adjust the contingencies. The last thing I would like to talk about are how people are trying to end poverty today. Basically there are groups everywhere that are try to at least start off with having a voice for these people. They are trying to let everyone know that this is a big problem and we need to change that. After getting people to know and understand that this is a big problem then they are trying to persuade all those people to act on it by joining them and voting for a person that can change that with the presidency.

4) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/158417/poverty-comes-depression-illness.aspx
http://thepositivemom.com/unleashing-the-power-of-goal-setting-to-end-poverty
http://www.peopleconnectpeople.com/17-differences-in-the-mindset-of-the-rich-versus-the-poor/

Terms: Self-directed behaviors, set goals, behavioral class, target behavior, Keep a record, Graph a base line, Determine contingencies, Determine antecedents, Implement and adjust the contingencies, antecedents, consequences, behaviors, ABC’s

I chose to research into the relation of the poor to the lottery. This relates to our reading in that we just looked at some of differences in thinking among the poor, and the ABC relationships that go into them.
2. I want to look at lotteries and who uses them the most, and when they tend to have boom periods in profit. I then want to look at the reasons that poor people use them. And then some of the controversy over lotteries themselves.

3. Lotteries are a big part of the way of life in America. We have state lotteries in 42 of our states. But the lottery isn't a thing that all of us do, regardless of our awareness of it. It turns out that there is a certain section of the populace that tends to spend at a higher rate than the rest of us. And studies have shown that those in poverty are far more active in lotteries. In addition, poor people have been shown to find a lottery to be a more likely way to gain a sizeable amount of money over saving and investing. Other research has found that among those in poverty, often the ones most likely to spend money on lotteries are those closest to the poverty line. This then suggests that the most active spenders are those who have the most chance of escaping poverty. In interviews done with active lotto spenders, some talk about packing a lunch a few days a week so they don't have to stop buying lotto tickets. They're sure that that rainbow is around the next ticket.
Studies of lottos have found that they tend to have boom periods centered around economic slumps. This is explained by when things start to go bad, people turn more heavily to the lottery to solve their problems. An ABC analysis of this would be: A-economic recession B- buy lottery tickets C-lost money on ticket. But this is an excellent example of random interval training in a way. They will keep buying those tickets, because at some point, they're going to hit the jackpot. This relates quite well once again to why those in poverty are inclined to play. They have the antecedents of being poor, and having something that is promised to solve all those monetary problems, so they emit the behavior of buying tickets, and the consequence is they are even deeper into poverty.
This very reason is why lotteries get such a bad rap. They are, as studies have already shown, businesses that draw low income spenders more frequently than the higher economic circles. In addition, the poor play the lottery more often just for the money than middle to high incomes, where it is more often for entertainment. The big response to this complaint often is that a lot of the money gained from State Lotteries goes back into the states education fund, but this just kind of ignores the poor issue.

http://stoppredatorygambling.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Cornell-Univ-study-Entertainment-Poverty-and-the-Demand-for-State-Lotteries1.pdf

http://stoppredatorygambling.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Survey-21-percent-say-lottery-is-most-practical-path-to-wealth.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/13/us/13lottery.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&sq=Emily%20Haisley&st=cse&scp=2

Antecedent, behavior, consequence, emit

1) Poverty influences on decisions and life outcomes
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
1.) Poverty, hurts our ability to make decisions about school, finances, and life.
2.) Capitalism fails to decrease the gap from the rich, and the poor. In fact it increases the gap.
3.) What it’s like to be poor
3)
A study was published that suggested that poverty, hurts our ability to make decisions about school, finances, and life. It was determined that the burden of living in a poverty stricken lifestyle is the equivalent of loosing of 13 IQ points. It’s pretty obvious that having to deal with situations associated with living in poverty will have a much harder time in seizing the opportunities that the more fortunate have available for them. When you must worry about living day to day or paycheck to paycheck you don’t have the time or the resources to improve your situations. Capitalism implies certain levels of basic skills; those not in the said skill sets don’t make the cut, and get left out. It’s very simple if you think about it. Society’s members of poverty, and lower class are too busy arranging their next meal to worry about things such as education, getting better jobs, or getting a job at all. All these factors influence reinforcements. Reinforcements to cope with an adverse lifestyle. People use fast food, and cigarettes to cope. Therefore, people are not able to reinforce themselves for other things that may improve their situation.
1.)http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/your-brain-on-poverty-why-poor-people-seem-to-make-bad-decisions/281780/
2.)https://www.quora.com/Is-Capitalism-responsible-for-rich-getting-richer-and-poor-getting-poorer-Regarding-the-poor-getting-poorer-part-does-capitalism-deny-opportunities-to-the-comparatively-poor-section-of-the-people-what-is-the-reason-for-this-happening-in-developing-countries-like-india
3.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyhQPwuB7b8

Behavior, Reinforcement, Cope,

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
This section heavily focused on the ABC’s (Antecedents, Behavior, Consequence) which are concepts we learned previously in this course. This particular section focused on the ABC’s and different aspects of poverty. Specifically, the article discussed different behaviors that those living in poverty do, even if they seem counterintuitive. I find this very interesting, especially when the article discussed how the author smokes, even though it costs money and is bad for their health, they continue to do it. The author goes through and explains how cigarettes (specifically tobacco) would provide a pick-me-up when they were getting roughly 3 hours of sleep every night. This reminded me of how in previous classes, specifically Biopsychology, we discussed addiction and how it is classified. Addiction can be described as continuing a behavior even in the presence of serious negative effects. I would like to look further into addiction and those who live in poverty.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
There are three main aspects I would like to focus on in this post. The first aspect I would like to focus on is smoking addiction - the various health effects and why people continue to do it. The second aspect I would like to focus on is addiction and it’s relation to poverty. The final aspect I would like to focus on is specifically smoking and poverty, and why it’s the most popular addiction (besides caffeine) among poverty.
3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Smoking is the second most popular addiction in the world, second to caffeine. Specifically, nicotine is found in all tobacco products and is the cause of the addictive chemicals within these products. Dip and chew actually contain more nicotine than cigarettes, but cigarettes are often the more popular method. Addiction could be described as continuing a habit or behavior even in the presence of negative effects or imminent danger. These could be considered health issues, rising cost of cigarettes or other methods of consuming nicotine or tobacco, or the growing negative stigma surrounding smoking and the decreasing positive stigma. When I say the negative stigma, I’m referring to emitting the behavior of smoking and eliciting a disgusted or disappointed response from the general public.
Smoking in the general public has members across all areas of socioeconomic status. However, there is a significantly high number of members who have low socioeconomic status. Why is this so? There seems to be a high brand loyalty among those of low socioeconomic status. Also, many do not always associate smoking with deadly illnesses or other health risk. Many also do not realize the severe consequences of second hand smoke. Raising costs has also proven to show no change in the number of people with low socioeconomic status who choose to smoke. They are also less likely to refrain from smoking after they attempt to quit. This can often be attributed to a lack of self-efficacy in that they don’t believe they have the power to quit. Also, many members of this population refuse to seek out healthcare or receive healthcare more rarely than those of a higher socioeconomic status. These are examined reasons and conclusions as to why this population generally has higher amounts of smokers and tobacco users.
The article we focused on in class discusses how there are many various decisions that those living in poverty often make even if they seem counterintuitive. There is a heavy correlation between those living in poverty with a low socioeconomic status and addiction rates. Above, I have listed several reasons that could explain this. The author touches on several of these throughout her article – lack of self-efficacy, hopelessness, less likely to relate smoking to health issues, less likely to seek out healthcare, etc. It is also harder to extinguish these behaviors, and most are more likely to repeat these behaviors within 6 months. With a lack of discipline and punishment to smoking in the immediate happenings, many fail to see the future negative effects. There is also reinforcement from the immediate positive relief smokers feel from their nicotine use. Many are unable to stop their target behavior or often reuse.
4) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites. Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
http://whyquit.com/pr/041210.html
http://www.tobaccofreemaine.org/channels/special_populations/low_income_and_education.php
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/01/14/why-the-wealthy-stopped-smoking-but-the-poor-didnt/

5. Terms: Antecedents, Behavior, Consequence, addiction, emit, elicit, extinguish, target behavior, reinforcement, punishment, positive, negative

After reading the article on poverty and its impact on behavior for the first assignment this week I was immediately drawn in to the topic and wanted to do more research. I found that sorting the behaviors and their conditions into the ABC's helped me to be able to understand them more fully; we explored this throughout the text book but mostly in section 1. Another lens through which I feel this area of behavior could be viewed from is that of operant conditioning, this was covered mainly in section 3 in the text book but can also be applied to the work we are doing in our behavioral change projects currently.
The connections between poverty and behavior are not typically common subjects of discourse in psychology or in the mainstream media so the perspective that was presented in the article was an entirely new experience for me. After reading the article the idea that poverty is negative, self-perpetuating environment which facilitates destructive behavior really struck me with its message and evident support. The behavioral modification building blocks and techniques we have learned over the course of the semester, in my opinion, only legitimized the arguments made in the article. Another thing that sparked my interest in this topic was the fact that I had never heard of this anywhere before. This could easily be chalked up to the topic being novel, but I’m suggesting something deeper; the fact that this topic has not and most likely will not be broadcast on any national news venues is evidence of this country’s blatant disregard and even contempt for its impoverished population. I could write at length about the stigma of poverty and the atrocities being committed against the homeless populations in our major cities but I should probably write the rest of this assignment instead. Cheers.
The three aspects that I would like to write about specifically regarding this topic are exactly how poverty effects behavior, why the traditional bourgeoisie idea of "just give them more money" to solve the problem is unrealistic, and finally the long term effects that poverty has both physically and psychologically.
Synthesis
Not only in America, but across the globe poverty is becoming an increasingly widespread and serious issue. While this may be a commonly observed problem the ramifications for those living under the poverty line are much less well known. Using the ABC’s to break down exactly how poverty effects those living in it is one way of making the direct connections that are often overlooked. If the antecedents of poverty begin by simply living in an impoverished environment; the often chronic stress that accompanies a life of poverty is an antecedent which facilitates behaviors such as alcohol and substance abuse. These behaviors can lead to the consequences of continued poverty to feed addiction and possibly incarceration.
It is almost needless to say that there are multiple adverse effects that result from poverty, but the ones I would like to highlight are again those that are most unnoticed. There is a high rate of neurological behavior disorders in impoverished populations; these include problems such as learning disabilities and developmental delays. Explanations for these various issues have been found to all relate back to environmental stressors. Environmental toxins, malnutrition, low early sensory stimulation, and high levels of chronic stress are all components associated with poverty which have been linked to neurological problems and deficiencies in brain development. Areas of the brain responsible for important cognitive functioning such as the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus show lower levels of functioning in people living under the poverty line. This suggests again that it isn’t a matter of giving people money and fixing everything; those living in poverty are so deeply affected by their situation that it is actually changing their brain chemistry.
The famous quote that perfectly illustrates the idea I’m trying to communicate is a discourse between the well-known writers Hemingway and Fitzgerald; Fitzgerald said, "The rich are different from the rest of us," and Hemingway replied, "Yes, I know, they have more money." Because poverty is such a profound influence it is simply not enough to give people money and solve the problem. I believe living in poverty influences people much in the same way as classical conditioning; they are conditioned by their environment to emit behavior that would otherwise be absent or unnatural in the situation. An example of this may be buying a lottery ticket with your last dollar; normally this would not occur but people in poverty feel as if they have nothing to lose and know that escaping poverty by saving one dollar to be impossible. The survival behaviors that are ingrained in those living in poverty are then passed down to their children, and in this way the cycle furthers its hold. To summarize I’ll again quote a somewhat hackneyed but accurate saying ‘you can take the people out of the poverty, but you can’t take the poverty out of the people’.

Terms: ABC's, antecedent, behavior, consequences, operant conditioning, emit, reinforcement, punishment, environmental stress
URLS: http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2003/09/fall-useconomics-sawhill
http://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/indicator/2013/01/poverty-behaviors.aspx
http://www.nationalaffairs.com/doclib/20080710_20031536thebehavioralaspectsofpovertyisabelvsawhill.pdf

1. For this week’s topical blog post I chose to write about poverty and different aspects of poverty. This topic relates to our reading for this week which was an article centered on a mother who is living in poverty and I wanted to research more about the circumstances involved with poverty.

2. The three aspects of my topic that I will talk about are the factors and circumstances that lead someone into becoming poor, are there certain behaviors specific to poor people, and how does one get out of poverty?

3. There are several different factors that contribute to those who are in poverty. When thinking about poverty as a social problem there are five main factors that continue the cycle of poverty. These factors are ignorance, apathy, dishonesty, dependency, and disease. Often times many people who are not poor view those in poverty as stupid individuals who are uneducated and just need to get a job. It isn’t that simple though, the factor of ignorance suggests that those in poverty have a lack of information and a lack of knowledge which is different than stupidity. Notice that many of those living in poverty don’t have the resources or funds to obtain the proper amount of education to make informed and intelligent decisions. Another common factor that contributes to poverty is disease which is easily spread in urban areas with high population density. Those who are sick or have a disease and are living in poverty are not able to afford adequate health care and don’t have the luxury of getting themselves healthy. With being poor and not able to stay continually healthy often times it is easy to feel powerless and not care about a lot of things because conditions never seem to improve, this is called apathy which is another factor that contributes to poverty. When resources meant for a community and all of its members are distributed unevenly usually to those in power then an atmosphere of dishonesty will occur and poor people will stop trusting anyone in power to help them. Living in poverty is difficult and many people have to turn towards charities and handouts in order to survive and they then become dependent because it is the only constant supply of resources that they are usually unable to obtain. Being in poverty shapes the way an individual behaves and several studies have shed light on how children living in poverty behave differently than affluent children and perform worse in school. Kids who grow up poor deal with different situations and circumstances on a daily basis than kids who never lived in poverty. Emotionally and socially kids in poverty behave very different than those not in poverty. Impoverish kids have weak attachments to their care givers and become very insecure later on. With parents having to deal with being single parents often, depression and other mental health issues, and inadequate healthcare many children don’t receive the attachment and support they need and tend to perform worse in school. Their behavior in school also may be poor because of the lack of support and attachment from their care givers. Using behavior modification techniques on these children would be very difficult especially because they are unable to reinforce themselves to increase desired behaviors or their caregivers are unable to properly reinforce desired behaviors and often tend to punish their children because it is a lot easier and faster to interrupt a behavior. Behavior modification techniques require some patience and time to implement but those in poverty have no extra time to make the proper adjustments to effectively find a target behavior and reinforce it. A solution to the problem of poverty is to rise up and become rich, many people believe the poor can go from rags to riches. Unfortunately 70% of those born into poverty will never get out of it and the percentage that do barely make it to the middle class. The few that have made it out of poverty have had success in education and worked hard to get good schooling whenever possible. Those who went to college had a much better chance of leaving poverty than those who don’t. Having two parents who both earned incomes also helped those few to get out of poverty. Another key factor was having limited or no periods of unemployment. One of the most important ways of getting out of poverty was saving money. Individuals who were able to save their money every chance they had were more likely to have a chance at leaving poverty behind along with the other combined factors to aid their chances of making it.

http://cec.vcn.bc.ca/cmp/modules/emp-pov.htm

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109074/chapters/How-Poverty-Affects-Behavior-and-Academic-Performance.aspx

http://national.deseretnews.com/article/591/getting-unstuck-why-some-people-get-out-of-poverty-and-others-dont.html

Terminology: Behavior Modification, Behavior, Target Behavior, Reinforcer, Reinforcement, Punishment

Topic: Decision Making

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
For this week’s topical blog I chose to talk about decision making. I thought this was relevant to the article on Monday with the woman living in poverty for her poor decision making. I wanted to do more research into decision making to better understand the motivation behind making decisions.

2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
One aspect of the decision making topic that I would like to discuss is the factors that influence decision making. I am curious to know if these factors can be linked to what was discussed in the poverty article. Another aspect of the decision making topic that I would like to discuss is strategies to make decisions. Being an indecisive individual myself I want to see if there are ways to improve the speed of my decision making or at least increase the speed in which I make good decisions instead of poor choices. A third aspect of the decision making process that I would like to discuss is possible biases that can emerge when making a final decision.

3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
There are multiple factors that influence decision making, such as age and individual differences, how committed one is to achieving a goal, past experience, and cognitive biases. These factors are important in the process of decision making because they can have large impact on the consequences of the final decision. Past experiences are highly influential in terms of how successful a venture was. The more successful the venture, the more likely the decision making process is to be repeated (you could think of this in terms of the ABCs model of behavior mod as well). Commitment is another important factor that influences the type of decision making that occurs. If an individual feels that they must commit to a certain cause or venture they may be more likely to engage in risky behaviors (Link 3). This can be observed through the amount of costs that an individual commits, such as money, effort, and time.

Link 1 & 2: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fixing-families/201511/what-do-when-you-dont-know-what-do
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ulterior-motives/201201/comparison-creates-confidence
(I used these links to explore the difficulty involved with making a decisions and strategies to make a decision. Essentially, I am interested in strategies that can be used to improve decision-makingcapabilities.)

Link 3: http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/180/decision-making-factors-that-influence-decision-making-heuristics-used-and-decision-outcomes (I used this link to discuss factors that influence decision making processes.)

Link 4: http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/workingpapers/128-12.pdf (I used this link to discuss how bias plays a role in decision making processes.)

Terms: decision making, goals, past experience, cognitive biases, influences, commitment

Since we did not have a section to read this week, I chose to do a closely related topic. This week, I would like to discuss the effects of poverty on pregnancy and young mothers. The U.S. has the highest teen pregnancy rate among developed countries. This is astounding, with all of the free birth control and programs to teach young people about sex. I believe it has more to do with our culture. The pop and sex culture definitely counteract with whatever action we are trying to take against unwanted pregnancy. I also find it appalling that some young people have babies to reap the government benefits that come along with it. I wanted to research mental effects on the mother, as well as how this affects the baby during pregnancy and birth, and what the
long term effects on the child will be.

Some of the effects on the mother include health issues. Malnutrition is a large issue for poor mothers. Like in the article we read this week, the mother ate burritos, which isn’t the healthiest choice. Not getting enough nutrients can also cause more stress, putting more stress on the baby during the pregnancy. In an alternative to malnutrition, some mothers will also develop a problem with obesity. Eating the wrong foods can increase fat in the mother. Another health issue that comes up is a higher frequency of GTIs in mothers of poverty than in mothers who are more financially stable. Stress is also prominent in the mothers who are unstable with money; “crowded home environments, unemployment, single-parent households, less social support and financial problems” all have an effect on the mother’s mental health. Stress can also lead to more sexual partners, like the author of the article we read this week talked about. Stress can also be an inhibitor for the mother to use drugs or smoke cigarettes, which we know is not good for the baby.

Especially for mothers with multiple “baby daddies,” I can only imagine the long-term effects on the mother’s psyche. Depression, anxiety, and fear of abandonment are all issues that come to mind. My own mother suffers from all of the above, and it is clear why. The years of hoping to have a steady income as well as a stable environment to raise children, with one stable partner, could definitely have taken its toll. As it is disappointing for my brothers and I to sit back and watch her struggle with these issues, we have developed some of the same fears. It is interesting to correlate my mother’s struggles to our own. The mother’s mental health definitely has a large effect on the child in my experience, at least long term, if not right away at birth.

Building off of the effects on the mother, we can also talk about the effects on the baby. With obesity, we increase the chance that the baby will be obese at birth. On the other hand, malnutrition in the mother can cause a premature birth or death at birth. It can also lead to a bad immune system for the baby long-term. The baby being too small can cause long-term health problems as well. At times the mother will turn to drugs or alcohol while pregnant. Cigarettes can definitely affect the baby long-term as well as at birth—the toxins can go straight through the membrane of the uterus and harm the baby. Alcohol can lead to FAS, or fetal alcohol syndrome, harming the baby. Most of the effects I have mentioned happen right away as well as long-term. All of these things will definitely have me stressing when I decide to have a child. I’m afraid that the fear of stress during pregnancy will just cause more stress in me, as I am already a person with a lot of anxiety issues.

Lastly, if the mother cannot afford good prenatal or postnatal care, this will have a great impact on whether the baby will be healthy at birth and in its future years. The biggest long-term effects of young mothers living in poverty are connected to poor learning skills, bad grades, and a lesser amount of stimulation. A bad immune system is also prominent in children who were birthed in poverty.

How can we help young mothers living in poverty? There are support groups as well as government funded programs such as WIC and other welfares to help. Child support mandates have also helped young mothers somewhat. I can only hope for my future children that I will have a steady income when I am ready to have a baby, as well as a partner with a proper income to aid us.

Terms: poverty, pregnancy, obesity, stress, long-term effects, support, depression, anxiety, stimulation, psyche, premature birth, FAS

Resources:
http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Family/Modern-Parenthood/2012/0522/Teenage-pregnancy-High-US-rates-due-to-poverty-not-promiscuity

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2528810/

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/24/opinion/hymowitz-teen-pregnancy-poverty/

1. The topic for this week is punishment in behavior modification.
This fits in our class because punishment is used to decrease an unwanted behavior.
I am interested in this because I wanted to learn more about why people use punishment rather than using reinforcement.
2. Punishment is used in operant conditioning. It is used to hopefully decrease the chance that the unwanted behavior will happen again. Unlike reinforcement which is used to increase a behavior, punishment is used to eliminate or reduce a behavior.
There are two different kinds of punishment. First, positive punishment is giving an aversive stimulus. Second, negative punishment is taking away something that is desired.
Although punishment can be successful it is not in every case. An example of punishment not working is a criminal going to jail or prison and when they get out they go back to their previous behavior. The reason this happens is because the punishment does not directly follow the unwanted behavior. In other cases is can be successful, this is just one instance.
There are things that a person can do to make sure that punishment will be successful. Punishment will work better is it directly follows the behavior. In terms of animals if a pet has an accident the punishment must directly follow or they will not put together the behavior and the punishment. The punishment must be consistent. For example, if a person speeds often and they only get caught once and get one speeding ticket that punishment will not be very successful. If they were caught every time and given a ticket they would learn there lesson more quickly. Also, there must be an association between the consequence and the behavior.
Physical punishment can bring a negative impact so it is found to be not useful. For a pet they might become aggressive and for a child they could become antisocial. In terms of pets punishment should not be used in training.
Terms: Punishment, behavior modification, behavior, reinforcement, positive punishment, negative punishment, elimination, consequence, aversive.
http://psychology.about.com/od/operantconditioning/f/punishment.htm
http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/behavior-modification-using-punishment-effectively/133
http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/523/Punishment.html