What I would like you to do for this homework is to have some fun and find some websites of a topic that interests you and that relates to behavior modification. Please try to incorporate the behavioral terms we are learning into your writing.
1) Please discuss your topic in general, why it interests you and how it relates to behavior modification.
2) Post at least 2 links to the sites you visited that were most informative about your topic. For each site discuss what the site is about and the information you found and how it relates to your topic (please don't just say they discussed positive reinforcement - how do they go about it? etc?).
3) Disucss how these sites further expanded your understanding of your topic of interest (kind of like a conclusion).
4) Make a list of course related terms you used in this post (this is to help get you focused on using behavioral terms in your regular writings).
Thanks.
In Chapter Three, stimulus and controlling stimuli are the main focuses. One of the key points in the chapter is that you need to be able to use stimuli to reinforce behaviors without coercion (thus the name of the chapter)
The chapter's main topics include
Cues
A cue being a behavior that gives a "signal" to the recipient as to when they should perform the behavior you're trying to shape.
Anticipation
A term relating to the eagerness of the recipient after they are shaped to the behavior you want to occur, the colloquial that Pryor uses to describe this is "Jumping the gun." To prevent this she suggests that you use timeouts to reinforce the behavior of not performing the response you're trying to condition early.
Stimuli
ANYTHING that causes a behavioral response.
Dealing with tantrums
Pryor suggests that tantrums should just be blatantly ignored. Resisting is not a behavior that we would like to reinforce, so it is best not to react to it in any way.
Terms:
Stimuli
Reinforcement
Cues
Anticipation
Signal
Shaping
Behavior
Conditioning
I was flipping through the text pages and one thing that caught my eye was the idea of social disruption. Readying Pryor and in class discussions have made it clear that punishment is not the way to go because it has negative consequences. Where postive reinforcment works more on a specific behavior, punishment can actually cause problems in multiple behaviors. According to the text when someone is punished, they associate the punishment with the punisher as well as the environment in which they recieved the punishment. Also punishment is very limited in how it can actually change the behaviors. When one is punished, that particular behavior ends, but all others are unaffected. Finally, punishment has negative affects on relationships. For example, when an individual is trying to shape a behavior the relationship formed is vital for proper conditioning. When excessive punishment is used, however, the learner may associate the individual with the punishment thus straining the relationship. This means that in the future, merely seeing the individual may cause disruptions in the normal behaviors of the learner. I think this is very true of schools and other areas dealing with social agents such as parent and teachers. Students may associate teachers, and then school itself, as a negative stimulus. They may not want to go and may be considered a "problem child". This same holds true for some of America's households. Personally I can relate to the social disrupion theory. As a child I wasn't often punished as much as reinforced for correct behaviors. I greatly enjoyed the relationship I shared with my parents and therefore acted out less growing up.
I found an article while I was scouting the web, unfortunately my computer wouldn't let me read all of it, but the idea of the article fits well in this discussion. It is called Women In the Occupational World: Social Disruption and Conflict. It goes right a long with the idea that when one is suppressed or punished, they are more likely to "act out" or change their environment as avoide the negtative stimulus. This holds true for women in the workplace, more so in the past than now. Women in ways are punished for not being male. This is a little harsh, but the basic idea. This was found at http://www.jstor.org/pss/799727
Another article I found, it was hard to find general websites on the topic, was about how social disruption is related to music. This article discussed how times of war, a very negative ideal, changes the style of music that is produced during that time. http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=95798523
Before I happened upon this theory in the text I had never really thought about how strong the negative effects of punishment really were. I always realized these things were happening, but I didn't realize exactly what it was or the reasoning for it. Looking on the web helped me find some prime examples of the phenomenon. It is amazing to see how in even small things, such as music composition, the way are behaviors are treated at one time shapes our future behaviors.
Terms: Reinforcement, punishment, Social disruption, stimulus, social agent, and conditioning.
1. For this weeks divergence I looked into Modeling Behavior. I find this interesting because in my opinion parents are modeling behavior for their children from the day they are born. Not only with parents but caregivers as well. I think that anyone can learn by doing or seeing and that’s what behavior modeling is. It’s showing the behavior you want to see. If parents are telling a child one thing and modeling another there are mixed signals and the behavior will not be interpreted correctly. It’s like when parents smoke and they tell their kids not to smoke. “Should I do what my parents are doing or do what they say. They smoke so it must be OK to smoke.”
2. http://www.ces.purdue.edu/providerparent/PDF%20Links/Modeling%20Behavior.pdf is a site from Purdue University on Provider Parent Partnerships. It looks to be something they sent to parents in order to keep in touch. It discusses how children learn from seeing, listening, copy attitudes, and copy things they heard. This short article says if you want your kids to be respectful then you should be respectful because they learn from you. If you want them to be responsible you should admit when you make a mistake and keep promises. http://parentingteens.about.com/od/disciplin1/a/behaviormodel.htm is an article for parents who want to change their teen’s behavior. This article gives four steps to make sure the modeling is effective. 1. Having the teen pay attention to the parent as the behavior is performed. 2. Allow the teen to process and remember the behavior the parent performed. 3. The behavior must then be performed by the teen him/her self. 4. The teen should be praised by the parent for performing the behavior, to reinforce it so that it continues to happen. These are four easy steps to model a behavior for a teen to then perform.
3. The first article from Purdue concluded my idea that children are constantly picking up on their parent’s behaviors aversive or positive. Children learn for seeing and that’s all Modeling Behavior is. It’s giving the child an image to imitate or copy to make their own. The teen article gave four basic steps to better understand how to go about modeling a behavior. Teen are a little different about modeling they are still learning but want to be more an individual and don’t model as many behaviors from their parents but more from peers. The steps that were given are an easy way for a parent to get the behavior they want.
4. Modeling behavior, process, perform, reinforce, aversive, positive, and imitate.
After reading Karen Pryor’s chapter on shaping, I was drawn into the idea of mimicking as a form of shaping behavior. As Pryor said, mimicking comes naturally to both animals and humans. Many animals, birds in particular, learn much of their soft-wired skills (those that do not necessarily come automatically) through mimicking others around them. Karen used the example of cats and their ability to climb trees. Though they are hard-wired to use their claws to climb upward, climbing back down is a soft-wired skill that they tend to learn from their mothers. Dolphins are also well known for their mimicking patterns when learning behaviors. Many young dolphins are learning tricks by watching the adult dolphins. Though the young dolphins are too young to be shaped through positive reinforcement, they are performing the tricks equal to the adults.
When researching mimicking as a way of shaping behavior, the first site I found discussed mimicking behavior and how it helps to form social bonds. Often, people tend to mimic the posture and gestures of those around them. Though, as this article stated, the behavior is often unconscious, many people tend to feel more comfortable around others similar to them – so this mimicking makes the bond between the strangers stronger. The article also used the example about an interaction between monkeys and humans. When a human mimicked the actions of the monkey, the monkey tended to be drawn to that particular human compared to another human that did not mimic the monkey’s actions.
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=104733
The second article I came across discussed birds and their ability to learn how to dance by mimicking sound. Through their research they learned that only animals capable of vocal mimicry were able to acquire the dance skills. Parrots, in particular, were found to be capable of synchronizing their movements with the sounds they heard. It is thought that through evolution humans were able to acquire this vocal mimicry as well. Though many birds are capable of this vocal mimicry, not all birds are found to possess this talent. Certain experiences and social motivation are also thought to play a role in their ability to use mimicry to learn how to dance.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090430121936.htm
Both of these sites gave interesting perspectives on how mimicry plays a role in the skills and behaviors developed by both humans and animals. At a young age we are all found to mimic the behaviors of our parents, siblings, and other influential people around us. These patterns of behavior may either be good or bad. Either way, the mimicking we partake in helps us to form strong social bonds between us. Animals, as well, are equally capable of this mimicking ability and explains many of the learned behaviors that they posses.
Terminology: mimicry, shaping behavior, positive reinforcement, hard-wired skills, soft-wired skills, social motivation, vocal mimicry
This week I wanted to discuss extinction. The idea of extinction is when a reinforcement is withheld which, in turn, lowers the probability that a behavior will occur in the future. In order for extinction to work effectively, it must be done consistently. Extinction is considered successful when responding in the presence of an extinction stimulus is zero. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction_(psychology) . I was curious to learn about this for two reasons. First, I wanted to know how to keep extinction from occurring if reinforcements are not working, and how to extinguish a behavior that is unwanted. This is a big part of behavior modification because it is a great tool in changing a behavior.
My first site, http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Extinction , had many good examples about how to extinguish unwanted behaviors of children misbehaving in a classroom. It explained how a student would not raise her before she answered and so the teacher only reinforced children who did. Then, the girl through a tantrum and the teacher ignored that. Eventually the girl when back to her seat. I now have a better idea of how to extinguish an unwanted behavior. I know a few ways to do a better job at extinguishing an unwanted behavior.
My next site was http://changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/conditioning/extinction.htm . It helped me to understand why sometimes punishments or reinforcers become extinct. This was something I was very curious about. It discussed an idea called Extinction through Accustomizing Desensitzation. This idea is when a stimulus happens so many times, it eventually becomes dulled with familiarity. I was thinking about when a mother threatens her child, the child may be scared at first. But, when the child keeps on doing to behavior and the mother keeps using the threat, the child is desensitized to it, and the fear usually extinguishes.
The reason I looked up extinction was found in both these websites, and it helped tremendously to understand it better. I knew the premise of what extinguishing a behavior was, but, I did not know how to go about it or understand how to stop it from happening. Now I get the general idea to stop it from happening and how to engage in the idea of extinguishing a behavior.
Terms: Extinction, reinforcement, probability, stimulus, behavior, extinguishing, punishments, desensitization
1) I decided to discuss overlearning. I would never think that we would ever overlearn something. Overlearning is the repeated expression of an already learned response.
2) http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/140102.htm
This website states that "overlearning is a phenomenon that is frequently employed in training for specific events, but may be underused in preventing fearful responses in dogs. Overlearning accomplishes 3 things: it delays forgetting, it increases the resistance to extinction, and it increases the probability that the response will become a response of first choice, when the circumstances are similar. This last aspect can be extremely useful in teaching an animal to overcome a fear or anxiety." Maybe this can be used in children's fears as well. Hmmmm...
http://www.dnalc.org/view/837-Addiction-as-Overlearning.html
This website was interesting. It talked about how an addiction is overlearning. For example, one view is that repeated drug use jacks up the brain's plasticity, the trait that inhibits our ability to learn and remember. The repeated use causes chemical and structural adaptations in the brain that make it hard to "unlearn" the habit of doing drugs (and far too easy to relapse).
3) I was very interested when I found the website about drug addiction and overlearning. I am not sure it is related to the behavior modification learning since a lot happens internally to the brain, but it was still very intriguing. These websites gave good examples of overlearning, not only relating it to animals. I was surprised to read an example on the drug addiction website that stated, "Animal models have enabled researchers to unravel the brain pathways involved in this “compulsive relapse” phase of drug dependence to an unprecedented degree, yielding new insights about the underlying pathology." Evidence from animal studies and substance abusers suggests that, over time, addictive drugs dramatically decrease neural activity in the prefrontal cortex, which may lead to poor decision making and problems with impulse control, which in turn can predispose an individual to drug relapse.
4) Relapse, overlearning, extinction, response, reinforcement.
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/6/T062100.asp
http://www.greatschools.org/LD/managing/anger-management-children.gs?content=881&page=1
1)I spend a lot of time working with children so especially in this class I like to relate a lot of what we are learning to my kids at work. One big thing that is always a controversy with children is the issue of spanking. Should we spank? Does it hurt the behavior more than help it? These are all valid questions when it comes to spanking. Spanking is a form of positive punishment. Probably one of the most common forms of it actually.
2) The first link I posted has a lot of information on spanking and some of it can be disregarded. However, I was very interested in the introduction about a mother spanking ther children and then the child turning around and hitting another child. An important way for children to learn is through mimickry and play. This child we just playing "mommy" and that is what her mother does so that is what she does. These are things that parents need to be very aware of all the time. Not just with spanking but with language and inappropriate comments or television whatever it may be. A parent is looked to in the highest regard by a child and they will want to be just like the parent no matter what. So if a parent spanks so will the child.
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/6/T062100.asp
Another thing that really interested me about this was the idea that spanking could create aggressive behavior and negative emotions. Does spanking make children angry? Could we avoid aggressive behavior by just using reinforcement instead? This second link talks about anger and aggressiveness in children and ways to help modify this behavior and to help them cope with thier emotions.
http://www.greatschools.org/LD/managing/anger-management-children.gs?content=881&page=1
3)I already knew that spanking was not the proper way to punish a child but I had no idea the extent of some of the behaviors it can cause. when I was a child I was spanked and I don't feel angry or aggressive because of it but I do know some kids at work who I can bet get spanked at home and they do show a lot of aggressiveness. I think it will be interesting to try some of these tips on them and see what happens.
4) mimickry, positive punishment, reinforcement, behavior modification.
1. One topic that seems to come up often in behavior modification is the use of spanking children as a punishment. Regardless of where the issue comes up, whether it be classroom or in casual discussion with friends, there seems to be a line clearly dividing those for and against the use of corporal punishment on children. This interests me because I received a few slaps now again from my parents when I misbehaved as a child, with no lasting negative effects as a direct result of the discipline. This is why I do not understand when people show outrage towards parents who choose to discipline their children with force.
2. http://www.religioustolerance.org/spanking.htm
This website relates to the use of corporal punishment in schools and takes a neutral stance on the debate between use of corporal punishment and alternate discipline methods. The site states that the risks of using corporal punishment are extremely high; if we simply abandon the use of corporal punishment then criminal activity and violence will dramatically increase in generations to come. Conversely, proponents of alternative discipline methods would argue that the abolition of spanking would decrease youth rage and criminal activity, and will even decrease depression and drug use in future generations. This site implies that unless we spank our children, they will be likely to emit deviant and maladaptive behaviors. It also implies that if we do spank our children we can hope to elicit more positive emotions and non-violent behaviors.
http://www.womensenews.org/story/health/010923/experts-spanking-harms-children-especially-girls
This site, however, sides with the non-use of corporal punishment, especially against women. The author argues that the use of corporal punishment at home and at school will condition young females to accept violence and young boys to rely on using it. The article furthers this by stating the use of corporal punishment will set the stage for girls to be victims of future male authority figures, whether it be a boyfriend, husband or employer. Another caveat against the use of spanking children is that this method is no more effective at modifying a behavior (because it only modifies the behavior short-term) than other methods of discipline, such as time-outs.
3. I can see both sides to the debate; spanking a child may succeed at changing the undesirable behavior, however, there may be a lasting psychological impact on a child who is punished using such a drastic method of discipline. Perhaps I may have been a particularly deviant child, but I know for a fact that in some situations the only thing stopping me from misbehaving was the foresight that I would catch a quick slap from my mother or father. In this sense, the modification of my behavior was not short-term, because I knew what the punishment would be and would therefore would avoid punishable behaviors at all costs. This foresight, however, would diminish as soon as my parents we not around.
The second link above describes why corporal punishment should not be used against girls (for reasons mentioned above) however it is not so quick to say that such punishment should not be used on boys. I believe that this would create inequalities in perceived "immunity" to punishment by young girls, who may feel they invulnerable to punishment while boys may feel victimized and internalize the punishment. This may result in girls acting out more often and perhaps elevated depression and other psychological disorders among boys.
Spanking is clearly a positive punishment, intended to decrease an undesirable behavior. It is safe to say that it works, but for how long? Other methods to modify a behavior involve negative and positive reinforcement and may in fact yield better results in terms of changing a behavior. Punishment is inevitable in life, and therefore, regardless of which method is employed to modify a child's maladaptive behavior, I believe it most important to punish equitably and equally among both genders.
4. Positive and negative reinforcement, positive punishment, elicit, emit, maladaptive behavior, condition.
I chose to discuss positive reinforcement with children as my topic. I found a very interesting website in my last post that sparked my interest. Our text states that positive reinforcement is something that increases a behavior. The example the text uses is often with rats where the trainer will reinforce closer and closer approximations to the final goal. In summary, it is where a stimulus follows a behavior.
http://www.kidsmakingchange.com/Positive_Reinforcement/cms/Positive_Reinforcement.html
This website focuses on what positive reinforcement is and why it works with children. Positive reinforcement is ‘catching’ a child doing something good and rewarding it. This will encourage them to repeat that behavior. Giving a child extra attention or a small reward is an example of positive reinforcement. It should be something the child wants. The website also stressed that this method works the best because it gives the child a goal to work towards. With negative reinforcement, the child is constantly focusing on what they did wrong and often has no clear direction of what to do next time. They simply know what NOT to do.
http://www.parentsconnect.com/tips/power_of_positive_reinforcement.jhtml
This website says there are two key components when it comes to positive reinforcement with children: praise and rewards. When praising a child, you want to be as specific as possible. This way, the child will know exactly what they did right. They are more likely to repeat the behavior if they have a clear direction of what to do. Parents often think of money or going out to eat as rewards. This does not have to be the case with children… this website encourages the use of a chart as a simple reward. For example, parents can give their child a ‘gold star’ for good behavior and once they get 10 gold stars reward them with a snack or extra play time.
It is very important not to confuse rewards with bribing. Bribing a child is rewarding them before their good behavior as opposed to rewarding them afterwards. It also says that not rewarding good behavior could lead to the extinction of that behavior. Our text defines extinction as a decline in the frequency of the operant when an extinction procedure is in effect.
One important thing parents need to be aware of when using positive reinforcement with children is having a variable schedule of reinforcement. Our text says that variable schedule of reinforcement are the rules used to present or remove reinforcers following a specific behavior. Parents won’t need to use positive reinforcement for the entire lifespan of their child. Karen Pryor said in her text that once a behavior is acquired, positive reinforcement is no longer necessary. Reinforcing a behavior occasionally or at random is enough for it to continue.
I have now read ample evidence that positive reinforcement is much more effective and healthy for a child than negative reinforcement. Parents need to be specific with their praise and be sure not to confuse rewards with bribing. They should always try to reward or at least acknowledge good behavior to avoid extinction as well as use a variable schedule of reinforcement.
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Variable schedule of reinforcement
Extinction
Rewards
Bribing
Reinforcers
In the article we read for Tuesday, Jaynes discussed the topic of imprinting. Our discussion in class turned to whether imprinting could happen with humans and with whom. I found the article an interesting read, although I wasn’t able to find very much information from the textbook to add to my mind map and own knowledge. I did find a small section that discussed imprinting in ducks and Skinner’s opinion on the topic.
While I found all of the information interesting and a good read, I found it difficult to contribute to the class discussion of imprinting in humans, as I wasn’t really sure of what imprinting was and how it could work with humans. The two texts that I had read about imprinting were about birds. In these descriptions, birds imprinted on moving objects and then followed the object. I was unsure of the real definition of imprinting that was being used in these studies and how to generalize the definition and studies to other groups of animals and humans. I decided to do some more research.
The first article I found gave a definition as well as descriptions of different kinds of imprinting. It described imprinting as a kind of learning that occurred during a critical period that is quick and during which one learns characteristics or behaviors of a stimulus. The article went on to discuss filial imprinting and sexual imprinting. Filial imprinting is when a child imprints on, or learns the behaviors of, their parents. Examples of this are the examples from both texts. Filial imprinting can be generalized to humans in the way that children learn to identify their mother and father by recognizing their voices. Sexual imprinting is the process of learning the differences of a good and bad mate.
http://en.allexperts.com/e/i/im/imprinting_(psychology).htm
The second article I found described imprinting as a process of social bonding. This article argued that imprinting does not have to occur quickly or during a critical period as earlier research has argued. The article argues that instead, imprinting occurs from released endorphins in response to a stimulating stimulus. Finally, it’s argued that the critical period found in previous research is really just the time before fear is developed and not actually a critical period.
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/family/howardsh/imprint.htm
The third article I read discussed many of the topics we did in class but in more detail. For example, the authors used the example of Lorenz working with geese in his imprinting experiments. Imprinting is argued to be a beneficial form of learning that helps with socializing and reproduction. Imprinting in mammals is less likely than it is in birds, as there is less need for imprinting for survival, thus making it a part of natural selection.
http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n14/experimento/lorenz/index-lorenz.html
From these articles I gained more understanding of both the definition of imprinting as well as the process and it’s generalizability. The research that I found suggests that not everyone agrees as to how imprinting works; however, it is believed to be real. If we were to discuss the article in class again, I think I would argue that yes humans can imprint based on the information I’ve gathered. I would argue that we initially imprint on our immediate family and have the potential to imprint on our peers and new loved ones as we age.
Terms: imprinting, learning, critical period, filial imprinting, stimulus, endorphins, natural selection
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO6G6_hndbk
1) This is the funny video a friend showed me. I figured it relates to behavior modification pretty well.
Stephen, a bratty child, is at home with his younger brother (the recorder) and grandma. Stephen doesn't know that his brother is filming his whole interaction with his grandmother. Grandma wants to watch the nightly news, but Stephen is controlling the remote and won't change the channel. Bickering ensues, and Grandma eventually ends up hitting Stephen with a over sized pizza paddle. Granny attempts to punish Stephen with a positive punishment (the paddle) Granny hopes to introduce the paddle to Stephens head. This aversive action is to reduce his undesirable behavior. Granny show's she has a keen talent for operant conditioning
2) http://www.psychologyandsociety.com/operantconditioning.html
This site discusses the topics of operant conditioning. The reason I liked this site was because it gave good examples of the different types of operant conditioning, especially positive punishment. They refer to positive punishment in terms of an employee performing poorly. The positive punishment comes from his boss who criticizes his recent work history. Hopefully this reduces the amount of poor work the employee will do.
http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/249
I liked this site partly because it was from Dr. Phil and partly because it offers useful ideas and even a chart that shows what types of conditioning to use on children of all ages. For example, in the case of Stephen, Dr. Phil says that Granny should have tried withholding privileges from him. Such as video games or his cell phone. Granny could have also established rules with Stephen, letting him know what was acceptable and not acceptable. Nowhere on Dr. Phil's list does it say whack children with blunt, wooden kitchen utensils.
3) The sites I picked out helped me gain a broader understanding and more definitions for operant conditioning. An example would be positive punishment. I didn't know much of anything about positive punishment until I looked at these sites. Now it is easy to identify situations in which this type of punishment is conducted.Granny could have handled her situation with Stephen in many other ways. She could have set limitations, rules and boundaries, positive reinforcement, or take away privileges. Instead, she uses positive punishment and gives Stephen a bop on the face for his troubles. Stephen however is aversive to this and runs away to call his mother. This is also known as evasion. He then takes Granny's only means of punishment and she resigns to go home. Stephen does not experience any extinction in his bratty behavior as soon as she gives up.
4)Operant conditioning, positive punishment, evasion, extinction, positive reinforcement
The topic that I found most interesting would be the topic of positive punishment. Positive punishment is when a negative consequence is administered to a behavior that is not desired. The reason I choose this topic would be that I always thought that punishment was always negative. The first site that I found dealt with punishment in the school setting. The site gave definitions of punishment and ways to set up a program involving punishment dealing with students. The site also gave tips on situations that might arise when applying the punishment program. This site helped me understand that punishment is very powerful and should only be used when the behavior is controllable by the subject. I feel that this is a good lesson because punishing a behavior that is not controllable would not result in the subject learning anything, just confusion. Another item learned would be that when starting a program use the smallest form of punishment and increase as necessary. The site suggested that the smallest from of punishemnt often provides the best/most results.
The next site that I found was a site dealing with employee motivation. The first thing that drew my attention would be the formula Job performance=f(ability)(motivation). This helped me think and realize that each subject either lacks the motivation to preform or the ability. I feel this relates because reinforcement works in the same way. The change I would make would be that the subject has the ability to change behavior, but the motivation depends on how the subject responds to the punishment/reinforcement.
http://www.interventioncentral.org/htmdocs/interventions/behavior/punishguidelines.php
http://www.accel-team.com/motivation/index.html