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.
1. In the reader this week Pryor discussed cues. I have used verbal and hand signal cues with my dogs at home but never separately. I always give a visual and a verbal together. I wanted to learn some more about cues.
2. The first site I found is actually a youtube video of a lady adding a verbal cue to an already learned visual cue while training her dog. She does a good job explaining how to do it and then shows how with her dog. She relates the word “Obama” to a visual cue with her hand to get the dog to spin. She starts out saying “Obama” and then giving the hand cue. After a few times the dog relates to the word “Obama” and she doesn’t have to show the hand signal. While she is giving the verbal cue she reinforced the behavior with a treat and a clicker.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwDeqslHWbg
The second site I found is another youtube video of giving a verbal cue for the “sit” behavior. The guy has trained his dog to where it gets a treat whenever it sits. Now he says “sit” when the dog does the behavior. The dog is then rewarded with a treat and a click from the clicker. Over time just like the first video the dog learns to relate the word “sit” with the behavior.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESZozdpmQMs
3. I’m glad I found examples of giving a verbal cue. When I trained my dogs I would raise my hand and say “sit” or “down” and then over time I could just give a hand signal or a verbal cue and they would do the behavior. I didn’t train them with one cue and then switch or add another. I actually think it would be easier for the animal if you just started out with both cues and over time you could take one cue away or use them both. I also don’t know why the videos used the clicker and a treat to reinforce the target behavior. I see that as a double reinforcement, they only need one.
4. Cues, visual, verbal, reinforce, and target behavior.
Learned helplessness. Something that can be found just about anywhere in the world and yet many don't even realize it exists. According to Pierce and Cheney, learned helplessnes is when an animal is put through something negative they cannot get away from and are then given the chance or ablility to escape. It kind of goes along with the idea that we are starting to be hopeless. Because of our past experiences, not being reinforced for our behaviors, we learn to stop trying. Another example given in the text book was how "helpless avoidance" occured because of the Nazis. The Jews eventually stopped trying to fight or resist because they knew that punishment or death was unavoidable. This example is a little on the extreme side, but you can see cases of learned helplessness in schools or homes as well. A student who has not maybe had the means to accomplish a task, or be reinforced, may not try anymore even after they have been given the proper "instruments" to do so. Learned helplessness is often associated with an internalistic view of your life circumstances. People who blame themselves for what happens/doesn't happen to them tend to show greater signs of hopelessness, the feeling of being helpless, and signs of depression. Some believe that learned helplessness is actually related the neurotransmitter dopamine. Possibly having lower levels, as is associated with depression, may lead to the feeling of helplessness. I found a video that shows how easy it can be to induce learned helplessness. A teacher has her students do an individual project. She gives one half of the room a sheet of paper with three words that they are supposed to unscramble to make another word (this side had easy words like "bat"). The other half also recieved three words, but two of them had no solution.She told the class to raise their hands as the completed each one. The students were unaware they had different sheets and so they believed all of them had solutions. (The third word on each list was the same.) It turns out that the students on side two didn't solve any of theirs, but the students on side one finished them all. The teacher explained that this was becaue they had no success with the first two so in their minds the third one would be no different, but the side with the easier words had been reinforced each time and so the third word presented no challenge. If you would like to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFmFOmprTt0
The students behavior had extinct. Working at the problems did not produce any praise and so they stopped working on the words. I also found another site on learned helplessness. It had definitons, causes and treatments, and examples. According the site, this phenomenon may actually be a coping mechanism people use. It is easier to push the reasons on something other than us. Saying "there is nothing I can do to change this", may be easier than the alternative. It also discussed a study similar to others that have been done. Dogs had shock collars on and could end the shock by pressing a switch, but some dogs' switches did not "word". The site also agreed with the book in saying that learned helplessness is clearly related to depression. There were a lot more things in the site as well you can feel free to look at http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-learned-helplessness.htm
Words: Learned helplessness, avoidance helplessness, reinforcement, extinction
1) I enjoy watching and experiencing verbal cues and hand signals to train animals to do a certain behavior. I want to train my cats to do this. However I have 9 of them, so the chance of getting ONE of them to get it down is slim, because they are always around each other at some point (in the house, shed, or outside).
2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UWmN2_uk-Q
This is a youtube video of Kaisa responding to cues from her owner. The owner gives verbal, as well as hand signals for Kaisa to spin, backup, and sit. It is so cool to see how a certain hand signal can have an effect on a dog to produce a certain behavior. The owner also uses discrimination.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUWBs4eTDyU&feature=related
This just kills me. For a cat who normally doesn't care what anyone says to it responding to verbal cues and successfully showing the behavior amazes me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqD5jyrJaOU&feature=related
Here is another. I like the fact that the owner gives 2 reinforcements: a treat and a couple strokes on the back. You can tell the cat is enjoying those 2 reinforcements for doing a simple behavior.
3) I am really going to try to get one of my cats to respond to verbal cues/ hand signals. That last video states she has been training her cat for 2 days, and the cat has made an amazing progress for that amount of time(in my opinion).
4) Cue, Stimulus, Reinforcement, Discrimination, Behavior
Karen Pryor’s chapter four on stimulus control made be very interested in behavioral chains. Behavioral chains are a series of connected behaviors. We as humans can be found performing these behavioral chains in our daily lives without realizing that it truly is a chain. Each behavior of the chain is reinforced by the signal or opportunity to perform the next behavior; in the end all the behaviors lead up to the final reinforcement which means the job is completed. An example the book uses for humans is cleaning. We often go through a series of steps when we clean. When we do the dishes we often start the water, add soap, add dishes to the water, individually wash each dish and set it aside to dry, when the dishes are all clean we take a towel and manually dry the dishes, and then put them away. The completion of each step reinforces us to move onto the next step until the job is complete and we are rewarded the satisfaction of a dish-free kitchen. Could you imagine starting the water and adding soap and then just walking away? No, it is a chain of events that often does not stop until the job is done.
When researching a behavior chain I found an interesting website that discusses Facebook and its strategy to make users more involved by using behavior chains. I’m sure most of this class has a Facebook account and knows how intent the creators are making sure users are involved and “making friends”. This website follows an “inactive user” (really an experiment of the author) and describes the way Facebook tries to make the user more involved. It uses trigger points and behavior chains to lead you to its desired achievement (you being more Facebook active).
http://www.behaviormodel.org/triggers.html
The second website I found focuses more on dogs and how behavior chains are often used when performing a series of tricks. What I enjoyed about this article was that the dog had actually created a behavior chain for the human. The owner was trying to teach the dog to come when called from farther and farther distances. Over the process of training the dog learned that it should run a far distance and then that would spark the owner to call for her and then give her a treat. Though it may seem that the dog is trained here, the human is as well. When the dog runs a far distance away that triggers the human to call, when the dog comes the next step in the human’s behavior chain is to give her a treat. Along with this example the article also gives many other great examples of behavioral chains in animals.
http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-shows/behavior-chains-in-agility.aspx
Each of these articles gives an interesting twist on how humans can be trained to perform behavioral chains, often without conscious knowledge. We don’t realize that websites (Facebook included) often put us through a series of steps, reinforcing us each time to move onto the next step, until the desired outcome is achieved. In our daily lives we constantly teach ourselves to perform behavioral chains without truly realizing that we are being trained…by ourselves. Behavioral chains are a way of live for both animals and humans and I find it interesting to step back and observe how many we truly perform each day.
Terminology: behavior chains, reinforcement, stimulus control, trigger point
http://www.nomoretempertantrums.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLly1phsmdg&feature=related
1) The last chapter that we read in the reader was all about shaping. While reading this I was reminded of something we talked about while I was at a training for daycare. It is a system called C.A.R.S and it is a system for shaping behavior in kids with behavioral disorders especially targeting ODD (opositional defiance disorder). Of course because of my current job and what I eventually want to go into anything with kids and disorders interests me so I thought this would be a great thing to talk about this week!
2)The creator of this is a lady who has a daughter with ODD and she originally created it for her daughter but it worked so well that she now sells it to others and we even talk about it at trainings for Child Care! This is her Website
http://www.nomoretempertantrums.com/
Her website doesn't really describe the program at all but she has a series of four videos that do
Video 1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLly1phsmdg&feature=related
Video 2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0ObeXieF6g&feature=related
Video 3:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUyPxJZkttI&feature=related
Video 4:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuYVcXIjvwQ&feature=related
What she does is she has created a Shaping system using positive reinforcement. Because her daughter is a little older she uses a credit system. Using different colored jewels blue is 25 credits clear is 50 points yellow is 75 and white is 100. She gives a color according to how close the behavior was to the desired behavior kind of like giving a click to the dog even when he comes close to sitting. Everything the child does gets credits according to how well she does the behavior. She can then use her credits to purchase things such as swimming or going to a sleep over or typical activities that children like. So she is shaping behavior with credits and then using the credits as a way to purchase rewards and reinforce.
3) I am really interested in Children who have defiance disorders and I always like to hear of new ways to help them that doesn't include medication. Eventually I want to go into counseling for children who have these difficulties and I want to be able to put these behavior modification techniques into practice. I think this system really goes hand in hand with what we are talking about in class right now and it helps me to understand it when I can see it put into a context that I am familiar with.
4) Shaping, Positive reinforcement, reward, behavior modification
The topic I would like to cover is charging a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus. In the past few days I have been using a clicker on my roommate. I wanted the sound of the clicker to be a positive reinforcer. The first time I clicked at him for doing something I wanted him to do, he asked how anyone could find that sound appealing. He also told me he would be very upset if I ever clicked him again. I do not think he appreciated the sound, or idea, of the clicker whatsoever. But, as persistent as I was, I was not about to stop. Later that day, I started telling lots of jokes. He started laughing hysterically at a lot of them. Every time he started laughing, I clicked his behavior. After about fifteen jokes, I felt as though the clicker had been charged. I was having a hard time thinking of ways to charge a clicker with something other than food, but this seemed to be working. For a few hours I left the clicker to rest on my desk. Later that day I was leaving my room, and decided to click him after I left. He seemed to light up and laugh a little. I could not decide how powerful the clicker was, but I did see a result in the emotional response to the sound of the stimulus. I thought it was amazing how I paired an unconditioned stimulus (laughing) with a neutral stimulus (clicker), and turned the neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus. I was also in awe about how quickly and how little effort it took for the change to occur.
The first website that I found to help me understand the ideas of classical conditioning, and the idea of pairing an unconditioned stimulus with a neutral stimulus. http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/behsys/classcnd.html
In this website, it explained four main parts to transfer a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus.
The first part involves an unconditioned stimulus eliciting an unconditioned response. The second part involves a neutral stimulus, which does not elicit a response. This does not elicit a wanted response because it has no meaning. The third part is orienting a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus. This was the part that I was interested in. Then, the last part is transforming a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus. When this happens, it causes the same response as the unconditioned response.
The next website I found was a good one. It talked about why positive reinforcement was the best way to change or alter a behavior. http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/leader_model/Development/media/Targeted%20Lessons/how_to_change_behavior.htm
It suggested that positive reinforcement is the best way to change behavior because it shows the biggest increase in behavior. It also explains that if a positive reinforcement continues, it will sustain over time. This website also talked about how to go about finding a positive reinforcer. It said to try something such as verbal praise and see if the behavior increases. It also explained that asking someone about something that would be reinforcing. A third way is to observe what a person likes doing, then using that activity or object to positively reinforce them. This website explained different ways to look at how to charge a reinforcer, which gave me different ideas of how to go about rewarding someone.
Terminology: neutral stimulus, conditioned stimulus, positive reinforcer, charged the clicker, behavior, emotional response, stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, classical conditioning, eliciting, response, positive reinforcement,
I am a Resident Assistant in one of the dorms on campus. I have been on call the last three weekends in a row, and thus noticed a lot of patterns and the number of residents drinking underage (much more than if I were to be on call in a more spread out schedule). While working and addressing policy violations, like underage drinking in the dorms, I began to wonder if we had any better way or ideas to reduce the number of kids who break this policy and to encourage kids to not drink. This especially hit me after I saw a group of residents going out to continue to drink at another party after I had just stopped at their room and documented them for underage drinking. Obviously what we’re doing isn’t keeping resident’s that much safer. Granted they were going elsewhere to drink rather than staying in the dorms, but it just didn’t seem quite right to me.
I initially started looking for information on ways to reduce college drinking using positive reinforcement, as we’ve learned that positive reinforcement is much more effective than punishment; however, I couldn’t find any information. I did find information that referred to alcohol being a positive and negative reinforcer but nothing about using reinforcement to reduce the behavior. As I continued to look I found a few sites with information about ways to reduce underage drinking; however, none seemed to use reinforcement.
The first two sites and articles that I found talked about drinking and reinforcement, but rather than using reinforcement to increase sobriety, the articles addressed how alcohol itself is a reinforcement. Drinking can be both a positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement depending on the situation and person. By increasing one’s mood and being celebratory, alcohol is a positive reinforcer of underage drinking, or just drinking in general. Alcohol also can reduce one’s tension and other aversive feelings, thus making it a negative reinforcer for drinking.
http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=LvrpXGx2tM0r0rQJXyCQMjK1J6BpnLT49sQ5l2rT9hLvKGzktGhp!2064974013!2144018255?docId=5000398897
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VC9-3VYYD9J-D&_user=724663&_coverDate=03%2F04%2F1999&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1197243973&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000040479&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=724663&md5=fda019740d626a12b55fcda62f6fe260
I then went on to find sites with proposals and ideas for ways to reduce underage drinking and increase sobriety. The articles set out plans; however, the plans included only punishments. They laid out ideas to increase fines for those drinking and driving, providing to minors and enforce policies involving underage drinking.
http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/NIAAACollegeMaterials/Panel02/KeyResearch_04.aspx
While I expected to find more recommendations and ideas for punishment with drinking than with reinforcement, I was surprised I was unable to find any suggestions using reinforcement. In the dorms we use punishments in hopes of decreasing the behavior, but it hasn’t been helping lately. It would be interesting to see how well a reinforcement for sobriety plan would work and its effectiveness. I did find it interesting though, to see alcohol described as a reinforcer.
Terms: reinforcement, punishment, positive reinforcer, negative reinforcer
For my topic I am choosing to discuss the case of Clever Hans. This case has been discussed in several of my other classes and I was intrigued when Karen Pryor used it as an example of unconsciously cued stimulus in this chapter as well. As you know, Clever Hans was a horse in Germany that many people believed to be a genius. It was said that he could read, think, do math and communicate. He would answer questions or solve simple problems by pawing his hoof at the ground.
http://www.skepticalanalysis.com/reports/ghosts/dowsing.html
This website introduced me to the term “Ideomotor Effect.” I have never heard of this before. It defines it as an unconscious muscular reaction of the body based on expectation. Psychologists used this to explain why Clever Hans was as ‘smart’ as he was. They found that when no one else was in the room with Clever Hans he did not know the answer to given questions. It was the expectation of his owner, a retired school teacher that unconsciously gave Clever Hans the answer. For example, he would nod his head and then stop as soon as Clever Hans had stamped the correct number. Other scientists did this as well and were completely unaware of it. The Ideomotor Effect is very similar to the Placebo Effect.
http://www.skepdic.com/cleverhans.html
This site is very similar to the first. It agrees that Clever Hans knew how many times to tap his hoof through unconscious visual cues such as muscle movements given to him by his owner. It talks of the “Ideomotor Reaction” as well and suggests that it can be used to explain psychic phenomenon in animals.
Pryor used the example of Clever Hans in her text to stress the importance of properly reinforcing stimulus control in animals. To be properly reinforced, the animal’s attention must be on the correct stimulus and not on perceived signals unconsciously given by the trainer.
Reinforcement, stimulus control, Ideomotor Effect/Reaction, perceived signals, Placebo Effect, unconsciously cued stimulus.
I really like the links you added in your post Emily. I found it interesting how when describing this type of behavior they discussed Ouija Boards. The idea that our behavior creates the outcome. I learned about Hans for the first time in my History and Systems class and found it to be an interesting and amusing story. I like how they compared the phenomenon to the placebo effect. If you believe something will happen then it will. Well at least it will appear to happen. I also think it is a great example of how a trainer or experimenter can become biased. It took an outside viewer to see what Hans was actually doing.Hans was being accidentally reinforced. This almost makes me wonder if there have ever been similar cases with teaching animals such as this.
I enjoyed these videos for multiple reasons. For starters I think the animals were absolutely adorable, but on a more behavioral note I find it amazing that these animals can learn so much. I mean you of course give credit to the one teaching them, but it is just wonderful seeing how fast they can learn tricks and pick up on the cues. I found it interesting how in the third video the owner used a little bit of targeting to get the cat to do the round about. She was also careful about satiation and making sure that the reinforcement wasn't going to be too much to continue getting the desired behaviors to occur. I have to say, within reason, that with the right training there are such small limits on what you can teach an animal. I would love to teach my dog some of these tricks.
I agree with you on both accounts teaching the dog both cues and then just removing one or the other seems to make sense to me and in a way the first video did that even though the dog was alread conditioned to do the behavior they were just changing the cue. I also don't think that the double reinforcement was necessary. In class we talked about clicker training and how the food was used with the clicker only to help the animal understand that the clicker was also reinforcement but once the clicker became reinforcement you used that as the only kind of reinforcement. I really enjoy watching videos that use animals to demonstrate something because it makes it easier to understand and kind of fun as well!
1. One topic that interests me is superstitious behavior. This is interesting to me because it seems that everyone emits superstitious behavior for one reason or another, even if they know that the behavior is not necessarily leading to reinforcement.
2. The first link i found, http://www.psychology.uiowa.edu/Faculty/wasserman/Glossary/Superstitious%20behavior.html provided a good summary of superstitious behavior, which occurs when a reinforcer or punisher arises in close temporal conjunction with an irrelevant behavior, thus strengthening (or weakening) the chances the behavior will occur again. This site indicates that the reason it's so easy to fall into superstitious behavior is because of cultural beliefs that certain behaviors have corresponding outcomes.
The second link, http://www.essortment.com/all/superstitiousbe_rsqz.htm insists that superstitious behavior is a byproduct of adventitious reinforcement. The site lists examples of instances when superstitious behavior is likely to occur, including sporting events like bowling or football(a football player wears a pair of "lucky socks" to every game because he won the superbowl in those socks) or in ancient beliefs, such as rain dances, which derive from a dance that a tribe happened to be doing when it started raining. The site also details Skinner's finding that animals can develop superstitious behavior while in an operant chamber. Skinner noted that while dispensing food automatically every 5 minutes regardless of the animal's behavior, the animal will typically attribute it's current behavior (lifting right paw) to the food reward, and will likely repeat this behavior often in hopes of receiving more food (reinforcement)even though the behavior was merely coincidental in conjunction with the food. Thus, lifting the right paw has become established as a superstitious behavior.
3. Although I understand how superstitious behaviors develop and become strengthened, I am still likely to emit these behaviors again in the near future. One example I can think of where superstitious behavior occurs in my life is every morning when I start my car. My starter is beginning to go out and my car often requires me to turn the key several times before it actually starts. I have a ritual which I believe (superstitiously) helps the car start faster; first I turn the radio all the way down, then I turn the key quickly three times and wait a few seconds. Then I'll try again. If the car doesn't start, I'll put it in neutral, try a few more times, then shift back to park. The car almost always has started by the point. Although I know turning the radio down and shifting the car several times likely has no effect on whether or not the car starts, I continue this behavior. The behavior seems to have certain positive psychological effects, almost as if to assure myself that I'm doing anything possible to get the car started, which provides a sort of peace even if the car fails to start. The advantage of humans over animals when it comes to superstitious behavior is that we can overcome the behavior by attempting to understand why events occur, independent of our behavior.
4. superstitious behavior, emit, punishment, reinforcement, operant chamber.
I thought this was too funny to pass up.
Sumo wrestlers with pot bellies, yes. Sumo wrestlers with pot? Now that's harder to grapple with. hahaha
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,488924,00.html
While trying to think of charging a neutral stimulus, I thought of sumo wrestlers and the bamboo sticks they get whacked with in practice for falling over during combat. The neutral stimulus (bamboo stick) is charged with a sense of "shame" for losing, and the shock from the pain of the hit. Even a small thwack leaves welts on the wrestlers skin. While doing a search for sumo wrestlers all I could find were scandals about sumo's smoking pot.
1. At first, I thought that I would have to make a stretch to cover this topic. But while reading through I found a ridiculous fact that involves laws of Japan.
" in Japan's still relatively drug-free environment. Marijuana use, in particular, is rising rapidly despite a stiff punishment — up to five years in prison for possession."
Insane, is the punishment parameter fitting here? Sumo wrestling is an ancient sport in Japan. It is revered back to the very roots of the countries ideology and base religion. It is a huge shame, in Japan, for such things like these to happen.
2. http://en.asayake.jp/?p=7
This is the actual law of Customs for Japanese travel. Under Code 190 of the Customs Act importation of Canabis is punishable by 5 years in prison and 30,000,000 yen. That's almost half a million USD!
I thought this was too funny to pass up.
Sumo wrestlers with pot bellies, yes. Sumo wrestlers with pot? Now that's harder to grapple with. hahaha
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,488924,00.html
While trying to think of charging a neutral stimulus, I thought of sumo wrestlers and the bamboo sticks they get whacked with in practice for falling over during combat. The neutral stimulus (bamboo stick) is charged with a sense of "shame" for losing, and the shock from the pain of the hit. Even a small thwack leaves welts on the wrestlers skin. While doing a search for sumo wrestlers all I could find were scandals about sumo's smoking pot.
1. At first, I thought that I would have to make a stretch to cover this topic. But while reading through I found a ridiculous fact that involves laws of Japan.
" in Japan's still relatively drug-free environment. Marijuana use, in particular, is rising rapidly despite a stiff punishment — up to five years in prison for possession."
Insane, is the punishment parameter fitting here? Sumo wrestling is an ancient sport in Japan. It is revered back to the very roots of the countries ideology and base religion. It is a huge shame, in Japan, for such things like these to happen.
2. http://en.asayake.jp/?p=7
This is the actual law of Customs for Japanese travel. Under Code 190 of the Customs Act importation of Canabis is punishable by 5 years in prison and 30,000,000 yen. That's almost half a million USD!
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/swimming/news/story?id=3876804
We all know this story. This is the heralded olympian Michael Phelps smoking from a bong. While the story itself does not lend to behavior modification, it is a testament to the worlds outlook on this issue. Michael Phelps gold medals were not stripped from him, he was not banned from swimming, nor was he really prosecuted in any fashion. We can use this article to gain some insight on how severe Japan thinks this issue is.
3. These sites help us put the seriousness of this violation into perspective. Five years in jail seems almost like what Pryor would consider "shooting the dog" however, this is not an ultimate solution to the problem. You may, in fact, economically shoot a dog with such a stiff penalty of 30 million yen. However, it is not a permanent fix.
Maybe instead of resorting to this severe punishment the commission at the head of the Sumo community could reward each wrestler everytime they test "clean." This would effectively shape the sumo's behavior and turn them away from the devil's lettuce.
Here's something to ponder. Is marijuana a performance enhancing drug for sumo wrestlers? haha
The topic that most stuck out from the chapter was fading. The reason I choose fading was because in the previous semester I took a class on memory and fading was the topic that most caught my attention then and it was not covered in detail. In the previous class fading dealt with how our memories fade over time and how we only have about a 7sec attention span. The most unbelievable aspect of the 7sec is that an overload of information is acquired in that short amount of time. The most important information is retained and the other information dwindles as time progresses. As fading refers to conditioning I wanted to know if specific stimuli were harder to transfer to other stimuli? After a little research I discovered that the stronger the stimuli the longer the stimuli takes to fade. Conditioning fading refers to transferring stimulus control from one value of a stimulus to another. One example is how children learn to verbalize their thoughts. Children learn how to say dog through teaching and trial and error. Through fading the child starts to ask question instead of being taught how to say things. After searching the internet for awhile I started to see how other professions use fading. The first site that I cam across dealt with quitting smoking. I discovered that gum and patches and fading strategies commonly used to quit smoking. The site determined that using these methods used gum/patches would transfer the association of actually smoking to the use of the gum/patches. Another web site used fading and reinforcement techniques to help children learn to read better. The site used fading to help the children transition from reading large type to small type books. Overall these sites help bring a better understanding of how fading can be used in other professions/problem solving.
http://www.quitnet.com/library/guides/Quitnet/B/getting_ready.jtml
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED034583&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED034583