If you were to develop a self change program for yourself, what behavior would you change? How would you go about it using what we know about behavior modification and self-directed behavioral change? Be as detailed as possible about the behavior, target behavior, recording behavior, functional assessment of the behavior, schedules of reinforcement, reinforcers used, behavioral maintenance etc.
If I thought that I needed to change a behavior of my own self what would it be. I would change my behavior of not reading the text books for school. So my target behavior is reading the text books for class. I am going to start by setting the goal to read 15 pages each night out of every text book. If I do this I can watch Law and Order at night! I picked Law and Order as my reinforcer because it is my favorite show and I watch it about every night. As I am able to read 15 pages out of every text book, I will then increase my target behavior to more pages. I will increase my page numbers in sections of five. My end target is to read what needs to be read for each class by the set due date. I will record how much I read after I have read. If I am unable to read even 15 pages out of every text book I will consider reducing the pages that are to be read. This way the goal is achievable. If I get to the point where I can read the whole chapter out of every book that needs to be read by the due date. I will allow myself a night out. I feel that I will maintain by behaviors because I go crazy when I miss Law and Order. This show is so exciting to be, the little girl I babysit who is 11 calls me on the commercials to talk about how the show was so far.
If I were to change a behavior in my life, it would have to be my terrible sleeping habits. As of now, I sleep until 12 or 1 every chance I get. This is a complete waste of time and I need to fix it so it’s more along the lines of 8 or 9 in the morning. The reason I want to change this behavior is because I need to be part of the real world more and the real world starts before noon. Through self directed behavior modification I hope to change this sleeping habit.
So my target behavior for this would be waking up around 8am to 9am. I want this behavior to apply to everyday of the week as well. I want to reinforce waking up early so maybe if I wake up early everyday for a week straight I can allow myself to party with my friends more on weekends because I’ll have more time to accomplish stuff if I’m up early. So in order to keep track of this I would have a notepad by my bed and I will write what time I went to bed and what time I wake up every day. This is a good baseline so that I can compare my starting results with my later results. My schedule for my sleeping habits would be on a fixed interval since I’m waking up at the same time every day. After awhile I would graph the results to see my progress throughout the weeks or months. So again I need to be reinforced throughout this process so I need to determine my contingencies. Mine would be if I complete my sleep schedule to perfection I could go and party Friday and Saturday night but if I don’t follow my sleep schedule then I can only party on one of those nights. So to make sure I keep my sleep schedule right, I need to determine/modify my antecedents. Maybe I could always wear a watch so I know what time it is so that I can make sure I’m getting enough sleep every night. I could also be around environments and friends that don’t stay up as late so I don’t have the temptations of wanting to be stay up late. After awhile on this schedule I’ll have to change the contingences and requirements of my target behavior. So maybe I want to later get eight hours of sleep a night so I’m not tired during the day. Also, for my reward maybe I can change it so that I can only party if I follow the sleep schedule fully. As with any self directed behavior I’ll have to keep maintaining it and adjusting so that it’s reinforcing to my target behavior I’m trying to follow.
A-staying up late and being around things that keep me up late.
B-Sleeping all day.
C-Not having much of a day to accomplish things, unhealthy.
A-going to bed at a decent time.
B-Waking up at 8.
C-Have more time to accomplish things and am more along the lines of the sleeping schedule of the real world.
If I had to change a behavior of mine, it would be my eating habits. My first target behavior is going to be eating a whole fruit once a day. Once I have done this for a week, I would allow myself to watch my favorite movie. I chose this as my reinforcement because I love watching movies, but I can never seem to find the time. After I have done this for a week successfully, I am going to add drinking a glass of milk 3 times a day. Again, after doing this for a week, I would let myself watch another of my favorite movies. After a week of doing both of these things successfully I would add eating ten baby carrots everyday for a week. These three things are my target behaviors. If I can complete all three in the three weeks, I would allow myself to buy a new clothing item. I do not usually buy things for myself so it would be very reinforcing for me if I were able to do this and accomplish my goals. In order to make sure I am doing this properly and not cheating, I would keep a chart of my progress. The chart would allow me to see what I have accomplished. This way, I can track my behaviors. Whenever I eat a fruit, I can mark it down on the chart and do the same for when I drink the three glasses of milk and the ten baby carrots.
it's hard to eat health foods more when fast food, and bad choices are so much easier and funnier to eat :)
this is a really good example of changing behaviors, and i like the positive reinforcers:)
The goal that I would like to reach would be to engage in more physical activities. More specifically, I would like to be physically active for at least 30 mins everyday. The way I would define being physically active would be something that increased my heart rate and involved cardio. The main target behavior I would like to do would be to be able to run for at least an hour daily, however I would need to start small and build my way up.
I would record my behavior by writing in a journal the amount of time i ran, and how i felt afterwards. I would do this because engaging in physical activity generally makes people feel better and that would be my motivation to keep engaging in the behavior. Of course, I would need some positive reinforcement for achieving my behavior. My positive reinforcement would be at the end of each week, if I ran or worked out for 30 mins for at least 5 days, I would treat myself to an ice cream cone (it's my ultimate favorite). I could graph a baseline by tracking how long I ran, and comparing it to how far i ran the previous day. The thought would be that the amount would increase daily, thus leading to my end target behavior of running for 1 hour straight.
I should do this too Megan! It would benefit be a lot haha!
If I were to change one of my behaviors it would be to keep my bedroom at my parents’ house clean ☺ My target behaviors would include: making my bed everyday, throwing my dirty clothes in a basket, putting my clean clothes away, and keeping my weekend bag in the closet where it cannot be seen. As a reinforcer for these behaviors, I would be able to buy one new pair of jeans! This is because I love getting new jeans and if I can keep them off the floor I see no reason why I can’t have more. Rather than recording my behaviors, I would ask my sister or other family members if my room was clean enough to satisfy, because I am not the only one who uses the bathroom in my bedroom. If the people who use my bathroom are satisfied with the cleanliness of the room they have to walk in, I get to buy clothes to decorate my closet with. The positive reinforcement would occur at the beginning of each week because I am only home on weekends, so I would clean for the week ahead. I can keep a chart on the fridge that shows the satisfaction of my family members and the frequency of opportunity to buy new clothes. If there is one thing that is not kept up such as my bed being made, I cannot be reinforced with new clothes. I feel that the goal of changing this behavior is very easily attainable and should be done every week!
I have a goal of going on a two week roadtrip this summer out east with a girlfriend of mine. In order to do this I obviously need to save enough money (secondary reinforcer) to make up for the money I will be missing out on by not working, and enough to cover the cost of the trip. So Saving money is the behavior that I would like to increase. Increasing behaviors call for reinforcement. Saving enough to actually be able to go on the trip will be the main reinforcement, but we know that with bigger goals such as this one, it is more beneficial to have subgoals that we can reinforce. So some subgoals to be reinforced consist of the target behaviors, Not spending more than ten dollars a week on food or drink outside of what I purchase on my once every two week grocery trip. Perhaps if I can go one week without spending the ten I can reward myself by using my ten dollars in the middle of my grocery time. I love to go to movies and rent movies, but i also have netflix and hulu plus. Both of which I pay for. So if I refrain from spending money on going to and renting movies, I can reward myself with Hulu time. Canceling netflix would be in my best interest since I like tv shows more than movies.
To record my spending behaviors, I will not carry cash. My online banking breaks down what I'm spending my money on, when I use my Debit card. I will also keep receipts for anything that I do spend. I have created a chart where I get to use pretty colors to mark each day i do not spend money on soda, eating out, purchasing alcohol, or attending/renting a movie. These are pretty much the only things I spend money on. Obviously, whenever I do spend money I will need to journal about what I spent it on, why I spent it, and what happened before I spent the money that may have been a discrimulative stimuli.
Some maintenance may need to occur to meet these goals. First I will need to change my environments. The food I purchase will have to both be nutritious and filling so I don't need to eat tons (save money). My grocery list will have to include some type of novelty item so that when i really really want to go eat out (rich, salty, sweet) food I can turn to my cupboard for a quick, cheap fix. I will obviously have to avoid going to bars. This might be easier if I work more. Not only will being at work be making me money I can save, but will also make it so I cannot go out and do things that require money to be spent. Since my friend wants to go on this trip with me we can both be supportive of each other. We can plan activities that do not involve spending money (play cards, exercise, volunteer, layout, bookclub etc.)
Because I will not be eating out, drinking alcohol, and will possibly be spending time exercising and such there will be reinforcements involved that I hadn't even anticipated, such as loosing weight. So not only will my different behaviors have intrinsic value but also extrinsic value.
A functional assessment will need to occur at some poitn so that I can understand why certain spending or not spending behaviors are occuring and I can make appropriate alterations to my subgoals, target behaviors, and reinforcements.
Lately I have noticed my biggest behavioral issue is procrastination. I would like to think that the majority of my procrastinating this semester has come from a series of unfortunate events in the last month or so, and that it is not permanent and the way I handle things. In order for me to drop this behavior I need to change. My target behavior is to get things done early, and not wait until the last minute. This last week I have recorded my own behavior and with finals coming up I am rather dissappointed in myself. I noticed that the main issue I have is getting out of the house. When I stay at home I get nothing done, but when I am on campus studying I am very productive. Through recording my behaviors I have developed a behavioral hierarchy. My high frequency behaviors consist of watching HGTV, painting, shopping online, and sleeping. Whereas my low frequency behaviors consist of leaving the house to study or cleaning the house. What I need to do is reorganize it with a behavioral chain. So, instead of watching HGTV in the morning and starting on one of my many projects, I should go straight to the library to study. Once I have completed enough work for the day, then I can go back home and enjoy the high frequency behaviors I mentioned before. So in terms of behavior modification, I am going to change my behavioral hierarchy in order to get things done on time and use the premack principle by rewarding myself with pleasurable things after finishing the more aversive/boring ones. Although this may seem hard because it is a self directed behavior and the outcome is solely determined by me alone, I think I have enough motivation to get the job done. Also, since this is the last day of class before finals, My target behavior won't be needed until next semester. My reinforcer in the Fall will be writing my fiance that will be in Afghanistan. Before I write him a letter (High frequency) I will do my assigned homework (low frequency). Eventually, I will not only be getting things done on time, but significantly before hand.
I, too, am having problems with procrastination. So my goal is to develop a good studying schedule to deter the habit of procrastination. It is hard to not procrastinate because I live in ROTH which is quite a walk to campus and the university bus service only runs until 5 each night. Therefore, my life and academics really revolve around the bus schedule which causes me to do most of my studying in my room in front of my computer. I find myself to be way more productive on campus or in the library. So to deter myself away from procrastination, I will create a list of things that I have to get done the night before for the next day. I will make an agenda, if you will, with times included of things I need to accomplish or finish. Therefore, my target behavior is to be more productive and less procrastic. By making a list it keeps me to a rigorous studying schedule and does not leave room for procrastination as well as keeping up with the bus schedule. If I try to get all of my academic issues completed on campus, in the library, and all done before 5, that gives me the rest of the day/night to reward myself and/or keep studying but in a more relaxed pace.
If I complete my schedule of events each day for the whole week I will reward myself with going to a movie, going out, or hanging out with friends etc. during the weekend. If I do not complete the events that I have assigned myself, I will then use the weekend to complete or catch up on what I did not complete during the week. There are a few problems with this system. There may not be as much to do on a certain week or there may be too much to do on a certain week, therefore this can be a very aversive system but I think it would be the best solution to the problem.
My problem with procrastination is that I do not make a list of set goals that need to be accomplished for the and that leaves gaps and holes in my day which leads to way too much Facebook time, random browsing of the internet, or a palooza of YouTube watching. This list or schedule will also include small study breaks and time for lunch and sometimes a needed snack to prevent burnout. So by doing my low frequency behaviors such as homework, reading, and finishing assignments, I will be reinforced with high frequency behaviors such as going out on the weekend, hanging out with friends etc.
I am a habitual nailbiter. I never really realize when I'm doing it! At times i will bit them so short they begin to become very sore or may even bleed. It's unfortunate, but I do it everyday whether I realize it or not! Bottom line is, i need to extinguish this behavior asap, its a gross habit and it's not cool for a 21 year old to have his fingers in his mouth all the time. So why am I changing this behavior, because it bothers me and sometimes it bothers my mom she's always swatting at my hands and telling me to knock it off, so i guess it bothers other people too... perhaps they think it is even more disgusting than me! The day i signed up for this class I was hoping to obtain the tools necessary to overcome my nail biting behavior... likely for me, I have!
I need to first figure out why I bite my fingernails in the first place... maybe my parents took away my binky too soon and I have consequently developed an oral fixation toward biting my nails. Another hypothesis is that I have adapted it as a comfort to reduce my stress, or maybe I just do it when I am bored... this functional assessment points to many possible reasons as to why I habitually bite my nails. Let's just say it is due to an oral fixation due to premature binky snatching by my parents. I can focus my oral fixation toward something less destructive. I tend not to bite my nails when I am chewing gum. If i keep a pack of gum on hand all the time I will be more focused on chewing the gum than i will be on nailbiting. I will therefore use Differential reinforcement of other behaviors (chewing gum or something to chew on) to satisfy my oral fixation. I can also use positive punishment to prevent me from biting my fingernails, ow you ask? using the nasty tasting polish that will allow me to develop an aversion to biting my nails. When i bite my nail i will have a nasty taste in my mouth therefore I will no longer desire to bite my nails.
For a week I am going to keep track of how many times per day that i catch myself biting my nails in a note pad. I will then have an established baseline, I will know how often I regularly bite my nails and I can set my goals based on the amount of times the behavior occurs. The target behavior is going to be to stop biting my fingernails completely. That is a big task for someone who has been doing it for 15 years or more. I will break down my big goal into subgoals that will allow my to keep goal achieveable and at the same time reach milestones as i work toward my target goal. If i keep my mind focused on not biting my nails and correcting myself everytime i reach for my mouth then it will be easier to break my habit and modify my behavior. Everytime i bite my nails i will make a tally in my notebook so i can record my behaviors immediatly as they happen.
In order to change my target behavior i have to reinforce myself for emitting the no nailbiting behavior. Everytime I reach my weekly goal of less than the set amount of nailbites i will order myself a pizza on saturday or go out to eat with someone or to fast food... just so i dont become satiated with the pizza. Eventually i will obtain my target behavior and no longer bite my nails... I can then lessen the reinforcement to ordering pizza every other saturday, then once a month, to the point where no reinforcement is needed and I have extinguished the aversive behavior
My behavior I would change is nail-biting too! Well, I guess mine is mostly picking at them. So, I really have two target behaviors of biting my nails and picking at my nails, under a more general behavior class of destroying my nails. In order to extinguish my gross, obnoxious, and somewhat unhealthy (putting my nails in my mouth probably exposes me to whatever the desk occupant before me could have) behavior, a functional assessment of why would be a pretty good start.
Part of it is boredom, I think. Or at least that's what starts the first picking behavior. After I see a chip in one fingernail, I have to get the rest of the fingernail down to the same length as the chip or tear. The easiest way to do this is by picking or biting part of the nail off, because I don't carry a file or clippers around with me.
There are several ways I could go about extinguishing this behavior. The first, a differential reinforcement of appropriate/other/incompatible behavior would be carrying around nail clippers and a file for when I do find a break in my nail. If I'm filing my nail, I can't pick or bite it and therefore I don't run the risk of tearing too much of my nail off. This would be reinforcing because my nails would be much more even than they would be if I tore them, and the evenness is what I strive for, so it'd be self-reinforcing.
Another differential reinforcer is wearing nail polish. I've actually begun this one already. I like wearing nail polish and having all sorts of bright colors on, but when I pick at my nails it chips the polish off. A flake missing from nail polish annoys me just as much as a chip in a nail does. I also can't bite when I have nail polish because it tastes nasty, it would flake off in my mouth, and in general it would flake off and look bad. This is also a self-reinforcing behavior. I get to have even, colorful nails if I keep myself from picking and biting. It's both positive and negative reinforcement. It takes away the annoyance of having chipped nails or polish, and it adds the enjoyment of having pretty nails.
To fix the boredom factor of picking at my nails, I would keep a puzzle book like crossword or sudoku in my bag/pocket/purse in order to have something to do when I get bored. If my hands are busy with filling out a puzzle, I can't chew on them. If I remember to keep my puzzle book, file, and nail clippers with me every day, after two weeks I would reward myself with Starburst candy. I usually deprive myself of Starbursts because I always eat them too quickly and too often, so getting them as a reinforcer would be extra reinforcing.
To keep track of my behavior is a less subjective way, I would start with a baseline of how many times a day I catch myself biting or picking at my nails without polish on them. I would then keep track of the biting and picking behaviors without any conscious effort with nail polish on. Lastly, I would keep track of biting and picking behaviors when I carry around my file, puzzle book, and clippers. This way I could make sure my system was working well. If the numbers are the same for all conditions, I would need to find some other way to extinguish the nail-biting behaviors.
If there was a behavior I would change it would be to not be so selfish all the time and not freak out when I don’t get my way, I have a very big problem with this and have found it hard to decrease the behaviors that cause me problems in my life constantly! My target behavior would to be to not freak out! I would need to think about how much on average I freak out on a weekly basis, narrow it down to what I freak out about which is usually almost always when I don’t get my way in any situation, being somewhere to go out to dinner, what movie to see, and so on. My goal would be to be able to calmly deal with situations before I take it to the stage where I freak out. Once I have had a successful week with only one or two freak outs, I will reward myself with a nice meal out or a new shirt, as time goes on no freaking out will lead to me paying myself $10 a week and save that for 5 weeks at a time and choose to save it for a trip or cash it in every 5 weeks to do what I want with. By the time I have decreased the behavior I will have less stress, feel good about my success, and have a better understanding how to deal with situations.
If I were to apply behavior modification to my life, I would want to lose weight by eating less. I think the best way to do this would be to increase my intake of zero-calorie liquids (water, flavored water, and diet pop). This is a form of differential reinforcement, because the increased liquid intake will make me fuller, which will lead to decreased food consumption.
The first step is to set a goal: I want to drink a gallon of zero calorie liquids per day. This goal is precise and measurable, and it's not impossible to accomplish.
The second step is to specify my goal as a set of target behaviors. My target behavior is drinking 16 ounces of zero calorie liquid.
Third, I need to keep a record of my target behavior. I'll do this by carrying a small pocket notebook with me, and every time I drink 16 oz of calorie free liquid, I'll mark a tally. At the end of the day, if I have ten tallies (which is close enough to a gallon), I'll make a note on my calendar.
Fourth, using my notes and tallies, I'll create a line graph as a baseline for my target behavior.
Fifth, I'll determine the contingencies: I'll need to select a reinforcer. It will have to be small, and it can't be filling (I won't be as hungry after 16 oz of liquid, and I want to avoid satiation). Maybe a jawbreaker or some other small piece of candy can serve as a reinforcer. I really love jawbreakers, after all.
Sixth, I'll determine the antecedents to the target behavior. I think I'll be more likely to consume zero calorie liquids if I eat at the dining center then if I eat in my room, since they are more readily available in the dining center.
Finally, I'll set my plan into motion by implementing the reinforcement contingency, and keeping track of my progress. If necessary, I'll adjust the strength of the reinforcer (beer?) or the frequency of reinforcement (although I can't reasonably have a beer every time I drink 16oz of zero calorie liquid, since sometimes I do that between classes or before work...
The target behavior I would like to accomplish would be to save five thousand dollars. I am really bad at saving money. I only work partime and live paycheck to paycheck, which I think is rather common for someone in college. I still would like to save up. I am saving up money right now to go on a vacation. I have saved up over two grand now, but it has taken a lot of sacrifice. I would love to just spend it all on a shopping spree, but then i think about the reinforcement I will be getting once I have saved up to my goal. I take 75$ from each of my paychecks and put it into a seperate account that I dont let myself touch. I am not sure about schedules of reinforcement when it comes to that. I do know though that when I fail to put money in my seperate account I do not let myself go out to the bars (punishment) And once I have saved up the money and spent it, I will probably start the process over again, because there is always something expensive that I want to buy.