Reading Activity Week #14 (Due Monday)

This was a very powerful article that in some ways I could really connect with. Growing up my family lived paycheck to paycheck, but some of the decisions that the author made and the defense mechanisms that she tried to legitimize still don’t make sense to me.

A= not being able to afford to look the part; B= don’t apply for jobs that require looking the part; C= stuck in dead end jobs that don’t care what you look like
The antecedent of being poor leads to the behavior of not spending money on your appearance, which leads to not being able to get a good job that requires looking the part. Unless they start spending money on their appearance, which I understand would be difficult, they are never going to be able to escape the dead end jobs that don’t pay as well. Spending money on their appearance needs to be a priority as a sacrifice that will pay off in the long run.

A= feeling that never escape poverty; B= don’t try to improve themselves; C= not going to get a better job
Without trying to improve themselves, their appearance, their skill sets, etc they are never going to get ahead in this world. It takes a lot of hard work to get out of poverty, and I understand that not everyone that just works hard can escape poverty, but those that do not try do not escape it any faster either.

A= convenience food is cheap; B= eat convenience foods; C= poor nutrition, weight gain, poor health
There are many consequences of eating convenience foods. I understand that convenience foods are cheaper, and for those that are on a very strict, very low budget for food convenience foods seem to make sense. However, convenience foods are often high in fat, salt and sugar and low in nutritious value. This makes it more likely that one will have health problems due to their nutrition and will gain weight. This poor nutrition also often affects one’s appearance, which adds to the inability to get a good job; it is a very vicious circle.

A= free clinic with copay; B= don’t go to clinic; C= health is poor
I disagree with the author on the topic of the clinic, but either way the fact that there is a copay, which is not true of all insurance companies, but that is a discussion for another time, discourages poor people from seeking out what the author calls “free” clinics. This punishment of having to pay to use the “free” clinic makes it less likely that poor people will seek out these type of clinics.

A= “long-term brain cut off”, looking long-term is depressing; B= don’t plan for long-term; C= make decisions that hamper any long-term success
I understand that looking to the future and planning for the long-term can be depressing, but without planning for the long-term future nothing good is going to happen. This is a powerful circular reasoning; the self-behavior of punishing long-term planning will result in impulsive short-term decisions, such as spending $5 at Wendy’s, that will only add to the end result of being broke in 3 days. Again it is a very vicious circle, but sometimes saving away that few dollars can help in the end.

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 1
Day 2 = 1
Day 3 = 0
Day 4 = 2
Day 5 = 10
Day 6 = 2
Day 7 = 0
Average = 2.29/day

My behavioral intervention is going fairly well. I did have one day at home where I emitted the behavior a lot more than previous days and a lot more than my baseline. The antecedent to this behavior was a high level of stress. I have realized that when I am really stressed I emit the behavior of picking at my nails a lot more, and I need to keep this in mind when I redesign my reinforcer. I need to find a reinforcer that serves the function of reducing my stress. I may also need to reinforce the behavior of fixing a nail when it breaks rather than picking at it. This will help to decrease the frequency of picking at a nail that has broken.

I think that when I return to baseline the frequency of the behavior will increase because I have not reached the point in my reinforcement where it has stuck. I think it will also be harder to keep track of how often I emit the behavior because I will be less focused on attaining that reinforcement. I think it would be better for me to continue the behavioral intervention for a few more weeks to make sure the behavior loses its salience.

Terms used in this post: punishment, consequence, antecedent, self-behavior, punishing, emitted, baseline, reinforcer, function, reinforce, reinforcement, behavioral intervention, salience

This article was extremely powerful and shed light on poverty in a way I have never considered it before. I have always considered myself poor but I realize now that I am actually quite privileged and pretty well off. This ladies story is moving and also really got me to think about how a poor person responds to poverty and how they can potentially get out of poverty or if it really is a hopeless place to be.

1)A= day off work, B=going to bed early, C= messing up her sleeping pattern. This is the first ABC pattern I saw. Linda talks about how when she does have the day off work she can’t go to bed too early or it will mess up her sleeping patterns and then she will struggle to stay awake at her job and while driving the hour back from her job.

2)A= having fridge and microwave, B= buying burritos 12/$2, C= getting enough protein while pregnant. This ABC pattern is a little more confusing but I think it makes sense because she talks about knowing she needs her protein and iron while pregnant. She also lets us know that she didn’t have a stove so the frozen burritos were the cheapest thing she could buy while still remaining healthy.

3)A= planned parenthood 3 hours away, B= not able to get birth control, C= have more children. This ABC pattern is common among the poor. Planned parenthood isn’t always accessible or easy for people to use and that makes it useless to the people that actually need it. This article made me more aware that even the things put in place specifically to help the poor tend to be inaccessible to anyone that doesn’t have enough money.

4)A= only had cash, B= hotels only take credit cards, C= walked around in the rain for 5 hours before finding a place that would accept cash. I was not aware that hotels required credit or debit cards and I can’t imagine now how that would complicate things for the poor. If they don’t have a bank account many things that are second nature to me would be nearly impossible for them.

5)A= being poor, B= attempting to get a good job, C= being turned away because of your looks. This ABC pattern was interesting to me because it answered a question I have often thought about when considering poverty. Why do they always look so trashy? I always wonder why they don’t try to dress up for jobs or keep up their appearances. The simple truth is that they can’t afford to. The small things I enjoy that help me to look presentable are just not an option for them. It’s like they are in a never ending cycle and they are hard-pressed to find a way out of it.

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = Tues - 2
Day 2 = Wed - 0
Day 3 = Thurs – 0
Day 4 = Fri - 0
Day 5 = Sat - 0
Day 6 = Sun - 0
Day 7 = Mon - 2
Average = Total Reports = 4

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?

The intervention went really well this week. I failed last week but this week I was able to not only catch up on the reports I didn’t finish last week but also finished my four reports for this week. I think knowing that I would be reinforced and also feel really good about finally reaching my goal is what helped me to finish them. I started looking for time to do them and made them more of a priority. I’m not sure how things will go this week with not being able to reinforce myself but we’ll see. I look forward to food a lot so it will certainly be tough but I think that I’ll still do well.

6)Terminology: reinforce, intervention, antecedent, behavior, consequence, accessible, response

A= Not having a bank account, B= Walking around with cash and not having credit, C= Spend time finding places to cash checks and get money orders

When someone who is having issues with poverty it is very difficult for him or her to get a checking account. The antecedent of not having a bank account leaves a person open to several financial problems such as not having a place to cash checks. This means when a person who is living in poverty and does have a job they often do not have ways to cash their income.

A= Convenience food is cheep, B= Eat convenience food a lot, C= Gain poor nutrition from not eating healthy

Convenience food allows a person who is living in extreme poverty to survive but not have a healthy lifestyle because a person can get a lot of food at McDonald’s for five dollars but only buy a few pieces of fruit for the same price. This is likely to increase the level of health problems a person has and in the case of the article, may potentially harm a child who has not been born yet.

A= Medical treatments are expensive, B= Avoid going to the doctor, C= Poor health

The problem with the American health system is that if you are not a very wealthy person something as small as a broken nose will cost you thousands of dollars. Insurance is very hard to come by when you live in poverty because it often means you do not have a high enough paying job to acquire insurance. Without insurance a person is forced to go to free clinics with a very liberal use of the word “free” because of the copay.

A= Depression due to living in poverty, B= Feeling tired and hopeless, C= Will have a negative outlook on life no matter what

The depression issue stems from when a person receives the same outcome regardless of what they try. They are told everyday they are not worth the same as a rich person even if he or she is an extremely hard working individual. Never receiving a promotion or any time for vacation eventually wears on a person and after a time all the motivation to excel disappears.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 20
Day 2 =21
Day 3 =20
Day 4 =N/A
Day 5 =19
Day 6 =N/A
Day 7 = 21
Average =20.2

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
My behavioral intervention is going very well because rather than trying to get a high number of pull-ups just to see how many I can do, I am not working so I am able to sleep in the next day. I also have hit the point where my strength has increased enough where I am able to reach my goal, which will make it much easier to maintain.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I do not believe much will change from my behavior because I am now in a habit of attempting a maximum number of pull-ups every day that I work out. I also do not believe the frequency will be reduced because my strength has increased the last few weeks.

5) Terminology: Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence, frequency, and reduced

I found the article to be very interesting. One part that especially caught my attention was when the author was writing about how homeless people often don’t think about life in the long-term, which explains why one mother can have several children all with different fathers. To apply this situations to the ABC’s of behavior, I decided that the environment/antecedent is the need for human connection, feeling worthwhile, and living in the here-and-now rather than planning. This antecedent sets the occasion for a sexual behavior to be emitted, leading to getting pregnant. Getting pregnant and having a child leads to the consequence that the woman in this scenario becomes even more poor, feels more isolated, and more desperate for change. This consequence probably strengthens her need for feeling worthwhile/a human connection, reinforcing the behavior of getting pregnant. This starts a vicious cycle that is hard to break out of.

A=need for human connection/feeling worthwhile
B=being impregnated
C=becoming poorer and more isolated

4a) Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 =20 minutes (1X)
Day 2 =0
Day 3 =48 (2X)
Day 4 =25 (1X)
Day 5 =25 (1X)
Day 6 =0
Day 7 =0
Average =16.86 min./day
4b) This week I decided to change my reinforcement to an intermittent interval schedule, which definitely decreased the amount the my behavior was emitted. My average amount of time spent meditating decreased by about 8 minutes. Now that we’re stopping reinforcing the behavior I think it may decrease even more, but hopefully be more regular than the original baseline.
5) antecedent, behavior, environment, sets the occasion, emitted, reinforcing, intermittent interval schedule

I thought this article was a huge eye-opener for me. It was interesting to read and I can see where the author is coming from, but also at the same time, not as much. Some of the behaviors emitted were a result of an antecedent or behavior that was unnecessary. For example…

A= being exhausted
B= smoking to stay motivated
C= out on money/in poor health

A=being/looking poor
B= unable to get jobs because of not having “the look”
C= remaining poor and feeling stuck

I think this last ABC can basically describe the whole article. She talked a lot about how she doesn’t feel the need to keep trying. No matter what she does today or tomorrow, she’s still going to be poor next week. There are jobs that will hire people that don’t have “the look” or jobs that aren’t requiring things that people in poverty don’t have. Feeling like you will be in poverty forever and there’s no use in trying is a poor attitude in my opinion. Think about this…

A= Continue applying for jobs
B= eventually get something
C= able to pay bills

Overall, this article was extremely powerful and I understand where she’s coming from for the most part.

Week #3:
Day 1= went to the gym
Day 2= went to the gym
Day 3= didn’t go to the gym
Day 4= went to the gym
Day 5= didn’t go to the gym
Day 6= didn’t go to the gym
Day 7= didn’t go to the gym
Average= 42% of the week I was at the gym. Not enough to receive my reinforcer.

The behavioral intervention is going okay. Like I discussed briefly last week, work is continuing to get in the way of my work out schedule. It’s becoming hard for me to find a perfect time to work out when I have to work until midnight that night. Also, I went back to my hometown this weekend where I do not belong to a gym and wanted to spend time with family, therefore that interrupted my work out schedule as well.

I think once I stop reinforcing myself, it will continue being the same. Lately, I haven’t even achieved my reinforcement every week anyway, plus I plan on going home once again which will interfere with my working out, but I will definitely try. I think though my workout patterns will decrease even more knowing even if I do work out 4x a week, I don’t get anything for it.

Terms: behaviors, emitted, antecedent, reinforcer

After reading this article I did not feel any sympathy for this woman or her life situatuion. It may sound harsh, but the government has made poor people be able to survive off of our taxes, and settle for living off of others who can support themselves. I have a friend who gets to have college fully paid for, and then still receives extra scholarships because her parents are poor and made poor decisions, and she gets to pocket that extra money and put it in her checking account which is ridiculous. I have always lived an upper middle class lifestyle so I never have really known what it is like to be poor, but the author seems to have just given up on trying to make a better life for her and her family which is selfish.

The antecedent is her being tired. Since she is tired, her behavior is that her sleeping time is not consistent, smoking to relieve her stress, taking B12 pills to increase energy, and ate unhealthy choices since they are also cheap and to sustain energy. The consequence is that she is less attractive compared to society's standards of beauty, which does effects what jobs she can be selected for. It also is damaging to her long term health, which will cost her more money that she cannot afford. It also will effect how long she will live, which will effect not only her emotionally and physically, but also her loved ones. Since she is always exhausted, her mood is probably not the most pleasant, which if she got more sleep, then she would emit a more pleasurable behavior rather than an aversive one.

Week #3
Day 1- 240 minutes
Day 2- 210 minutes
Day 3- 150 minutes
Day 4- 180 minutes
Day 5- 195 minutes
Day 6- 305 minutes
Day 7- 190 minutes
Average=210 minutes

I think it is going well so far, but the beginning of the week is always the most minutes I can get since I have the most time and work long hours of emitting cardio. I think that my reinforcer is a good choice, but will experiment other times of modifying it. I think that this has been useful, and will try this with other aversive behaviors of mine that I would like to change, and even have some of my roommates try it.

Terms-Antecedent, modify behavior, consequence, aversive, pleasurable, emit, reinforcer

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.

I found this article to be very empowering and interesting. I think it makes a lot of sense; the environment you are in is what you expect to stay in. Many of us claim to be "broke college students" which we are but honestly most of us have our parents, or family members who will help us when we run out of money, or find ourselves in a bind. I was very lucky to be raised in a beautiful house, with parents who gave me way more than I could have ever needed. I know that I am lucky to have what I have and I can never imagine having to live the life that the woman in this article lived.

However, with that being said, I know that it is a struggle and it seems impossible to get out of that live style for her; but is it really impossible? I think that my best example would be my father; he was raised in a very poor family with four brothers. He was the youngest and him and his brothers often went without. He still went to school and had much of what he needed but it was his decision to take out loans and go to college, loans that my mother and him were trying to pay off the first 10 years of their marriage. It all paid off because my dad has been at the same company for over 30 years now, he started as an unpaid intern and is now VP of a huge corporation.

I know that it is hard and I can't relate. This article was very heartfelt and makes me thankful for everything that I have. Her behavior was affected by her surroundings and she found it very difficult to even believe she could ever accomplish more than what she has because she feels so stuck. Not having the things you want in life, and always working none stop to hardly make it by is causing her to be depressed and even more unhappy with her life, causing her to lose even more faith in herself.

I am not judging her or anyone else in her position because honestly I don't think I could survive in that situation and I'm not sure what I would do. I enjoyed this article because it was both different and it was actually hearing someone who is experiencing this type of lifestyles opinion on why she is in the situation she is in.

I could argue that she can change her life, and I could argue that she is stuck where she is due to society and social classes. Overall I don't know either way because I am not in her situation therefore although the article was emotional I can't relate or understand her true struggle I can only hope for the best for her and be thankful for what I have.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 = sunday 1
Day 2 = 0
Day 3 = 0
Day 4 = 0
Day 5 = 0
Day 6 = 1
Day 7 = 1
Average = 1

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?

It is going well, I have decreased my amount of eating out to only the weekends and even then I am eating healthier choices when I do eat out.
I work at a sports bar and am often there late so it is hard to not eat my free employee meal there when I am off of work.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?

I think I will stick with it, I have gotten used to not eating out during the week. I also am enjoying how my body feels from not eating out as much.

5) Not much terminology was used in my blog. Sorry!!

A = Exhausted
B = Smokes a cigarette
C = Stimulant provides relaxation and able to accomplish more

As far as the ABC's of Behavior, there are several antecedents mentioned in this article that are keeping the woman in poverty. There is a cycle of poverty, and poverty, itself, can be considered an antecedent. It sets the stage for other behaviors that may occur. For example, this woman is working two jobs, sleeps six hours a night, and is exhausted. These are all antecedents.

One of the behaviors the author emits is smoking. The consequence of smoking is that it provides her with more energy, since it is a stimulant. With more energy, she is able to accomplish more, which is something she finds to be relaxing. She also drives an hour to her second job, so she cannot risk being tired during this time. The behavior of smoking elicits a desirable consequence for the woman, and since it is desirable, she is more likely to continue this behavior. Thus, smoking is a form of positive reinforcement. It can also be considered a Differential Reinforcement of Other (DRO) because the behavior she trying reduce or eliminate being tired. This is something she would like to reduce the frequency of, so she smokes a cigarette.

Most people view smoking to have aversive consequences (and it is an expensive behavior), so it does not have extrinsic value to society. It does, on the other hand, have intrinsic value to the author, because she is able to accomplish more tasks. The expense of smoking also is keeping her within the culture of poverty, as well as, not having the income to budget and save. Money is a secondary reinforcer, since it can provide her with the basic items she needs for survival. In order to attempt to pay her bills, she needs to work two jobs, but the gas money she uses driving to her second one almost defeats the purpose of it. She is doing her best to provide for herself and her child. The reinforcement of working another job is not a strong reinforcer, because it is not getting her out of poverty. The author states that she will always be poor.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 0 minutes
Day 2 = 30 minutes
Day 3 = 50 minutes
Day 4 = 75 minutes
Day 5 = 75 minutes
Day 6 = 190 minutes
Day 7 = 0 minutes
Sum = 420 minutes
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
My behavioral intervention is going well. This week was a little different than the previous ones, because I had Relay for Life and I spent more time walking rather than my typical target behavior of a structured workout session.

For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are no longer reinforcing it?
I believe my behavior will continue up until finals week, because I have coordinated it into my schedule. It is a routine that works for me, and I feel more energized. Writing it in my behavioral diary and attending the workout classes are self-reinforcing for me.

Terms: ABCs, behavior, antecedent, emit, consequence, elicit, desirable, positive reinforcement, Differential Reinforcement of Other (DRO), frequency, aversive, extrinsic value, intrinsic value, secondary reinforcer, reinforcement, reinforcer, target behavior, behavioral diary, self-reinforcing

I have never really delved into the psychology of how a poor person lives. A lot of this is because just thinking about being poor is aversive and also because my family was financially stable. What was interesting about this article was when I thought of a legitimate rebuttal or counter argument on one of her points, she followed the next sentence with a great explanation. For example she detailed how she had to pick up her children from school and then head off to her next job. I would reasonably assume that her having children is the main contributor to her being poor. So I thought why not just use a condom when having sex and prevent future births. But then I thought to myself if someone is poor, I doubt they would want to spend what little money they had on condoms. My next thought was how universities and planned parenthood offer free condoms, but she countered that thought by explaining that planned parenthood is over 3 hours from her house and the gas needed to get there does not justify the hassle.

So finally I thought why not abstain from sex and utilize the only sure fire way to prevent the birth of a child. Her counterargument was expected and perfectly crafted. I failed to neglect the magnitude of the trauma being felt by those in poverty. Those in poverty think in the short-term. They essentially have to think short-term in order to survive. Long-term planning when poor would not be feasible because the only thought on a persons mind is how they are going to eat that day. She discusses how this short-term thinking is the reason we see a woman with 3-4 "baby daddies". People in poverty grasp onto any connection they can, even if that connection leads to poor long-term choices. The connection felt by another person, even if only for an hour, can dramatically affect mood.

A= poverty
B= "hour long" relationships/connections
C= children (other poor choices putting people further into poverty)

4A)Week 3 data
day 1= 0 minutes
day 2= 0 minutes
day 3= 0 minutes
day 4= 0 minutes
day 5= 0 minutes
day 6= 0 minutes
day 7= 0 minutes
average: 0 minutes

4B) At first glance it looks as if my behavioral intervention is working but I want to increase my running behavior and as the data indicates, I did not run at all last week. My reinforcer of relaxation techniques and music is not working. It could also be that my exercise behavior is largely based on my mood and if I don't feel like running, then I won't run no matter the reinforcer. Stress is a big determinant of when I will run. If I am too stressed then my energy levels drop and I will not run. I need to use the Premack principle and start reinforcing alternative behaviors such as watching T.V. or playing video games.

4C) It's hard to say what will happen to my behavior once the reinforcer is gone. Since the reinforcer was poorly chosen and is not eliciting the desired behavior, then I could see either a increase in my running behavior based off my mood or the behavior could remain stagnant.

terms: antecedent, behavior, consequence, emit, elicit, target behavior, Premack principle, aversive

The article was really interesting to read. I found it to be insightful and it helped me look at poverty in a way that I had not really thought about before. Again it showed me that antecedents really do affect the consequences and that depending on how you look at it, it could have a totally different consequence or even a different target behavior.

A= lack of money to look professional
B= can't look good for a job interview
C= no good job

A= Lack of sleep
B= poor judgement from lack of sleep
C= bad decisions

A= Lack of money for healthy food
B= eat what is cheap (burritos)
C= become fat/unhealthy/sick

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 =30
Day 2 =0
Day 3 = 45
Day 4 = 30
Day 5 = 60
Day 6 = 30
Day 7 = 0
Average = 27.86

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going? The behavioral intervention is going good so far I think. I seem to for the most part be on track with my running 30 minutes a day, although on weekends it is harder.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it? I would like to think that it will stay the same, but I am thinking it will probably decrease at least a little bit just like the water one did for me. I like running and am glad that I did my project on it because it really helped me, but you have to take time out of your day everyday to do it,which is a challenge on weekends especially like I said above.

5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Behavioral intervention, reinforcing, target behavior, antecedent consequences

Thank you for making us read this article. It really shows how fortunate most of us are being able to go to college or being able to a health clinic for virtually free. To me this is a very powerful article and most likely I would never have read it on my own time. It really puts into perspectives how some people live in this world compared to me and most of the people in this class.
A= Not being able to afford clothes for a job interview
B= Don't apply for the job because cant look the part
c= never get a better paying job with benefits
This is a never ending cycle for this lady and most likely a lot of other people. Because of the fact they cant buy new clothes when they go to a interview they wont get the job entirely based on there appearance.
A= Per prepared food is cheap
B= Only eat this type of food
C= Have poor health and weight gain from these foods
This is a big cycle because they think oh food on the Macdonalds dollar menu is cheap and I can save money. But its making them sick and over weight and that also cause more medical bills for the person meaning more money.

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 =4
Day 2 =4
Day 3 =3
Day 4 =5
Day 5 =6
Day 6 =4
Day 7 =3
Average =4.14
For this week I improved a ton compared to the week before. It is starting to become more natural to pick a healthier option to eat other then fast food or heavy foods like pasta and breads. I have been eating a lot more lean meats and also a lot more vegetables and fruits.
6) Rienforce, antecedent, Consequence, response,

Thank you for making us read this article. It really shows how fortunate most of us are being able to go to college or being able to a health clinic for virtually free. To me this is a very powerful article and most likely I would never have read it on my own time. It really puts into perspectives how some people live in this world compared to me and most of the people in this class.
A= Not being able to afford clothes for a job interview
B= Don't apply for the job because cant look the part
c= never get a better paying job with benefits
This is a never ending cycle for this lady and most likely a lot of other people. Because of the fact they cant buy new clothes when they go to a interview they wont get the job entirely based on there appearance.
A= Per prepared food is cheap
B= Only eat this type of food
C= Have poor health and weight gain from these foods
This is a big cycle because they think oh food on the Macdonalds dollar menu is cheap and I can save money. But its making them sick and over weight and that also cause more medical bills for the person meaning more money.

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 =4
Day 2 =4
Day 3 =3
Day 4 =5
Day 5 =6
Day 6 =4
Day 7 =3
Average =4.14
For this week I improved a ton compared to the week before. It is starting to become more natural to pick a healthier option to eat other then fast food or heavy foods like pasta and breads. I have been eating a lot more lean meats and also a lot more vegetables and fruits.
6) Reinforce, antecedent, Consequence, response,

I really enjoyed this article for several reasons. For too long I have had to listen to privileged, wealthy people say terrible things about people in poverty as if it's something they chose. We literally have politicians saying "Poor people should just stop being poor" like it's an easy decision. The author laid out very clearly why poverty can lead people to make certain unwise decisions, and how those consequences lead to another antecedent, which then becomes a vicious cycle.

A = Not having enough money
B = Work two jobs
C = Constantly tired

Which then leads to more problems. Chronic fatigue will easily wear down one's health, which will then lead to:

A = Illness
B = Go to the doctor
C = Spend more money than you have

Which leads back to having to work hard to earn money. It's a nearly impossible cycle to break out of and those who are wealthy don't seem to be doing much to help break it.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 = Slept from 1:30-10:20
Day 2 = 1:30-12:15
Day 3 = 4:15-12
Day 4 = 1:45a - 2:45p
Day 5 = Went to bed at 1:30, slept from 4:30-12:45
Day 6 = Went to bed at 1:30, slept from 2:45-7:45
Day 7 = Went to bed at 1:30, slept from 2:15-7:15
Average = Bedtime of 1:50, 8.4 hours of sleep

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?

It was going great for a while, but recently it hasn't been doing so well. Since finals are coming up, I've been having to stay up later to catch up on homework and studies, which hinders me from accomplishing my behavioral goals

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?

I don't think it will change much. The reinforcement hasn't seemed to make me go to bed sooner since it just takes up more time I need to spend on school

Terminology: consequence, antecedent, behavioral goal, reinforcement

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedents and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
When reading this article the main theme was the antecedent of poverty, what behaviors result from poverty, and the aversive consequences this holds. Along with the unavoidable aversive consequences, the article also talks about the small daily rewards people in poverty rely on that reinforce a bad behavior. One main idea is the lack of time, people in poverty have. Lack of time in this case is the antecedent. This results from having to work various types of hours, trying to get an education, taking care of the family, and various other time consuming tasks we take for granted. The behavior that result from this lack of time is staying awake longer and making unhealthy convenient meals. This consequence is involves always being tired, being unhealthy, and having unhealthy skin.
Why don’t these people put themselves on a reinforcement schedule to change target behaviors to change their poverty status? This is another idea of this article, about how just when you are classified as being poor it’s almost impossible to get out. She talks about how she has tried multiple times to be in the middle-class, but it never works and then you face the consequence of the feeling of failure. Some of these behavioral modification situations include trying to get a better job, cooking better, and saving money. The target behavior applying for jobs, and interviewing for jobs is destroyed because of poverty. In order to illicit an employer to hire you, you must look good with nice costly clothes, and have nice skin/teeth, which we discussed earlier is effected by sleep. Making home cooked meals is also difficult because of the amount of money it takes to acquire good food, and the time it takes to cook. Saving money is the last thing she discussed, she talked about how saving up money for one big purchase is not worth sacrificing the small daily reinforcers.
This leads to how bad habits like smoking and having multiple partners are created. When your schedule is so busy, it sets up an establishing operation to make the small reinforcements like relaxation, feeling better, and stimulation cigarettes and convenience foods provide that much better. This establishing operation is also a factor when you talk about how reinforcing it is to feel loved by someone. This consequence may lead to having kids with multiple fathers. All of these things discussed creates a hard to overcome cycle to overcome. This all leads to high depression rates of the poor.
4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 100%
Day 2 = 88% 
Day 3 =
70% Day 4 =
100% Day 5 = 100%
Day 6 = rest
Day 7 =
rest Average = 90%
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
I do not know how the behavioral intervention is going, because even though my percentages are raising I’m not sure how much this has to do with my recovery, rather then contingencies.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think it will stay at a high rate, because my attitude has just overall changed in this last 3 weeks.
5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Antecedent, behaviors, aversive, consequence, reinforce, reinforcement schedule, target behaviors, behavioral modification, illicit, establishing operations, behavioral intervention, contingencies.

This article was written very well by this woman dealing with the situations of poverty and how society tends to react to those who live in poverty. It was a touching article and I can see why the article affected so many people. For me, it wasn’t that much of an eye opener. Nothing really surprised me about this article that I didn’t already know, or that I’m just not surprised. With that being said, I’m not saying this isn’t a powerful article

One of the things she talked about in this article is about her sleep deprivation. And the one part about that topic is that in order to get that one hour burst of energy she needs to smoke a cigarette (even though she knows that her money shouldn’t be going towards buying cigarettes, but it makes a lot of sense). It is very weird, however, that she couldn’t find a cheaper way to get energy like a 5 hour energy shot. Those are a lot cheaper than a carton of cigarettes. Or hell, even coffee. But, then again, I don’t smoke, nor do I plan to. So I don’t know the true addictiveness of cigarettes and their benefits for people who smoke them.
A = Tired
B= Smokes a cigarette
C= Burst of energy

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 weeks’ worth of base line data and 2 weeks’ worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 980
Day 2 = 765
Day 3 = 102
Day 4 = 546
Day 5 = 932
Day 6 = 701
Day 7 = 824
Average = 824 words

4b) The behavioral intervention is going extremely well. I’ve actually been able to write a lot more over the past few weeks than I have in a very long time. Really the only reason why I don’t meet my word goal for the day is writer’s block. But even then I’m able to usually push through and get extremely close to my goal, and I’m usually able to make up for it the next day. I’ve actually stopped adding $5 to my fund each time I pass 750 words because: 1) I’ve been able to write past my goal enough times and 2) that’s a lot of money.

5) antecedent, behavior, consequence, behavioral intervention

I felt this was a very eye opening article. The author had made some very interesting points, and seemed to even explain poverty as almost a domino effect. It seemed like an 'I do this, because I do this, because I do this, because I'm poor.' I am incredibly blessed to never have had to live in poverty, so I'm sure I will never completely understand why she does some of the things she does.

In this article, the author states why she smokes. She admits to knowing it is an expensive habit that just pulls her farther down the pit, but thinks it is the only thing that can keep her going some days. She smokes because she is exhausted and beaten down and finds the strength to keep going just a little longer when she smokes. While she says she can't afford to think long term and it is not a luxury the poor have, this is truly only hurting her in the long run. The antecedent in this example is her feeling exhausted and run down, so the behavior she emits is that she smokes. The immediate consequence of this behavior is that she feels she has a little more energy and can go one more day. However, if she decided to think long term, smoking is just taking away her energy and making it harder for her to accomplish tasks. This is also a waste of her income when she could be saving.

She then goes on to explain that convenience food is one luxury they can afford. This definitely makes sense to me, because companies make junk food more affordable. So the healthy foods are more expensive and leave those who can afford it feeling better and more vibrant. When she gives the instance when she was living in a motel and was living off frozen burritos (12/$2) and peanut butter. She goes on to explain that if you don't cook or clean up correctly you could end up getting your whole family sick. In this situation, the antecedent would be having a hungry family, and the behavior would be not cleaning up properly. The consequence would then be your family falling ill because of bugs.

I thought the author had made some very effective points, but I feel ultimately it's her bad habits (that she acknowleges) are what is ultimately hurting her and keeping her poor.

Day 1: 30 min
Day 2: 30 min
Day 3: 15 min
Day 4: 30 min
Day 5:30 min
Day 6: 40 min
Day 7: 40 min

So far the behavioral intervention is going very well. I think completely avoiding all social media is really helping reach my goal every day until I complete my exercise. Once I stop reinforcing my behavior I feel like I may not have the motivation I need to do cardio for at least 20 minutes, 6 days a week. I feel like I may not exercise as much.

Terms: Emit, reinforcing, antecedent, behavior, consequence, behavioral intervention

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
An antecedent in this article that has effected individuals behaviors and the consequence is how people are tired from working multiple jobs to provide for their family. It is hard for people to perform at work and even in their other daily behaviors when they are running on just a few hours of sleep. It can affect the persons behavior and choices that they need to make. They are making choices based on their tired situation, which isn’t always the best choice.
Not enough sleep can weaken people’s immune systems, and when people are trying to put food on the table for their family, a lot of the times people in poverty do not have the best jobs and are unable to afford the proper health care that is needed. So being sick can make them be at a disadvantage when they need to be at work to make money.
4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 2 hours
Day 2 = 1 hour
Day 3 = 2 hours
Day 4 = 3 hours
Day 5 = 2 hours
Day 6 = 2 hours
Day 7 = 1 hour
Average = 1.85 hr
4) the behavioral intervention is getting better as I get further a long. I have also been busier with work and getting ready for graduation and moving so I havn’t spent as much time on the internet and Netflix as I had before.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
I think that my behavior will be good for a little while, but eventually I will go back to my old ways when I get bored.
5) antecedent, behavior, consequence, reinforcement, behavioral intervention

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedents and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
The author mentions that she smokes.
A= Walking to work
B= Smokes cigarette
C= She stays awake to walk the full distance
She understands that there are far worse consequences than getting to point B, but this is one way she copes with poverty in the only way she can.
The author also mentions that she doesn’t try to get a better job that she is capable of doing because she knows she won’t “fit the image” or be able to afford the “image.”
A= Needs higher paying job
B= Doesn’t apply
C= Stays with low-paying job
She is not one of the homeless individuals who won’t apply for a job, but in this society, if you want a nice job, you have to look nice. She is aware that missing teeth is not approachable in most job markets.
Another aspect she mentions is actually a Rule Governed Behavior.
A= Must use credit card to stay in hotel
B= Persuades with collateral and large cash deposit
C= Gets turned down
The Rule Governed Behavior is something that, as a society, is essential to keep people accountable in hotels. She is aware of it but it still elicits her to bribe the individuals working to let her stay with primary reinforcement.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
# of meals with Veggies and Fruits
Day 1 = 3
Day 2 = 3
Day 3 = 2
Day 4 = 3
Day 5 = 2
Day 6 = 2
Day 7 = 3
Average = 2.5
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
The behavioral intervention is going better than last week. I am more focused when I go eat. I didn’t add a diary into the intervention. However, if I am focused when I go eat, I concentrate on what I put on my plate. I am starting to feel better so that is reinforcing in itself. I emit this food eating behavior because it gives me energy rather than the reinforcement at the end of the week.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are no longer reinforcing it?
I think my behavior will continue at the same rate. I enjoy eating the fruits and vegetables now so I don’t bother will the reinforcement.
5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Terms: consequence, rule governed behavior, elicit, primary reinforcement, reinforcing, reinforcement, emit, behavioral intervention, behavior

ABC's of poverty:

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedents and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.

A= Hungry with limited amount of money
B= Buy junk food
C= Become unhealthy

Due to the fact that a person is poor, they often have very little money with which to purchase nutritious food. Often times poor people are also designated to live in places that do not have a grocery store nearby, and if they are also without appropriate transportation, they often have to subject themselves to buying whatever cheap food they can from a gas station that is close by. The antecedent of being poor often puts many people in environments which only work to keep them poor.

The consequence, in this case, of being poor results in a person becoming unhealthy because they make bad food choices. However, if you go to any supermarket, many of the unhealthy food items are extremely cheaper than the healthy ones. That means that the environment (antecedent) of being poor elicits the poor person to emit a behavior of purchasing unhealthy food because they can afford this kind of food, an enough of it to sustain them. However, the consequence of eating this particular kind of food results in poor health in the form of cavities, high cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity. It can become extremely expensive to treat these kinds of health disorders, but for some cases (like diabetes) it's absolutely necessary, otherwise death is imminent. This, in turn, can cause people to become even more poor under the added consequence of paying expensive medical bills.

Eating this kind of food can also serve as positive reinforcement. That is because many of these food products react positively with taste buds, causing us to get a surge of serotonin, which is a chemical reinforcer in itself. It can also serve as a stress reliever in the form of binge-eating.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 = N/A
Day 2 = Rode bus
Day 3 = Rode bike
Day 4 = Rode bike
Day 5 = Road bike
Day 6 = Drove car
Day 7 = N/A
Average = 4/5 days used alternative transportation to school

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
I think it's working really well. On Friday of week #3, I did not drink any coffee because I chose to drive, due to environmental reasons (had to immediately pick up a friend that lived 3-hours away as soon as I got out of class). Not having any coffee sucked a lot, but drinking coffee/drinking coffee with creamer is my reinforcement for using alternative transportation to school, and I knew that if I made that reinforcement implausible, then it would no longer be reinforcing in the situations in which it was meant to be.

For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think it will be harder to decide which behavior to emit because I will be reinforced for whatever behavior I emit (I'll drink yummy coffee everyday), regardless of whether it is an aversive or pleasurable behavior, according to my intentions to modify this particular behavior. However, I think I've begun to hold myself accountable for my actions, and I find myself upset and wanting to go on a bike ride or walk if I end up driving to school for some reason.

Terms: emit, reinforced, behavior, aversive, pleasurable, modify, antecedent, environment, positive reinforcement, reinforcers, elicit.

ABC's of poverty:
A- Can't afford nice clothes
B- Can't get job, failing to look the part
C- Has no money

A- Being far from planned parenthood
B- Having unprotected sex
C- Having children she cannot afford

I really enjoyed this article because it is real and raw. This lady is explaining her real struggles and is not asking for sympathy but explaining things from her point of view. Simple everyday things that people take for granted she is wishing she could have. She knows she needs a better paying job, but cannot afford to look the part to get it, so she is stuck in the same old crummy job. In turn she has no money and is living paycheck to paycheck, if that. She has the best intentions and would love to be able to modify her own behaviors, but it seems as though that is a luxury in itself for her. She is aware she cannot afford to have children, however she explained that you take the kind of "love" you can get when you're all alone. Not that she doesn't love her children but she knew it could have gone better. She is emitting all of these behaviors that are not good for herself, however she is doing what she needs to do to get by.
4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 = 0
Day 2 = 1
Day 3 = 0
Day 4 = 0
Day 5 = 0
Day 6 = 1
Day 7 = 0
Average = .28

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going? It is going better, but I believe I am acting more so on will power than I am using a reinforcement, which may be defeating the point... After reading the next step, looks like I am one step ahead! :)

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it? In my case it is still going well and I have been less likely to bite my nails.

5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post
Behaviors, emit, modification, modify, punishment, reinforcement.

This article was extremely powerful and actually hard for me to read. Mostly because I could really connect with it. Growing up, I was actually in a pretty abusive family. I was more on my own than anything, which meant I had to take care of myself, even financially. Through that struggle though, I still didn’t see a lot of reasons to start smoking or have unprotected sex? That was never stated, my own assuming which I probably shouldn’t do, but I had trouble understanding her side of a lot of things, but I guess I can’t say we’ve lived in the exact same shoes.
A- Not being able to afford to look attractive to get a job
B- Decide not to apply for jobs that “require” looking attractive
C- Stuck in certain jobs that probably don’t pay as well
The antecedent of being poor leads to the behavior of not spending money on appearance, like getting a good haircut, makeup, good clothes, ect. Unless they somehow find a way to get that haircut or good clothes, they are probably never going to get another job that has better pay. I know that appearance has a lot of impact in our society so I do understand where she is coming from.
A- Having the mindset she will never get out of poverty
B- Doesn’t try to improve anything, settles on her life
C- Not going to improve her life, get a better job, quit smoking, ect.
With her mindset of life never improving, she’s probably not going to see many changes in her life. If she actually really tried to quit smoking and used that money to buy different outfits or something, maybe she would have a chance at another job. I know that is much easier said than done, but I do believe her attitude is also working against her. I believe with hard work and ambition, anything is possible.
A- Fast food is cheaper/easier to access
B- Eating fast food
C- Gaining weight, health problems
There are a lot of consequences to eating fast food. Fast food is generally pretty awful for you. And if that’s all you’re basically eating, your diet will eventually lead you to a lot of health problems. It’s easier to access generally and a lot cheaper than healthier foods, but there are so many aversive punishments that come along with it. By emitting eating fast food, it generally is a welcome to obesity.
A- “Free clinics” require copay/ too far away (gas expensive)
B- Decide not to go to clinic
C- Long-term health problems
I’m not sure that all free health clinics require copay. I’m sure some do, but I’m almost positive there are some that don’t require that. Which shouldn’t discourage the writer so much. But if poor people read this article and agree, it’s only encouraging these other people to not take action in their lives.
a- Long-term decisions will lead to heartbreak
b- Doesn’t make long-term decisions
c- No long-term success (ex: Probably not getting a better job)
I understand where the writer is coming from when she explain that long-term only leads to heartbreak and let-downs instead of pleasurable or desired outcomes. But at the same time, if you have that attitude, you’re more likely to receive that outcome. If you never plan long-term, you really can’t expect to have that great of a future. The self-behavior of punishing long-term will more than likely just reinforce short-term planning in the end. What she needs is a behavioral intervention or the stimulus she’s eliciting will never change. Otherwise, she will be stuck in this learned helplessness satge.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 2 miles
Day 2 = 3 miles
Day 3 = 2 miles
Day 4 = 1 mile
Day 5 = 1 mile
Day 6 = 3 miles
Day 7 = 3 miles
Average = 2.14 miles
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
My behavioral intervention is actually going a lot better than I thought it would. I’ve been using my behavior journal to help me which has actually helped reinforce me I believe. Using random reinforcement has also helped a lot.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I have a bad feeling without my reinforcement I will start to slip when it comes to running. It will definitely become more difficult to motivate myself to run each day. My hope is that I will just keep running each day without the reinforcement since I’ve worked it into my schedule anyway. I’m hoping that it won’t go back to my first baseline.
Terms: Reinforcement, punishment, aversive, consequences, antecedent, self-behavior, emit, behavioral intervention, stimulus, ABC’s, elicit, pleasurable, desirable, learned helplessness, behavioral intervention, behavioral journal, reinforce, random reinforcement, baseline.

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
This article was an eye opener about how people truly live with poverty, and barely making it by. The article pointed out that when they know they cannot afford a large purchase, they will enjoy the small please they can. This article also pointed out many target behaviors and the consequences of them. It goes to show that every person emits a behavior for a specific reason.
A- broke/uneducated B- going to school/working two jobs C-super busy, lack of sleep
This pattern makes sense. To improve the quality of life this lady went to school, but in order to go to school and still afford life, she had to work two hours. Add that with a family, getting sleep is minimal. This causes her to be extremely tired.
A-Having a mini-fridge and stove B- buying frozen burritos and peanut butter C-having protein
This pattern also makes since. This lady became pregnant but could not afford a lot. Because the burritos and peanut butter are high in protein she was able to buy cheap food to stay healthy.
A-Cooking B-not doing dishes C-Having bugs
A-having skills to cook B-Cook bad food C-make family sick
This pattern is a little complicated. The skill of cooking is hard to learn. When it is learned it means an added job of needing to have the supplies, needing to do the dishes to keep the house clean and bug free. It also means making sure the food is done correctly or people could get sick. It is easier to order out or buy cheap food to microwave simply because it is less work. In this case, the lady having to do dishes is an added chore she has, and if she cannot complete it then her house will attract bugs and that will cause even more problems
A- Looking poor/unhealthy B- applying for job C-not getting job due to not looking the part
This is a viscous cycle. Someone may have the skills, but if they cannot afford to look the part, or grew up poor and did not receive the health care they needed, they will not be hired.
A-not having bank account B-Needing to have money orders C- not having a credit card for motel
Most poor people do not want the expenses of a bank. This brings added expenses because it cost money to have a check cashed. It also means that a credit score cannot be built, and that you cannot get a credit card. So many places require credit cards that going to a motel if its storming bad you cannot get in anywhere.
A-feeling depressed B- hopeless C-giving up
This pattern is a perfect example. Being poor ads a lot of stress; the stress of not making enough money, not having enough sleep. This can all lead to feeling depressed. The depression leads to feelings of hopelessness and not trying, which has a consequence of giving up trying.
A-tired B-smoke C-energy to go on for an additional hour
A-feeling beaten down and enraged B-smoke C-feel a little better
In the article the lady discusses smoking. It is an expensive habit, but it allows her to continue on when she is about to give up. The added energy or the help to relax helps her to continue going through her day.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = Did work out plan
Day 2 = Did work out plan
Day 3 = Did work out plan
Day 4 =Did NOT complete
Day 5 = Did work out plan
Day 6 = Did NOT complete
Day 7 =Did Not complete
Average =
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
I think that my intervention is okay. It is not the one-hundred percent change that I wanted, but considering I did not make an effort to work out before hand, I think I am doing well. Working out 4/7 days seems like a success and hopefully I will be able to continue being more active in working out.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think that I will continue with working out at least 50% of the time. I have more motivation to keep working out even without my reinforcer.
5) Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence, Reinforcer, behavioral intervention, baseline, target behavior, emit

I found this woman’s perspective on poverty very interesting. After reading the original and follow-up pieces, I have determined that many of the behaviors she address have a cyclical nature. For example, we can consider the following behaviors:
1) A= Being Poor, B= Dressing poorly for job interview, C=Not accepted for a job
2) A= Low-Paying Job, B= Can’t afford nice clothes, C= Can’t get a better job
This is really two ways of looking at the same behavior. Being poor or having a low-paying job are both circumstances which lead to one not having nice clothes or the inability to acquire nice clothes for an interview. As this woman explains, when one can’t afford nice clothes for a job interview, they will not be hired. Not being accepted for a job or being unable to get a better-paying job means one cannot make enough to afford nice clothes, thereby completing the circle. I suppose this is what the woman is referring to when she says “We know that the very act of being poor guarantees that we will never not be poor.”
Another example is her sleep schedule. Due to both of her jobs, classes, and otherwise busy lifestyle, Linda has a very strict sleeping schedule. On her days off, she must be certain to catch up on sleep, classwork, and family time, without sleeping so much that she cannot fall asleep on time the next day. The ABCs look like this: A= Short on sleep during the week, B= Oversleep on her day off, C=Being tired the next day.
It seems that whether she gets too little or too much sleep on her days off, she will be tired when she returns to work the following day. This is a precarious position, and very unhealthy as well. Sleep is the body’s way of protecting itself, helps reduce stress, and anxiety, as well as boosts the immune system. Since she is already in a situation where her stress and anxiety levels are high, not to mention an immune system compromised by poor health care, diet, and smoking, she faces a lot of pressure to get just the right amount of sleep on her days off.
4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week of base line data and 2 weeks of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = Sunday = 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups
Day 2 = Monday = 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups
Day 3 = Tuesday = 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups
Day 4 = Wednesday = 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups
Day 5 = Thursday = 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups
Target Behavior: Complete 10 push-ups and 10 sit-ups 5 days a week (Sun-Thurs)
Average: 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups per night

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going? What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
The behavioral intervention is going well. I do my push-ups and sit-ups each week night. When I know I have plans later on (Thursday evening), I plan to do them in the morning. If I were to redo this project, I would reinforce myself for doing them consistently in the morning all of the time, that way plans and spontaneous events in the evening wouldn’t be in consideration. I imagine next week, when I am no longer reinforcing my behavior, that I will fail to complete my push-ups and sit-ups on the days when I have unexpected things come up. I regularly work out Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday nights, so it is easy for me to do the push-ups and sit-ups these nights. I am now in the habit of doing only push-ups and sit-ups on Tuesday nights, however Thursdays are long days for me, and I tend to be busy in the evening, and so it will be difficult to continue this behavior without reinforcement, and probably subject to extinction.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence, behavioral intervention, reinforcement, punishment

ABC's of poverty:

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.

One aspect of this article that I found interesting was the procreating/having kids. Being poor doesn’t allow many women to afford birth control and therefore that is why they have a lot of kids. Women in poverty don’t have many choices for preventing pregnancies, but yet they too want to have children just like the rich people. The antecedent would be being poor, the behavior would be to have unprotected sex, and the consequence is having kids.

Another aspect that I found interesting was that in order to get a good job you need to be beautiful. I had never thought of beauty as something you buy, but it really is. If you don’t have money to buy beauty products and nice clothes to look presentable for a job interview, there are very low chances of getting the job when you show up in scrubs. Here the antecedent would be not having beauty products to look presentable for an interview. The behavior would be to go to the interview in scrubs or the most decent clothes you own without makeup, and the consequence would be not getting the job, all because you don’t fit their image.

Another aspect in her life that I found interesting was that she smokes to get the energy she needs to get through her day. Even though smoking is expensive, it’s her best option for making it through the day on little sleep. Here the antecedent would be feeling exhausted, the behavior would be to smoke, and the consequence would be to feel energized.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 13 pts
Day 2 = 17 pts
Day 3 = 18 pts
Day 4 = 15 pts
Day 5 = 20 pts
Day 6 = 19 pts
Day 7 = 19 pts
Average = 17.3

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going? I feel like it is going better. The continuous reinforcement has helped a lot. Giving myself praise for the good behaviors is a lot better than getting upset at myself for the bad behaviors. I do feel like I would be doing a lot better if I had someone “training” me or helping me out 24/7 so I can get the constant motivation throughout the day. But I know that’s not possible and I have to work with what I got, and push myself hard to reach my goal.

For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I feel like it will decrease without being reinforced, but hopefully its not a dramatic decrease and it doesn’t affect my behavior without the reinforcer.

5)Terminology: antecedent, behavior, consequence, reinforcement, reinforcing, reinforcer, continuous reinforcement, decrease

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
Growing up in a family with a single-teenage mother, I could definatly relate to the struggles of living paycheck to paycheck as described in this article.
A- Working a lot
B- Lack of sleep
C- Health issues

A- Lack of sleep
B- Smoking to try to stay awake
C- Health issues

A- Not being able to afford nice clothes
B- Cannot get a job that requires nice clothes
C- Stuck in a low paying job

A- Not being able to afford birth control
B- Teen pregnancy
C- More child expenses

The above are a variety of antecedents that come along with being poor. All of these issues have the effect of making the poor individuals remain in the social class that they are in already.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 30 min
Day 2 = 30 min
Day 3 = 15 min
Day 4 =60 min
Day 5 =0
Day 6 =15 min
Day 7 =60 min
Average = 30 min of exercise
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
The behavioral intervention is working great. I am actually starting to enjoy working out, and I have also noticed that I have automatically started to eat healthier too.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think I will still be working out without reinforcing because working out has become fun for me.
5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Antecedent, behavior, behavioral intervention, reinforcing.

A= lacking money
B= buying burritos 12/$2
C= getting enough protein while pregnant.
- she needs her protein and iron while pregnant. She also lets us know that she didn’t have a stove or much money so the frozen burritos were the cheapest thing she could buy to be able to provide the bare amount of nutrition during her pregnancy.

A= day off work
B=going to bed early
C= messing up sleeping pattern
-She mentions having a day from her work responsibilities. But she still has to sleep and stay awake at her usual crazy hours. If she alters it then her work/school performance will suffer, which may lead to her losing her job.

A= planned parenthood 3 hours away
B= not able to get birth control
C= have more children.
-There are many organizations and places the poor can go for help, but most of the time those places do not have sufficient resources or the means to get the help they need. This ABC goes along with that.

A= being poor
B= attempting to get a good job
C= being turned away because of your looks.
- The person in this article has been turned away from several good jobs because she didn’t fit the image of the firm. Due to her being poor she can’t afford to get good clothes, which then leads to not getting a better job. The end result is that she will stay in low paying dead end jobs with little chance for advancement.

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 =1
Day 2 =3
Day 3 =2
Day 4 =1
Day 5 =1
Day 6 =1
Day 7 =3
Average =1.71 times on average

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
My behavioral intervention started out good. I pointed out that there was an initial sharp decline in my behavior, most likely due to my acknowledgement and monitoring of the behavior. This week there was another slight drop, on average, but not significant. This tells me that the reinforce is not good enough. I am considering a combination of a reinforce and some sort of stress ball as a distraction, to promote proper behavior.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I doubt there will be much change if the above mentioned holds. Meaning if I stop monitoring my behavior it will return to normal.

5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Terms: antecedent, behavior, consequences, elicit, reduced, aversive, changing the antecedent, modification, reinforcement

I think this article is a good example of how our everyday decisions effect our everyday lives. This article in particularly was about people in poverty and their decisions. The antecedents are vast and diverse as this article shows. So many antecedents could lead to any number of consequences. Here are a few examples using the ABC's of behavior:

A- Working all day long.
B- Going to bed early.
C- Messing up sleep schedule.

Linda needs to keep her sleep schedule the way it is so she is able to provide, and do things for her family. She can rarely take days off, and she is constantly working so her family can get by. Even something as little as taking a nap could wreck her entire system.

A- Planned Parenthood is difficult to get to.
B- Not going to Planned Parenthood for contraceptives.
C- Having more children.

Not only are the contraceptives hard to get to, but they can also be very expensive if you are trying to get a prescription for birth control, as an example. It's easier for them at the time to just have the baby and try and find a way to provide for it later than trying to prevent it.

A- She feels exhausted.
B- She smokes because it's a stimulant.
C- She doesn't have as much money and is in poor health.

The smoking statistics online states that 27.9% of adults who live below the poverty line smoke. This is a much greater number compared to the 17% of adults that smoke who are above the poverty line. This is a very hard habit to break, and if it is being used for the same purpose in this example, than it's likely that the person will have a hard time quitting when they need that extra boost to keep them going.

4)
Day 1= 21:41 minutes
Day 2= 0 minutes
Day 3= 0 minutes
Day 4= 0 minutes
Day 5= 0 minutes
Day 6= 0 minutes
Day 7= 0 minutes
Average= 3:06 minutes

Overall there have been a lot of things that have hurt the progress of my experiment. One of them including, but not limited to, the recent loss of someone very dear to me. The weather has also been difficult to work with. I think once I get back into the habit of running, it will be easier to fit it into my routine.

Terms: antecedent, consequence, ABC's of behavior

ABC's of poverty:

Please read - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-tirado/why-poor-peoples-bad-decisions-make-perfect-sense_b_4326233.html
and if you want to read the follow-up (optional): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-tirado/meet-the-woman-who-accide_b_4334428.html
Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
I really liked this article because it relates to how everyone thinks lately. I have been working since I was 16 and am now an independent student and provide for myself and am constantly stressing out about financial situations. However, after reading this article I realized I don’t have it as bad as some other people/families. The author wrote how people aren't poor because they are just "lazy" or just want a free ride.
There were many antecedents and consequences that being poor caused for this lady.
First the lack of sleep seems to be a big cause for some of the bad behaviors that are emitted.

A=Doesn't have nice clothes to dress for interviews
B=Doesn't get higher paying job
C=Remains in poverty and doesn't seek other jobs

A=No time to relieve stress
B=Smokes cigarettes
C=Feels better temporarily, but greatly damages health

A=Can't afford treatment for depression
B=Doesn't go to the doctor
C=Depression worsens
All of the above antecedents are related to living in poverty, which is often very difficult to change. The author of this article had the good fortune of her article reaching a very large audience and in turn has led to an influx of money, which leads to:
A=Comes across more money
B=Gets financial consulting advice
C=Saves money for future
4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 30
Day 2 = 60
Day 3 = 30
Day 4 = 45
Day 5 = 45
Day 6 = 15
Day 7 = 0
Average = 32.14
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
I feel that my behavioral intervention is going well. I am actually starting to like going to work out because I like the feeling after.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think I will still workout the same because I haven’t been using my nap reinforcement much anyways. I do go with a friend but I have been getting better at working out without her.
5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Antecedent, emit, reinforcement, behavior, consequence, behavioral intervention, stimulate

Reading Activity Week #14
ABC's of poverty. Please read - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-tirado/why-poor-peoples-bad-decisions-make-perfect-sense_b_4326233.html and if you want to read the follow-up (optional): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-tirado/meet-the-woman-who-accide_b_4334428.html
Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedents and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
A: no credit card
B: trying to find a place to stay (motel)
C: denied a room
The above analysis of the ABC’s explains you will be denied a place to stay at a motel if you do not have a credit card. We have discussed in previous sections about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and shelter is one of the first needs that need to be fulfilled for someone to get on their feet and reach the level of self-actualization. It’s a sick cycle.
A: Feeling overwhelmed and tired
B: Smoking Cigarettes
C: Temporary burst of energy but decline in health
The above analysis of the ABC’s explains the rational and one of many reason why someone smokes. Personally, I have never smoked. Therefore I do not understand why people emit such a behavior. In the article, the lady spoke of how she would be so physically exhausted from work she would smoke and regain just enough energy to work another hour or so. People may say poor people should not spend their money on cigarettes, but if you think about it with the reasoning the lady gave, cigarettes help her get through her shifts at work, to make the money. Once again, it’s a cycle.
A: Not having much money
B: making poor financial decisions
C: remain poor

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 10 minutes cardio, 40 minutes of weightlifting
Day 2 = 10 minutes c, 0 minutes of wl
Day 3 = 5 minutes c, 40 minutes of wl
Day 4 = 10 minutes c, 0 minutes of wl
Day 5 = 10 minutes c, 50 minutes of wl
Day 6 = 15 minutes c, 0 minutes of wl
Day 7 = 10 minutes c, 50 minutes of wl
Average = 10 minutes of cardio, 26 minutes of weightlifting
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
It is going a lot better since I am over my bronchitis. I am not fond of the cardio due to my heart condition but I know it is an important part of working out and staying healthy.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think my target behavior will still be reached. Once I start something I am pretty good about staying on track. I’d like to think I am pretty self-disciplined. I know in the past I have gone through workout spurts where I’ll work out religiously for a couple months and then quit. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. If I can continue to elicit my target behavior, I think the outcomes of feeling healthier will reinforce me to continue.
5) Terminology: antecedent, behavior, consequence, elicit, reinforce, emit.

One of the first things that stood out to me while reading this article was Linda mentioning that people tend to forget that poor people struggle with depression too. She states that depression is not just a consequence that the wealthy and middle classes deal with. However, she has learned coping techniques to deal with it because she can not afford medication to help her.
There was ones particular ABC that Linda focused on throughout both articles. That was beauty or appearance and it's affect on getting a stable job. It's discussed that middle/wealthy classes can afford to take good take of themselves and are able to rest, this then aids them in getting a job. (A) – Beauty (B) – Apply for job (C) – Get the job. In the case of the lower classes rest and keeping up with appearances is defined as a luxury by Linda. Therefore, according to Linda their ABCs go (A) – Poor and tired (B) – Apply for same job (C) – Don't fit the image. She writes that she has missing teeth, and poor skin from lack of sleep and smoking. When applying for corporate jobs she has not received the positions because she didn't “fit their image.” An employer might assume she doesn't have good hygiene and doesn't know how to brush her teeth. However, in fact, we learn in the update article that Linda was actually in an accident and was hit by a drunk driver. As a result, she lost some teeth and insurance did not cover the charges to have her teeth repaired. As a consequence she never got them fixed and they got worse. So the ABCs prior to applying for a job are. (A) – Hit by drunk driver (B) – Insurance does not cover fixing her teeth (C) – Linda has teeth missing. Hypothetically, a similar situation may have happened to someone with better insurance and with the same qualifications as Linda and they got to see a dentist and were given the job.
I found it interesting when Linda brought up her habit of smoking, something that is expensive and bad for her. She explains it is something she has to do in order to keep going because it is a stimulant. Her daily routine allows little time or no time to relax. As a result the antecedent is that she is worn out and tired, the behavior is her smoking, and the consequence is the short term “better feeling.” This provides a schedule of reinforcement we have learned to be continuous reinforcement, because every time she smokes she has a brief moment of energy.
Another part of the article I found just as interesting was the mentioning of poor women and their multiple baby daddies. Linda describes it as a pattern, (A) – Poor and no long-term brain, (B) – Grabbing a bit of connection, (C) – Multiple baby daddies. She describes this “no long-term brain” that herself and others have as less about looking at the long-term consequences, and more about emitting behaviors that elicit immediate gratifying consequences. At the moment they are reinforced because they feel powerful and valuable. But the long-term consequences can be aversive emotionally, physically, and/or financially.
4a) Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 0 mins
Day 2 = 30 mins
Day 3 = 30 mins
Day 4 = 0 mins
Day 5 = 40 mins
Day 6 = 30 mins
Day 7 = 0 mins.
Average = 18.6 mins
4b) I am very pleased with my behavioral intervention so far. I am working out for at least 30 minutes 4 times a week. This was the target behavior that I was going for. In the 4th week I expect to do maybe not as well. Several factors contributing to this might be Thanksgiving, traveling to Green Bay, and also wrapping up the end of the school year. All antecedents that are mostly out of my control. I will have to finds ways to manipulate those situations to fit in time to work out. However, I'm going to try and push myself even though I no longer with be using a reinforcer. If the semester allowed us too it would be nice to continue it a few more weeks. However, I like how I feel after working out and that can also serve as a reinforcer, now that I am not going to be using my previous one. We shall see how it goes, I'm optimistic!
Terms: Consequence, ABCs, Antecedents, Behavior, Schedule of Reinforcement, Continuous Reinforcement, Emitting, Elicit, Reinforced, Aversive, Target Behavior, Reinforcer, Behavioral Intervention.

This article was inspiring to read. It really appreciated how honest it was. Most things you read today are sugar coated. This article was not one of them. It really took a stance on showing us what it is like in the shoes of someone in poverty. It was interesting how the author described poor people as not being poor just because they wanted the free ride or because they were lazy but for a lot of different reasons. Within this piece, many antecedents lead to the consequence of living a “poor” life. Here are a few examples of the ABC’s of behavior from the article:

A: not having enough money
B: working two jobs
C: being tired all the time

This in turn leads to a lot more problems; your immune system can shut down if you are constantly tired. This will also lead to not spending enough time with your children. It can also lead to unhappiness by trying to juggle two jobs. She also talks about how it is hard to get medical care and having to have a co-payment. If she gets severely ill from being tired all the time, she will need to go see a doctor, which in turn will cost money. This will also have a big impact on her happiness.

A: being lonely
B: finding comfort in a sexual partner
C: having different fathers for the children

In the article she talked about how special it made her feel to find someone. At the time it would feel so right and that certain someone would make her feel important and loved. The love is very short lived when that person leaves her. She has the consequence of a child and no father to help her raise the child.

A: no credit card
B: trying to find somewhere to stay
C: denied because she only has cash

She is denied a place to stay because she only had cash on her. She mentioned they would not take her cell phone in lieu of a credit card. In class we talked about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Shelter was the first need that we need to be satisfied. In order to be self-actualized this is a component that is crucial.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 20 minutes
Day 2 =0 minutes
Day 3 =0 minutes
Day 4 =10 minutes
Day 5 =0 minutes
Day 6 =5 minutes
Day 7 =0 minutes
Average =5 minutes per day

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
I would say it’s going decent. The reinforcement has been working before this week. This past week has been a little rough with a lot of exams and projects going on. I have been really focused on school and drifted away a little from my behavioral project. Work has also interfered with my project. I have been working a lot, which therefore makes me really tired at the end of the day and leaves no time to work out.

For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I’m not really sure. It might be a little difficult! The reinforcement of shopping was working for me. Not going shopping for a reward might give me no incentive to work out. I guess we will find out!

5) Terms:
Behavior intervention, elicit, reinforcement, consequence, antecedent, behavior, baseline, stress, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, self-actualization, stimuli,

Linda Tirado has a schedule that is next to impossible. She juggles two jobs, two kids, and school. Some of her days can last all the way from 6am to 2:30am. In addition, Linda often suffers from mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression. This environment (or antecedent) is enough to make anyone engage in a behavior that many upper class citizens would consider undesirable.

First, many people judge the poor for their high consumption of junk food. This target behavior, like any other, is set up by its antecedents. Cooking is a challenge for many. Many were not brought up with the tools to accomplish such a feat. If you mess something up, you have the risk of making your family sick. To poor people, it is just not worth the aversive consequences to cook. However, junk food has a consequence that is quite pleasurable. It is palatable and cheap. For this reason, eating junk food is reinforcing and the best option.

A= no time, no skill for cooking
B= eating junk food
C= tastes good and did not cost a lot of money

Another target behavior that many upper class judge lower class harshly for is smoking. What are the antecedents of this behavior? With such an exhausting schedule, Linda needs something to keep her going. She needs a stimulant. If she had access to proper medical care, she may have had a healthier way to deal with her the challenges of her life. However, cigarettes are her only option. When Linda smokes, she is reinforced by the jump she gets to accomplish the things she needs to do in a day.

A= stressful, busy life with little sleep
B= smoke cigarette
C= having more energy

Linda does not have the tools or resources for a lot of things. Her appearance also turns many employers off. Her teeth were destroyed in car accident, and she is often pale with bags under her eyes from her exhausting life. When she elicits a behavior that an upper class citizen would expect from her (such as interviewing for a well-paid job) the consequences are often punishing. Consequences are determined by the behavior’s antecedents. Linda’s appearance and lack of resources made her unsuitable for the job in the eyes of the interviewers.

A= little resources, unattractive appearance
B= interviewing for job
C= did not get the job

Overall, Linda is being reinforced by behaviors that society considers wrong (such as smoking or eating junk food) and she is being punished to do behaviors that society deems acceptable (such as applying for a decent job).

4)
Day 1= 120
Day 2= 100
Day 3= 80
Day 4= 45
Day 5= 55
Day 6= 180
Day 7= 200
Average= 111.4

My behavioral project is going well. My preparation for the GRE increased substantially, but that was also because the GRE was approaching as well as the reinforcer. Even though I'm done taking the GRE, I still have a lot of grad application prep to accomplish. I believe that I will still be able to keep the target behavior strong even without the reinforcer.

Terms: antecedent, target behavior, consequence, aversive, elicits, punishing, reinforced, punished

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.

A: very little sleep every night
B: tired throughout the day
C: performs poorly on tasks throughout the day
The article discusses that people who are poor are often overworked. For example, the lady in the article had two jobs, children, and took classes. She got about three hours of sleep every night and she would wake up and do it all over again. It is hard to improve yourself when you are just going through the motions. It would be hard to get out of the cycle though, because that would mean missing work where she makes money for her family. Like she said in the article, “the act of being poor guarantees we will never not be poor”. This thought process leads to thoughts of hopelessness and depression. These are self-defeating thought processes and defense mechanisms used by many people dealing with poverty.

A: don’t have nice clothes
B: don’t apply for jobs that require nice clothes
C: don’t get a good-paying job
This is another endless cycle of poverty. Nice clothes are needed to fit the image of the corporate world, yet poor people cannot afford these nice clothes. They do not even try to interview because they know they do not fit the image. This ends up with them not getting a good job that can let them buy nice clothes.

A: feelings of worthlessness
B: sexually intimate with someone you do not know well
C: pregnant without a significant other to help
The article explains that many poor people have multiple babydaddies because of their feelings of worthlessness. Those men help them feel valuable and worthy for a short while. However, it can leave them pregnant and with a child they cannot provide for. Everyone wants to feel loved and of worth, as shown in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. This is what drives people to have multiple babydaddies.

A: feeling tired and stressed
B: smoke a cigarette
C: fleeting gratification and lasting health issues
Many people in poverty smoke because it helps to relieve stress and it acts as a stimulant. It can keep them moving when they are absolutely exhausted. They know it’s not a healthy option, but they feel they don’t have a choice.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:

Week #3 (behavioral intervention) number of Piazza desserts eaten
Day 1 = 0
Day 2 =0
Day 3 =0
Day 4 =0
Day 5 =0
Day 6 =0
Day 7 =0
Average =0

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
My behavioral intervention is to stop eating Piazza desserts and reward myself with an ice cream cone at the end of the week. This week was Thanksgiving break, so I was not even able to eat Piazza desserts. So, this week went wonderfully!

For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think I will still eat less Piazza desserts than I used to. I realize now that I am able to look past the desserts and choose a healthier option. It will not be as tempting as it used to.

Terms: defense mechanisms, behavior, antecedent, consequence, behavioral intervention, stimulant, mental health, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

ABC's of poverty:
Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
A= Being poor
B= Smoking
C= has more energy
The author talks about how smoking is an expensive habit, but it is their only option of receiving energy and fast. If you are working two jobs with multiple kids, and have no house and hardly any sleep you will probably do whatever it take to get energy to do the next activity of the day. That is why people who are struggling choose to spend their extra cash on cigarettes because it a quick stimulus.
A= Being poor
B= sleeping around
C= multiple baby daddies
The other also talks about how some poor people may have multi0ple baby daddies. They say that this may occur because the person could be looking to connect to anyone or it may be a place to stay for the night. They use the people for a source of survival. Pregnancy is just the consequence to their behavior their need of survival
4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 =2
Day 2 =0
Day 3 =2
Day 4 =0
Day 5 =0
Day 6 =0
Day 7 =1
Average =.77
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going? This behavior intervention is going poorly. I still find it hard to get motivation to run even with the motivation. It also doesn’t help that I have other factors that are causing it difficult to complete the target behavior..
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it? It will either stay the same or decrease because I have been struggling to complete my goal for the target behavior even using reinforcement.
5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Behavior, consequence, reinforcement, target behavior, motivation

A= not having much money for food
B= buying junk food, the cheaper food option
C= being filled with pleasure, an infrequent occurrence

When someone doesn’t have a large budget for food, junk food is the cheapest food to buy. Even though buying and eating junk food is not the healthiest choice, they continue to buy junk food because the taste of the food is pleasurable, and this pleasure feeling is not something they get often, so they will not give it up for a healthier option. This is an example of positive reinforcement. It is positive because the pleasure feeling is added after buying and eating the junk food. It is reinforcement because this pleasurable feeling in the consequence increases the likelihood of the behavior occurring again.

A= being too exhausted to take another step
B= smoking
C= become re-energized

When someone is poor they often have to work multiple jobs along with handling other daily responsibilities such as taking care of children and the house. This extra work in a day takes more energy and also reduces the amount of time allowed for sleep. This extreme exhaustion calls for measures to be taken so they have the energy to complete everything they need to in a day. When someone smokes, they then become energized, allowing for everything to be complete that needs to. This is also an example of positive reinforcement. It is positive because energy was added after the smoking behavior was emitted. It is reinforcement because the boost of energy is found to be pleasurable, increasing the likelihood of the behavior occurring again.

A= being poor guarantees you will never not be poor
B= not working at improving yourself
C= stay at the current version of yourself, not disappointed with trying and failing

When someone is poor, it is hard to move up to higher classes; when you are poor you often remain there. Because it is hard to move up, there is little motivation to work to improve yourself on an individual level or to improve your current circumstances. Therefore, if no work is done to improve yourself, you will always remain at the current level, you will be spared from the disappointing feelings of failure. This is an example of negative reinforcement. It is negative because emitting the behavior of not working to improve yourself takes away the disappointment that will be had if you do work to improve yourself and fail. It is reinforcement, because staying at the current level instead of trying and failing is pleasureable, increasing the likelihood the behavior will be emitted again.

A= not thinking long-term
B= make connections with anyone
C= feel lovely, powerful, and valuable for a short amount of time

When someone is poor, they often don’t look long-term, they live in survival mode; only thinking about how they are going to survive the current day and get food on the table that night. Therefore, when they form relationships with someone, they don’t think about what these connections might look like in the future, they just go for it, and then feel positively about themselves for the moment these connections last. This is an example of positive reinforcement. It is positive because these positive self-feelings were not in existence before the connection was made. It is reinforcement because these positive feelings are pleasurable, increasing the likelihood of the behavior occurring again.

A= live in the lower-class
B= try to become middle-class
C= it does not work and you feel worse for having tried and failed

When someone is in the lower-class, if they try to become middle-class it does not work and therefore they feel worse because they tried and then failed. This is an example of positive punishment. It is positive because these negative feelings of failure were not present before the behavior of trying to become middle-class was emitted. It is an example of punishment because the consequence is found to aversive; decreasing the likelihood the behavior will be emitted again.

Week #3: Behavioral Intervention, receiving the reinforcer of watching Netflix if I get out of bed at the sound of my first alarm

Day 1= 0 minutes
Day 2= 0 minutes
Day 3= 0 minutes
Day 4= 0 minutes
Day 5= 0 minutes
Day 6= 0 minutes
Day 7= 0 minutes
Average= 0 minutes

I think my behavior intervention is going great, ever since I started the time it takes for me to get out of bed after the sound of my first alarm has improved substantially. I think this is largely due to the fact that I changed my antecedent; I moved my alarm clock across the room. I also think this has occurred because of the natural reinforcer, feeling less rushed and more prepared for the day, more so than my planned reinforcer of Netflix.

I think after I stop reinforcing my behavior this improved behavior will still continue because I will still change my antecedent, move my alarm clock across the room. I think this behavior will still continue because I have really felt the difference throughout my day when I get up at the sound of my first alarm and I don’t want to fall back into feeling more stressed during the day all because I hit snooze too many times.

Terms: antecedent, behavior, consequence, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement emitted, reinforcement, positive punishment, punishment, pleasureable, aversive, reinforcer

Article Discussion:
A = Being depressed
B = Not having money to go to the doctor
C = Depression worsens
Depression is highly comorbid with low income. Those that have money troubles tend to suffer from depression because they feel that they are hopeless. The author even discusses how she knows that she will never not be poor which is almost a learned helplessness. Those that have money problems see no other option and feel that they are stuck in that life. The antecedent of being depressed is used followed by the target behavior of going to the doctor in order to have the consequence of the disorder getting better however this is not the reality for those that suffer from low income because they cannot afford the doctor.

A = Not being able to afford nice clothing or beauty products
B = Not getting jobs because you do not fit their image
C = Remaining poor
Many companies are looking for employees who will represent their company in a good way and in many cases this includes appearances as well. However, for those that are low income, beauty products and new clothing are low on the needs spectrum. Without the new clothes and products these people then let their appearances to begin to dwindle. As their appearance dwindles companies do not see them as fit to having a job. This becomes a vicious cycle for those that are in need of money but cannot afford the proper tools to getting a job. Although this would be seen as punishment because you would want to decrease the behavior of not getting jobs the antecedent is very powerful and hard to overcome.

A = Being exhausted or not motivated
B = Smoking a cigarette to stimulate body
C = Poor health and less money
In our culture spending money on cigarettes despite not having money is something that is greatly looked down upon. Many times outsider’s question why a person would spend the little money they do have on something so insignificant rather than something such as food or clothing. However as the author pointed out, she feels a sense of relief when she has her cigarettes and it gives her a moment of relaxation and the push she needs to get through the day. Although this consequence is aversive the author is in a vicious cycle and is desperate to find ways to motivate herself.

Overall I found this a very powerful article. I thought the author’s insight and arguments to living a poor lifestyle were compelling. I think that many people see those that have little money as being lazy or not caring however I think that the author shined some light on that argument. The author provides great evidence that being poor is rather like being trapped.

Behavioral Change Project:
Day 1: 30 minutes
Day 2: 30 minutes
Day 3: 30 minutes
Day 4: 0 minutes
Day 5: 15 minutes
Day 6: 0 minutes
Day 7: 15 minutes
Average: 17 minutes

My behavioral intervention was going well however this week was a bit difficult because it was Thanksgiving break. I did well at the beginning of the week but let myself have Thanksgiving Day off because we were doing family stuff. I also didn't really work out on Friday however I did do nearly 12 hour of black Friday shopping so that should count but I didn't know how to put that. We also made an impromptu visit to my brother this weekend at the naval base in Great Lakes, Illinois which disrupted my working out as well. For next week, I think that stopping reinforcement will not really affect my behavior because I had gotten into the routine of working out and I am doing a lot better of working out because I want to not because I am being reinforced. I have become intrinsically motivated to work out.

TERMS: learned helplessness, antecedent, target behavior, consequence, punishment, aversive, reinforcement, intrinsically motivated

Smoking is one behavior that many people that aren’t poor see as a waste of money. Smoking is expensive, especially now with the high taxes. But, Linda explains that this is a necessity for the late hours they work and the hectic lives people in poverty live. Linda outlined the fact that she works two jobs, takes care of kids, is a full time student, and gets around 3 hours of sleep most nights. So, one could very easily argue that she is exhausted. Exhaustion is the antecedent. When she is exhausted one of her reliefs is smoking. Smoking is the behavior. The consequence to the behavior (smoking) have a consequence. In this case, Linda says the consequence is that she gets a burst of energy that allows her to continue on with her day. It’s incredible how eye opening this read was. I have argued for a few years now that if people would just learn to budget themselves and learn to control themselves that they would be better off. It’s really a matter of their circumstances or antecedents that cause them to behave in such a way. Their consequences to those behaviors continue the cyclic path that is poverty that is their life. It isn’t a matter of, “they need to get their shit together”, it’s a matter of “their shit is the way it is because their lives are shit”. Still, part of me that still believes in fairy tales, happy endings, and the pursuit of happiness wants to believe that there is a way out of that cyclic path. That the poverty ABC’s don’t have to be obeyed just because someone is in poverty. What that is, I don’t really know. I guess I’ll take it as a grain of salt and something I should continue to think about from this class.
4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of baseline data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 20 min
Day 2 = 15 min
Day 3 = 19 min
Day 4 = 15 min
Day 5 = 20 min
Day 6 = 14 min
Day 7 = 35 min
Average =
4b) This week was a little bit more difficult because I was at home. I didn’t have the aversive consequences if I did take too long of a shower. My roommates weren’t there to make fun of me and my parents are footing the bill here, so it’s not really a big deal. But, there is something in me that comes with being a competitor. I want to be right. I want to win. Even if there is no one there to compete with. I operate in performance based on comparing myself to myself. I strive to get better in almost everything I do. So, I still stuck with the pattern. I think that also speaks to just how reinforcing my reinforcer is. I want that long shower at the end of the week more than anything!
4c) What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I guess I expect it to go back to normal… but I’m not sure. Having roommates that tease me about that really really bothers me for some reason, so I’m definitely not going back to taking super duper long showers anymore.
TERMS: ABC’s of behavior modification, behavior, antecedent, consequence, and reinforce.

I really enjoyed this article for several reasons. For too long I have had to listen to privileged, wealthy people say terrible things about people in poverty as if it's something they chose. We literally have politicians saying "Poor people should just stop being poor" like it's an easy decision. The author laid out very clearly why poverty can lead people to make certain unwise decisions, and how those consequences lead to another antecedent, which then becomes a vicious cycle.

A = Not having enough money
B = Work two jobs
C = Constantly tired

Which then leads to more problems. Chronic fatigue will easily wear down one's health, which will then lead to:

A = Illness
B = Go to the doctor
C = Spend more money than you have

Which leads back to having to work hard to earn money. It's a nearly impossible cycle to break out of and those who are wealthy don't seem to be doing much to help break it.

Week #3 (behavioral intervention) Walking 6,000 steps per day

Day 1 = 5,985
Day 2 = 4,026
Day 3 = 6,249
Day 4 = 5,853
Day 5 = 6,962
Day 6 = 5,342
Day 7 = 4,087
Average = 5,500 steps per day

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?- With this last week being Thanksgiving break my behavioral intervention was a little bit harder to keep on top of. Since we didn’t have class, my walking schedule was pretty messed up. Usually by going to class, that’s when I get most of my walking in. This week I had to go to Young Arena to walk, or just go walk around Target to get more steps in. My reinforcer of watching the Hawks play on Saturday for the entire game, is coming to an end. Honestly, my steps are probably going to go down, just because it’s hard to motivate myself without that reinforce. I am not in my early 20’s anymore, I can just about do anything that I want now, finding a reinforce to fit my life with kids and wife and household responsibilities will be very challenging.

5)Terms: Antecedent, behavior, consequence, reinforcer, behavioral intervention

I’d like to start by saying I really liked reading this article, and was glad it was assigned. I feel that it is a very good piece, but think people who are fortunate enough to have never had to deal with these problems, will still not understand. I can relate to some of the things she talked about, and totally get it. I find it sad though that there is like no hope coming from her, even though I can relate to some of it, I’ve never felt that hopeless. You’ve asked us to discuss some antecedents and consequences and how they relate to some of the behavior she spoke of using the ABC’s, well here we go. A:depressed/lonely B: Sex C: Pregnant. She explained how some people so depressed and lonely will turn to sex for some type of connection, without thinking of the consequences because thinking that far forward isn’t normal for them. A:No money B: No professional attire C: No professional job. How can you get a professional job if you don’t have the money to dress for it in the first place? A: Depression B: Lack of motivation C: deeper depression. This is often how depression works, it spirals into a continuous circle that is hard to get out of. If you’re depressed and need help and don’t get it, it usually just gets worse. People often do not understand why you can’t just snap out of it, as if it’s that easy. I wish it were that easy. Depression and being poor are both the same kind of spiral type things that are hard to break, both make it hard to get ahead. It’s as if trying gets you nowhere.

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 2/2
Day 2 = 0/1
Day 3 = 2/2
Day 4 = -
Day 5 = -
Day 6 = -
Day 7 = 0/1
Average = 4/6

4b) The behavioral intervention seems to be going okay, but I feel like I’ve been starting to slip up a bit. If it weren’t time to go back to baseline I would change my reinforcer to something else. I don’t know if this is because I have just had some problems with the weather and getting sick one day, or just because I’m getting lazy. I’m hoping to be able to continue on with the behavior even if I’m not reinforcing it. I plan to try really hard and not give in to temptation of oversleeping. I honestly think it will be okay, because feel me being dedicated to doing it is working more so than my reinforcer.

5) Reinforcer, Behavioral Intervention, Antecedents, Consequences,

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.

I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed this article. I have not personally experienced any of those quite at this level, but in some aspects I feel as I and my family have when I was growing up. It takes a strong person to do what poor people do to even stay alive, especially in a system that continues to put them down or only make things harder, rather than easier for them.
Some of the things Linda describes in her article include the ABCs in the form of smoking and not paying for things.
The antecedent is being exhausted, the behavior is smoking, and the consequence is getting energy from the nicotine in the cigarette. This continues to happen because of the fact that the poor are constantly working and exhausting energy to just stay alive. The next antecedent was bills, the behavior was not paying them, and the consequence was adding to the poverty experienced by the person. This is just a continuous cycle of poverty that these people are stuck in. They are forced to choose what bills to pay and because of that they choose not to pay some while paying others, and that makes it harder and harder and more mentally and physically exhausting for them. That has got to be such an aversive experience for them.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 =2 biting behavior
Day 2 =3 biting behavior
Day 3 =3 biting behavior
Day 4 =4 biting behavior
Day 5 =2 biting behavior
Day 6 =4 biting behavior
Day 7 =3 biting behavior
Average =3 biting behavior

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?

I feel that the behavior intervention has been going well. My biting behavior has started to be noticeably different than what it was in the beginning. I'm very pleased with how things are going thus far.

For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?

I think I might see a slight increase in the behavior but not going back to what it was before. I feel as if the behavior is no longer becoming so hard to stop doing, as it is becoming easier and easier.

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

Terms:
Behavior, antecedent, consequence, aversive, poor, poverty, cycle.

I really enjoyed reading this article because it was raw, honest and it exposed some harsh truths about living in poverty. Fortunately, I grew up middle class and my parents have done a tremendous job taking care of my two siblings and myself. However, my parents are divorced and they are completely different people. My mom is a very successful business woman who has always been able to give my siblings and I everything we need and more. After my parents got divorced, though, my dad was not well off. At one point, going to my dad's meant cramming four of us into a one bedroom apartment. My sister and I had to take turns either sleeping with my brother or sleeping with my dad. This apartment had one bedroom, one bathroom, and the other "bedroom" consisted of a futon in the living room that either I or my sister would sleep on with my brother. We grew up eating a lot of junk food and macaroni and cheese because it was all my dad could afford. I'll never forget when my dad took us through a Taco Bell drive thru and when they gave my dad the total, he just drove away because he couldn't afford it. As I've gotten older, my dad has fortunately been able to build himself up a bit, but he still struggles as he has no college degree and has had a ton of jobs in his adult life. I'm grateful for him because he has so little to give my siblings and I, but he would give his last dime for us if either of us needed it.

Anyway, I think the reason I have mixed feelings about this article is because of my experience growing up at my dad's. I also know a few people in my life who grew up in much worse situations, and built themselves up from nothing. I am not one to judge, as I have never truly had to experience a life of poverty and so much of what she said made complete sense. I think that's why living in poverty and the behaviors people emit end up being such a vicious cycle because they lack not only money, but resources and opportunity as well. And I think she made a good point about being able to look good to get jobs. It's hard to get a job, especially one in customer service, serving, etc., when you are unable to take proper care of yourself so that you look presentable enough for the job. It also makes sense why so many people in poverty have so many children, specifically with multiple different partners. I never looked at it from that perspective, but people need other people. Every person on the planet wants to feel that they belong, and if that's how they can obtain that feeling even if for a short amount of time, who could say they wouldn't do the same thing?

I think those are all examples of the antecedents, behaviors and consequences of living in poverty. And again, it's a vicious cycle of repeated behaviors; good or bad.

4a.)
Day1= 0 minutes
Day2= 20 minutes
Day 3= 0 minutes
Day4= 0 minutes
Day 5= 1 hour
Day 6= 45 minutes
Day 7= 1 hour

4b.) This past week wasn't a good week for my behavioral intervention because of it being a holiday week. When I chose this to be the behavior I wanted to work on, I didn't take into account Thanksgiving Break, but I suppose that shouldn't be much of an excuse. I did have more free time, but I also spent a lot of that free time with family, so homework didn't really cross my mind. However, already today I've spent a good deal of time on my school work, so I feel like the next couple of weeks will be good in terms of making up for this past week.

I am not sure what will happen with my behavior because of the decline this past week, however I'm hoping with classes starting back up, I will be able to jump back into my normal routine and pick back up where I left off.

TERMS: Behaviors, antecedents, behaviors, consequences, emit.

This article was a large eye opener for me by discussing things that I hadn’t every really considered. The author seemed to have a very poor view of her life and not hope for improvement. Several times the author says “I will never not be poor.” She believes that she will be stuck in this way of life forever, which I believe to be one antecedent to the continuation of poverty. It was hard to feel any sympathy for the author, however, when she had the consistent belief that things could not and would not get better. There are several examples of the ABC format that we learned at the beginning of the semester that can be applied here.
A: about to fall asleep, B: smoking a cigarette, C: a little more awake
A: day off, B: got to sleep early, C: mess up sleep schedule
A: lack of resources, B: don’t look professional for interview, C: doesn’t get job
A: lack of resources, B: eat cheap precooked food, C: unhealthy

Week 3 (remember the scale 12=0, 1=1, 1:30=1.5, etc)
Day 1: 2
Day 2: 4
Day 3: 1
Day 4: 0
Day 5: 1
Day 6: 0
Day 7: 2
Average: 1.4

My behavioral change is going alright. Not spectacular but better than I would have expected. Without reinforcement, I think that it will continue to better than it was before the project. I have set up a decent routine and now I just need to continue it. I have learned the importance of eliciting the behavior that I want to emit. As it is, my reinforcer wasn’t very influential any ways.

Terms: elicit, emit, antecedent, reinforcer

Reading through some of the responses for the article, I am fascinated by how little people actually know about being poor; I also find it irritating. Linda Tirado explains her experiences as well as her observations truthfully and clearly. So many times have I heard people criticizing others for smoking while using food stamps, or going to school instead of working, or even being “too young” to be a parent of so many children-or even one. My favorite is the “if she can’t afford food without food stamps why does she have that cell phone, or why did she have enough money to get her nails done?” My answer to those people is always along the lines of an internal “shut the fuck up,” but it does no use of explaining because they only want to be reinforced in their way of thinking.
It is greatly distressing to me that that judgment is ever present on the issue of being poor, because you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t. This particular article both liberated my mind and angered me for the same reasons. The image of what it is to be poor is someone who is living in deplorable conditions, who has too many kids, and if you’re a woman you probably have about five kids and who the hell knows who (or where) their father is. Poor is uneducated and lazy, poor is living off of the “generosity” of others through WIC, SNAP, disability, welfare, etc..
The first ABC is about smoking. Many antecedents cause a person to want to smoke, and the stress that comes with being of a lower SES and trying to maintain any sort of lifestyle can cause a person to break. Like the author said in her article, people who are poor cannot afford the help that they need, and if they sought it, how would they paid for the medications that may be prescribed? Cigarettes are easily accessible. Cigarettes have immediate effects. Cigarettes can be social. Cigarettes are one of the few luxuries that poor people who choose to smoke have-a point that is overlooked by the rest of society. When no other outlets are present, and five bucks are in your pocket you’re going to run to the store for cigarettes, and I mean run. It sure as hell beats an emotional breakdown and time and life will not afford you. The target behavior of smoking serves many purposes. And its consequences are immediate satisfaction of those purposes but also backlash from anyone who decides that they are the cigarette police. Once again damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Junk food is my next soapbox target. Junk food is what people resort to when they have a vacation destination and they’ve got to make good time on the road. It’s what kids sneak behind their middle class parents’ backs to take a break from the wheatgrass shakes they’ve been force-fed for years. Processed sugar-what joy, what an indulgence. But for the person who can’t afford to drive to work if they have a car at all, and for the person who sees that processed foods are cheaper than fresh foods and they last longer-those Little Debbies and off brand spaghetti-os are the new breakfast lunch and dinner whether you like it or not. There was recently a spread in National Geographic about hunger, and how its face has changed, I recommend it for anyone to read. It contains a better explanation that what I can provide.
I had an experience once, not too long ago with my ex-boss. A woman that I know came into Hy-vee with her daughter and they were doing the typical grocery shopping. But this one time, she decided that she would like to buy a small package of sushi. This woman is single, her daughter’s biological father is rarely in the picture, she cannot drive on her own, she is an alcoholic, and she is a 20 year Navy veteran. Now I am quite aware that only hot-prepared foods are not allowed to be purchased with SNAP benefits, sushi is cold so it can be bought. My boss was pissed to say the least, and went on a rant about how food stamps should be used to buy “food stamp” food…whatever that is. It frustrated me that this is how my boss was reacting, but it highlighted the lack of understanding of what poverty is, and who it encompasses.

A.Stress
B. Smoking
C. temporary elimination of said stress

A no money/hungry
B. cheap food aka junk food
C. full, criticized

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 3x
Day 2 =2x
Day 3 =4x
Day 4 =5x
Day 5 =4x
Day 6 =6x
Day 7 =5x
Average =4x/day
This intervention is not going well. I think that the failures that I had with intervention will be exacerbated without intervention.
Terms: target behavior, antecedent, consequence, intervention

This article was a unique one. I thought that it raised plenty of good points, and the author really hit home with a few major issues that this country face everyday. I am guilty of being one to judge the decisions and situations that others find themselves in, and within my own family there are plenty of people who fit these characteristics that I never gave enough credit. For this realization i must thank the author and her words on the issue.

Within this article I think that there were many things that were discussed that fit the stereotypical poor person’s profile. One behavior that I thought most about was that they “always chose” to eat out instead of in. In this situation, the antecedent was that not having enough money, time, or skills to make healthier food at home. Even though there are options in what kind of food someone eats and makes in their own home, the cost of everything these days for overly healthy food such as fresh fruits and vegetables can seem more expensive than someone is willing to pay. This is not to say that the cost is too much for what the person is willing to pay to provide for their family however, it is simply that they can use that money for other necessities that their families also require. Since the antecedent is aversive to the family’s income, it makes sense that they would try their best to get the most bang for their buck in most cases. When thinking about how much food you can get for the least amount of money, it makes sense to hit up a fast food or cheap menu where they can get an entire meal instead of buying each individual ingredient and also having to find the time to make everything and present it to their families. After they make the decision on where to get their meals, we can then assume that the consequence would be the judgements and sour looks that they get when they pull away or are in the restaurant. The article suggests that “poor people” are the butt of criticism and judgement when they are seen at a fast food restaurant by people they wont even know. I think that this is a true assumption, but I also think that it doesn't just happen with people they don't know. I am very partial to thinking that friends and family of the so called “poor person” are just as much to blame for these judgements. As far as the random bystander is concerned, they don't know for sure if those people are recurring customers or just people who are in for a once in a while treat. Friends and family however, tend to know more about tendencies of their loved ones. This is why I think that there might be more blame to be put on those closest to us for these rumors and judgements.

Another trend that I noticed actually came from the follow up interview. The author mentioned that she was sorry for implying that all poor people were depressed and unhappy. She was replying to some comments made by people who read her original post. The antecedent here would be her original post that linked all of the poor people together into a group that she labeled as unhappy and depressive. The target behavior here is the reaction and conversations that came about after she posted it. People were a little put off by that categorization and claimed that not all people in her situation are thinking the way she is. Some are happy with how their lives are and have no problem with that. The consequence of this action is that she revised her original statement and made it more accommodating to more readers. She mentioned that she never meant to speak for everyone because every person is different and has their own life. I think that this is a pretty typical way to respond to negativity about a controversial issue. I am just as likely to restate what I was talking about if someone takes offense to what I said. This is especially true if i was originally just speaking my mind and not tying at all to offend anyone.

I think that the overall idea here is that living in poverty and being categorized this way is something that is common in this country and is probably one of the most complex issues that we have. Some behaviors that people emit are clearly out of laziness and hesitations, but there are others that are noticed that truly come from a lack of resources and opportunities. We all fall into positive and negative habits over time, and I know that there are going to be times that are less than ideal for all of us. I think that if we as a society were to be more open minded and understanding of the lower income families and people in this country, then there may be more opportunities for advancements for them so they don't have to have the mindset that they will never not be poor and will always be tired and unhappy.

Day 1=N/A
Day 2=finished by 5:00pm
Day 3=finished by 8:00pm
Day 4=finished by 12:00am
Day 5=finished by 10:30pm
Day 6=N/A
Day 7=N/A
Average= finished a few hours before midnight most nights

This is going pretty well so far because I think that Thanksgiving was a good motivation for me. I was going to be out of the country all break and I knew that I wasn't going to do anything over break. I finished most things before I left and I knew that I had too much to do to keep putting it off. I had most of it all done and had a great vacation.

I’m guessing that since this week I wont be doing the reinforcers that I will have a tougher time getting and staying on schedule. I think that I will eventually be able to do this, but after only 3 weeks it might be hard to do.

Terms: antecedent, aversive, consequence, behavior, reinforcer, positive and negative habits,

ABC's of Poverty:

Growing up in an upper middle class home, with a father that came from an extremely wealthy environment and a mother who came from a fairly poor environment, I have always desired to understand both sides. Many times my dad would take us to the store and questioning what we were going to buy was not even thought of, we simply bought whatever we liked as long as it was healthy or appropriate. When my mom came along or if it was just her and I, things were very different. My mom always pulled out coupons, went only to the clearance rack, or always looked for the least expensive option. In seeing both sides, I have often thought about the point of view of those who were truly poor. Many of my thoughts are very similar to Linda Tirado's in her blog about, "This is Why Poor People's Bad Decisions Make Perfect Sense." Poor people are people to, and most strive to make the best decisions possible in their circumstance...but they are human and are going to make poor decisions from time to time. The weight of poverty can be heavy. In understanding and seeing the circumstance many impoverished people are in, discriminative stimuli play a large role in the behaviors individuals emit and the consequences that follow. Next are some ABC's of Behavior that Linda discusses.

A-tired
B-smoke
C-heightened energy (stimulation)
In this particular example, being tired and wanting more energy drive the need to smoke, which provides the energy wanted. In order for people (in this case poor people) to keep up their energy to work in order to support their families, many have to work long hours. Keeping high levels of energy is difficult and they do not always have the time, money, or resources to provide themselves energy in other manners which elicits the behavior of smoking. Deprivation of sleep or time to rest makes smoking even more reinforcing since it provides what is wanted and needed (energy), continuing the cycle of tired-smoking-heightened energy-repeat.

A-need to feel worthwhile
B-sex
C-pregnant
For this particular example, the need to feel worthwhile is a strong antecedent to having sex. When everything else in your life is array (cannot buy anything/do anything), the need to find a connection, love, and purpose is strong. Finding that connection with someone even for a night, could be what that person 'needs' at the moment. Eventually these acts (without protection) will most likely lead to pregnancy. Having a child will definitely produce some sort of purpose, but the need to feel worthwhile does not leave. People will continue to seek affirmation and self-worth, it is of intrinsic value which will continue the cycle. All though the consequences seem aversive or would act as punishment, (lessen the likelihood of these action in the future), they do not. The benefits of feeling alive and cherished are one good thing that can be present in a difficult life and are desirable despite the possible consequences.

A-no money
B-no ability fix teeth
C-no job
Not having money (a secondary reinforcer), prohibits many things from taking place, such as getting your teeth fixed if need be. If you have bad teeth, people will not always want to hire you because you are not presentable to those you are providing service to. This then leads to being rejected for jobs. Cycling again in not having money/the resources to take care of yourself (getting teeth fixed-very expensive). Eventually poor individuals are conditioned to think that if they cannot afford to look presentable, they will not get the job and therefore do not even apply. Contingencies of escaping poverty decrease quickly.

4a)

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 = 7
Day 2 = 7
Day 3 = 6
Day 4 = 7
Day 5 = 5
Day 6 = 5
Day 7 = 6
Average = 6.1 check marks

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going? The behavior intervention is going great! My original reinforcer is not the most reinforcing and I am having difficulty finding a reinforcer to replace it, but my will and determination for the outcome/consequence is strong enough to keep my drive up. I feel good about what I am doing and it gives me higher self esteem. I think the intrinsic benefit of knowing I can do it and loosing weight/keeping weight off are much more powerful than any extrinsic reinforcers such as food/activities (because I really don't have time for any more than I already do). This week has been great, I did pretty well! Three of the seven days I got all boxes checked and there were a couple of sixes as well. Overall I am happy with this behavioral intervention. It has been extremely beneficial! Life long benefits and different than the many I have tried previously that have eventually failed.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think my behaviors will continue without the reinforcer because I already kind of went through that this past week, where my reinforcers were not longer reinforcing. This is a behavior that I truly want to change and I have finally found a way that is not only attainable, but lasting. It provides both structure and freedom which is exactly what I need. This should be a behavior that continues without the reinforcer for quite some time because of the natural reinforcers that come along with it-health, confidence, weight off, and more. Throught trial and error over many years, I think I finally found a behavior that I have been shaped into, that will continue to thrive.

5)Terms: Elicit, emit, ABC’s, behavior, consequence, discriminative stimulus, intrinsic value, deprivation, reinforce, punishment, aversive, desirable, antecedent, conditioning, secondary reinforcers, escape, contingency, behavioral intervention, extrinsic, shaping

This article is nothing shy of brilliant; it's a well-put narration of life in poverty. Everything seems to fall in a pattern of a continuous circle of events leading back to her life growing up in poverty. Linda says that she will never not be poor because of her circumstances and while some aspects definitely drag her back down, it almost appears as if she could attempt to save her way out of the desolation that is poverty. She addresses these options that she knows she could change but due to the few variables that hold her back, she is strung back into this viscous cycle without hope of leaving it. Analyzing a few of her scenarios and marking the ABCs can be difficult, but they are the following. ANTECEDENT- having a child, BEHAVIOR- working two jobs, CONSEQUENCE- getting no sleep, not having time for children, not having time for herself. ANTECEDENT- being pregnant and having another kid, BEHAVIOR- buying cheap burritos, CONSEQUENCE- health is low, appearance is low. This last one is important because if she hadn't had her children to pay for, she may have been able to afford slightly better food for herself. ANTECEDENT- having two jobs, BEHAVIOR-smoking, CONSEQUENCE- bad health and appearance. You can already start to see the cycle, her bad habbits and lack of time make her appearance worse and she can't get a better job which makes her work two jobs that give her less time for things and make her so tired that she has to smoke, which worsens her health and appearance. There are many behaviors in this story though it comes down to the fact that her condition doesn't allow for her to work certain jobs, and she can't improve it without a better job, so she is stuck working the two bad jobs that take up much of her time and essentially keep her in the same life position to where she has to make bad financial and health decisions since they are all she can afford and since she will never be able to save enough for the things she needs. She could save for a better car but wouldn't be able to pay on payments or work to fix the car; she could save for a house but wouldn't have the money to pay tax on it or upkeep. The behaviors and consequences are endless since they fall into a continuum.

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 = 8
Day 2 = 8
Day 3 = 6
Day 4 = 8
Day 5 = 4
Day 6 = 4
Day 7 = 4
Average =5.6 good source of fiber snacks

4b) The behavioral intervention is going well, I have realized that the fruit shakes I drink are 15 grams of fiber and that I should divide out the 2.5 fiber standard for good fiber snacks in order to report truthfully otherwise there isn't a correct reading of deviation between the 15 grams I would get in 6 snacks versus the 30 I would get in 7 when it included the shake. It is included in this week since that equals out to 6 snacks for a shake and I tried to eat two snacks or so on the days that I did eat a shake. The shakes stopped when I went home for thanksgiving, but thanksgiving had a few of its own good fiber foods as well.

Behavioral intervention, antecedent, consequence, behavior

This article was very insightful. I know there are a lot of options for people in poverty, but this shows that it isn't always enough. The consequence of not getting hired because you don't "fit the image" after emitting the behavior of applying for a certain position causes poor people to emit a following behavior. That consequence of not getting hired becomes an antecedent for the behavior of just not trying. It's all one giant circle. Just like you can't get a job without experience, but you can't get experience because you can't get a job! It's just a giant circle of ABC's. A wheel that never stops turning. It just gets hit by a passing object (antecedent) rolls down a hill (behavior), then hits a wall (Consequence).

Week 3 Data:
Day 1 = Yes
Day 2 = Yes
Day 3 = Yes
Day 4 = No
Day 5 = Yes
Day 6 = Yes
Day 7 = Yes
Average = Yes

The intervention is going pretty well. Ever since I found it easier to take showers at night and just wash my face while I'm in there, it becomes pretty much impossible to forget and I don't even need a reinforcer anymore. The one time I didn't wash my face at night this last week was because I didn't take a shower that night, I ended up taking one the next morning and then another one that night. I'd rather take two showers in a day than severely throw off my schedule any worse than I already have.

Terms: Behavior, Antecedent, Reinforcer, Emit, ABC's, Consequence.

I really enjoyed this article for several reasons. For too long I have had to listen to privileged, wealthy people say terrible things about people in poverty as if it's something they chose. We literally have politicians saying "Poor people should just stop being poor" like it's an easy decision. The author laid out very clearly why poverty can lead people to make certain unwise decisions, and how those consequences lead to another antecedent, which then becomes a vicious cycle.

A = Not having enough money
B = Work two jobs
C = Constantly tired

Which then leads to more problems. Chronic fatigue will easily wear down one's health, which will then lead to:

A = Illness
B = Go to the doctor
C = Spend more money than you have

Which leads back to having to work hard to earn money. It's a nearly impossible cycle to break out of and those who are wealthy don't seem to be doing much to help break it.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 = Monday= 1:30am
Day 2 = Tuesday= 12:30am
Day 3 = Wednesday= 1:30am
Day 4 = Thursday= 2:30am
Day 5 = Friday= 6:30am (Relay for life)
Day 6 = Saturday= 3:00am
Day 7 = Sunday= 12:30am
Average = 2:20ish

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?

It was going good for week 2, but this last week was a bit hectic with school and work and medical complications so I haven't been able to get to bed at my ideal time.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are no longer reinforcing it?

I don't think it will change much. The reinforcement hasn't seemed to make me go to bed sooner since it just takes up more time I need to spend on school and work.

Terminology: consequence, antecedent, behavioral goal, reinforcement

This was a great article and I think there are a lot of examples of the ABC’s of behavior that can be found within to explain how poverty is not a black-and-white issue like some people believe it is. As the author said, many people say that poverty is the person’s own decision because the individual is not saving up any money, is having too many kids, isn’t working, etc. but this article shows how certain antecedents and consequences are something that people experiencing poverty cannot escape.

The first strong example of the ABC’s of behavior that I found in this article was when the author was discussing how it is best for people in poverty to eat the cheap, processed, convenient food. This behavior is reinforced because when individuals prepare pre-made or processed foods, there is a much less likely chance that your family will get food poisoning or some other illness from it. The author explained this as she was talking about microwaving burritos that were 12/$2 and she said that she had learned how to cook in her high school Home Ec class, but that is a skill that not very many people in her complex knew. The author said that because people didn’t know how to cook, they could easily make their family sick by trying to make beef burritos on the stove instead of cooking pre-made ones in the microwave because individuals did not know how much to cook the meat. The antecedent is hunger, the behavior is microwaving pre-made foods, the consequence is that everyone remains healthy and does not get food poisoning.

The second potent example of the ABC’s of behavior that I found in the article was her discussion of the nearest Planned Parenthood being 3 hours away from where she lived. That is a lot of money in gas just to travel there, and the author said that, even if you can make it there, most women do not want to be seen going in or out of the building. The author says that she knows that women in poverty are seen as “breeding,” but that is frowned upon less than having an abortion, so many women choose not to have an abortion. The antecedent here is living so far away from a Planned Parenthood, the behavior is pregnancy (since you do not travel to Planned Parenthood to get birth control or an abortion), and the consequence is a child, which then adds to expenses further down the road, perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

Another antecedent in this article is the author’s constant experience of exhaustion and tiredness which is brought about through her multiple jobs and classes, all of which she needs to do in order to continue making enough money to survive. Since the author is always tired, she needs something to keep her stimulated, which is what cigarettes do for her. She thus spends a lot of money on cigarettes in order to make her feel awake enough to do all of the homework, chores, and jobs that she has to do in order to make ends meat. The antecedent is exhaustion, the behavior is smoking cigarettes, and the consequence is feeling awake, relaxed, and taking care of her responsibilities.

One final antecedent is living in poverty (aka not having enough money). The author is living in poverty, which means that she must work 2 jobs, go to school full time, and be a single mother (I assumed single since she did not mention the children’s father in the article) all at the same time just to survive financially. In order to accomplish all of these things and provide for her children, she has to spend money by buying food, clothing, cigarettes, “convenience food,” and other basic necessities that she needs to multitask all of these things. On top of all of that she mentions that people find solace in what little intimate comfort they can find, sometimes the consequence of which is having more children, which thus increase expenses. The author has shown that an antecedent of living in poverty leads to a consequence of living in poverty, this is a perpetuating cycle, not a black-and-white issue as some would like to believe.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 0
Day 2 = 0
Day 3 = 0
Day 4 = 0
Day 5 = 0
Day 6 = 0
Day 7 = 0
Average = 0

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
It is sometimes still very difficult to navigate the dining center and find only vegetarian options when that is something that I do not have a habit of doing. I have found myself reaching for some sort of meat product to eat and then I will remember that if I eat this, then I will not get to reinforce myself with Starbucks raspberry ice black tea, so I don’t eat the meat. I would say that the behavioral intervention is successful because it is making me more aware of my behavior and conscious of monitoring when and where I eat meat. As you can see from above, I have been successful at maintaining a weekday vegetarian diet since I implemented the intervention because the reinforcer of Starbucks that I picked for myself is strong enough to modify my behavior.

For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
As I said earlier, the behavioral intervention has made me more aware of how much meat I eat, which means that even without the intervention I will probably eat less meat during the week than I did before, but I do not think that I will be able to remain a weekday vegetarian without the reinforcement. Without the reinforcer of Starbucks, the reinforcement I might receive from the joy of eating a piece of meat might outweigh my goal of being a weekday vegetarian. And I feel that meat has become an establishing operation on the weekends because now that is the only time that I can eat it and I am worried that since I haven’t been able to have meat during the week for a few weeks, it may now be more reinforcing to eat than it was before I started this behavior intervention. So I believe that I actually may eat more meat now that I am no longer reinforcing it because it is more rewarding to me after going a while without having it.

Terms: ABC’s of behavior, antecedent, consequence, behavior, reinforced, behavioral intervention, reinforcer, behavior modification, establishing operation, reinforcing

The ABC's of poverty:

A: Terrorism was a fear/problem for the country
B: Patriot Act passed
C: hard to get bank account
The Patriot Act was signed by President George Bush in 2001 as an attempt to intercept and obstruct terrorism. By passing this bill, it become increasingly difficult for people without finical means to be granted to those who struggle finically due to lack of accountability and references.
A: lack of confidence/no funds to look “nice enough” to be hired
B: do not apply for jobs
C: are not employed/remain in poverty
The article talked about the main antecedent of the people in poverty did not have the ability to fit the appearance of someone who could get a job. It talked about how they “were not beautiful” and how they would not get hired from jobs that they were qualified for. Lack of confidence could also be considered a behavior emitted due to lack of funds to have a professional appearance in a job hunt.
A: exhausted
B: smoke cigarettes as a stimulant
C: spend money on the cigarettes
The author also talked about how she smoked. A lot of people say that if someone is so poor that they should not be able to afford such things as cigarettes. The author talked about how she smokes as a stimulant to keep her going for longer periods of times. The antecedent of being overworked and exhausted greatly impact the behavior of smoking. The consequences of purchasing cigarettes is very negative on the poor, but, as the author put it, smoking is the “only relaxation she is allowed.”
A: attitude that they will never not be poor/ don’t have a “long-term brain”
B: make poor financial decisions
C: remain in poverty
One of the behaviors I found most interesting in this article was the section that she talked about how she makes poor financial decisions. This behavior is greatly impacted by the antecedents of people in poverty not being able to think in long-term behaviors, according to the author. She talked about how low-income people focus on immediate stimulus and go from one to another as quick as they come. Not thinking long-term can also be classified as a defense mechanism for the poor who are trying to find reasons to not give up and have hope to improve their lives.

4a) I wanted to decrease the amount of times I snack in between meals. I recorded the data and began to see that my reinforcement was beginning to lose its effectiveness in modifying the behavior. So I changed my reward system into a positive punishment. Each time I wanted to grab a snack in between meals I would instead take a drink of lemon juice. The juice was very sour, which I do not like. I used this method, which was similar to taste aversion, in order to train myself to associate the desire to snack in between meals with the aversive taste of the lemon juice. This method was more effective in eliciting the snacking/grazing behavior.
Week #3
Day 1 = 7
Day 2 = 6
Day 3 = 4
Day 4 = 4
Day 5 = 3
Day 6 = 2
Day 7 = 2
Average = 4
4b) With the addition of lemon juice, I feel that this behavior modification is successful thus far. I have been accounting for the environment and the antecedents involved in the behavior as well, and that have been very beneficial as well. I believe that I will experience a bit of an extinction burst or the some version of the behavior trying to reappear after I stop reinforcing/punishing it.
5) Terminology Used: reinforcement, positive punishment, taste aversion, aversive, eliciting, extinction burst, emit, stimulus, behaviors, stimulant, defense mechanism

ABC's of poverty:
This Is Why Poor People's Bad Decisions Make Perfect Sense article was very interesting. It really showed me the thought process behind why a lot of people (including myself) make certain decisions. I found a few examples to discuss:

A: being too tired/stressed
B: smoking cigarettes
C: bad for your health/appearance/wallet
The antecedent will lead to the behavior because they believe that smoking a cigarette will stimulate their brains for a little bit or help them not stress as much. The consequence of smoking should not help lead the behavior because it is aversive, but smoking is thought to them as being the only way out of being too tired or stressed.

A: hungry
B: buying/eating junk food
C: having more money/less preparation effort
This one is one that I am so guilty of. Eating junk food is so much easier than cooking a healthy meal. The antecedent leads to the behavior because when you are hungry, you are going to buy or eat food. The consequence will help support the behavior because if you buy or eat junk food, it does not take as much time to cook, and it does not cost as much healthier foods do. It seems like a win/win at the time. Having more money after buying junk food rather than healthy food will reinforce you to buy more junk food because having money is a pleasurable thing.

4a)
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 = 1 cup
Day 2 = 1 cup
Day 3 = 0 cups
Day 4 = 1 cup
Day 5 = 0 cups
Day 6 = 0 cups
Day 7 = 0 cups
Total: 3 cups of coffee

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
The behavioral intervention is going well! My target behavior is drinking coffee. Before this, I was drinking probably 8 cups of coffee (at least) per week. Now, I have successfully reached my goal of only drinking 3 cups per week.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think that I will still be able to emit the behavior of only drinking 3 cups per week. My body has gotten the hang of it now.

5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post
antecedent, behavior, consequence, aversive, behavioral intervention, goal, emit, reinforce, pleasurable

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedents and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.

-After reading this weeks blog "This is Why Poor People's Bad Decisions Make Perfect Sense", from Huffington Post online. This article helped me open up my way on why some people may think that what they spend their money on is smart or necessary where it may actually be hurting them financial. If I used the ABC's of Behavior, the Antecedent and Consequences would lead to the fact of being poor.
This article was interesting to me because it makes me realize what exactly I spend my money on and how I can try and say what I spend is necessary, even though it may not be. Looking back at my past month I probably could have saved 100 plus dollars not eating out all the time or going out every weekend. This could help me financially and could help save me money.

First example of the ABC's I'm gonna use that was stated in the article is smoking.
A= Too tired and stressed
B= Buy and smoke cigarettes.
C= Cost a lot and is bad for your health (Future financial problems)
The antecedent of being tired or stressed will lead to the behavior to smoke, which in turn will cause them financial problems. This example is good because it shows how people think they are fixing their tiredness or stress level they are also hurting their wallets and lives.

The next example from this article is about her children and the children fathers.
A= Being lonely
B= Finding comfort in a sexual partner
C= Having different fathers for the children
The antecedent helps her understand why she may do a curtain behavior and how it may cause a negative consequence without even thinking about it. Children costs a lot of money which she does not have so she has to work a second job while taking classes to get an education to help pay for her children and herself.

The last example is on why she has to work a second job and this is an example of why the other two examples I gave may also be caused.
A= Not having enough money.
B= Working two jobs.
C= Always tired.
The antecedent makes her behavior of working two jobs causes her always being tired and why it may cause her to smoke which is actually contradicting herself of being poor. The second job is making her spend money on cigarettes cause she is always stressed because of being tired so the second job she maybe thinking is helping her financial where it may actually be hurting her.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
1= yes, read a chapter a day.
0= no, did not read a chapter a day.
Day 1 =1
Day 2 =1
Day 3 =1
Day 4 =0
Day 5 =1
Day 6 =1
Day 7 =1
Average = 85% of the time I read a chapter a day.

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?

-I am trying to read a chapter a day. This is a hard task for me since I do not like to read. This task is helping me learn better and I am doing better in my classes. I omitted reading in classes my first three and a half years in college and this task has helper my grades in prove by just emitting reading.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
-I think I will still try to read a chapter a day because it has been helping me in my class and my grades, so the reinforcer is not the only reason I am going to read, but its for my education. I do not think the baseline will go down without a reinforcer.

5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
-Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence, Omit, Emit, baseline, and reinforcer

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.

I thought this article provided an interesting take on being part of the lower working class or poor. I guess I have had a judgmental opinion in the past before reading this post because I have always thought that poor people are poor, mainly because they are lazy and not motivated enough to get a job, or modify their behaviors to change their money situation. The author of this article is neither lazy or unmotivated. She is a hardworking individual who has had some things happen that are out of her control which put a hardship on her lifestyle. Below are a couple lists of antecedents, behaviors and consequences of being poor that lead to behaviors discussed by the author.
A-no money to buy nice clothes
B-do not fit job profile
C-do not get the job

A-no money to buy good food
B-eat cheap/bulk foods
C-not in prime health to nurse child

A-not thinking long term
B-make poor financial decisions
C-live paycheck to paycheck, with debt

It seems like these antecedent and consequences are an endless cycle which will not allow the author to get out of her financial situation without any help from her employers now or future.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 =2
Day 2 =1
Day 3 =1
Day 4 =1
Day 5 =2
Day 6 =3
Day 7 =1
Average =1.5

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
The behavioral intervention is going well. This week my average for number of times I caught myself biting my nails was significantly lower than the baseline week and the first week on intervention data.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
-I am hoping that I will continue to maintain low number of biting my nails or not bite with at all even thought I am not reinforcing the behavior.

5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
-behavior, antecedent, consequence, behavioral intervention, baseline, reinforcing

This article was very interesting, and definitely put into perspective the way that people in poverty really live. Some people don't take these things into consideration when thinking about poor people, and we definitely take some for granted.

Some of the ABC's I found are as follows..
A-Working 2 jobs/school
B-Lack of sleep
C-Health problems
Working two jobs and going to school takes up all the time in the day and most of the night, so she was lacking sleep. Lack of sleep then causes health problems because the body heals during sleep.

A-Lacking sleep
B-Smoking as a stimulant
C-Health problems
This set of ABC's also goes along with the previous one because the lack of sleep isn't allowing the body to heal, and smoking is able to keep her awake (at least for a little while) during the day, while in turn causes less sleep, causing health problems.

A-Planned parenthood 3 hrs away (no resources)
B- Pregnancy
C-More expenses for children
The planned parenthood being very far away would result in pregnancy due to lack of contraception or resources with pregnancy. Pregnancy obviously then results in a child, which is a lot of money to raise.

A-Cannot afford new clothes
B-Cannot get a job because that requires nice clothes
C-Stuck with low paying job or no job
Being poor or in poverty is lack of money, so therefore the person would not be able to purchase new clothes, and without new clothes, they may look ratty or unprofessional, so getting a new job would not be an option so they are left unemployed or in a low salary job.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 3 times
Day 2 = 3 times
Day 3 = 2 times
Day 4 =1 time
Day 5 = 1 time
Day 6 =2 times
Day 7 =1 time
Average = 1.85 times cracking my back/day

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
I think the behavior intervention is working sliiiightly. I could definitely be punishing/reinforcing more than I am, but it was so subconsciously embedded into my usual routine throughout the day, that it's still done subconsciously sometimes. This intervention has helped it get better though

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think it will stay the same or decrease a little bit. I will have to think about it every time I'm about to do it, and that will persuade me to stop doing it because I would usually be reinforcing it.

5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
TERMS: antecedent, behavior, consequence, ABC's, reinforcement, punishment

This article beautifully articulates the struggles associated with poverty. Poverty can drive you to do things simply to continue on. Poverty elicits behaviors such as: smoking, avoiding health care, lack of sleep, eating poorly, poor financial decisions, unexpected pregnancies, etc.

Not being able to afford things seems to be the root of all evil. Because money is a constraint, often times people in poverty work multiple jobs. An example of the ABCs would be:

A: Not having enough money
B: Working multiple jobs
C: Not getting enough sleep

By not getting enough sleep, job performance (or school if also in the mix) can be affected. This can even be drastic enough that one loses their job. In cases where they don't lose their job, they could be on probation at work or even demoted (making their money situation even worse). This can lead to more behaviors, such as smoking.

A: Poor work performance
B: Smoke to relieve stress
C: Poor health

The poor work performance leads to other detrimental behaviors like smoking to relieve stress. The consequence of this can be poor health. Because money is not a luxury you have when poor, healthcare is poor or obsolete. Many who are poor choose not to get health care simply because they cannot afford it. They often do not eat well for multiple reasons. 1. WIC has specific foods you can eat. While these are designed to be healthy foods they aren't always as filling. 2. Healthy foods like fresh fruits and vegetables are more expensive than crap foods. 3. Most do not have access to a place to cook or the skills to cook. 4. Who has time to cook when you have two jobs, schoolwork, and a child to take care of? 5. Unhealthy foods are more convenient: if you're on your way to work and need to eat something it's much easier to grab a candy bar rather than some fruit or vegetables. This can lead to other poor behaviors.

A: Stress from poor health
B: Sexual relationships to relieve stress
C: Unwanted pregnancies

This one is a very complicated ABC of behavior simply because the consequence leads to a lot of consequences. Unwanted pregnancies often lead to poor health, more extreme poverty, relationship distress, etc. This can lead to smoking again (perpetuating the cycle of ABCs of bad behavior). It can also lead to alcoholism which can affect the health of the child as well. Those in poverty have decisions to make like whether or not to keep the child and this can lead to further distress.

What this all boils down to is:

A: Poverty
B: Emotional, financial, familial, etc. distress
C: Depression and other psychological phenomena that make quality of life lesser

Basically poverty sucks. Which we all know. But when someone is in poverty it is really easy to emit aversive behaviors that are detrimental in the long-run. Those in poverty may not understand how to change their behaviors, that they should, or even that there is a way to change it. The depression and psychological phenomena associated with distress common in poor people can lead to poor financial decisions. If you are unhappy you are more likely to spend money on food or some other reinforcer to make you happy even if you don't have the budget to do so. Many people do not have the proper education on how to budget (I'm in college and suck with money; everyone in high school should have a "Get your sh*t together" class that teaches you how to function in the real world) and spend their money properly that will help them to not have such a poor life.

4a)

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 = 0/2 attended
Day 2 = 0/0 attended (all cancelled)
Day 3 = 0/2 attended
Day 4 = 2/3 attended; one cancelled
Day 5 = 2/2 attended
Average = 4/9 attended. That's close to half so I'm doing better technically.

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
I still suck at attending class. I think it's time for some more tough love and some lack of sleep and a lot more caffeine. Once again I think I am not aware of my behavioral intervention. I have too much going on in my head to be reminded that I'm working on bettering my attendance.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
Well considering I haven't been great about increasing my behavior about going to class I don't think It will change very much. At this point in the semester going to class is vital to get ready for finals so I'm predicting that my attendance will increase. This is kind of a third variable affecting what is going on so it really doesn't have to do with behavior modification or me reinforcing myself.

Terms: behavior, behavior modification, reinforce, aversive, emit, elicit, consequence, antecedent, ABC's

When people are poor and do not have enough resources to plan for anything an hour ahead, they will settle for decisions that satisfy them in that moment or in the short future. Decisions that are seemingly bad and stupid makes sense for people who suffer to gather enough money for their next meals. Cigarettes are expensive, the government charge high tobacco taxes so the smoking behaviours get negatively punished by the removal of money. However, the antecedent to smoke for a poor person can differ significantly for a financially comfortable person. People often smoke to reduce stress, but a poor person may smoke a cigarette so they can walk an extra hour on a hungry stomach although smoking is bad for their health and bad on their wallets – but the consequence of smoking in this antecedent is positive, so it reinforces their smoking behaviour; although the reinforcement only lasts short term, it helps them complete the task in that moment. Another example would be fast food. It is unhealthy but it is cheap. Perhaps it is cheaper to buy groceries and cook a meal, but poor people often do not have enough money to buy groceries for the whole week, perhaps all they have is a five dollar bill and they have not eaten anything all day. Also, some do not have a kitchen, so it does not make sense to them to buy groceries at all. The combination of poverty and hunger can elicit the fast food eating behaviour. The consequence to this behaviour is the satisfaction of eating food, and it reinforces the behaviour further more even though everyone knows how unhealthy fast food can be.

People who suffer from poverty also tend to make financial decisions that do not fit their budget. Since they are always reinforced for fulfilling their short term needs, such as hunger, exhaustion, thirst, they tend to do so with their leisure purchase as well – because that is what they are conditioned to do. Then, the satisfaction of monetary reinforcements are generalized, these people start reinforcing themselves internally on a short-term basis as well. Because they never have enough resources to plan for their long-term goal, they do not have a long-term goal. All they care about is whether they can survive one more day, and that includes internal reinforcement such as sex and the pleasure of being cared for. Since there is no long-term planning, they do not think about how having a child is going to affect their lives. When they discover their pregnancy, they may not have enough resources at that time for an abortion; although it costs significantly more to raise a child, they cannot afford for an abortion in that moment thus there is no alternative but to keep the baby – as it is cheaper at that moment. People suffering from poverty often elicit responses or behaviours that satisfy themselves short-term, because they have always been reinforced by it, and that is what they are conditioned to do.

The author also mentioned that when you have too little money or too much money, it loses its meaning, which means it loses its meaning as a secondary reinforcer. These people are having a difficult time satisfying their primary needs (physiological needs) with primary reinforcers. Only people who have satisfied their primary needs have the time to find meanings in secondary reinforcers and other needs such as esteem and love. The author mentions that poor people do not have time to attend to their psychological needs, this is because they are already suffering to satisfy their most basic survival needs: physiological ones.

Day 1=65. Day 2=43. Day 3=78. Day 4=82. Day 5=50. Day 6=43. Day 7=66.

The behavioural intervention is great so far. I have more doughnuts this week because I am using my phone less. I have also been rather busy this week so it helps taking my attention away from my phone. I have continued hiding my phone, creating a modified environment where I do not have access to my phone. I think my phone usage will go back up again because I did not get reinforce a lot internally by lowering my phone usage, and that this whole process was for a school project, personally I do not find any negativities that come with using the phone a lot. So I predict that my phone usage will spike right up after I stop the reinforcement.

TERMS: reinforcement, punishment, punishing, reinforcing, modified environment, antecedent, behaviours, consequences, internal reinforcer, external reinforcer, primary reinforcer, secondary reinforcer, primary needs, secondary needs, physiological needs, love, esteem

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.

The antecedents, behaviors, and consequences I want to discuss are the hope poor people have in the beginning. I think that the antecedent in this situation is wanting a better life. The behavior is having the hope that this will happen, and the consequence is being let down. I think this works because the consequence as as punishment, thus reducing the likelihood that people will have hope in the future. As the author states, it is better not to hope so that way you are not let down because being poor generally means you will never be poor.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 = 20
Day 2 = 30
Day 3 = 30
Day 4 = 20
Day 5 = 40
Day 6 = 30
Day 7 = 30
Average = 28.57 minutes of reading/day

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
The behavioral intervention is going well, however it is getting harder and harder to actually read for the full however. I think this is largely because the end of the semester is upon us and I am becoming much more busy with other things. I've had to stay up much later to get to my goal, and I'm not sure I can keep this up before I seriously mess up my sleeping patterns.

For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think my behavior will drastically drop and return to at least baseline, if not even lower than that, because the end of the semester means I will be very busy most of the time with actual school work and studying for semester tests.

5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Terms: antecedent, behavior, consequence, punishment, behavioral intervention,

Antecedent: Smoking
Behavior: To stay awake
Consequence: poor health

Although smoking may be a stimulant and make you feel better “right now” it’s going to cause problems for you in the future. The future is all you have, and having kids to look after is a good reason to look forward to it.

Antecedent: Can’t afford nicer clothing
Behavior: is denying better job
Consequence: cannot find job to get out of poverty

Being poor like she said means it doesn’t matter if you pay the bills on time, it doesn’t matter what happens if you don’t. Looking at it this way would make me think about setting aside as much money as I can to save up for nicer clothes which could help lead to a better job.

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = $10.65
Day 2 = $20.00
Day 3 = $4.83
Day 4 = $2.75
Day 5 =$ 13.52
Day 6 = $7.03
Day 7 = $12.97
Average = $10.25
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
The behavioral intervention is going well. I have not been spending as much money on useless items such as going out to eat, extra drinks, or even alcohol.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I believe when I stop reinforcing the behavior that I will continue to emit a saving behavior. I like having more money because it gives me a confident feeling incase something arises where I need to have it on me. Thank feeling may help me continue to save money in my future.
5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Behavior, reinforcement, antecedent, consequence, emit.

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedents and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.

The article was written in a way that let others try to understand why it is that those living in poverty behave the way they do. Living in poverty causes people to emit behaviors that they may not emit if they were living with enough money. Those in poverty are just trying to get by and live their lives as best as they can financially, while trying to stay physically and mentally as healthy as possible. There are a couple behaviors that poor people emit that were discussed in this article and stood out to me. They are smoking and having sex with multiple guys just to feel a connection/feel worthwhile for a little bit.

Smoking:
The antecedent for this behavior in a poor person is feeling stressed or tired. This antecedent elicits the smoking behavior from the person. The consequence is feeling less tired/stressed. While there are many possible consequences for the smoking behavior (both aversive and desirable), this consequence is the one that was discussed in the article. Since the consequence discussed in the article is a desirable one, this is positive reinforcement and increases the likelihood that the poor person will smoke again.
A= feeling stressed/tired
B= smoking
C= feeling less stressed/tired

Sleeping around:
The antecedent for this behavior in a poor person is he or she wanting to feel special, if only for a little bit. This antecedent elicits the sleeping around behavior from that person. The consequence is feeling a connection/feeling special for a little while. The consequence is a positive one because, according to the article, poor people do not think long term. They only think in the moment because it is easier that way. So they sleep with multiple people when they get to chance to feel special instead of searching for something deeper than that.
A= wanting to feel special and worthwhile
B= sleeping around
C= feeling special/a connection with someone for a little bit

4) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data.
Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 =
8.5 hours of sleep
Day 2 =
7.5 hours
Day 3 =
8 hours
Day 4 = 9 hours
Day 5 =
7 hours
Day 6 =
8 hours
Day 7 =
7.5 hours
Average = 7.9 hours of sleep

4) How is the behavioral intervention going? For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer. What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?

The behavioral intervention is going really well. My reinforcement is working well too. I am seeing great improvements in my behaviors because I am actually starting to go to bed earlier every night and getting up at a good time the next morning. I am satisfied with how the behavioral intervention is going and I think that it will continue to improve until I am actually getting 8 hours per night. My average for this past week was 7.9 hours of sleep per night, which is a lot better than it would have been if I would have recorded the amount of sleep I got each night a month ago. I think that even if I stop reinforcing my sleeping behavior, I will still emit the behavior of going to sleep early enough to get 8 hours of sleep (or at least 7).

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

Behavioral intervention, reinforcement, behavior, emit, reinforcing, emit, antecedent, elicits, aversive, desirable, positive reinforcement, consequence

I really liked this article because I can relate to it. I come from a family and have grown up in a "poor" home, and I struggle a lot everyday now as a college student to make ends meet. It was a relief for someone to finally say it, that poor people are not lazy or just making the bad decisions they do, there is a reason for it. And I think this article should be read by a lot of people in our culture. It speaks to me personally, because it is true, and you can see it in the lower class population in our world.

I found multiple ABC's of behavior modification to use as examples of how the antecedent elicits the behavior to be emitted that led to a consequence later becoming a routine, showing as to why poor people fall into a cycle of bad decisions.

1.) Smoking
A= feeling depressed, tired, and anxious
B=smoking a cigarette as a stimulant
C=become addicted, but relieves anxiety/depression, and helps her keep going through her busy schedule

2.) Birth Control
A=closest Planned Parenthood is too far away and gas/services cost too much money
B= doesn't have access/money to afford birth control
C=has more children

3.) Mental Health Treatment
A=costs of appointments, therapy, and medications is too high
B=doesn't go to get help
C=depression and other mental illnesses worsens

4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 =1.5 hours
Day 2 =3 hours
Day 3 =3 hours
Day 4 =3.5 hours
Day 5 =Break Day
Day 6 =6 hours
Day 7 =6 hours
Average =3.3 hours

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
Really well! I have been able to improve and increase my studying homework time by a lot. Since it was already a part of my schedule it was easier to reinforce and increase a desirable behavior, rather than adding in an activity that was unrealistic and unable to be put in my schedule.

For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I still think it will get done, because it's something I have to do, and I'm only getting better at increasing it.

5) Terms: ABC's of behavior modification, antecedent, elicit/emit, behavior, consequence desirable behavior, reinforce

Poverty is not an easy thing to deal with. As Linda Tirado explains, it is a perpetual cycle that is extremely difficult, next to impossible, to get out of. This leads to bad decisions, and if you believe Linda, these decisions are unavoidable and in fact don’t really even matter. She says that she can be responsible today, but what is the point because the money will be gone in three days anyway. This is an interesting take on things with many interesting behaviors. I am going to focus on the 12 burritos for $2 behavior that Linda discusses.

A: Poor and pregnant. B: Eating junk food (16 cent burritos). C: Saving money for other things while still eating enough.

The reason she ate these burritos was because she was pregnant and she knew that she needed protein and enough nutrients for her child. This was the cheapest, most accessible option, so she ate 16-cent burritos. The antecedent is clear, she has very little money yet needs to eat enough for two. Poverty led her to find the cheapest option. The consequence of saving money reinforces the behavior. She has very little money to begin with, so eating extremely cheap food is one way to save money. She lived in a weekly hotel and had multiple jobs, so eating health clearly was out of the picture at this point. This may seem unimaginable to us, but when poverty is involved, nothing is out of reason.

Day 1: .5 hour
Day 2: 1 hour
Day 3: 2 hours
Day 4: 1 hour
Day 5: .5 hour
Day 6: .5 hour
Day 7: 3 hours

I think my behavior will continue. It has been very sporadic, and I think it will continue to be so.

Terms: Antecedent, consequence, behavior, reinforces

This article was very powerful. The stories were very interesting and it opened my eyes to keep valuing what I have and what I don’t. Sometimes we forget what we have and we keep wanting more and that is usually not that right way of living. 



A= Day off work B= goes to bed early C= sleeping schedule is messed up.
As the first story in the article, we can see how the antecedent in this case the day off work may change the entire routine that she had causing a different sleeping time and messing up with the sleeping schedule. However, she needs some rest but not too much because it may interfere with her job. 



A= Exhaustion B= smoking C= stimulant to keep you up
This person is using smoking as a stimulant to be up. She maybe can’t afford surviving with only one job, ands may need to work more than one therefore she is always tired. Smoking in this case is helping her to keep going. However, instead of helping her is destroying her health. 



A= Fridge and Microwave B= No food, so she eat burritos C= because she si pregnant she need the protein. 
In this case this woman can’t afford to buy healthy food because is out of her budget. Therefore in order to feed the baby and herself she buys some really cheap burritos to not starve and also keep feeding the baby. Pregnant and no Job. 

Overall this article was really an eye opener, I could see how many aversive decision were made because of the lack of money.



4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data.

Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 6 oz fruits and vegetables. 

Day 2 = 4 oz

Day 3 = 8 oz

Day 4 = 7 oz

Day 5 = 5 oz

Day 6 = 4 oz

Day 7 = 4 oz

Average = 5.42

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?

The behavioral intervention is going good, just trying to keep it up with he portions and trying to increase et best possible. I am trying to wak up earlier to eat breakfast and therefore more fruit but sometimes I can’t make it to breakfast. 


For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
Hopefully it won’t go all the way down because it is already becoming a behavior trying to eat healthy and in portions so hopefully i won’t decrease my portions in a big way. Instead trying to increase it without a reinforcement. 


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

Reinforce, antecedent, consequence, behavior, Target behavior, aversive.

This article is sad because I believe that most people that read it do not understand how lucky we are to live the lives we do. It is hard to grasp the concept that I am in the top 5 % of the world’s wealthiest population and I don’t know how to pay for things sometimes. The problem that I see with poverty is that it is constantly aversive. The consequences for the behaviors that are emitted are the majority of the time aversive. When they receive their paycheck which is a reinforcer for working sometimes every single day with little to no days off, they often have to turn around and spend it on housing, food, and other necessities. This in turn is very aversive and is punishing. There is little money left over and they feel as though there work does not matter. In the article, the author wrote this quote, “It is not worth it to me to live a bleak life devoid of small pleasures so that one day I can make a single large purchase.” When relating this back to behavior modification, I thought of continuous reinforcement. This is because she believes that since poor people do not receive many pleasures in life, that they soak as many up as they can get. Poor people tend to indulge in many small pleasures more often than saving up for one big pleasure. This reminds me of continuous reinforcement because they do not know when the reinforcement will turn into punishment they need the continuous reinforcement.
Another part of the article said, “You grab a bit of connection wherever you can to survive. You have no idea how strong the pull to feel worthwhile is. It's more basic than food.” Here the author is talking about sex and why poor people tend to have more babies and multiple babydaddys. This almost models an extinction burst, where the behavior may be taken away for awhile and as soon as you get a ‘connection’ you tend to cling to it until it is gone. The fact that she describes it as more impactful than food in the lives of the poor is very interesting to me. This basic need is not necessarily reinforced (having kids may be seen as a punishment because lack of money for resources) but the likelihood of the behavior does not decrease. This may be an example of how innate behaviors work.

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 =yes
Day 2 =yes
Day 3 =no
Day 4 =no
Day 5 =yes
Day 6 =yes
Day 7 =yes
Average =yes

-The behavior intervention is going pretty well. I can start to see how the pattern of doing it and receiving a reinforcement are increasing the likelihood of the behavior.
-I hope that my behavior will stay the same and it does not decrease. If it stays the same, then I am able to keep with the modification process and hopefully change the behavior. If my behavior does decrease then I will be disappointed in the process and the way that I chose to set it up.
-Terms: Innate behaviors, reinforced, extinction burst, punishment, reinforcement, continuous reinforcement, behavior modification, aversive, consequences, emitted

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.

This article is very powerful. I identify with it a lot because my mother raised a family of four off of a salary of $21,000 a year. I don’t know how she did it but she is super woman but I watched her go through a lot of the things that were mentioned in this article. She was never promiscuous because she was and still is married to my dad. She did have a bad addiction to Pepsi and she treated that like it was a cigarette. The part that I saw the most was that the long term decisions never happened because she was so focused on keeping a roof over our heads and food in our bellies. The lady also talks about that in this article.

A= Feeling helpless because she has no money
B= being promiscuous
C= Feeling powerful and in control for a short period of time

Since her environment was out of control, one of the ways she could feel in control was if she could sleep with someone. During that time, she was rewarded by feeling in control and valuable. This was a positive reward since it gave her a sense of happiness. This has happened too many of the people that are from my home town. They feel helpless and don’t have any money for recreational activities and just want to feel like they belong so they don’t make very good decisions. This doesn’t have to be sleeping with random people, it could also be reckless driving, robberies, and many other activities. These activities usually happen out of boredom and frustration. A lot of the kids from my school would go vandalize property for fun but never thought about the long term repercussions of such activities just like the lady who wrote this article.

4a) Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 =44 min
Day 2 =0
Day 3 =27
Day 4 =0
Day 5 =10 min, ab workout
Day 6 =47 min
Day 7 =60 min walk+10 min ab workout=70 min
Average =28.28 minutes

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?

I think my behavioral intervention is going great. I had to change my reward again and add a punishment in for not working out on non-break days. I am using a negative punishment of not being able to hang out in the living room at night if I skip my workout. Usually I get board in my room and will do the workout anyway so I guess I changed my antecedents to encourage the working out behavior.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?

I think that without a reward or punishment, my behavior will slowly return to baseline. I think it will take some time but I have incorporated it into my schedule so hopefully it will take a long time for my behavior to return to the baseline.

5) Terms: behavioral intervention, reward, negative punishment, antecedent, return to baseline, positive reward

ABC's of poverty:

The article author specifically speaks to the target behavior of smoking as an addictive and bad behavior. This would also be similar to other individuals who are lower class or poor that emit other addictive behaviors like drinking and drugs. The specific antecedent for this behavior is working long hours, the behavior is smoking and the consequence becomes a combination of reducing stress and increasing alertness which looks like this
A= working long hours
B= smoking
C= reduced stress/increased alertness
This would be a behavioral process of negative reinforcement because the consequence to the behavior is a removal of something aversive that being fatigue and stress.

Another specific example of a behavioral process with poverty is less specific. With the complaint that poor individuals have children that they can’t afford, then why do they have so many children? The overarching issues can be broken down into the ABC’s:
A = No income for contraceptive use
B = Sex
C = Pregnancy
This could be remedied with a change in the antecedent, as the author points out that often free contraceptives are mostly available to the population that could afford them if necessary. While these are very much linked it is hard to label a reinforcement or punishment procedure happening, this situation and behavior is mostly elicited by the environment.

4a) Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 2
Day 2 = 1
Day 3 = 0
Day 4 = 1
Day 5 = 2
Day 6 = 2
Day 7 = 3
Average = 1.57

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
My behavioral intervention is going really well. I have found different ways to achieve the benefits of being able to paint my nails and not have to carry band aids with me all the time in case I break the skin around my nail. I’m starting to realize how unhealthy my behavior was in the course of leaving myself open to infection because of broken skin and the fact that I have been ignoring how I deal with my anxiety in certain situations. I am also noticing the effort but ability for anyone to change their own behaviors.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think, having gotten to the point where my nails are strong and consistent in length that I believe they won’t bother me anymore. I also have a routine where I care for them and I also keep a file with me. I know that with these measures in place I will at lease reduce the behavior overall.

5) Terms and Terminology: target behavior, reinforcement, punishment, elicit, emit, antecedent, consequence, behavior.

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
It seems to me that this article is expressing the depression that is made because of environment. Socioeconomic status has a hold on the way you make decisions in your everyday life, including the person who wrote the article. It seems to me that because the person has been dealt such a undesirable hand in life she is going to emit behaviors that are short lived reinforcements. The article talks about how it is so hard to support a husband and kids while going to school. The obvious question would be you must forget the mindset and understand that this is the choice you made in life and how you are going to make it the best life possible, for yourself, husband, and kids. First, you need to breathe I would recommend everyday give yourself at least thirty minutes just to take long slow breathes and focusing on only breathing. During this time the other addictions need to be sorted out. In the article she explains smoking, and excess spending in a sort of learned helplessness kind of way. She believes that because her life got turbulent so fast that now she is starting to make fast uneducated decisions. I would recommend to people of low economic status to start your goal small. If it is a $25o paycheck every 2 weeks learn how to live on that. It is only temporary, work your job like your life depends on it, which it does in a way. This could increase the likelihood of the boss emitting the behavior of giving more hours, or a pay raise. Slowly build your goals around nutrition, exercise, and relaxation. Food that is healthy for you is not as expensive as you think and most of the frozen microwave food is quite expensive when you take inconsideration size and ingredients. Next you must find time to exercise which at first you are going to hate. However, when you realize that everyday you do have at least 3o minutes to do a workout routine and have the feeling of accomplishment, it will become easier. Then there is relaxation, living in the moment, seeing your children even for a couple of hours listen to what they have to say and laugh and joke with them. One must remember that money is not a luxury at all. Because once you live with the attitude that I can be the best version of myself and aim to do what is best for my family, you are already winning.

Emitting, elicit, behaviors, punishment, reinforcement,
4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 =3
Day 2 =3
Day 3 =
Day 4 =4
Day 5 =
Day 6 =3
Day 7 =
Average =
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
It is going very well, I am in a good place right now because I am doing good in most of my classes so I have little stress and enough freetime to hit the weightroom. I have been increasing the amount of weight I am doing and finding that it is getting easier to go where as before I would have to almost force myself to get in there. I believe the reinforcement strategy as well as the reinforcer of results has made it possible for me to start making it into the weight room at least 4 times a week for 5 lifts or 45 minutes and one day being a weekend day.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it? I believe that my behavior is being reinforced by other things by now but giving up the fast food at the end of the week will make me experience some discomfort or extinction burst, because of the convince.
5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Extinction burst, establishing operation, reinforcer, reinforceing, punishment, emit

Certainly a powerful and very personal piece. The inevitable short sightedness of having to live pay-check to pay-check doesn’t leave much room for comfort. To apply the behavioral concepts to this, the antecedents begin to change; things that we normally receive and are conditioned to become luxuries when you don’t have money. The example of relationships was excellent. With poverty, you’re not thinking about months down the down – and if you are then you aren’t planning for it, merely dreaming. You want to feel loved and needed, beggers can’t be choosers and you make, what some would call, irrational decisions. More stress and problems is the consequence but, you wanted the immediate reward. Money becomes a massive negative punishment for doing anything with an expense – going out to eat, going to bars with friends, going to the doctor, the list really never ends. Many of us would live to see that and pawn off that negativity by saying ‘It’s your fault you’re poor.’. In some cases that statement is correct, more common though, it is the wheel of fortune we call fate that deals bad hands and creates these problems we must deal with. Very few people deserved to get laid off in 2008, but many did. There are people whose parents never taught them financial responsibility; furthermore, money becomes a different stimulus when you’re in abject poverty. Operant behaviors change to reflect the new reality; one of survival and more immediate rewards (taking what you can get when you can get it). It’s important to realize we’re all interconnected here. Anyone who says differently lives in another reality. What affects one persons world will effect yours as well. Recognize the system and you can then begin to manipulate it.
4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 =1hr
Day 2 =0
Day 3 =1hr
Day 4 =0
Day 5 =.5
Day 6 =1.5
Day 7 =1
Average =.7
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
It’s going alright. Finals are around the corner and I’m focusing more on completing all my projects than on my leisure activities. Once I’m finished with finals I should have more time for this.
Terms: Operant behavior, behavior, antecedent, reward, consequence, punishment, stimulus, conditioned

One of the behaviors from this article that I thought was especially interesting was how the author talked about having several “baby daddies” is typically a behavior of a woman in poverty. The antecedent to this behavior is being in poverty. Because a woman is poor she feels unvalued, and when she comes across a man who makes her feel valuable, even if it’s just a short period of time, she is going to want to be with him. Her poverty elicited her to emit the behavior of dating this man because she built the positive contingency between him and feeling valued. Being with a man who won’t make a good partner in the long run, just because he makes her feel wanted is the target behavior. The consequence of this is getting pregnant with a man who does not have the means to support a child.
Another interesting target behavior that the author pointed out was that people in poverty are unable to open bank accounts due to the Patriot Act. The antecedent the behavior of not being able to open a bank account is being in poverty. There are a wide range of consequences for this behavior, which include” not being able to have a credit card, not being able to make a down payment on an apartment, etc. If a person gets rejected for being able to sign a lease each time he or she tries, this is an example of continuous schedule, because the same consequence is occurring each time.
4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 0
Day 2 = 0
Day 3 = 45
Day 4 = 35
Day 5 = 30
Day 6 = 20
Day 7 = 0
Average = 18.5
4b) So far my behavioral intervention is going well. I am using a fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement for this project and it is working great. Because I have kept up with my reinforcement and goals, I have built a negative contingency between cardio and napping. So when I do cardio, I know that a nap won’t happen because I am feeling energized. I also noticed that I am sleeping better at night, which gives cardio an even more positive valence than it already had.
Now that I am no longer reinforcing my behavior, I think that I will probably be less likely to do my cardio workouts but more likely to do them than I was before I began the intervention. I won’t have the Netflix as a reward, but I’ll have the better sleep schedule as an unexpected positive reinforcement to keep me motivated as well.
Terms- Antecedent, target behavior, consequence, elicit, emit, positive contingency, continuous schedule of reinforcement, fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement, valence, positive reinforcement.

I thought that this article was quite interesting. The women shows a good representation of some of the issues that poor people go through. For me, I have not go through most of what was brought up. This article gave me a better understanding of what some people on the low money side go through. One thing that stuck out to me was the part of beauty and fitting the company’s look. It’s crazy to think how much a look can play a difference. If you don’t have the “look” you don’t get the job. Another antecedent is the convenient food being cheaper than the inconvenient food prices sitting higher. Consequence of that is food that isn’t good for you gets more bought than the healthier, higher priced food.
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 =1am-11am(Saturday night-Sunday morning)
Day 2 =2am-12pm
Day 3 =1am-9am
Day 4 =2am-11am
Day 5 =1am-9am
Day 6 =2am-10am
Day 7 =2am-12pm
Average =1:30am- 11am

4b) I would like to think that the behavioral intervention is going better because I am getting more sleep, but on average, I am waking up 30 minutes later than I usually do week #3 compared to #2.
With the removal of reinforcement, I think that I will only do worse in making a change.
5) antecedent, reinforcement, consequence

ABC's of poverty:
Please read - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-tirado/why-poor-peoples-bad-decisions-make-perfect-sense_b_4326233.html
Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
A= having multiple kids
B= working two jobs
C= Tired
This article was extremely interesting coming from the eyes of someone who is actually living and breathing poverty instead of someone looking from the outside in. All of us can assume why poor people are poor and why they act the way they do, but until we are really in their shoes, we really cannot assume anything.
The antecedent I want to look at first is the fact that this lady had multiple children even though she is living in poverty. I believe that is one of the root causes of her problems with poverty, because as we all know, children are expensive! Because she has these multiple children to take care of, this causes her to have multiple jobs in order to not only support herself, but also to support her children as well. The consequence of this behavior is that she hardly has anytime for her own personal care. Between cooking, cleaning, and working the two jobs like I mentioned, the mother is limited on the amount of time she gets to sleep, leaving her with the behavioral consequence of being tired a lot of the time.
This consequence of being tired also can be an antecedent to another behavior as well.
A= Being tired
B= Smoking
C= Poor health conditions
I thought this article also did a great job of explaining how emitting certain behaviors can also be antecedents to another behavior as well. In this case, having multiple children lead her to work two jobs and the consequence being tired, well now, we can turn that consequence of being tired into an antecedent to her smoking behavior in order to stay awake. This shows that antecedents don’t always have to just cause behaviors, they can turn into behaviors themselves based on the environment and the situation. This article was a good practice for picking out all sorts of behaviors and trying t figure out what causes these behaviors to happen (antecedents) and then because of this behavior what will be the consequences.

Day 1 = 0
Day 2 = 10.00
Day 3 = 5.00
Day 4 = 10.00
Day 5 = 10.00
Day 6 = 5.00
Day 7 = 0
Average = $5.71 per day
How is the behavioral intervention going?
Just from looking at the data I am collecting I am already seeing decrease in the amount of money spent. I believe the behavioral intervention is going really well. Just my being aware of my behavior has helped me reduce my spending which I think is really fascinating.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I believe now that I am no longer reinforcing my behavior I won’t be as aware of it and my behavior may increase back to what it used to be. Extinction may occur if I were to continue to no longer reinforce be behavior.
Terms: antecedent, behavior, consequence, emit, extinction

This article made me ponder about life and how grateful I am to have parents who can afford to provide me with basic needs.

A=feeling that they will never escape poverty
B= they don’t try to improve themselves
C= they are never going to get a better job
Poor people don’t try to improve themselves because they think that poverty will live forever with them. As a result, they are never offered high end or middle class jobs. Instead, they only get to work low end jobs.

A=stressful day
B=smoking
C=get through stress and work better
The author said that smoking is reinforcing enough to get through her stressful days that act as antecedents to her target behavior. She said that smoking gives her energy to take another step and function better when she feels like she is falling apart.

A= convenience food is cheap
B= eat convenience foods
C= poor health
Although convenience food is cheap, convenience foods are often high in fat, salt and sugar and low in nutritious value. This makes it more likely that one will have health problems due to their nutrition and will gain weight. This poor nutrition also often affects one’s appearance, which adds to the inability to get a good job. For example, the author survives on nicotine, coffee, and burrito.

A= only had cash
B= hotels only take credit cards
C= walked around in the rain for 5 hours before finding a place that would accept cash (aversive)

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 = 7.5 hours of sleep
Day 2 = 8 hours of sleep
Day 3 = 8 hours of sleep
Day 4 = 7 hours of sleep
Day 5 = 8 hours of sleep
Day 6 = 8 hours of sleep
Day 7 = 8 hours of sleep
Average = 7.78 hours of sleep

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
It is getting better with the presence of the reinforcer (movie every weekend). It is definitely difficult to keep up with the behavior when exams are around the corner. But, I am trying my best to maintain my target behavior despite the circumstances.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think when I stop reinforcing my behavior with a movie every weekend, it may become more difficult. However, I hope to get emit almost similar behavior if not the exact behavior.

5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Emit, target behavior, antecedent, behavior, consequence, reinforcing, aversive

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedents and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
I thought it was interesting when she talked about how she smoked because even though it was expensive, it was the only thing she could afford to help her stay awake, to relax and feel better. However it also leads to her problem with her skin, which makes it so she doesn’t get better jobs because she’s not “pretty.” Antecedent: stress Behavior: Smoking Consequence: Addiction. This behavior is caused by stress, however I learned in my Abnormal Psychology class that nicotine increases stress, so even though it makes her feel okay for a little while, all it is really doing is increasing her stress, which leads her to continue smoking. The smoking also results in the skin problem that stops her from getting a better job, to make more money and decrease stress.
4a) Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 =
30
Day 2 =
25
Day 3 =
35
Day 4 =
30
Day 5 =
20
Day 6 =
25
Day 7 =
0
Average = 23.57
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
It is going well, sometimes I ponder not exercising but getting my reward anyway, but I just remind myself it isn’t worth it in the long run.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it? I might hesitate to continue but this is also something I really want to succeed at so I will continue trying my hardest.
5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Behavior
Antecedent
Consequence

Reading Activity Week 14

There are arguments with why people in poverty are different compared to others in a more luxurious life. There are many different levels of a life that one person can have and will have. Many people would say that people living in a poor life, act and behave differently than someone in a wealthy life style. From the article This is Why People’s Bad Decisions Make Perfect Sense there are aspects that can be looked at from their antecedents and consequences to see why the behaviors are performed. The aspects I am going to look at are smoking, having children, and having multiple partners.
Antecedents
Environments have a strong impact on someone’s life which is mentioned in the debate of nature vs. nurture. There are many environments that a person can put themselves in whether it is a large or small environment. There is a main argument among others that someone who lives in poverty has less chances to surround themselves in more environments with education. In the article they mention that a behavior that is performed is smoking. The environments that they surround themselves in there are other people smoking which makes it easier for them to smoke as well. The environment of others smoking also makes it socially acceptable. Another behavior discussed was having children when they financially cannot. Looking at the environment that poor people are put in they do not have very positives aspects around them. This is one of those enjoyable things they are allowed to do. The idea of children is not planned according to the article, but because of sexual contact being one of the few enjoyments in their environment having children is made easier. This is also another concept that is accepted in an area that poor people live in. Lastly, the environment of where poor people live and the poor quality of supply for their children is why they have many children with different fathers. To poor people this is their way to provide for their child. From the environments of poor people where they work and live has a very negative impact on their life. This even leads to consequences in their life.
Consequences
Consequences are mostly seen in areas of where someone lives in a poor area because their life is already seen as a consequence to them. Most of the consequences to them are also seen in a negative and in a punishment way. In the article there are many consequences that they have to deal with because of their behavior. For smoking they see it as a positive thing that gets them threw work and to keep pushing forward in life. It also allows them to have some more energy with being up late doing work and schooling. They know that smoking is bad for their health, but their behavior emits a reward to them instead of a punishment on their health. Looking at the behavior of having children that is looked at as a punishment for not planning. However, according to the article the women states that there is no time to plan which leads to pregnancies. That is a consequence that they deal with. However, they have children with more than one person to help supply and support a life for their children. Some people in their life would look at these behaviors and think of them as a punishment, but that is not always true for poor people.
This article does show why poor people behave the way they do. Their environment and how they look at their behavior in a reward or punishment way does influence their behavior. The poor people usually all live around each other so they are seeing the same thing every day. They also most likely work in the same place and raise children together. They have lost hope and stick in the same environment and life style. With being surrounded by poor people it leads to poor decisions such as smoking and having children. There are ways around this though and hope for every individual whether rich or poor.
4a) Behavioral Project (Return to Baseline). Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 = 30 min meditation, end of day stress level 4
Day 2 = 30 min meditation, end of day stress level 3
Day 3 =30 min meditation, end of day stress level 4
Day 4 =30 min meditation, end of day stress level 3
Day 5 =30 min meditation, end of day stress level 3
Day 6 =30 min meditation, end of day stress level 3
Day 7 =30 min meditation, end of day stress level 2
Average =30 min meditation, end of day stress level 3.14

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
The intervention is going well with keeping up with my meditation. This was also a calm week with my stress levels. I am ahead on my school work and I am ready for my finals. I would say that the meditation could possibly be helping with my attitude/ behavior going in towards finals. There are many other factors out there, but it could be part of the reason. I have also noticed a slight change in my positivity especially with the attitude towards finals.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think since I have continued with reinforcing myself and meditating every day that it will still continue once I stop reinforcing myself. However, I think my stress level will change with the two weeks before finals always being a stressful time. Hopefully though it will help because this is a very important time to not be stressed and be more relaxed going into finals week.
Terms: behavior, punishment, consequence, environment, emits, reward, and planning

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
This article was extremely eye opening. Growing up, my family was always poorer than my classmates, but I am thankful we were not as poor as Linda was describing. One aspect of poverty that this article covers is beauty. The author states that being beautiful or appearing attractive is a middle to high class thing. If you have more money you can afford to get more sleep and take better care of yourself. Money is also a secondary reinforcer. So, in context with the ABC’s, Antecedent- Beauty + Behavior- Applying for the job = consequence- Getting the job. This was not the case with the author because she was lacking beauty her consequence was not getting the job because she did not fit that image. Another aspect of this article was having multiple sexual partners. This goes hand in hand with the beauty aspect. If one does not feel beautiful they will cling to someone to gives them that desirable attention they want so much. This in turn causes problems to escalate. The ABC’s for multiple sex partners is A- lonely and not feeling beautiful + B- finding comfort in temporary partners = C- Having children with different partners. The last aspect of this article I am going to address is Linda’s smoking. Although smoking is expensive, it was one of the things that kept her going. It was her little bit of relaxation in the day. So, A- Stressed and tired + B- Smoking = C- poor health.
4a) Behavioral Project (Return to Baseline). Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 0 minutes
Day 2 = 0 minutes
Day 3 = 60 minutes
Day 4 = 20 minutes
Day 5 =0 minutes
Day 6 = 0 minutes
Day 7 =30 minutes
Average = 16 minutes
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
When I was deciding on my behavioral intervention, I completely forgot about how Thanksgiving was right in the middle of it. Because of this, I did not really keep up with the intervention and I can definitely tell a difference in it. This week I was more sluggish and tired, instead of the refreshed and energized as I had when I was working out.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
Because I took this week off because of Thanksgiving, I definitely need to get back into the habit again. This sluggish feeling, I had this week because of not working out is another motivator to work out. So, I hope to continue to work out even if I am no longer reinforcing myself.
5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
ABC’s, Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence, desirable, secondary reinforcer, behavioral intervention,

This was a very interesting article to read, especially from her point of view. I personally understand what it’s like to grow up with not a lot of money, but never to that extreme.

One example of the ABC’s dealing with poverty is:
A-working 2 jobs, having 2 kids, going to school full-time
B-skipping out on sleep to do attend to all those things
C-always being exhausted and too tired and hopeless to try and do things to get out of poverty

This woman has 2 kids and a family, like many others in our society. But she also goes to school full time to further her education so maybe one day she won’t have to work 2 jobs and to have enough money to take care of her kids and simply survive off of. Having all those obligations takes time, and sometimes there just isn’t enough time in a day to do all of those and still take care of oneself, which is something that she talked about in regards to getting enough sleep. She usually only gets 3 hours of sleep which is definitely not enough to function properly, and that little of sleep leads to the consequence of being exhausted all the time. And even though she smokes to help with stimulation and energy she still feels tired and hopeless, with no drive to try and change her situation because she is simply too tired to try to. It’s easier to just keep going in the same cycle she’s in because trying to change things requires a lot of energy and time, neither of which she has very much of. That leads her to be stuck where she is.

A-initially being poor and not having access to family planning services
B-gets pregnant
C-continues to struggle with poverty because now has to take care of child and herself

Being at a poverty level from an early age makes it even harder to get out or change the way things are. Since she was at that poverty level she couldn’t afford doctor visits or family planning services that might provide birth control or something of the sort. Without those, it’s easier to become pregnant, which she did, and being pregnant and having to prepare for a baby is expensive, especially to one who doesn’t have much to being with. As a consequence of becoming pregnant while being poor, she just couldn’t get ahead and so continued to stay poor because she has to care for another person now. That just leads back to what I described above as well. Now, because she has a child, she had to work more to support it and her, which leads her to be exhausted all the time, causing her to lose hope and drive to get out of the pattern she is stuck in because it takes time and energy.

4a) Behavioral Project (Return to Baseline). Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 =2
Day 2 =1
Day 3 =0
Day 4 =1
Day 5 =1
Day 6 =0
Day 7 =0
Average = .71 times per day I engaged in emotional/binge eating type behaviors.

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
The behavioral intervention continues to go well for me as seen in the improvements in my numbers. It does help sometimes to have the reinforcement, but I’ve discovered that having the mental satisfaction is almost enough for me, as I experienced with the water intervention. The distractions I use too are also helpful, such as having gum on my desk readily available to chew on when I feel like I am going to emit the behavior. Being able to distract that immediate desire to eat for an emotional or binge type reason often helps me refrain from it for a while.

For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think my behavior will continue to be the same or even improve for the reason I mentioned above. I like having that mental satisfaction of knowing I achieved my goal even if I am not reinforcing it. Other than just satisfaction, I like the proud feeling I get knowing I was able to not emotional/binge eat that day because it is something I have struggle with for a while and have wanted to be able to change. I want to continue on with the progress I’ve made so far, not regress back to the way it used to be and since I’m already this far and have been able to identify important aspects related to the behavior I don’t think it will be too hard to do.

5) Terms: behavior, behavioral intervention, reinforcement, antecedent, consequence, emit

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedents and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
I found this article to be very enlightening. Much of what the author talked about was the feeling of never having any hope of getting out the situations that they find themselves in. Although I wouldn’t say that there isn’t any hope, I agree, I’m sure it is hard to find a way out of that situation once put into it. Some of the antecedents of being poor could range drastically. A few I can think of is being born into it and making a few decisions that aren’t financially appropriate. Some of the consequences could be that you need government assistance or that you find yourself homeless or working multiple jobs. All of the things that I listed above could contribute to the variety of poor behavioral decisions that a person of low income could face. Although I myself have never been in the situation, I think it is important to remember that things could always turn around with hard work. You somehow may find yourself able to stumble back into a good job and eventually get out of the lower class.
4a) Behavioral Project (Return to Baseline). Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 =12,634 steps per day
Day 2 =9,490 steps per day
Day 3 = 11,205 steps per day
Day 4 =13,267 steps per day
Day 5 = 11,320 steps per day
Day 6 = 12,873 steps per day
Day 7 = 12, 493 steps per day
Average =11,897 steps per day
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
So far, my behavior intervention is going alright. I haven’t totally made the goal of 12,000 steps per day each day, but I normally a least come fairly close to this goal and overall, I have improved a lot on the amount of steps I take each day.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
Although I am a bit unsure of what will happen next week, I like to think that I am starting to get used to trying to walk extra steps each day so hopefully I will be able to achieve this goal, without the reinforcement of a cheat meal at the end of the week, like I have previously tried to reinforce over the last couple of weeks.
5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Reinforce, behavior, goal, intervention, antecedents, consequence, and ABC’s.

1) Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedents and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
- Example 1:
A- Having a family, going to college full time, and working two jobs all at the same time.
B- Being exhausted every day and not having energy to do extra things.
C- She can’t stop making her decisions because she feels hopeless and that there is no point in trying.
She’s always had a rough life and was taught that it’s very difficult to get out of poverty. When she graduated high school and left her home, she quickly realized that even when she did the right thing bad things were still going to happen. Her apartment got flooded and her husband was not receiving his government checks so this put a major strain on their finances. She works two jobs to keep up with the bills and is going to college so that she won’t have to work so much in the future. But time and time again, she tries to do the right thing and it doesn’t work. In fact she’s so exhausted that she “needs” to smoke because it acts as a stimulant and keeps her awake.
- Example 2:
A- Being poor, trying to have lasting connections, and no access to a Planned Parenthood
B- Becomes pregnant, twice
C- Has to learn about pregnancy on her own and continues to struggle financially because now she has two children.
She is already struggling because she was living in a motel and gas is very expensive. The closest PP to her was three hours away and she couldn’t afford the co-pay for hospitals or specialists. So she had to do her own research on her pregnancy and go without prenatal care.
Example 3:
A- She’s poor and is looking for a good paying job that she would be good at.
B- She’s not hired because companies say she doesn’t fit the image.
C- She ends up having to work at fast food restaurants, making minimum wage.
She is qualified for the higher wage jobs and would be capable of handling the work load at those jobs. But when she was 19, she was hit by a drunk driver and lost her teeth. She can’t afford to go to the dentist so her teeth keep getting worse. She has bad skin because of all the stress she is dealing with and the fact that she smokes and gets very little sleep. This is very discouraging and makes her feel hopeless leading her to low paying jobs.

2a) Behavioral Project (Return to Baseline). Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 42.25 fl oz
Day 2 = 42.25 fl oz
Day 3 = 44.9 fl oz
Day 4 = 25.35 fl oz
Day 5 = 24.9 fl oz
Day 6 = 42.25 fl oz
Day 7 = 50.7 fl oz
Average = 38.94 fl oz
2b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
- Honestly, the behavioral intervention is not going well. I’m having a difficult time reinforcing my hydrating behaviors to the point where I’m barely reinforcing myself. Some days I do pretty good and others I’m very distracted or stressed.

2c) What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are no longer reinforcing it?
- I believe that my behavior will remain the same because I’m already having difficulties with my reinforcement. I believe that for this target behavior, right now is not a good time to change it because it’s not very important to me. Perhaps in the future when I’m less stressed, I could try changing my target behavior and the result will be better.

3) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
- Behavioral intervention, reinforcing, reinforcement, target behavior, ABC’s

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedents and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.

This article was a powerfully written piece that is enlightening to read, and it raises many more questions rather than answers. Many of the behaviors and mindsets befuddle me, but I wont attempt to dissect those in this piece. It seems that these behaviors are very cyclical in nature, and like the classic commercials of, I dont have money to go to college, I dont have a degree because I didnt go to college, I dont have a job because I dont have a degree, I dont have money because I dont have a job, I dont have a job and dont have money. And the process repeats in a cycle.

One area of her behavior that relates to the ABC’s can be broken down as such.
Antecedent: Rejections from interviews and job promotions
Behavior: Not job hunting or attempting to move up the corporate ladder in jobs
Consequence: Remain in similar financial and emotional states

In this example, the woman expresses how in many of her previous job interviews she did not fit the “corporate mold” and thus denied from a job. Now this is a byproduct of her living situations and something that, even though she is attempting to change, is somewhat out of her control. Because of this, she is being negatively punished, punished in the sense that something desired is not happening, and it is negative because the job is being removed from her opportunities. Because of this, the behavior frequency of applying for jobs decreases, and thus the consequence of remaining in the same situation is present. In this example, it is like a person who fell in a pit, and no matter what they do cannot get out of the pit.

Another area of behavior could be listed as seen here.
A: No excess money
B: No vacations or breaks
C: Less emotional happiness

In this example, the aforementioned lack of jobs and funds remains prevalent. In this case though, she is unable to go on vacations or take breaks and “enjoy” life in the sense that most people would ascribe that meaning. In this case, her behavior that is being inhibited is more of a behavior class as vacations and breaks take many meanings and have many examples, however the whole class is affected by the lack of funds, and this could in turn bring a problem to her eventual happiness. These are just two simple examples that can be found in her story, there are many more that could be used however.

4a) Behavioral Project (Return to Baseline). Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 0
Day 2 = 0
Day 3 = 0
Day 4 = 0
Day 5 = 0
Day 6 = 0
Day 7 = 0
Average = 0

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
Since the week was Thanksgiving break, it is difficult to use my predetermined professional settings as accurate gauges for how my behavior is going. Since none of these met, the default of zero happen, therefore this week is again an anomaly and will not be crucial in seeing my progression through the weeks. Overall, I have noticed that removing it from one scenario makes me more prone to swearing in another setting and excessively using words. It’s a weird thing to notice, but I am starting to grasp the subtleties of my behaviors and it allows me a better understanding to push forward to changing my target behavior.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I do not see much change happening from the reinforced weeks to the baseline week, reinforcement for this behavior is a tricky thing for me to figure out, so because of this I have not been positively or negatively reinforcing my behavior except in self-thoughts at the end of nights, so the trend will more than likely remain much of the same.

5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Behavior, Target behavior, reinforcement, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, antecedent, consequence, negative punishment, behavior frequency, behavior class, inhibited, reinforced, baseline

1) Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedents and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
The first aspect I would like to talk about is how beauty comes off as a poor person. First of all I would like to show that this reinforcer type is a secondary reinforcement so they don’t need this in order to survive. Because of this beauty is also considered as a natural contingencies because it’s a thing that makes you feel good to have. I have also noticed that beauty is considered as valuable by our society when we are young we learn this through observational learning from other people’s actions. If you look at this from someone who is not poor, the antecedent would be jealous of others being beautiful. The behavior is spending money on beauty products and then the consequences are less money and being beautiful. For someone that is poo they would have the some antecedent but then when it comes to the behavior they have little money so they can’t spend it on beauty products. Then there consequences would be different, they would not be beautiful but they will keep the little money they have.
The next aspect I would like to talk about is food. This reinforce type is called a primary reinforcement because it is something we need in order to survive. The antecedent for this one would be wanting to have a stove to make good food. The behavior would then be not having money to buy as stove so you can’t buy the stove. The consequences would then be having to buy cheap microwave burritos. As you can tell when you are poor you don’t have a lot of money, so in order to survive you need to cut back on the secondary reinforcements because that’s all you can do. Anything they can take that is free or cheap they will take because they need it.
4a) Behavioral Project (Return to Baseline). Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 weeks’ worth of base line data and 2 weeks’ worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = o calls
Day 2 =0 calls
Day 3 = 1 call 30 mins
Day 4 = 0 calls
Day 5 =1 call 45 mins
Day 6 =0 calls
Day 7 =0 calls
Average = 2 calls and 30-45 mins long
4b) how is the behavioral intervention going?
So far the behavioral intervention is going pretty smoothly. As long as have multiply alarms set for times I know I should not be busy then I do call her. It’s still difficult to get her on the right time though. Most of the time I’ll get her at lunch so I can’t talk as long as I wanted to.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
It could either stop me from putting in the effort to call or stay the same. If I stopped it would be because it takes a lot of effort finding the right time for us to talk and to talk for a long time. The reason why I would say it could stay would because being able to hear and see my sister could be rewarding enough to make me still call the same amount of times.
Terms: behavioral intervention, antecedents, consequences, behaviors, ABC’s, Reinforce types, primary reinforcement, secondary reinforcing, observational learning, natural contingencies

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
I thought that Linda’s story of her life experiences gave a really great insight into the struggles and the pressure that those who are living in poverty are dealing with on a daily basis. Her story did help me realize some things that I think most of us think when it comes to those living in poverty. Such as why they spend money on things like cigarettes instead of saving that money or buying foods that are unhealthy because they are cheap. Her story was quite heartbreaking when she talked about blatantly just not having hope for anything better in life than what she is maintaining. One of the first things I found was A: Having multiple kids B: Working multiple jobs to take care of children C: Being tired constantly. This sets Linda up for constant exhaustion, if she possibly would have been using condoms than maybe she could have changed her antecedent and did not need to work multiple jobs to support herself and her children, not saying she shouldn’t have children but possibly wait until she is more settled and can happily take care of her and her children. Another instance I found was that A: Doesn’t have proper cooking utensils B: Eats unhealthy food because it is cheap and easy C: Has poorer health overall. This was one instance where I could never fully understand because I always thought well why don’t people buy food that is good for them instead of eating so poorly but unfortunately when I came to the age of living on my own I quickly realized that the healthier food is much more expensive in some situations. Another unfortunate problem Linda has is A: Is depressed and tired B: Smokes cigarettes C: Wakes her up/ makes her relax or feel better. The consequences for Linda outweigh the damage that cigarettes are causing her physically and financially. In one of my classes I learned about the latte factor which says that you look at the money that you are spending on small things like a coffee every day or in Linda’s case cigarettes, with this they say that you can hone in on how much you are really spending and possibly be able to reduce that and save a substantial amount of money in the long run.

4a) Behavioral Project (Return to Baseline). Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 =1:15-yes
Day 2 =12:30-yes
Day 3 =2:00-no
Day 4 =1:30-yes
Day 5 =1:30-yes
Day 6 =2:30-no
Day 7 =1:00-yes
Average =80%
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
Since I changed my behavioral intervention to a later time then previously (1:30 instead of 1:00) it has really helped because there are only so many times that I would really be in bed and falling asleep between 12-1. The weekend nights are always later most of the time because I like to go out on the weekends with my friends and usually will not be getting in till around 2-3. The behavioral change intervention has really helped me since I started because I was having so much trouble getting to bed before 3-4 in the morning and was constantly tired but thinking about going to bed consciously and rewarding myself at the end of the week has helped me achieve that. I also really loved my reinforcement at the end of the week because those mimosas were delicious.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I honestly do not think I will change my behaviors too much without the reinforcement because I am in a better mood and a lot more rested by making sure I am in bed when I want to be. The reinforcement is just another incentive for me to get to bed on time but it is not the only thing that is driving me to do this behavioral intervention. I think that the reinforcement for some people can be more motivating but for me it is just another little reward on top of already getting enough sleep.
5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Behavior, Behavioral change project, reinforcement, consequence, ABC’s, antecedent

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
In this article the author touched on the mindset and actions she has seen and or experienced in her life as a person in poverty. This article was very interesting to me and I could relate to some of the experiences and ideas she talked about. The first one I want to talk about is the idea that the food that is cheap is usually unhealthy. I find this quite true especially at this point in my life being out on my own for the first time. Money needs to stretched to get the most food and that usually means compromising on the health factor of the food this could be set us as the antecedent being low on money and needing to eat. From here there are several choices in behavior you can try and buy fresh fruits and vegetables to eat but your food has to last until your next paycheck and fresh foods spoil quickly. The other option is buying foods that are packaged and full of preservatives such as ramen noodles and hamburger helper because of corn subsidies they contain corn syrup and are usually sold a cheap price meaning you can eat for the time between paychecks and not worry about spoilage. The consequence of these choices are that if you buy fresh you will have less money to spread to bills but are healthier and food with spoil quickly or more food in the cupboard and no spoilage but negative health effects.
A second point the author covered was the idea of smoking. The way she explained it was that it was one thing she had a choice in and it gave her pleasure in a world with very little pleasure to find. I am opposed to this idea and think she had more positive behaviors she could have emitted that would lead to desirable consequences in the end. Her ABCs are that A in a world with little pleasure and long hours. B she smokes cigarettes. C she gets pleasure and is stimulated to make it through her jobs. My opinion is that the money involved in smoking could help in other areas of her life. A in a world with little pleasures and long hours. B not smoking. C money is saved and hours at work can be cut down.

4a) Behavioral Project (Return to Baseline). Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 = 2150 Cal
Day 2 = 1505 Cal
Day 3 = 2452 Cal
Day 4 = 1726 Cal
Day 5 = 2224 Cal
Day 6 = 1936 Cal
Day 7 = 2384 Cal
Average = 2054 Cal

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
So far so good, I know during our time off that I didn’t adhere to lowering my calorie intake because of the Thanksgiving week but the week previous which is recorded I had an easier time during that week keeping track and trying to make better choices.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I’m going to try my best to keep going with this and think of the positive consequences that can come of it as a reinforcer. I hope that will be enough to keep me on track.
5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Terms/ Behavior, consequence, emit, reinforcer, desirable, antecedent

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedents and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
This reading was really good and very enlightening. The article captured what it really is like to live in poverty, rather than what we are seen every day and night on the news and on television programs. The writer of this article by the Huffington Post provides us with information on why people who are in poverty are there. The author of article after stating why people are in poverty supports her argument with powerful and very detailed vivid statements.
The aspect of the article that I want to talk about is not applying for jobs. I chose this to talk about because I always would ask myself why don't these people that are in poverty apply for jobs are get a job. The author says that those in poverty don't apply for jobs because they cant afford the uniform that is required to work there. Especially if there suppose to be nice clothes. So because the people that are in poverty cant afford nice clothes they cant even usually go to an interview with the proper clothing's. Most jobs require you to look nice at the interview. Also when they get the job they wont be able to fulfill the dress code requirement which all jobs have, so they would probably get fired. There are jobs that give you a free uniform but those jobs usually don't pay very much so they will be just getting by, and still in poverty. To put this aspects that I want to talk about into the ABC's of behavior I would have it has this. The antecedent would be being in poverty to start. The behavior would be applying for jobs. The consequence would be not getting the job or getting fired because you cant keep up with the jobs dress code, or look nice in general. The consequence of not getting the job or getting fired will decrease the chance of the person in poverty to apply for jobs.
The second aspect from the article that I want to talk about is when she smoked even though she couldn't afford it. I thought this was interesting because I think a person in poverty would worry about there spending. The lady smokes because it kept her awake and helped her relax, when stressed. Smoking also caused her to have problems with her skin and then should get a job because she wasn't pretty enough. If I was to put this into ABC's of behavior it would go like this. The antecedent would be the stress that she is under. The behavior would be her smoking. The consequence is the her skin is bad and that she gets addicted. The consequence of the behavior doesn't increase or decrease the probability of the behavior happening again.
day 1 = 2 hours
day 2 = 2 hours
day 3 = 3 hours
day 4 = 2 hours
average = 2.25 hours
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
I believe that my behavior intervention project is going really well. I feel like I am improving every week and the behavior I am trying to decrease is being decreased. People are also noticing my progress as well.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I feel like I will be alright. I think it may go down by like 30 minutes but that is just a guess.
5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
behavior, antecedent, consequence.

The first aspect is the author’s belief in not developing and managing long term goals. Here is the ABC of this aspect. A= living poor B= Not setting long term goals C= Not being heart broken. Unfortunately this is very common and not just in Poverty stricken people. The lack of adequate income isn’t the cause but is a significant influence in the behavior that was omitted. The difference between the rich and poor is that when the rich aim for a long term goal and they miss they may feel heartbroken just like someone who is poor but they don’t have to wake up in the morning in the situation that the Poor person is in. when I think about this I really think about the black and white rich and poor. A rich man sees his kid and he is proud, happy with the life he has provided for his kids, because they deserve to thrive, this is what he is reminded day in and day out in most cases. The poor man in retrospect is reminded of his lack of providing for his kids, he sees dirty clothes, hand me downs, and big eyes but small stomachs, this reminds him that he is less of a man that he isn’t capable of taking care of others like he should be able to. So the biggest difference is the blow to the moral, its weighted different. The rich man may very well have the passion for his failed long term goal, but the weight of that failure isn’t as heavy as the weight that the poor man might hold with his failed long term goal.

The next aspect is about her choice to smoke. Here is the ABC of the behavior. A= Tired after job 1 B= Smoking C= having energy to go the job 2. It’s pretty clear cut on the surface, and is easy to understand from the reader to author perspective. What I really found interesting was that in the same paragraph she said “it’s the best option” and then said “it’s not a good decision”. This might make some people angry that the author has flip flopped. But has she? The best option available is still seen by her conscience as a bad decision. It’s very hard to go against your conscience, every time I do I feel dirty inside, like I need to be cleansed for my wrong. She has to do this everyday, each day is a reminder that she has to do things that she knows in her heart is wrong.

The last aspect that I saw that I wanted to look into was her saying “I make bad financial decisions, but they don’t matter in the long run”. Okay. Let’s really look into that statement. For this I am using her example of blowing 5 bucks at Wendy’s. A=Hungry and stressed B=Blow 5 bucks at Wendy’s C=Comfort food. Okay if we break down this behavior into a list of cost and reward what can we find? Cost: Gas money if she drove, Energy Expenditure if she walked, 5 dollars she could have spent elsewhere or saved, time that could have been spent elsewhere. Let’s look at the Rewards now: No longer hungry, Feel better and less stressed. But with this being stated there’s also long-term effects. If she used gas she has to pay that gas back in one way or another, she will have to fill up sooner. If she walked, that’s energy and time that she could have spent elsewhere, that’s a smoke that she needs to waste to get that energy back. So in my opinion there are things that matter in the “long run”, and some of these are crucial to her day to day process, but here she says they don’t matter, how can that be? On paper it looks clear that getting the Wendy’s isn’t the most logical thing to do, but in her eyes, the chance to feel better after the day to day grind and stress outweighs her choice for good financial decisions. This shouldn’t be a representation of her lack of decision making skills, but a representation of how much we take “feeling good” for granted. With that it shows just how tough it can be to find good things while in poverty.

4a) Behavioral Project (Return to Baseline). Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Number of minutes spent sleeping in between 3pm and midnight
Day 1 =108
Day 2 =105
Day 3 =111
Day 4 =120
Day 5 =105
Day 6 =115
Day 7 =120
Average =112
4b) Setting my clothes out on top of the TV reminds me of this study it reminds me that I need to stay focused when I think about watching TV at night in my room. Taking the electronics and placing them on the desk away from my reach kills the scenario of me using electronics before bed. Having the computer in the living room and out of my bedroom has started to condition my body to feel tired when I am in bed. I use my laziness to my advantage, by placing my phone away from me I tell myself that I am too tired and sore from lifting to get out of bed to send a message. I was really skeptical that I would be able to hang on this long with my behavioral intervention, but surprisingly I have been more than successful with meeting my 100 minute goal.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
I think it will decrease,  I keep counting down the days until I can hook my computer back up and watch criminal minds in bed. But at the same time I have a deep feeling that I won’t be so eager to go back to late night life, and live the groggy morning and I might just ignore the distractions for the most part. I have noticed that only sleeping in my bed makes it easier to fall asleep and I can do so in a quicker fashion.
5) ABC, Long term goal, sub goal, Plan of action, Behavior, emit

ABC's of poverty:
Please read - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-tirado/why-poor-peoples-bad-decisions-make-perfect-sense_b_4326233.html
and if you want to read the follow-up (optional): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-tirado/meet-the-woman-who-accide_b_4334428.html
Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedents and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.

The author of this article brought up a few points that I believe are relevant to the ABCs. First of all, the author mentions the issue of experiencing an adequate amount of sleep when one has little money to spend on a home (due to the stress of not having any and the fact that you need money to rent a hotel room or to pay for a living arrangement). The antecedent of not having a stable home can lead to risky behavior, like sleeping on the street. Another issue the author mentions is that convenience food is the main type of food in a poor person’s diet. The issue of not having healthy foods leads to a lack of energy and a poor diet. The poor diet can affect health as well as appearance. The author also mentions that she has lost jobs because of her appearance and the fact that she smokes. The lack of adequate clothing and the ‘right look’ can affect the type of job a less well-off person can hope to have. Because of the lack of a well-paying job (antecedent) the individual may act in a way that leads to poor decisions (behavior). The consequence of these actions could be that it is a cycle of poverty. Speaking of poor decisions, the author also mentioned making poor financial decisions. Because of her chronic lack of funds (antecedent), her “long-term brain” was cut off (behavior), and lead to spending on items that may not necessarily be beneficial like purchasing fast food (consequence). The author mentioned that because she has never had a lot of money it is practically meaningless and does not hold much value at all.

4a) Behavioral Project (Return to Baseline). Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 2 hours
Day 2 = 1 hour
Day 3 = 0 hours
Day 4 = 0 hours
Day 5 = 2 hours
Day 6 = 1 hour
Day 7 = 1 hour
Average = 1 hr/day

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
The behavioral intervention is going much better than the second week of intervention. My financial motivation is working fairly well. It is going better than expected and I hope that I can maintain this healthy behavior; I want it to be a long-term change.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are no longer reinforcing it?
I believe that, if I have been reinforcing my exercising behavior properly, that I will be able to maintain my exercising behavior. I will say, though, that the fact that it is cooler outside now may affect how much exercising I may do. In the previous weeks my exercise was through outdoor activities so I will have to change the type of exercise I am doing in order to maintain my exercise behavior.

Terms: sleep, homelessness, lack of stability, poor diet, convenience food, appearance, lack of funds, poor financial decisions, short-term vs. long-term, value of finances

This article on why poor people’s bad decisions make perfect sense is a real eye-opener because it takes a look at the life of poverty from a first-person point of view. A functional analysis of the behaviors that the author emits due to being in an environment of poverty shows how important the antecedent is in behavior modification. After reading this I start to understand why people who live in poverty do what they do, I understand why they don’t have the luxury of thinking long term, I understand how they can be caught up in the mix of having children that they did not meant to have, and I understand why it’s very hard to move upward once you are stuck in the poverty line. When applying this situation to the ABC’s of behavior, I decided to look at a few behaviors and one of the behaviors is not being able to go to bed early because the consequence is not being able to stay up other and mess up the pattern.
A= Coming home late and feeling tired
B= Not being able to go to bed early
C= cannot stay up on other nights because the pattern gets messed up
Another behavior that I noticed is that because of the lifestyle they have to lead, it is very easy for them to fall into depression. The target behavior of being depressed is caused by the antecedent of feeling hopeless and the future looking very bleak. The consequence of this is that they don’t have much reason to improve themselves.
A= Feeling hopeless and tired
B= Affected by depression
C= don’t have much reason to improve themselves
4a) Week 3 (Behavioral Intervention)
Day 1: $0
Day 2: $81
Day 3: $77
Day 4: $0
Day 5: $0
Day 6: $0
Day 7: $40
Average: $28.29
4b) This week I have decided to change the antecedent by unsubscribing from my Amazon Prime account. So now instead of having free 2 day shipping I would have to pay $14.99 for the same privilege. This made think twice every time I wanted to shop on Amazon and added to that, my fixed-schedule reinforcement of getting to play Dota 2 every time I don’t shop has been working fairly well due to my secret minor addiction to this online game.

From this article, I have a whole new sense of why "poor people" do the things that they do. I have always heard from my parents that "poor people live off of us who work for them to get by free". Many people may believe that but this article showed me why the poor people are the way that they are. One thing about this article that was interesting is how even though jobs may say help wanted or things like that, they will not just higher anyone. Like this blog says, she would not get hired because she looks like a person who is poor and lives off of no sleep and coffee.
From this I have seen that the antecedent of being poor can cause them to make the decisions, like spend their money on cigarettes and other things that we, as middle class people, may think is wrong. The things that we may think are bad decisions aren't to them because of the antecedent of being poor. As well as the antecedent, we also see that the consequences of them spending their money on the "wrong" things or not taking time out of their work day to spend time with their children, are positive. They may not get everything "free" but our government has shown people that if you are "poor enough" you will receive aid. This is why the behaviors to become the way that they are, are understandable.

4a) Behavioral Project (Return to Baseline). Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 = yes
Day 2 = yes
Day 3 = yes
Day 4 = no
Day 5 = no
Day 6 = yes
Day 7 = yes
Average = yes

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
The behavioral intervention is going well however i found that when I went home for break that the likelihood of me going to work out was down because my family was all hanging out with each other, which made me not want to leave and workout.

For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think that it may decline because I will not have the reinforcement to think about to keep me going. However, it is now sort of a habit so it may happen even without the reinforcement.

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
I thought this was an interesting article because you really never hear about poor people talking about their lives, their decisions, and why they make the decisions that they make, even when people on the outside think they are awful decisions. Instead we often hear authors talking about what they think it would be like to be poor so this article was eye-opening. There were many examples of the ABC’s of behavior within this article. The perfect example of the ABC’s from this article was Linda’s example of her emitting the behavior of smoking. The antecedent was being very tired. The behavior was smoking a cigarette. The consequence was giving her the energy that she needs to complete her jobs. Her being tired and needing energy led to the poor behavior of smoking cigarettes to give her the energy she needed. Another example of the ABC’s can be explained why people have multiple baby daddies. The antecedent to the situation is feeling depressed and lonely. The behavior is giving all your attention to any person who finally shows you attention. The consequence is having babies with several different people. Another example that could be concluded from the reading could be poor nutrition for people that can’t afford healthy food because it is much cheaper to purchase “junk food.” The antecedent is being poor. The behavior is purchasing junk food. The consequence is eating junk food and not getting all the necessary nutrients that you need. Then when you don’t get all the nutrients you need you can get sick easier than others and live a poorer quality of life.
Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data.
4a)
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = ran
Day 2 = ran
Day 3 = didn’t run
Day 4 =ran
Day 5 = didn’t run
Day 6 = ran
Day 7 = didn’t run
Average = 4/7 Met goal
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
My behavioral intervention is going well. I met my goal for the last two weeks including the week of Thanksgiving break. I think that I will be able to change the reinforcement or take the reinforcement out completely and have no change in my current behavior of running four times a week. Even when modifying my environment I was still able to meet my goal the last week.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think that my behavior will stay relatively steady because I have seen other rewards from the running than just getting the positive reinforcement of getting dunkin at the end of the week.
5) Terms: Antecendent, behavior, consequence, ABC’s, emitting, positive reinforcement

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
I thought this was a great article. It touched on so many aspects I don't think about and brought up a lot of disadvantages that the general public would not think about such as how smoking is seen as the best option at some points and how "free" doesn't exist to them. For her, smoking was the behavior, the antecedent was always being exhausted, and the consequence of smoking was getting stimulated from it. This is not like how most people think of smoking, they see it as only a thing with negative consequences when Linda saw it as a way to make it through the day. When she saw free condoms were being given out at her school, it was helpful because she could use them because she had the opportunity. Not everyone has the opportunities though, which I found as the main point of the article. The antecedent for her here was being on a college campus, the behavior was taking free condoms, and the consequence was safer sex. A poor person who cannot afford college misses out on the access to the condoms meaning they either have to spend money, avoid sex, or risk it; a privilege most people in middle and upper class do not think about.

4a) Behavioral Project (Return to Baseline). Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:

Week #3 (behavioral intervention)

Day 1 = yes
Day 2 = no
Day 3 = no
Day 4 = no
Day 5 = no
Day 6 = no
Day 7 = yes
Average = 2 out of 7 days

4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
Break did not go very well for me, I was not able to make it to the gym nearly enough times to call it a good week. Going half of my usual amount makes my last week sound a little bit better.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.

What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think I can manage to still go 4 out of 7 days a week. I'm realizing that I don't really look forward to the day I can go out to eat as the reinforcement, I just feel like it is part of my day now that I am back in the school environment with easy access to the WRC.

5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
antecedent, behavior, consequence, reinforcement, negative, environment,

1)The antecedent and consequences of being poor and remain poor leads to the feeling that the person at the end kind of gives up because they know the behavior that they will emit it will not change the fact that they are going to remain poor. The article started explaining the routine of someone poor and it was really heartbroken to see that she ended up saying like no matter what she would do it will not change her condition of being poor. Another thing that broke my heart was to see the rejection from the society whom emits behaviors that have been elicited by stereotypes established by the society.

4a) Day 1=No junk food
Day 2= No junk food
Day 3= No junk food
Day 4=No junk food
Day 5=No junk food
Day 6=No junk food
Day 7=No junk food
Average=No junk food

4b) After a few weeks I finally got to remove junk food from my daily basis by thinking that that would lead me to a junk thing on the weekend so I was able to reward myself with a pizza on Saturday.
I got used to this routine so I think that it is not going to change anything.

5) Terms and terminology used: Antecedent, behavior, consequence, emit, elicit.

I thought that the article we were asked to read was extremely poignant and insightful, especially in dealing with current issues. Planned Parenthood has been in the news frequently this year receiving mostly negative press, it was refreshing to see this issue portrayed from a point of view that I feel few of us as college students have experienced without all the political back-lighting present in most news stories. The main topic of the article, poverty, is something which I feel becomes very apparent during the holidays. Because of the capitalistic nature of these celebrations the rift between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' becomes increasingly noticeable, causing discussion to rise on peoples' opinions on topics such as panhandling and what really constitutes as 'poverty'. Using the ABC's of behavior modification we can deconstruct these issues further and gain an even better understanding of the author's actions. The main antecedents of many of the behaviors cited by the author were similar; they dealt with having an unfulfilled need and not having the means to fill that need in the most constructive way. It was not that the author was ignorant of her decisions and resultant behaviors being not the best, she made sacrifices because she needed to survive. Behaviors like smoking a cigarette that led to the consequence of being more energized, but also partaking in unhealthy behavior, was a necessity which the author could not forego because she needed the energy to work her job to get money to survive. She also mentions repeatedly that she 'was pore and always would be', this dismal yet harshly realistic view could either be a antecedent or consequence of the depression which she references throughout the piece. This depression acts as an antecedent to how she maintains her survivalist behaviors of getting small pleasures like junk food or cigarettes; these provide instant gratification and a small escape from her situation. Being in poverty itself seems to be a perpetuative system in which antecedents, behaviors, and consequences form recurring paths that ensure, as the author suggests, that those with the misfortune of being in poverty always will be.

Day 1 = 4
Day 2 = 6
Day 3 = 2
Day 4 = 4
Day 5 = 7
Day 6 = 6
Day 7 =18
Average = 6.71 (pulls per day)

4. My behavioral change project was going better during Thanksgiving break, I attribute this to the fact that I had some down time to catch up on homework and graduate school applications instead of my reinforcement schedule mostly because I didn't have the time or means of reinforcing myself how I had planned. However, in coming back to school and having to work on an extensive research paper for one of my classes I found my hair-pulling behaviors were starting to flare up again. At this point I am honestly not sure if anything I can do would be able to stop this compulsion, other than just making it impossible for me to do any pulling by either putting my hair up or wearing hats.

5. Terms: ABC's, antecedents, behaviors, consequences, reinforcement, instant gratification, reinforcement schedule

This article talks about how it makes sense that poor people remain poor because of their bad decisions. There is a lot that we can relate to what we have learned so far of the ABCs of behavior. Behavior modification is hard for poor people because they don’t have as many chances to modify as rich people do. The schedule of people working two jobs with kids can be exhausting so their antecedents are different from other people. The example giving in the article about how the girl was living when she got pregnant explains a lot about her situation and her choices. The antecedent is what happens before the behavior; in this case she was living in a weekly motel with no access to real food or a job. She did not have education, but she knew she had to eat protein so she emitted the behavior of eating frozen burritos, which was the cheapest option. At the same time this makes an impact on the consequence. The consequence occurs after the behavior and it depends on the behavior. Here, when the girl is eating protein the baby will grow better than without the protein. The fact that she is at least eating some protein sets the occasion for the baby to grow. Pregnancy elicits other behaviors like resting, eating healthy, having more food, etc. and these things can’t be satisfied when you are poor. The fact that these needs are not satisfied ends up being aversive consequences. The fact that many people can’t access Planned Parenthood also elicits bad economic situation for young parents who don’t have access to basic baby things. Setting goals also don’t help that much because it is hard to accomplish them when there is no reinforcement. When they plan on going to job interviews they get rejected for their image, so there is no reinforcement for going to job interview’s behavior. This behavior decreases because they don’t see the point in trying anymore after they have been rejected many times.
4a) Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 3 times
Day 2 = 2 times
Day 3 = 2 times
Day 4 = 1 time
Day 5 = 2 times
Day 6 = 1 time
Day 7 = 2 times
Average = 1.85 times
4b) This week the intervention has gone really well and I met my goal of eating at least one time a day a healthy meal. I was really reinforced by finally going to get a manicure today. I want to keep going with this, and I am excited to see if I can maintain these results, or improve them, with no behavioral intervention. I think I will still reach my goal because this is something I have wanted to change about my life for a long time, and I feel physically better.
ABCs of behavior, behavior modification, antecedent, emit, consequence, elicit, aversive, occasion, goal setting, reinforce, reinforcement, decrease.

ABC's of poverty:
Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedents and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
This article talks about how poor people remain poor makes sense this relate to what we have learned about antecedents, behaviors, and consequences. It talks about the authors life and when she got pregnant how she had to start thinking about the baby but being poor she could not afford health foods. The antecedent would be, being pregnant. The behavior would be or could be eating healthy and not working as hard and resting. The consequences would be having a healthy baby. Being poor makes it hard for people to do anything that they need to do to survive and to change their behavior so that they can move out of the being poor stage. For example, if you cannot afford new clothes for a job interview you are less like to get a better paying job. If you cannot get a better job, then you are not going to be able to get out of the environment that you are in. If you cannot get out of the environment you are in your behavior with not change.
4a) Behavioral Project (Return to Baseline). Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 weeks’ worth of base line data and 2 weeks’ worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
Day 1 = 6 meals and snacks
Day 2 = 6 meals and snacks
Day 3 = 6 meals and snacks
Day 4 = 6 meals and snacks
Day 5 = 6 meals and snacks
Day 6 = 7 meals and snacks
Day 7 = 7 meals and snacks
Average =6.3 meals and snacks
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
I think that the behavior intervention is going well. I am eating a lot less than I normal would have. Thanksgiving was a little hard with all the food that was temping me but I made it through one of the toughest holiday without caving in. Hopefully I am able to keep it up.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think that my behavior will be similar to the last week if not better because I want to keep up the good behavior even without a reinforcer
5) Terms: Behavior, behavior intervention, reinforcer, antecedent, consequence

I would like to speak on the aspect of purchasing fast food in this week’s activity.
Antecedent= Being poor and not wanting to attract insects by cooking for yourself. Not owning the proper cooking accessories and equipment.
Behavior= Purchasing fast food as an alternative
Consequences=Unhealthy diets, and spending too much money in the long-term on fast food. Addiction to fast food and convenience.
The piece explained that there are many issues with a poor person’s lifestyle. A fast food diet provides so many reinforcing factors that go along with living the way they do. Not owning the right equipment for cooking may lead someone to purchase fast food because it seems cheap and is so convenient especially when they are working so much.
Fast food is an example of corporate America laying pray to its own people. They create an item where they can make handfuls of money by providing a service that is easily acceptable and over advertised. Fast food is addressed in the literature as an item that poor people view as some sort of measure they use to make their lives better. It’s almost like she is saying we’re already poor; we might as well have fast food and be unhealthy, but satisfied. Even though we can save a lot of money by cooking for ourselves we often choose the more convenient route of purchasing fast food.
The piece also provides another reinforcement factor. Cooking for yourself in your own home encourages insects into the environment. When you’re already living in lower quality situations it can be hard to keep insects from invading your living space. So people earning less money are more likely to purchase food that they can effectively provide less attraction of insects.
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
This week I paid with cash. However, I also spent less time at the bar.
Day 1 = $0
Day 2 =$0
Day 3 =$0
Day 4 =$0
Day 5 =$5
Day 6 =$10
Day 7 =$5
I spent a lot less money at the bar this week

Please choose some aspects of this article that deals with poverty and using the ABC's of Behavior, discuss how the antecedants and consequences of being poor may lead to the behaviors discussed by the author.
In this article the author discusses why people with low income often find themselves stuck in that lifestyle. This includes appearance and lack of resources resulting in possible unemployment and substance abuse. I have personally seen things like this happen with poverty stricken peers. A lot of time, they are stick in it before they’re even in school. The parents are broke and can’t afford medical/dental bills, don’t have a vehicle, look to substances…whatever it may be. Then those children grow up without all the opportunities others do. They don’t “look nice” so they struggle making friends, getting jobs, affording things and it is a downward spiral. Before they know it, they are in the same position as their parents and doing the same things.
A= Stressed because they don’t have money
B= Substance abuse to keep them going
C= A habit is formed and extra money goes towards keeping it up
Often people use substances to give them energy or relieve stress which can turn into a horrible habit and drain them of money and cause even more stress.
4a) Behavioral Project (Return to Baseline). Last Monday (week #12) you were asked to continue with your behavioral intervention. You should have 1 week's worth of base line data and 2 week's worth of intervention data. Report Week #3 below:
Week #3 (behavioral intervention)
I spent 80$ in unnessicary spending during the week.
4b) How is the behavioral intervention going?
This week I spent about 250$ in general, but $170 of it went to a TV I actually needed. So I didn’t spend as much as I thought I would. A huge part of this went to leaving my wallet in Cedar Falls when I was home for break, so I didn’t have a card to swipe whenever I wanted. I think another reason I didn’t spend as much is because I was conscious of needing to Christmas shop soon. I really only bought food since I didn’t have the groceries I normally do when living at school for the week.
For this next week we will STOP THE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION and return to baseline. This means that we will still collect data, but not reinforce the behavior any longer.
What do you think will happen to your behavior now that you are now longer reinforcing it?
I think I will do better because I plan to Christmas shop (which isn’t the normal) So I will get my shopping urge out of the way without it being unneeded items. I think I would still do pretty well even if I wasn’t because it feels so much better avoiding stores and seeing at the weekend I have so much extra money.
5) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
ABC’s, behavior, reinforcement, reward, punishment