Topical Blog Week #13 (Due Wednesday)

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What we would like you to do is to find a topic from what we have covered in this week's readings that you are interested in and search the internet for material on that topic. You might, for example, find people who are doing research on the topic, you might find web pages that discuss the topic, you might find youtube clips that demonstrate something related to the topic, etc. What you find and use is pretty much up to you at this point. But use at least 3 sources (only one video please and make sure it adds to the topic).

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

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

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

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

*By integrating/synthesizing I mean to take what your read/experienced from the internet search (and from section 1 if you like) organize the information into the main themes, issues, info, examples, etc. about your topic and then write about the topic in your own words using that information. This is hard for some people to do - many students write what we refer to as "serial abstracts." They are tempted to talk about the websites rather than the topic proper. For example, they will talk all about website #1, start a new paragraph and talk all about web site #2, start a new paragraph and talk all about web site #3, and then write some kind of conclusion. Serial means one after the other...This what you DON'T want to do!

At first it is a real challenge to get out of the habit of writing "serial abstracts," but I assure you once you get the hang of it it is much easier to write using the integration/synthesis method. And besides this is the way good researchers and scientists write their technical reports and findings - many of you will have to be able to do this for other classes and for jobs that you may eventually be hired for, so now is a good time to learn this skill.

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

Let us know if you have any questions.

--Dr. M

185 Comments

I want to do my weekly synthesis of behavioral information on the process of choosing effective reinforcers. This is something that Dr. Maclin has literally beat into our heads but the conversations we have in class suggest we are all struggling from the same problem. I cannot find a worthwhile reinforcer to help increase my running behavior. Others have specified that it is challenging to find reinforcers because they do not want to spend money, a secondary reinforcer, to buy primary reinforcers. I will attempt to address these issues with the help of various sources.

It doesn’t make sense to say that such statements as: ALL people like candy. ALL people like beer. ALL people like television. These are overgeneralizations and when used in behavioral interventions can lead to trouble. It also brings up a fundamental point about behaviorism. Not one person is alike. Sure we may emit similar behaviors, but what situations elicited those behaviors vary from person to person. I am going to conclusively say that money is the most powerful reinforcer that we can use. If I had an endless supply of money and I was willing to give it away, I could entice almost any person in the world to do what I needed them to do, granted it was a legal behavior. However, it is not practical to give money to children during school or dish out money every time a person emits a particular target behavior. Money serves as a secondary reinforcer because it allows us to obtain primary reinforcers. When we receive money, it is rarely the joy of receiving money that makes us happy, but rather the joy of knowing we can buy primary reinforcers with our money to make us happy. Besides money, how can I choose a reinforcer that suits my lifestyle?

Like I stated before, some people, including myself, do not want to spend money on reinforcers if we do not have to. Furthermore, reinforcing with junk food would not be practical if our target behavior was to lose weight or exercise more. Therefore it becomes imperative for us to find successful reinforcers that can be administered after the target behavior has been emitted. As human beings, we have the advantage of using delayed reinforcement. Delayed reinforcement can occur hours or even days after emitting the target behavior. When viewing weight loss as a target behavior, delayed reinforcement can be used in this context. Let’s say I eat healthy for 6 days of the week, but on the 7th day I allow myself to eat at a restaurant with some friends. If I had established prior to the 6 days of healthy eating that I would allow myself one cheat day, I have successfully reinforced my healthy eating with the allowance of some comfort food. Self-will and some restraint will need to be used to make sure that the cheat days do not occur in succession or become a new habit.
In addition to delayed reinforcement, we can effectively choose reinforcers by finding incompatible behaviors that differ from our target behavior. If eating junk food is the main reason why we want to lose weight than we can find alternate behaviors that are not topographically the same as eating junk food. If binge eating is our specialty, then we could use healthier foods to binge eat. You don’t hear a person gaining weight by eating too much celery. We have successfully found an incompatible behavior from eating junk food.

In order to understand what reinforcers may work for an individual, if becomes important to keep a diary of what we do on a daily basis. Behavioral hierarchies occur as a result of a person keeping track of what behaviors they engage in every day and ranking them in order of most enjoyable. T.V. is usually high on the list of enjoyable behaviors while doing some sort of housework or exercising could be low on that same list. I could effectively use the Premack Principle by rewarding myself with a high frequency behavior after emitting a low frequency behavior. For instance, after running or exercising (low frequency behavior) I could reward myself by watching television (high frequency behavior). It is important to distinguish between the association of running and then watching television to simply watching television without having actually emitted the target behavior. This occurs in people who may watch T.V. directly upon waking up in the morning or to unwind from a stressful day.

The Premack Principle in particular has shed some light on what sorts of reinforcers I can use to increase my target behavior. All people can benefit from keeping a daily log of antecedents, behaviors and consequences to help figure out which behaviors they engage without much thought and which behaviors require more self-directed behavioral measures.

http://www.iloveaba.com/2012/02/how-to-select-reinforcers.html

http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/specedu/behaviour/key_element6.pdf

http://www.intropsych.com/ch05_conditioning/premack_principle.html

Terms: elicit, emit, reinforcer, secondary reinforcer, primary reinforcer, delayed reinforcement, differential reinforcement, Premack Principle, behavioral hierarchies, topographical behaviors

The topic I chose to research more on this week was Differential Reinforcement of Other Behaviors, or DRO, for short. Many of us in class have discussed having a hard time coming up with reinforcers for our behavior projects and cannot come to find a reinforcer that makes our target behaviors worth while. For my own project I was reinforcing myself by going home on the weekends if I had made time to hangout with a friend throughout the week. Even though I was looking forward to going home, the more I made an effort to keep in touch with my friends and ask them to do things, the more response I got back from them as well asking me to do more of the things I like to do. I realized that contacting them and making it apparent that I wanted to make time for them and contacting them letting them know how much I enjoyed their company afterwards, in turn made them also want to hangout more. I realized the reinforcement of me telling them I wanted to hangout and making more of an effort, ended up in them also realizing how much they enjoyed getting texts of how much fun it was and would also like to run, study, or stay in and watch movies again. Here DRO took place because I was reinforcing them and letting them know how much I enjoyed hanging out when it was anything but going out and drinking. Until reading over how DRO worked again in section 5.4, I hadn’t realized that was how I was reaching the target behavior I wanted.

The main goal in DRO is to reinforce other behaviors that are incompatible with the target behavior. Using DRO is a fairly easy concept if done correctly. When using DRO you want to make sure you specify the target behavior you want to change or elicit in the other person or people. One way to make sure you have your DRO schedule set up to work correctly is to keep a chart or have something on you at all times so you can make a quick note of what behaviors were reinforced and the antecedents to those behaviors. For my particular project, I have been writing down the days in which I hangout with friends and the antecedents that led up to hanging out. By making an effort to go to the library more often instead of studying at home, or inviting my friends to go on runs, it is much easier to know who participates in each activity more often and engaging in that activity together. This way I am eliminating the thought of them asking me to go out on weekends because they know the activities I like to do instead and in turn are more likely to ask me to engage in behaviors they know I will participate in.

DRO is often thought to be a temporary fix to changing a behavior. Usually this is more prevalent when trying to change the behavior in children or children’s classrooms, but so far I have not experienced this to only be a temporary fix in my own project. Of course my friends are still going to engage in the activities they enjoy, but the amount of time they used to spend begging me to come out has significantly decreased since I have been using DRO and letting them know which behaviors I really enjoy spending time doing with them. In younger children and classroom settings many other things go into using the DRO procedure, like keeping charts, rewarding with stickers, setting a baseline, or fixed interval schedule. But with my certain project, declaring the antecedents and using DRO throughout the process has really made a huge difference in getting my friends to engage in activities we both enjoy.

Terms: DRO, reinforcers, target behaviors, elicit, antecedents, baseline, fixed interval schedule

http://www.grrec.ky.gov/CaveWeb/autism/ASD%20Webpage/Module%203/-%20How%20To%20DRO.pdf

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/bi2/cresource/what-techniques-can-ms-rollison-use-to-manage-the-disruptive-and-non-compliant-behaviors-of-students-like-patrick-and-tameka/bi2_06/

http://education.purduecal.edu/Vockell/EdPsyBook/Edpsy11/edpsy11additional.htm

In order to reduce or quit certain behaviors, behavior modification can be a very helpful tool to utilize. Smoking cigarettes is often a behavior used to satisfy desire, boredom, and stress, while building confidence, and social desirability…and satisfying an addiction. While numerous people have attempted to combat the detrimental habit that kills approximately 1200 people/day, many can’t seem to find success. This blog post endeavors to uncover different effective approaches to ending this damaging routine.

The internet provides a plethora of information popularizing various efficacious methods. Perhaps inadvertently, however, many of the suggestions are textbook examples of successful behavior modification techniques. Take for example the openings of many articles; most begin by breaking down the reason behind the commencement of the habit. This can be broken down easily with the use of the ABC’s (antecedent/behavior/consequence) of Behavior Modification, or the behavior principles. A possible antecedent listed in much of the literature is peer pressure or social desirability. Oftentimes a smoker begins their career due to the influence of other people. Therefore, their behavior becomes that of conformity and the consequence results in an addiction to smoking cigarettes. Although it may seem like an impossible consequence to overcome, with the correct amount of reinforcement and intervention strategies, all individuals have the opportunity to successfully quit their addiction. There was time before the behavior where other habits and activities fulfilled whatever current requirement smoking serves. Therefore, there are plenty of healthy practices and happenings to return to upon quitting the use of cigarettes.

Most sites promote the topic of deductive reasoning. In other words, they encourage current users to establish a list detailing the reasons they began, why they enjoy smoking, what parts are least enjoyable, and what other potential lifestyle choices could fulfill the same needs. After determining the purpose of smoking, intervention is the next avenue to consider. Essentially, extinction of the behavior is the desired outcome. While this can be difficult to implement, using a steady reinforcement schedule can ensure success. When quitting a highly addictive substance, it’s important to regularly self-reinforce. Another way to ease the quitting process is gradually quit. Outlining a schedule where an individual tapers off the behavior by smoking a pack a week, instead of a day, and then a couple a day, all the way down to one, is most helpful. Broken up by a ratio-interval reinforcement schedule, where the individual is rewarded (perhaps with a certain sweet they enjoy or another useful reward) after every time they uphold their tapering off schedule is most beneficial.

The intervention has to be something that is equally satisfying to the behavior previously emitted (smoking). This will help with achieving the goal. Self-reinforcement helps the goal along, as there is instant gratification. Another suggestion brought up in the literature is removal of paraphernalia that reminds the individual of smoking. This includes disposing of matches, lighters, ash-trays, and even car lighters. This helps aid the process. List making of distractions is another helpful recommendation. When the individual has officially quit, oftentimes there will be urges to take up the habit again. However, if the individual has created a list of distractions, such as taking a nap or cleaning out a closet, the success rate increases. Sooner or later though, the health benefits are going to catch up to the individual, which will serve as a supplementary reward for not smoking. Many people who have quit smoking report ease during exercise as they are able to breath better and cough less. Countless former runners and athletes have been astonished by the difference it has made in their life.

In time, the list making, behavioral intervention, and reinforcement schedule will prove beneficial. The individuals’ health and happiness will elevate, in addition to family and friends close to the individual. There will be more time for uninterrupted activities due to no breaks needed for smoking. Air quality will be better, houses and vehicles will feel cleaner, breathing will be better, and life itself, will improve.

http://www.wisegeek.org/why-do-people-smoke.htm
http://www.articlesbase.com/quit-smoking-articles/behavior-modification-a-new-way-to-quit-smoking-764773.html
http://www.rd.com/slideshows/quit-smoking/#slideshow=slide9

Terms/Terminology: Reduce, behaviors, behavior modification, methods, antecedent, behavior, consequence, behavior principles, purpose, reinforcement, intervention strategies, extinction, reinforcement schedule, ratio-interval reinforcement schedule, emitted, self-reinforcement

In order to reduce or quit certain behaviors, behavior modification can be a very helpful tool to utilize. Smoking cigarettes is often a behavior used to satisfy desire, boredom, and stress, while building confidence, and social desirability…and satisfying an addiction. While numerous people have attempted to combat the detrimental habit that kills approximately 1200 people/day, many can’t seem to find success. This blog post endeavors to uncover different effective approaches to ending this damaging routine.

The internet provides a plethora of information popularizing various efficacious methods. Perhaps inadvertently, however, many of the suggestions are textbook examples of successful behavior modification techniques. Take for example the openings of many articles; most begin by breaking down the reason behind the commencement of the habit. This can be broken down easily with the use of the ABC’s (antecedent/behavior/consequence) of Behavior Modification, or the behavior principles. A possible antecedent listed in much of the literature is peer pressure or social desirability. Oftentimes a smoker begins their career due to the influence of other people. Therefore, their behavior becomes that of conformity and the consequence results in an addiction to smoking cigarettes. Although it may seem like an impossible consequence to overcome, with the correct amount of reinforcement and intervention strategies, all individuals have the opportunity to successfully quit their addiction. There was time before the behavior where other habits and activities fulfilled whatever current requirement smoking serves. Therefore, there are plenty of healthy practices and happenings to return to upon quitting the use of cigarettes.

Most sites promote the topic of deductive reasoning. In other words, they encourage current users to establish a list detailing the reasons they began, why they enjoy smoking, what parts are least enjoyable, and what other potential lifestyle choices could fulfill the same needs. After determining the purpose of smoking, intervention is the next avenue to consider. Essentially, extinction of the behavior is the desired outcome. While this can be difficult to implement, using a steady reinforcement schedule can ensure success. When quitting a highly addictive substance, it’s important to regularly self-reinforce. Another way to ease the quitting process is gradually quit. Outlining a schedule where an individual tapers off the behavior by smoking a pack a week, instead of a day, and then a couple a day, all the way down to one, is most helpful. Broken up by a ratio-interval reinforcement schedule, where the individual is rewarded (perhaps with a certain sweet they enjoy or another useful reward) after every time they uphold their tapering off schedule is most beneficial.

The intervention has to be something that is equally satisfying to the behavior previously emitted (smoking). This will help with achieving the goal. Self-reinforcement helps the goal along, as there is instant gratification. Another suggestion brought up in the literature is removal of paraphernalia that reminds the individual of smoking. This includes disposing of matches, lighters, ash-trays, and even car lighters. This helps aid the process. List making of distractions is another helpful recommendation. When the individual has officially quit, oftentimes there will be urges to take up the habit again. However, if the individual has created a list of distractions, such as taking a nap or cleaning out a closet, the success rate increases. Sooner or later though, the health benefits are going to catch up to the individual, which will serve as a supplementary reward for not smoking. Many people who have quit smoking report ease during exercise as they are able to breath better and cough less. Countless former runners and athletes have been astonished by the difference it has made in their life.

In time, the list making, behavioral intervention, and reinforcement schedule will prove beneficial. The individuals’ health and happiness will elevate, in addition to family and friends close to the individual. There will be more time for uninterrupted activities due to no breaks needed for smoking. Air quality will be better, houses and vehicles will feel cleaner, breathing will be better, and life itself, will improve.

http://www.wisegeek.org/why-do-people-smoke.htm
http://www.articlesbase.com/quit-smoking-articles/behavior-modification-a-new-way-to-quit-smoking-764773.html
http://www.rd.com/slideshows/quit-smoking/#slideshow=slide9

Terms/Terminology: Reduce, behaviors, behavior modification, methods, antecedent, behavior, consequence, behavior principles, purpose, reinforcement, intervention strategies, extinction, reinforcement schedule, ratio-interval reinforcement schedule, emitted, self-reinforcement

In order to reduce or quit certain behaviors, behavior modification can be a very helpful tool to utilize. Smoking cigarettes is often a behavior used to satisfy desire, boredom, and stress, while building confidence, and social desirability…and satisfying an addiction. While numerous people have attempted to combat the detrimental habit that kills approximately 1200 people/day, many can’t seem to find success. This blog post endeavors to uncover different effective approaches to ending this damaging routine.

The internet provides a plethora of information popularizing various efficacious methods. Perhaps inadvertently, however, many of the suggestions are textbook examples of successful behavior modification techniques. Take for example the openings of many articles; most begin by breaking down the reason behind the commencement of the habit. This can be broken down easily with the use of the ABC’s (antecedent/behavior/consequence) of Behavior Modification, or the behavior principles. A possible antecedent listed in much of the literature is peer pressure or social desirability. Oftentimes a smoker begins their career due to the influence of other people. Therefore, their behavior becomes that of conformity and the consequence results in an addiction to smoking cigarettes. Although it may seem like an impossible consequence to overcome, with the correct amount of reinforcement and intervention strategies, all individuals have the opportunity to successfully quit their addiction. There was time before the behavior where other habits and activities fulfilled whatever current requirement smoking serves. Therefore, there are plenty of healthy practices and happenings to return to upon quitting the use of cigarettes.

Most sites promote the topic of deductive reasoning. In other words, they encourage current users to establish a list detailing the reasons they began, why they enjoy smoking, what parts are least enjoyable, and what other potential lifestyle choices could fulfill the same needs. After determining the purpose of smoking, intervention is the next avenue to consider. Essentially, extinction of the behavior is the desired outcome. While this can be difficult to implement, using a steady reinforcement schedule can ensure success. When quitting a highly addictive substance, it’s important to regularly self-reinforce. Another way to ease the quitting process is gradually quit. Outlining a schedule where an individual tapers off the behavior by smoking a pack a week, instead of a day, and then a couple a day, all the way down to one, is most helpful. Broken up by a ratio-interval reinforcement schedule, where the individual is rewarded (perhaps with a certain sweet they enjoy or another useful reward) after every time they uphold their tapering off schedule is most beneficial.

The intervention has to be something that is equally satisfying to the behavior previously emitted (smoking). This will help with achieving the goal. Self-reinforcement helps the goal along, as there is instant gratification. Another suggestion brought up in the literature is removal of paraphernalia that reminds the individual of smoking. This includes disposing of matches, lighters, ash-trays, and even car lighters. This helps aid the process. List making of distractions is another helpful recommendation. When the individual has officially quit, oftentimes there will be urges to take up the habit again. However, if the individual has created a list of distractions, such as taking a nap or cleaning out a closet, the success rate increases. Sooner or later though, the health benefits are going to catch up to the individual, which will serve as a supplementary reward for not smoking. Many people who have quit smoking report ease during exercise as they are able to breath better and cough less. Countless former runners and athletes have been astonished by the difference it has made in their life.

In time, the list making, behavioral intervention, and reinforcement schedule will prove beneficial. The individuals’ health and happiness will elevate, in addition to family and friends close to the individual. There will be more time for uninterrupted activities due to no breaks needed for smoking. Air quality will be better, houses and vehicles will feel cleaner, breathing will be better, and life itself, will improve.

http://www.wisegeek.org/why-do-people-smoke.htm
http://www.articlesbase.com/quit-smoking-articles/behavior-modification-a-new-way-to-quit-smoking-764773.html
http://www.rd.com/slideshows/quit-smoking/#slideshow=slide9

Terms/Terminology: Reduce, behaviors, behavior modification, methods, antecedent, behavior, consequence, behavior principles, purpose, reinforcement, intervention strategies, extinction, reinforcement schedule, ratio-interval reinforcement schedule, emitted, self-reinforcement

For this week’s topical blog, I am going to talk about classical conditioning. I chose to do this topic because it’s something we haven’t talked about recently, so I wanted to refresh myself. Also, I thought that the classical conditioning experiment with Pavlov and his dogs was really interesting, so I would like to try to find some more information and/or studies similar to that.

Although Pavlov became quite famous for his experiment with his dogs and classically conditioning them, there have been other studies and experiments done as well. According to another behaviorist, John Watson, classical conditioning can explain all aspects of our behavior. For example, a stomach virus (UCS) would produce a response of getting sick (UCR). A stomach virus can be associated with a certain food, like chocolate (CS). Now the chocolate (CS) can now produce a response of nausea (CR). Another relatively famous example of classical condition could be the Little Albert example. This experiment conditioned a child to be afraid or not afraid of certain stimuli that they presented with a loud noise.

Classical conditioning refers to an involuntary behavior that occurs due to experience. Have you ever heard the phrase “you learn something new every day.” Well classical conditioning is just a method of learning, so it can be used in everyday life, even if you aren’t thinking about it in this way. For example, if you are babysitting and the child is not happy at all, most likely you are going to try to do something to make the baby stop crying or laugh. You can classically condition a child to laugh! Even if you are just making a funny face over and over, you are technically classically conditioning a child. First, you can do something that the child thinks is funny and laughs or stops crying each time you do that. While you’re doing this, hold a squeaky toy in your hand. Each time you make the baby stop crying or laugh, make the toy squeak. After only a couple times, the sound of the squeaky toy can make the baby stop crying or laugh instantly!

To me, I think of classically conditioning someone as “making” them expect something. If you want to condition your roommate to expect something to happen, you must classically condition them. If your trash is full and your roommate won’t take it out, each time you nag them, do something right before nagging them. Throw a water bottle at them, nag, and then stop. A couple hours later… throw a water bottle at them, nag, and then stop. Once your roommate gets hit with another water bottle or even sees a water bottle, they will remember to take the trash out!

Terms: classical conditioning, UCS, UCR, CS, CR, stimuli, behavior

http://www.simplypsychology.org/classical-conditioning.html

http://www.ehow.com/info_8713212_classical-conditioning-activity-experiments.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujF77d-86ic

I chose to research more about punishment and other forms of it. Behavior modification is basically learning to stay away from punishment and we discussed this in the first few weeks of class. I was curious if there were any forms of punishment that could elicit more desirable behaviors than reinforcement. After viewing some sources explaining what punishment was, I realized that reinforcement quickly sounded more effective. However, I read that there were 5 common types of punishment (usually through parenting) that constructed what kinds of behaviors individuals emitted. They were yelling, grounding, withdrawing, isolation, and “logical consequences.” Yelling is the most common in that it is direct and person to person contact. The video I found shows a girl yelling at her best friend for telling her that she had feelings for her boyfriend. She should be reinforced because of her honesty, but she is punished. This may make her never want to hurt her friend’s feelings again but she may avoid telling her the truth just to save herself from being punished. A second one was grounding. Parents usually do this to shows children that bad behavior is not rewarded by allowing them to go out with friends. Withdrawing is when privileges are taken away from the individual. Isolation is when a person is sent to “time out.” We discussed recently that a better punishment would be to give a time out to the activity or toy that caused the undesirable behavior. Isolation in the video’s situation would simply be for both girls to stop hanging out with the boy altogether. “Logical consequences” are like not feeding a child if they re late for dinner. Each of these has a better outcome if switched to reinforce the good behavior when it happens. In conclusion, I did not find punishment to be better in any aspect, but that punishment does work. In some cases, reinforcement isn’t an option. For example, the girl was right to be mad. It would be hard to concentrate on the honesty her friend gave her when it was the ugly truth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHMExGEgK2s
http://allpsych.com/psychology101/reinforcement.html
http://www.gordontraining.com/free-parenting-articles/the-5-most-common-forms-of-punishment/
Terms: punishment, behavior modification, elicit, desirable, behavior, reinforcement, emit, punish, reinforce, undesirable

The topic I decided to cover this week is observational learning. We actually read about it in section 5.4 (most recent section), and it's very useful in behavior modification because children and others tend to mimic our behaviors. Children mirror these behaviors in order to learn appropriate behaviors in their society as well as learning culturally appropriate languages, gestures, and phrases. Older humans tend to mirror the behaviors of people they spend a lot of time with, especially if they like the person whose behavior they are mirroring. This is done unconsciously and is a form of bonding and further identifying with that person, as well as unconsciously making them like you more. If you watch yourself closely, you will see that you speak, act, and even laugh a certain way around a particular person that is not exactly how you would normally act. Observational learning is very interesting because everything is learned this way, except bodily functions like going to the bathroom; but even then, you learn where to go to the bathroom and how (standing or sitting) by observing what others are doing. If you were trapped in a dark, soundproof room from the moment you were born to when you were ten years old, you wouldn't know how to walk, talk, or function normally in society. That's where observational learning comes in.

"Observational learning (also known as vicarious learning, social learning, or modeling) is a type of learning that occurs as a function of observing, retaining and replicating novel behavior executed by others." It works the best for children, when they need to become familiar with authority, and observational learning is best conducted by those who are only a year or two older than the learner. There are three conditions that must be met in order for observational learning to be effective: Attention (make sure subject is observing the desirable behavior); Retention (show the behavior and consequence so subject will remember); Reproduction (if successful, the subject will be able to copy the behavior); and Motivation (give the subject a good reason to perform it--like reinforcement--and demonstrate what contexts/antecedents it is appropriate).

A great example of observational learning comes from Albert Bandura's Bobo doll experiment. In this experiment, children watched as an adult used violence on a rebounding doll. They were then put in a room with the rebounding doll, and their behavior was recorded. In many instances, the children imitated the adult's behavior by punching, kicking, and using objects to hit the rebounding doll very similarly to how the adult did. I also work as a phone interviewer for the Center for Social and Behavior Research, and we ask about childhood adversive experiences: this is done in order to correlate childhood experiences with similar adult activities. An example would be that we ask a question about how much the respondent has drank in the past month, and one of the corresponding childhood questions is whether or not the person ever lived with a person who was an alcoholic. That way we can see whether the behavior may be a result of observational learning, or imitating their parents behavior.

A very big part of observational learning is the environment in which it occurs, including the people within that environment. If there are other people in the environment that contradict the behavior you are trying to teach, the subject will likely ignore the conflicting behavioral displays. An example would be teenagers smoking cigarettes. The environment, and the people in that environment, will determine whether a teenager begins smoking are does not. If they hang out with a part crowd and observe that many of the "cooler" people are chain-smoking cigarettes, they are more likely to attempt smoking because they see that there is motivation (the "cool" person is being reinforced by receiving more attention than the others). But if that same teenager hung out with a different crowd in which no members smoked (and we assume no one else who is close to that teenager smokes either), then there is no one for that teenager to observe and imitate, meaning there is a very slight chance they will begin smoking.

http://www.ehow.com/way_5426220_observational-learning-psychology.html
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Observational_learning.html
http://www.funderstanding.com/educators/observational-learning/


Terms: observational learning, emit, mirroring, imitate, reinforced, adversive, social learning, modeling, desirable, context, behavior, antecedent, behavior modification

The topic I have selected is the importance of goals in behavior modification. This applies to section four of the text and self-directed behavior. To achieve the desired behavior that one wants to emit, then a way to achieve that is through goal setting. I find this topic important and interesting since I am constantly in need of setting goals to achieve my desires whether it is for work, the gym, my future in general, and grades. It fits well for our project that we have been working on for the past two weeks as well, and setting the goal and target behavior is in my opinion one of the most important part of the process.

There are certain guidelines that one should follow to achieve proper goal setting. First, one should choose a realistic goal and ensure that the goal is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. Secondly, set a time period. According to one of my sources, eHow states, "When you're setting a goal, it's important to come up with a date for when you plan to be finished achieving that dream. With a set, concrete time limit, you will have more drive to complete the goal. Without the time limit, you won't have as much incentive to work at it. Set a realistic time period for your goal. You can't start as a couch potato and end up at the finish line of a marathon in only a month. When calculating the end date, allow time for sickness and vacations. There will be days where you just need to rest and catch your breath. This is normal. If you give yourself a buffer for this kind of thing, you won't feel stressed when you take a break." Work hard to reach your goals no matter how hard it is, then you can modify it to something more attainable. That is only three steps, but others say that there are eight steps that do not match our text's guidelines like eHow does. The eight steps are; that your goals should mesh with your priorities, they should be personal and professional, the goals should take you out of your comfort zone, if you get stuck complete this sentence, "Wouldn't it be cool if...?", write your goals in present tense, include goals that push you to make a personal change, at least one financial goal, and list one health goal with a very specific measure. I think that most sources say similar goal guidelines, and should work fine, but everyone is different and some ways work better for others, but goal setting is a necessity. Punishment and reinforcement can also be used in goal setting. Usually punishment is frowned upon in the process, but it does work for some. Reinforcement usually happens once the target behavior is emitted and achieved.

Here are six reasons why you need to set goals. First, goals propel you forward. Secondly, goals transform insurmountable mountains into walk-able hills. Thirdly, goals help us believe in ourselves. Fourthly, goals hold you accountable for failure. Fifthly, goals tell you what you truly want. Lastly, goals help us live life to the fullest.

Here are some of my own goals that I have set for myself and for my future. For our project I want to emit more cardiovascular into my exercise routine instead of just lifting weights. I want to receive my master's degree and then my PhD so I can make a six figure salary, that is not completely realistic, but have to dream big some of the time. I also want my six pack abs back, and the cardio workouts have been helping that desire. My main goal in life is to find the perfect man that fits my every need and want, and to live a happy, healthy, and best life I can achieve. Some people have goals like; quitting smoking, stop doing drugs, lose weight, get out of debt, pass your classes, learn something new, save money, make more money, climb up the social and professional ladder, drink more water, be a better Christian, be a better person in general, a better family member, a better friend, have the perfect romance, and accomplish something that you have always wanted, but never have.

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

- C.S Lewis

Terms-Importance of goals, behavior modification, emit, self-directed behavior, desirable, target behavior, punishment, reinforcement, goal guidelines

http://www.ehow.com/way_5651839_goal_setting-guidelines.html#ixzz2z15H0vRx
http://www.chalenejohnson.com/goals/goal-setting-guidelines/
http://www.keepinspiring.me/why-you-need-to-set-goals/
http://krystald.hubpages.com/hub/50-Great-Examples-of-Goals
http://www.self-improvement-mentor.com/goal-quotes.html

One idea that we have recently discussed in readings is the idea of changing the antecedent. Antecedents are what form the environments and context for all of our behaviors. Many professionals and experts in the field of behavior believe and have proven that by changing our antecedents or controlling the environment you can then control the behavior. I have decided to research more on changing the antecedents in our behaviors to see how it can effectively control or change a behavior. I am interested in this because I feel if I am able to change the antecedents in my own environment I will be better able to modify my own behavior.

If we look at antecedents and begin to examine them we can usually pick up on certain patterns of behavior. If we can determine the pattern of behavior we can then know where to focus our intervention. One big behavioral problem that can be helped my changing the antecedent is temper tantrums thrown by toddlers. Many times these tantrums are thrown after a toddler has been told “no.” If the adult instead of saying no changes their behavior this may in turn change the behavior of the child. If the adult or parent instead of saying no gives a child options or uses another word choice rather than “no” the child’s behavior may be altered. Vague situations and usually vague word choices, such as “no,” can easily be misinterpreted especially by a child. If this can be clarified, simply just be changing the antecedent, behaviors such as temper tantrums could easily be avoided.

Instead of just changing the antecedent there are also ways to completely eliminate the antecedent if necessary. This can be useful in situations where a statement or antecedent is found to be negative to those performing the behaviors. If the antecedent which is found to be aversive is eliminated there can be an immediate decrease in the frequency of the behavior because the antecedent is no longer being presented. Sometimes it is also possible to eliminate the antecedent and then slowly reintroduce it to an individual if it is an antecedent that is necessary.

Antecedent manipulations are a very prevalent and easy way to fix aversive behavior because they usually have immediate results, there are no teaching skills required, and anyone can implement them when wanting to modify a behavior. Antecedents must be looked at as setting the stage for success, if we give an individual the wrong antecedent it can be interpreted incorrectly and in turn we do not get the desired behavior. If we look at the antecedents of a situation we can understand what it is in the environment or what is missing from the environment that is supporting the aversive behavior, once this is identified we are then able to change or implement what is needed.

Terms: aversive, antecedent, behavior, decrease, frequency, implement, changing the antecedent

http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/departments/childrens_services/assets/ANCguide_2
http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/?q=behavior_plans/positive_behavior_support_interventions/teacher_tools/antecedent_interventions
http://www.pcma.com/PDF/Antecedent%20copy%20with%20copyright.pdf
http://www.socialliteracytoday.com/?p=173

For my blog post I decided to research Self-Directed Behavior. We covered this topic a few weeks ago, but it fits in nicely with our behavioral change projects. I am interested in this topic in order to gain some insight and helpful hints when it comes to changing our own behaviors.
In society today, the demand for behavioral change is constantly growing. Many people, especially those with Western attitudes, look for external sources of behavioral change or a "quick fix." Many people associate social welfare agencies with external behavioral change. More recently, these agencies are shifting gears from being a distributor of government assistance, to providing resources for community and individual development. What I found interesting about this fact is that there is simply not enough trained professionals who specialize in behavior modification to meet all of our demands, as the major change agent in the past has been the professional assistance. As well as professionals being the change agent in the past, scientists such as Watson and Freudian psychologists objectify the process so much with measurement and other principals, that man's conscious is often left out or deemed as unimportant.
What I have found through me research, as well as from experience in my behavioral change project, is that man's conscious thought does have a big impact on self-directed behavior. Changing an unwanted behavior, in fact, takes a lot of initiative, forethought, and self-directedness. Ones' Self-directedness refers to a personality trait exemplifying ones' ability to follow through with goals and values, even in the face of challenge. Low self-directedness is defined by an external locus of control, whereas high self-directedness is an internal locus of control, therefore people with high amount of this trait are more likely to participate in self-directed behavior modification and elicit the behavior change goals that they set for themselves. There are many ways of measuring one's ability of self-directed behavior. Do they take responsibility for their actions or tend to blame others? Do they have purposefulness or a lack of direction? Do they practice resourcefulness or rely on inertia of life? These traits will effect their ability to set realistic goals for themselves and stick with them.
When it comes to changing an unwanted target behavior, self-directed methods are becoming more and more popular. Many scientists in the past have taken the conscious effort aspect of altering behaviors out of behavior modification, when in fact, ones ability to direct their own behavior relies on many internal aspects of one's personality. The ability to exemplify self-directedness has a huge impact on the outcome of the behavior change. Ones determination, resourcefulness, and purposefulness can have a major outcome when trying to perform self-directed behavior modification without the help of a professional.
Terms: Watson, Freudian, self-directed behavior, target behavior, elicit, realistic goals, internal locus of control, external locus of control, and behavior modification.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-directedness
http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/48019/goalsettingselfd00kolb.pdf?s
http://www.mhhe.com/cls/psy/ch14/behmod.mhtml

I chose to do my blog today on the hemispheric asymmetry reduction in older adults model or HAROLD. I am interested in this topic because it was something I wasn't aware of before reading the chapter and it caught my attention because it involves a shift in how our brains process information. I also wondered if it had any similarities to people who are ambidextrous and utilize both sides of their brains throughout their lives.

The HAROLD model holds that as adults age our brains become less lateralized and our frontal cortexes start working more bilaterally. One study that was done involved 24 subjects between 18-30 years of age and 24 subjects that were between 50-80 years old. They gave them two tasks that were linguistic/semantic tasks. The first task was a picture-naming task and the second was a sentence judgment task. They also did two long-term memory, episodic recognition tasks using the same materials. The hemisphere lateralization was assessed by using statistical lateralization maps (SLMs). Interestingly, in this study they found that when the effects were significant the effects weren't restricted to the prefrontal cortex itself. In young adults, when encoding most use their left hemisphere and recall tends to be right lateralized. In older adults encoding and recall are bilateral. In young adults the left prefrontal cortex was almost twice as big as is right prefrontal activity. As we age, the level of activity in the left prefrontal cortex drops gradually until the brain is bilateral due to the levels of activity evening out.

There doesn't seem to be any information about a similarity with older people's bilateral brains and ambidextria. Instead it just explains that as we age our brains go through some changes. I did not find any information about what parts of the brain aside from the prefrontal cortex, are affected by this bilateralization. This subject is interesting because although I know we are constantly changing, I think it's interesting just how much our bodies will change to make up for any weaknesses. I think HAROLD is similar to brain damage patients. When one area of the brain is damaged our brains make up for that weakness in other areas.

Terminology: hemispheric, asymmetry, ambidextrous, frontal cortex, lateralization, bilateral, linguistic, semantic, picture-naming task, judgment task, LTM, episodic recognition, statistical lateralization maps, prefrontal cortex

Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in Older Adults: The HAROLD Model
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11931290
This source gave the definition of HAROLD. It gave a nice summary of what hemispheric asymmetry reduction in older adults is.

Reassessing the HAROLD model: Is the hemispheric asymmetry reduction in older adults a special case of compensatory-related utilization of neural circuits?
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00221-012-3319-x#page-1
This source gave a few good studies and included more details on the HAROLD effect.

Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in Older Adults: The HAROLD Model
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00221-012-3319-x#page-1
This source was written by the neuroscientist that developed the HAROLD model. It went into detail about the model and different effects on people of different age groups.

The topic that I chose to look more into this week is differential reinforcement of behavior (DRO). This was discussed in section 5.4, and since I at first was a little confused about the topic I thought it would be a good idea to do some more research on it so I could understand it much better! A DRO is actually a type of schedule of reinforcement that is used to decrease the rate of unwanted or inappropriate behaviors and is dependent on time. So, the longer you go without performing that behavior, then you get a reinforcement. In other words, a reinforcement is provided for desired behaviors and undesired behaviors are ignored.

Implementing a DRO is a fairly easy process. The first thing you need to do is to implement a schedule, whether you want to reward the individual every 5 minutes, every class period, etc. It is important to make sure that you inform the individual of what is going to happen when they do the desired behavior. It is important that the individual is rewarded at the end of the time period when the target behavior is not emitted. However, at the same time it is important that the individual does emit the target behavior, they are informed that they did it and will not receive the reward this time.

DROs can be used in various settings. One place that I can frequently think of them being used is in the class room. A good example of this is when a teacher may have a student that tends to interrupt the class a lot by speaking to his or her neighbor. To stop this, a teacher could implement a system where every class period the student goes without speaking to his or her neighbor, the student gets a gold star. Therefore, instead of punishing the student for speaking to their neighbor, she is reinforcing them to not speak to their neighbor, which will cause the frequency of the undesired behavior to decrease.

I believe that implementing a differential reinforcement of behavior would be a very good way to begin a behavior change, especially in young children. Since this type of behavior modification focuses on reinforcement, I believe that children would be much more enticed to perform the correct behavior since they get a reward rather then a punishment. I think this is a great topic to be aware of if you are ever involved in any kind of behavior modification situation or experiment!

Terminology: differential reinforcement of behavior, schedule of reinforcement, reinforcement, punishing, target behavior, emitted, behavior modification

http://www.grrec.ky.gov/CaveWeb/autism/ASD%20Webpage/Module%203/-%20How%20To%20DRO.pdf
http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/content/differential-reinforcement
http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/bi2/cresource/what-techniques-can-ms-rollison-use-to-manage-the-disruptive-and-non-compliant-behaviors-of-students-like-patrick-and-tameka/bi2_06/#content

The topic i choose this week is observational learning.Observational learning is learning that results from observing the responding of others and the consequences of such responding.
In order for observational learning to occur, the observer must pay attention to an action, remember the observed behavior, be able to replicate the behavior, and be motivated to produce the behavior.
Observational learning can produce new behaviors, and either increase or decrease the frequency with which a previously learned behavior is demonstrated. This type of learning can also encourage previously forbidden behaviors.
Observational learning is important in children because they mirror behaviors from others in order to learn appropriate behaviors in their society as well as learning culturally appropriate languages, gestures, and phrases.
Albert Bandura first demonstrated observational learning in his now famous Bobo Doll experiment. After seeing adults hit a doll and either be rewarded, punished, or neither, children were shown to have learned the aggressive behavior.


terms- observation learning, behavior,frequency,experiment,reward, punish

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3545504/

https://www.boundless.com/psychology/learning/cognitive-approaches-to-learning/observational-learning/

http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/crimtheory/bandura.htm

I chose to do more research on observational learning. This is a topic that we just went over in the last section and I want to know more about it. The observational learning theory was developed by Albert Bandura. It is also sometimes called modeling or social learning. The basic idea of this theory is that people can learn by observing. Bandura came up with four conditions in order for observational learning to take place. They are attention to the model, retention of details, motor reproduction and motivation and opportunity. Attention to the model means that in order for learning to take place one must be paying attention. Retention is important because it you can’t store what you learned you won’t be able to use it when it’s needed. Motor reproduction means that you are physically capable of doing the behavior that you are observing. It is also in this stage that you emit or don’t emit the behavior that you were observing. Motivation is important for observational learning to be successful. In order for modeling to take place one must want to learn.

Behaviors do not have to be repeated in order for them to be learned. An example of this would be watching someone emit an unwanted behavior and seeing them be punished. Just by observing the learner learns not to do that behavior. Mental state is another important aspect of observational learning that Bandura talked about. Albert Bandura thought that not all behavior was due to external reinforcement. He came up with the idea of intrinsic reinforcement. Intrinsic reinforcement is like an internal reward. Some examples would be pride in oneself, satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.

Albert Bandura came up with his social learning theory after doing an experiment. His experiment has become known as the bobo doll experiment. In this experiment Bandura wanted to see if a social behavior like aggression can be learned through observation. What Bandura did was take 3-6 year olds and place them into either the control group or the experimental group. The control group watched a video of an adult playing in a nice non-aggressive way while the experimental group watch a video of an adult being aggressive with the bobo doll. He was shown punching, hitting, and kicking the bobo doll. What Bandura found was that the kids in the experimental group emitted many more aggressive or violent acts towards the bobo doll than those in the control group. This study was the first to show that learning can happen just by observing. This study also showed great support for Bandura’s social learning theory.

Terms used: observational learning, modeling, social learning, attention to model, retention, motor reproduction, motivation, emit, punished, reinforcement, intrinsic reinforcement.

http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htm
https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Observational_learning.html
http://www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html


I am choosing to do this weeks blog on a topic that I have found myself struggling with in my own personal life. I think that the main thing I have learned from this class and from behavioral modification in general is that it is amazing how much of it is in our every day lives that we never really realized before. I am going to do my blog over the topic of reinforcement in relationships.

I have been in a relationship with the same guy for quite some time now, and recently I have started to notice so many things about him that are driving me crazy. They are simple things that should have simple fixes such as cleaning up after yourself, doing your own dishes, and not just expecting that I will do everything for him. I had been ignoring it for some time until last week I noticed he started putting his dirty laundry in with mine like I'm suppose to do his laundry for him as well.

After a few weeks of all this going on I snapped on him and told him "I am not your mother" and "you are very capable of picking up after yourself" after this conversation he explained to me that I never give him positive reinforcement when he does things right I only get mad and punish when we does something wrong.

While researching the subjected it stated that in relationships we are constantly positively reinforcing our partner with subtle things such as smiles or gestures.

I agreed with this because of course I didn't want to admit I was wrong and say that I was only punishing him and never complimenting what he does right.

Then I read on and it stated that in relationships the things that we point out that our partner is doing wrong has a much larger affect on them then the things that we are telling them they do right. In one example it stated that a girl told her boyfriend that she wasn't happy with his "sexual performance" and the male in the situation stated that every time after that even if she didn't complain or she stated that she was satisfied all he could think about was when she said she wasn't satisfied.
It makes sense that the hurtful things people say stick with us more than the compliments people give us.

I can still remember back to my middle school years when a girl in class used to make fun of me for being tall. (I have always been an awkward tall/skinny build) and I became so self-conscious about being tall and having long arms, or big feet that I used to lie to my mom about what shoe size I was so that my feet wouldn't look as big.

I read that in relationships even if you feel like you are always right sometimes what the other person is feeling is something you never would have expected and hearing their point of view can change how you look at the thing you once got mad at your partner for.
Some of the websites had steps of what you can do to work out problems with your partner, but most of those pertained to married couples. I am only 20 years old and have way too many other things to worry about. However I did want to talk about figure it out.

He explained how he is busy with football, school and work and how stressful this time of year is for him and we started to compromise that although he is capable and can do things on his own, I don't mind doing things for him if he asks nicely and doesn't just expect it.

Reading up on punishment and reinforcement in relationships made me realize I am no where near ready to be in a serious relationship, I am too young and I honestly don't have the time or energy to spend on the issues that the couples in the online examples were arguing about.

What I learned overall from my research is that every one just wants to feel needed and appreciated in their relationships no matter what stage you are at.

http://blog.californiapsychics.com/blog/2011/02/give-your-partner-positive-reinforcement.html

http://www.gutsygeek.com/feelings-relationships-and-positive-reinforcement/

http://www.excelatlife.com/articles/women_only.htm

I was very interested in the reading from Tuesday about controlling antecedents, so I decided to look up ways to control the environment and antecedents to increase the behavior of studying and have more desirable consequences come from studying (like more free time, improved learning, and higher quality work). Also, since finals are around the corner, finding the optimal place to study would be very beneficial! First, the sound in the environment can affect the quality of studying. Music in headphones are more distracting than background music because of the close proximity to the brain (in contrast to a book that you’re reading that’s further away). Music that is least distracting include classical/instrumental and anything familiar. One source suggested essentially creating a functional assessment of behavior after studying in a noisy place and a quiet place. I found this an interesting tip that I may try since actually recording how successful the studying goes will better help me understand my study habits. Second, another factor in a studying environment is whether you’re in public or your own room. Characteristics of people who emit desired studying behaviors in their own room include being organized and self-driven. Third, smells can set the occasion for and elicit distracted behavior, so moving if the study area has enticing or offensive smells is helpful. Fourth, setting aside an area that is used exclusively for studying will help a person avoid receiving conflicting signals from the environment. Fourth, physically writing down what you expect to accomplish during a particular study session can act as a discriminative stimuli because if you accomplish what’s on that list a person will have a desirable reinforcer while if you don’t accomplish what’s on the list a person will have an undesirable punishment. While I only listed four, there are many other ways to create an environment conducive for studying.

Terms: antecedents, environment, behavior, desirable consequences, emit, functional assessment of behavior, set the occasion, elicit, discriminative stimuli

http://alac.rpi.edu/update.do
http://www.wgu.edu/blogpost/improve-online-study-environment
http://www.dso.iastate.edu/sites/default/files/imported/asc/academic/handouts/study/controlling.pdf

The topic that I have chosen for this week is how behavioral therapy sessions can be used. This fits in with what we have discussed in class because a therapy session would likely incorporate all or most of the behavioral concepts that we have been building up to throughout the class. I think that this is an interesting topic because it shows how what we learn in class can be applied in real-world situations.

Behavioral therapy sessions are when a therapist and a client work together to change a target behavior that the client may want to increase or decrease. The typical duration for a behavioral therapy program can be 14-16 weeks, although there are times when a program of eight weeks can be used depending on the behavior being addressed. Often, the behavioral therapy also includes ways of changing how a client may think about situations that could elicit the undesirable behavior or inhibit the desirable behavior. These types of sessions are referred to as cognitive-behavioral therapy, but many of the methods used are behaviorally based.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy can be used to treat mild depression and anxiety disorders, and the undesirable behaviors that accompany them. For example, someone with social anxiety could benefit from CBT by learning how to interact with others in a public place. The therapist might start sessions by having the client explain why they feel anxious in public. In this way, the therapist is figuring out what the antecedent to the anxiety is at a cognitive level for the client. Maybe the client feels that others will laugh at them for doing something wrong. In the video clip example, the client felt overwhelmed at work. The therapist discovered that the reason was that the client had accepted too many tasks because she thought her boss might get upset if she said no. A functional assessment of this behavior might show that it is done in order to avoid conflict.

Once the antecedent and function of the behavior are established, the client sets a goal that they want to achieve. For someone with social anxiety, it might be to sit down and eat in a nice restaurant. In the case of the woman in the video, her goal was to confront her boss about her workload. A case like this might be ideal for a brief CBT program which lasts only a few weeks. The therapist had the client role play that she was speaking with her boss. The client may not require many sessions before she feels comfortable telling her real boss that she is being given too much work to do at once. Depending on the severity, social anxiety may take longer to treat because the main goal may have to be achieved through a series of smaller target behaviors. For example, the therapist could give the client an assignment to make eye contact and smile at five people they meet on the sidewalk before the next session. The next assignment could be to actually say “hello” to someone, then to ask someone for directions, etc. until the client is able to reach their goal. This may require a full-term CBT program.

What I learned is that behavioral therapy sessions can be used to change many different types of behaviors, although there are some limits to how effective this type of therapy can be. For one thing, the client is often required to do some work outside of sessions, such as keeping a behavioral journal or other assignments. Someone who is not motivated to do these tasks on their own will probably have a more difficult time changing their behavior. Also, people with certain disorders may not benefit well from CBT because it is time-limited. Chronic disorders or substance abuse often take more time to treat than a typical CBT program allows. However, for those people who are motivated to make a change, but may not know how to do so on their own, behavioral therapy is a good way to learn how to make the necessary changes in your life.

Article URL: http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/cognitive-behavioral-therapy-for-depression
Article URL: http://www.mirecc.va.gov/visn16/docs/therapists_guide_to_brief_cbtmanual.pdf
Video URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCyfMFXR-n0

Terms: behavioral therapy, target behavior, elicit, inhibit, undesirable, desirable, cognitive-behavioral therapy, depression, anxiety, disorder, antecedent, functional assessment, function, goal, behavioral journal, motivation

I chose to learn more about punishment, since I’ve spent so much time focusing on reinforcement. Behavior modification basically based off of reinforcing rather than punishing. I wanted to find out if there were any forms of punishment that could elicit more desirable behaviors than reinforcement. There is more about reinforcing in different articles, but there are 5 different types of punishment that parents tend to use against kids emitted behaviors that are considered aversive. They were yelling, grounding, withdrawing, isolation, and logical consequences.
Punishment is a term used in operant conditioning to refer to any change that occurs after a behavior that reduces it will happen again. is divided into two different groups. Positive and negative punishment. Positive punishment is adding an undesirable stimulus in order to change a behavior. Negative punishment is removing something desirable in order to change a behavior. Extinction is something that can take place if the punishment is very harsh.
Punishment is found to be more likely to lead to a reduction of behavior immediately. Punishment also achieves greater results when it is consistently applied. These are two reasons it can be better than reinforcement.
http://psychology.about.com/od/operantconditioning/f/punishment.htm
http://allpsych.com/psychology101/reinforcement.html
http://voices.yahoo.com/how-change-behavior-children-psychology-5549699.html
Terms: Behavior modification, punishment, reinforcing, reinforcement, desirable behavior, elicit, aversive, emit, consequence, positive punishment, negative punishment, stimulus, undesirable, extinction, operant conditioning.

This week, I decided to explore the topic of Observational Learning. It was tied into the last section that we read (5.4) and I was interested in how it was related to changing antecedents. I have always been pretty interested in this topic throughout my other psychology classes, but I wanted to learn more about how it relates to behavior modification.

Observational learning works well in behavior modification when it comes to children. Children tend to copy the behaviors of those around them. The way that their parents, siblings and peers act has a lot of influence on the way that they act. This can also be applied to the way that children speak. The example from the text talked about how if we change the environment in which children spend a lot of time in so that we don’t have to tell them ‘no’ as often, they won’t replicate the word back to us as often. This would be an example of negative reinforcement as compared to punishment for an undesirable behavior. Children use the people around them to learn how they are supposed to act. This is why we have to try to be good role models and not emit behaviors that we don’t want them to catch on to. This is why operational learning is also known as social learning theory, or modeling.

This theory was created by a man named Albert Bandura. He created a study known as the “Bobo Doll Experiment”. Children observed as adults were either aggressive or nice towards a Bobo doll. This aggressive behavior was predicted to elicit a modeled behavior from the children. When the children were placed into the same environment as the doll, the same behaviors were recorded by the children. The children that observed the aggressive behavior kicked, punched and knocked down the Bobo doll in the same way that the adults did. On the other hand, the children who were in the control group didn’t show nearly as much aggression. This provided support for Bandura’s social learning theory in that aggressive behavior can be learned through observation.

Although observational learning is very prominent when working with children, it is not limited to that age group. Adults are also subject to observational learning, especially in new environments. Observational learning can be linked to conformity as well. If we are in an unfamiliar environment, or around a new group of people, we are likely to learn how to act or talk by observing the behavior of those around us. When we learn how we should be behaving by imitating those around us, we will feel a sense of relief and satisfaction. This would be an example of intrinsic reinforcement. Even when we are with friends, we start to pick up on their mannerisms and act the same way they do. When we really think about it, we engage in observational learning all the time!

Terms: observational learning, social learning, modeling, negative reinforcement, punishment, intrinsic reinforcement, emit, elicit, undesirable, aggression.

I chose to cover observational learning this week, specifically observational learning in children. This topic interested me since I'm looking to go into child psychology and observation is one of the most practical teachers. As babies, we don't have the convenience of expanded vocabulary to ask questions on how to accomplish a task or take verbal directions. All they have to learn with is their senses, and the sense of sight is easily the biggest teacher. Babies will look around and see what their family members and peers are doing in a certain situation to know how to act. Observational learning, or modeled learning, occurs all throughout our lifetimes, but it is most frequently used in childhood.

One of the fathers of observational learning is Albert Bandura, who founded the social learning theory. He had a series of children in his "Bobo Doll" experiment watch different videos of an adult playing with an inflatable Bobo doll. The adult would punch and hit the doll violently. Sometimes in the video he would be rewarded for his violent behavior. In some there were no consequences and in a few he would be punished for this behavior. The children were then put in a room with the same doll. Those who saw the adult reinforced or met with zero consequence were more likely to act aggressively toward the doll than the children who saw him being punished.

Bandura states that there are four conditions in observational learning:
1. Attention to the model
2. Retention of details
3. Motor reproduction
4. Motivation and opportunity

Because children learn best through observation much more than verbal command, it is of the utmost importance that parents and caregivers lead through example when rearing children. The old adage "Do as I say not as I do" is detrimental to a child's learning. If they see another person being rewarded for a certain behavior that they would ordinarily be punished for, it confuses the child and only teaches them that verbal commands aren't all that important and should only be followed when it's convenient.

http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm
https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Observational_learning.html
http://www.funderstanding.com/theory/child-development/observational-learning-and-the-young-child/

Terminology: observational learning, modeled learning, social learning theory, consequence, punishment, reinforcement

A topic I found very interesting was the concept of differential reinforcement of other behavior. This basically means you are substituting an undesirable behavior with a more pleasurable one. This helps rid of the undesirable behavior that is being emitted , because the desirable behavior that is being reinforced is not compatible (or cannot be done at the same time) as the previous behavior. This type of behavior modification can be used in a variety of scenarios effectively. The websites I found gave several instances in which this type of behavior modification can be applied.

We have talked several times in class about the effectiveness of reinforcement versus punishment. While punishment can be effective, reinforcement is more influencial and let's be honest, nobody likes to get punished when they could be reinforced. For me, that describes differential reinforcement perfectly.

I think I like this concept so much, because it practically gets rid of any punishment situations I would have to put upon myself. I have a terrible habit of biting my nails and my lips, but not when I have gum in my mouth. Chewing gum serves as an alternate behavior, because I don't bite my nails or lip when I'm chewing on gum. I can easily apply this concept to everyday life, and the websites I've found help me support that.

The websites I found all gave different scenarios on ways to use this technique. In an example on using it to control behavior in the classroom, you give a child a sticker for a certain time period they go without interrupting. The same could be said when training a dog. Everytime the dog that is being trained does something well it will be rewarded, while the disruptive behavior is ignored.
This could also be a good opportunity for changing the antecedent. A dog may tend to jump on people when it gets excited, but if you keep the animal from getting too excited, you may be able to keep the dog from jumping. Something similar can be said for the classroom. If you do not place two students by each other who tend to talk, then that also limits the disruptive behavior.

There are so many ways to rid aversive behaviors simply by substituting them with more desirable target behaviors!

Sources:
http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/content/differential-reinforcement
http://pennvetwdc.org/terminology/differential-reinforcement-of-other-behavior/
http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/bi2/cresource/what-techniques-can-ms-rollison-use-to-manage-the-disruptive-and-non-compliant-behaviors-of-students-like-patrick-and-tameka/bi2_06/

Terms: Differential reinforcement of other behavior, aversive, desirable, pleasurable, behavior, target behavior, emit, undesirable, reinforcement, punishment

For this weeks assignment I wanted to look into changing the antecedent. I found this really interesting after reading the last couple blogs and briefly talking about it in class. It made me aware that the antecedent really does control or change the target behavior. They are essential to why a behavior occurs and also when it occurs.

One thing I looked at was the antecedent and how it affects a students productivity while studying. It really depends on the individual on which antecedent would be create the most productivity. Lets say for me that I work well in quieter environments, then a good antecedent for me would be a quiet place, but for someone else more background noise could be better. This could also be something like listening to music while you study or not or whether the music has words or a more soothing beat. All of these things can be changed to create a better outcome and environment for students and studying. If it increases productivity in a certain enviornment, it is more likely to reinforce the studying they did that day

It is extremely helpful if you can clearly identify the antecedent that is directly causing the problem behavior. That way you can modify or eliminate that antecedent and implement and different one. It is not always the best choice to eliminate it right away, some times it just needs a slight tweak and another try to see if the behavior changes. In an example found on one of the websites listed below, the student was having problems with agression and lashing out. Instead of the teacher getting angry and basically repeating the behavior right back to him, they found an alternative antecedent that included the students interests in which they colored pictures to release anger. In this study, it decreased the outbursts and increased his participation in the classroom. The task was made more meaningful to the student and got his attention off of whatever was making him angry before.

Another example that also relates to classroom behavior is the idea of giving the kids time to talk before class. The problem behavior was that the kids were talking over the teacher and being a disruption. In order to try and decrease the behavior the teacher gave the kids 2 minutes at the beginning of every class to talk to their friends. The antecedent now becomes those two minutes of free time. This should then decrease the amount of socialization that occurs during the class when the teacher is talking. This is a way to avoid punishment and still get rid of the aversive behavior.

Terms: target behavior, antecedent, punishment, environment, aversive, reinforcement

http://www.socialliteracytoday.com/?p=173
http://www.wgu.edu/blogpost/improve-online-study-environment
http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/?q=behavior_plans/positive_behavior_support_interventions/teacher_tools/antecedent_interventions

This week for my topical blog I chose to do a topic that we have not covered but that I have heard about in my History and Systems class that has to do with behavior modification. The Law of Contiguity was established by Edwin Ray Guthrie in 1952 and states: a stimulus or combination of stimuli that is followed by a particular response will, upon its reoccurrence tend to be followed by the same response again. Guthrie’s philosophy was that all learning is primarily stimulus-response based, that reinforcement is irrelevant, learning occurs on the first trial, and that extinction reflects new learning, not the elimination of a behavior.

According to Guthrie, reinforcement and punishment play no significant role in learning, he says this is because the reinforcer or punisher are administered after the association between stimuli and responses have already been made. He also suggested that forgetting is due to interference rather than time passing, meaning that there are so many stimulus and extraneous noise going on around us that it makes it difficult to gain or retain knowledge, unless we are exposed to the knowledge on a constant basis.

Guthrie’s main point about this law was that all learning was a consequence of association between a particular stimulus and response and that stimuli and responses affect specific sensory-motor patterns, meaning that what is learned are movements, not behaviors. The classic experiment commonly associated with Guthrie’s law is one where cats learn how to escape from a puzzle box. In this experiment, he used a glass panel box, which allowed him to photograph the process, these pictures showed the cats performing the same sequence of movements already conditioned. It shows that the cats even improve because they are said to have unlearned any movements not relevant with escaping.

Terms: stimulus, stimulus-response association, reinforcement, punishment, extinction, behavior, conditioned, consequence, response, puzzle box.
http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/guthrie.htm

http://www.southalabama.edu/oll/mobile/theory_workbook/contiguity_theory.htm

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

My topic is the Premack Principle and the various applicatons it can be used for. We discussed the Premack Principle as a way to reinforce a behavior without having to spend money on a reinforcer; this is possible by reinforcing a low rate of an undesirable behavior with a high rate of a desirable behavior. This is an example of differential of low rate behavior with the reinforcer being the opportunity to engage in a desirable behavior.

I found two separate research examples that used Premack’s Principle. The first research example was using Premack’s Principle in 3-year-old subjects to reinforce behavior that abided by the teacher’s instructions, such as to sit down and look at the blackboard. This behavior was reinforced with the opportunity to engage in a high rate behavior of their choosing, such as puzzles, running around the room, screaming, etc. This type of reinforcement was very effective in modifying their behavior. The other research article stated it in terms of using response deprivation as an establishing operation to make Premack’s Principle work. The article discussing the research on 3-year-olds made the comment that an observer that came in after this reinforcement had taken effect thought for sure that an aversive punishment or negative reinforcement was the cause for this change in behavior. This struck me as odd because it is widely known that reinforcement and avoiding aversives is more effective and a more salient reinforcer than punishment. However I was surprised by just how effective this technique was in children so young.

The other research article went into a lot of the history behind each of the terms of Premack’s Principle, establishing operations, and response deprivation. I learned a lot of interesting history behind the research relating to each of these topics. For example, I had no idea that the research on response deprivation went all the way back to the 20s. It also drew the analogy of activity having an appetite like any other reinforcer. I had never thought about it in that way, activity can be a reinforcer. I realized that I have used this principle in my own life. For example, the other day I used doing an art project as a reinforcer for getting my homework done. I have been using many of these principles in my own life and just not labeling them as such.

I was therefore very interested to find a website that used Premack’s Principle in stopping procrastination. Procrastination is one behavior that I would like to extinguish. I could use differential reinforcement of the low rate of procrastinating or differential reinforcement of the high rate of getting my homework done in a timely manner. As the research connecting Premack’s Principle, response deprivation and establishing operations suggests, I can deprive myself of some behavior that is desirable, the establishing operation to make that behavior reinforcing, then I can reinforce myself for either a high rate of getting homework done in a timely manner or reinforce myself for a low rate of procrastinating. I can use some behavior that is a strong salient reinforcer, such as watching television or doing an art project, to increase the frequency of getting homework done sooner or decrease the rate of procrastinating until the last minute. This website about procrastinating has a lot of things to watch out for when it comes to procrastinating, such as ill-defined tasks like starting a project and boring or stressful work. Often these are the kind of tasks that get put off until the last minute because they are undesirable behaviors to emit. Reinforcement may elicit these behaviors at higher rates in order to attain the behavior that is desirable. This website also realizes that sometimes getting to the task that is most reinforcing is much harder to do when there are multiple unpleasant tasks before it They suggest that you work up to putting the reinforcer last in the sequence. Start with a more continuous reinforcement, then lean out the schedule of reinforcement gradually so that there are more unpleasant tasks that get completed before you get the reinforcing task.

Terms used in this post: Premack Principle, reinforce, reinforcer, reinforcing, low rate, high rate, differential reinforcement of low rate, reinforced, reinforcement, aversive, punishment, negative reinforcement, salient, response deprivation, establishing operation, extinguish, differential reinforcement of high rate, emit, continuous reinforcement, lean out, schedule of reinforcement

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1404418/pdf/jeabehav00184-0045.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2731497/pdf/behavan00010-0055.pdf
http://gettingstronger.org/2010/12/stop-procrastinating-use-the-premack-principle/

The topic I chose to do is interventions, because we talked about it earlier, and interested in learning more about them. Interventions are usually used with people who have some sort of addiction. Sometimes they can be forcible interventions where the friends or family member have to physically confine that person in a room to have the intervention. In some cases these interventions can be illegal, because it takes away the persons liberty when there is no law involved. Interventions step in when there is a serious problem with a behavior. Interventions have much controversy going on about them and if they actually work. A study has found that during the Johnson Intervention (a standard intervention), there was a higher relapse rate than any other method for alcohol and drug referrals. Interventions can also occur for people who have a mental disability such as schizophrenia. These interventions can help get the individual into cognitive behavioral therapy.
In an article I read for my health psychology class I found that interventions give good motivation and knowledge base when they first start out, but tend to decrease along the way. The behavior change ended up getting higher as the motivation went down in the case of condom usage for HIV prevention.
I think interventions all depend on the person that is getting intervened on and what is the best way to approach them during the intervention. People need to have a good support system as well to help them through their recovery.

Interventions, behavior, cognitive behavioral therapy,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intervention_(counseling)
Talked about the controversy there is on interventions.
http://www.news-medical.net/health/Schizophrenia-Interventions.aspx
Interventions for people who have schizophrenia.
http://cdp.sagepub.com.proxy.lib.uni.edu/content/15/2/73.full.pdf+html
In my health psych class we talked about interventions as well and this shows findings from a study.

For this weeks topic I have decided to do research on positive parenting emphasizing the extermination of the word "No". This word can be one of the most annoying words in the word for a parent once a child learns how to say it.Many kids go through a stage called the “terrible twos” where they continually say “No” to the parent. This is in part because children learn by example. Learning by example is called observational learning. Around two children are more mobile and can get into things easily. This can potentially be harmful to the child and to the objects they are interacting with. We have advised parents to remove the NO's from the environment
by creating a safe room for the child to play. In other words, find a room where the child can play, cover the electrical outlets and secure plugs and cords. Remove low hard surfaces or corners (a moving blanket over a hard coffee table works to soften the environment from bumps and bangs).
The youtube video that I attached with this shows different ways to help eliminating that word in the child's like by controlling the environment that the child is in by putting things in the room or where the child is at that you wouldn't have to tell the child no. This way the child doesn't hear the word from you as much and wont pick up on the word. Move anything you don’t what the child to access up high, out of sight, By controlling the environment (antecedent) the only behaviors the child can emit are safe and appropriate. This will reduce the number of “NOs” the parent emits, and since children learn from example and from observation, it may even reduce the terrible twos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iQjsEIn-VA
http://www.marilyn.ca/parenting/segments/Daily/January2011/01_26_2011/AlysonSchafer
http://www.pbs.org/parents/talkingwithkids/positive_discipline_tips.html

The topic that I chose to do my topical blog on is the idea of positive reinforcement. I chose this topic because it interests me very much because it has been a very important aspect of behavior modification and is used so much in everyday life, even though it may not be at a conscious level. As I continue my education in social work and prepare for the workplace setting, positive reinforcement is a method I will utilize very frequently.

After doing my research on positive reinforcement, I sought out to gain more information and understanding of reinforcement, as well as relate it to the context of a real-life scenario. Reinforcement is something that strengthens the relationship. Within behavior modification, positive reinforcement is strengthening the behaviors we deem as desirable. Positive reinforcement involves the addition of something that is desired by a person, which in turn increases the frequency of the behavior. Negative reinforcement, on the other hand, is the removal of an aversive stimulus, and elicits a decrease in the response.

Skinner believed reinforcement was a more productive way to study observable behavior, rather than mental activity. He also thought looking at the causes and consequences of a behavior were important in order to form patterns. According to Skinner, an organism's future behavior could be altered by using reinforcers and stimuli, and in addition, he believed the use of punishment was not helpful for learning purposes.

For this blog, I wanted to find an applicable example, and the one I found of this was in the context of an educational setting, as I may consider becoming a school social worker. In this example, a teacher recognized one of her students could correctly identify only two out of the ten pictures she presented him. She determined that he, as well as other students, may need some sort of reinforcement, so she started giving the students tokens for every picture they identified correctly. The tokens worked as money for the students. The student who was originally performing poorly immediately improved and was able to receive a score of ten out of ten by the third day of using positive reinforcement. From my experience as an intern at Bremwood, I was informed this process is called a token economy, which we will most likely learn about in the next few weeks. The key to utilizing a token economy or positive reinforcement in everyday life is to reward the behavior once it is emitted, not the person, in order for the behavior to occur more often. Positive reinforcement and a token economy are techniques I am likely to utilize in my profession. If a client emits a desirable behavior and he or she is able to receive a consequence that has intrinsic value to him or her, this individual will continue to change the behavior with one that is consistent to one that elicits a positive response. Much like Skinner’s belief, the use of reinforcement is a much more effective way to alter behavior as opposed to punishment or using a punisher.

http://www.educateautism.com/behavioural-principles/positive-reinforcement.html#.Uw4K7uPxq2k

http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/reinforcement

Terms: positive reinforcement, reinforcement, desirable, frequency, behavior, negative reinforcement, aversive, stimulus, elicit, response, Skinner, consequence, organism, reinforcer, punishment, token economy, emit, intrinsic value, punisher

I chose to do more research on superstitious behaviors from section 2.4 because growing up around sports, my team has always had some sort of superstitious behavior but we never really understood why. Superstitious behaviors are also all around society including black cats and walking under a ladder. Learning about where it originated from and why humans believe it to be something so important that life changing decisions can be made from it was very intriguing to me. Superstition is a type of behavior and fits into the reinforcement sections we have covered because it all stems from being reinforced because of a certain behavior that was emitted.

Superstitious behavior goes back to 1947, when B.F. Skinner found that even pigeons are susceptible to superstition. Skinner did an experiment on a group of pigeons whose body weights had been reduced to 75% of their normal weight. For a few minutes each day a mechanism fed the birds at regular intervals and the pigeons developed superstitious behaviors believing that by acting a particular way, food would arrive. By the end of the study, three quarters of the birds became superstitious. One bird believed if it turned counterclockwise two or three times between being fed, the food would come. Other behaviors included moving their head back and forth and up and down. Skinners experiment proved that pigeons can be conditioned to be superstitious, but this behavior is a lot more common among humans.

Superstition is all around us and more than half of Americans admitted to being at least a little superstitious. One question that arises with this behavior is whether people can suffer from it like those with OCD. It’s been found though, that although some symptoms of OCD can mimic superstitious behavior, there is no connection between the two. Once a person starts to experience any symptoms of anxiety including tension, trouble sleeping, and excessive worrying, etc. whether it is superstitious or not, it’s important to get help. Superstition gives a sense of security and confidence, can give you a boost and promotes positive thoughts. Along with these positive aspects, there are also negative ones. If a person loses an object that they believe brings luck it can hinder their performance. No matter what the superstition, this behavior has been around for many years and will continue to stay. With more research we may even be able to discover superstitious behavior in a wide variety of other animals.

http://www.psychologistworld.com/superstition.php

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/psychology-of-superstition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm5FGrQEyBY

Terms: behavior, emit, superstitious behavior, reinforcement, intervals, conditioned

I wanted to look more into observational learning. I wanted to focus on this topic because I deal with teenagers that have bad behaviors. I believed that the children learned these behaviors, and behave specific ways due to their environments (antecedent). Observational learning is also called the social learning theory. Children learn through observation, and if motivated they emit the behavior. The famous case is the bobo dolls. Albert Bandura conducted a study to see if children would mimic the aggressive behavior they were shown. He found that the children did mimic the behavior.
What causes children to mimic the behaviors? Is it the antecedent? Something in their brain? Observational learning occurs in four steps. First the child has to be aware and paying attention to the behavior. Second the child has to remember the behavior they saw. Third they have to want to produce the behavior, and then do the behavior. Lastly, the consequence of the behavior is what decides if they will repeat the behavior.
What does this mean? Today’s children are observing violence and school attacks. The children I work with are manipulators, liars, fighters, and abusers. They do this because they observed the behavior and then elicit the behavior. They emit a behavior, like manipulation, to get what they want. They learned to manipulate through the adults in their life. The manipulation gives them what they want, and they are reinforced. Children are survivors, but they also engage in behaviors due to mirroring what they see. Observational learning is children mirroring their environment.
When children are in specific situations (antecedent) they will emit a behavior that is followed by a consequence .At work, children are survivors. They learn to get what they need. Being on the unit is the antecedent. The behavior is manipulating staff and the consequence (if not caught) is getting what they want.
The websites I used looked into violence. It is believed that the violent video games and the violent crimes on television can influence adolescent minds. Many children who play the violent video games are sucked into the virtual worlds, and are eliciting the act of violence. This can mean that children will emit the learned behaviors in the real world. But, children also learn positive things from observational learning.
My research showed the observational learning is a big thing in behavior modification. Children learn behaviors and emit them. They occurring in steps, and if reinforced the children will continue to emit the behavior.
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/learning/cognitive-approaches-to-learning/observational-learning/?utm_content=subdomain
http://www.livestrong.com/article/155023-observational-learning-in-children/
https://sites.psu.edu/intropsychsp14n3/2014/04/08/observational-learning-and-media-violence/
Terms: observational learning, antecedent, social learning theory, behavior, consequence, reinforcement, reinforced, emit, elicit, manipulation,


For this week’s assignment, I am going cover the topic of reinforcement. Reinforcement has been discussed in multiple sections of the text in class this far. I’m interested in reinforcement because it’s something that is used on a daily basis, sometimes without even knowing it.
Reinforcement is a consequence that will strengthen the possibility of a future behavior whenever that behavior is preceded by a specific antecedent stimulus. In most cases, behavior is reinforced by something that the person being reinforced likes or values. Reinforcement is one of the most prevalent ways within psychology that one uses to modify or change a behavior, generally used in operant conditioning. There are two major categories within reinforcement: Primary reinforcement and Secondary reinforcement. Primary reinforcement occurs naturally and generally does not require strategic learning to work. Examples of primary reinforcement included air, food, sex, etc. For example, one may enjoy a certain type of food and another may hate it. This takes me back to the first paragraph of this paper where I explained that reinforcement happens on a day-to-day basis sometimes without one even being aware. Secondary reinforcement, also known as conditioned reinforcement, generally involves another person. It involves a stimuli that becomes rewarding by being paired with an encouraged behavior.
When using reinforcement in operant conditioning, there are also two different types of reinforcement: Negative and positive. Positive reinforcement involves the addition of something desirable, and negative reinforcement involves the removal of something in order to increase a response. Reinforcers are very important in reinforcement and help increase the frequency of a future result.

Terms: reinforcement, reinforcer, negative reinforcement, positive reinforcement, primary reinforcement, secondary reinforcement, antecedent, operant conditioning, conditioned, stimuli.

http://www2.psychology.uiowa.edu/faculty/wasserman/glossary/reinforcement.html
http://psychology.about.com/od/operantconditioning/f/reinforcement.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforcement

This week I decided to look at punishment in the prison system. This was something we touched upon a little in class and that has been talked about in the media lately, but I didn't feel that I was very knowledgeable about. I decided to look at what punishments are given in prison and the effects those have, as well as what reinforcers are used or attempts to rehabilitate are made.

The start of prisons as we know today began with John Howard and his prison reformation movement. Howard noticed that people in prisons were not given separate cells, were being held even after being acquitted because they couldn't pay the fees, and the diet and living conditions were often sub-par. Howard published The State of Prisons in 1777. In this book he called for separate rooms for each prisoner, a better diet, more humane conditions, that the staff be trained professionals paid by the government, and that inspections of the prison should occur.

In 1779 the Penitentiary Act was passed as well. This allowed for solitary confinement, separate prisons for men and women, religious instruction, and a labor routine. Jeremy Bentham was also a key player in reforming the prisons. His utilitarian views helped to implement the idea of observing controlling the prisoners. He also first posed the idea of keeping prisoners as a form of punishment instead of just housing those awaiting their trials. This helped to establish prisons as rehabilitation centers and allowed the justice center to move away from using capital punishment.

There are many theories as to why people are incarcerated. The main ones are rehabilitation, incapacitation, deterrence, and retribution. The rehabilitation theory focuses on the idea that imprisonment will cause the offender to change and become a productive member of society. This is not supported by scientific evidence, and people often commit worse crimes after being exposed to other criminals during incarceration. Incapacitation theory claims that by keeping criminals locked up they are making the community safer. This is contradicted by the evidence that criminal activity inside the prison travels outside and that it is possible to keep the two separate. The third theory is deterrence. This is the belief that by seeing the consequences of criminal activity will deter others from committing criminal acts. Studies show that this is not actually the case, but most people still believe that this theory works. The final theory is of retribution, which states that people are incarcerated in order to get revenge for those who have been hurt by the criminal act. This is based on the idea of being morally balanced, or an eye for an eye.

In recent years there has been a push to allow prisoners more freedom and access to recreational and educational items. The thought is that by giving prisoners and education and allowing them to express themselves they will learn the tools needed to become successful outside of prison and become rehabilitated. Others believe that those who are imprisoned should suffer and should not be given such luxuries. It appears that, no matter the aim, prisons are not very effective. Overcrowding is rampant and repeat offenders are extremely common. Prisons cost the government millions of dollars each to operate in a given year, and that expense falls back on the taxpayer.

Over the last forty years, prisons have switched from focusing on training and rehabilitation towards punishing the prisoners and showing how tough they are. This switch has lead to higher recidivism rates and has not deterred new offenders. Instead of teaching these people how to be successful once they leave prison, we are now punishing them eternally for previous mistakes they have made.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison#Prison_reform_movement
I used this link to learn about the history and theories of incarceration.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10514678/The-old-debate-punish-prisoners-or-rehabilitate-them.html
I used this link to learn about the focus on rehabilitation and the overcrowding in prisons

http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug03/rehab.aspx
I looked at this link to gather more information on recidivism rates and the consequences of punishment over rehabilitation

The topic I chose to do for this assignment is changing antecedents to change a behavior. This topic fits into what we are learning in class because it is the A of the ABCs, which we have been learning about the entire semester. We also just read the section 5.4, which is titled “Changing the Antecedents.” I am interested in this because to every behavior there is an antecedent, so if I can learn to control this stimulus or environment it could be huge in changing my future student’s behaviors.
The first source I found was the documentary, Waiting for Superman. This documentary really exemplified the problems of public schools, especially in low socioeconomic areas. The environment in this documentary was obviously the public school system. This documentary said something like 60% of the students in a certain school in California were dropouts. Seeing this statistic, and seeing my school only had 5-10 out of 160 students dropout there is an obvious effect of the environment. So in order to get the target behavior of graduating we need to put these students in an environment where they feel like they are learning and can do something with their education. To do this you can either transfer these area-designated students to private school or enter a lottery for a charter schools. I think using my behavior modification knowledge, there needs to be a reinforcement schedule of teachers getting raises if they continually get through their curriculum, and have majority of their students to test out at their respected grade level. Otherwise these high school teachers on tenure have no motivation to be good teachers.
The other two sources I got online also correlated well with what we have learned in class. One common idea talked about in these articles had to do with avoiding problematic people and situations. This related to when section 5.4 talked about manipulating your environment to get away from people on parole, by volunteering, going to college, or going on long walks. This idea can be used with multiple target behaviors. For example if you wanted to quit drinking or smoking you have to stay away from the antecedent of people who are going to elicit you to do these things through peer pressure. Another thing talked about in these articles was changing your environment to not reinforce an aversive behavior. In our reading they referred to this with the example of not eating junk food, by not having junk food visible in your apartment. Going back to the drinking example, it is a lot easier not to drink if there is no alcohol in the house. It may not always be this easy, sometimes you must be creative in finding ways to manipulate antecedents in these situations when we have little control.
Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Antecedents, ABCs, stimulus, environment, target behavior, behavior modification, reinforcement schedule, elicit, aversive.

Sources:
Documentary Waiting for Superman
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/07/07/using-the-power-of-your-environment-to-promote-positive-change/
http://www.sparringmind.com/changing-habits/

For this topical blog assignment I have chosen to talk about the early life and career of Ivan Pavlov. Due to his research being extensively covered in most psychology courses (classical conditioning with ringing the bell and the dog salivating) I will leave most of that out and instead just cover his early life and career outside of his research. This ties into what we’ve been talking about because his classical conditioning experiment has had a profound effect on all of psychology and behavior studies since. I’m really interested in him because, like most psychologists (even though he technically a physiologist) you only ever hear about their experiments and not about their early life.

Ivan grew up in a family of thirteen as the oldest of eleven kids. He was born September 26th, 1849 in Ryazan in Russia. Peter, his father, was a village priest while his mother, Varvara, was a stay at home mom. Ivan had a very active childhood. Even though he was very intelligent as a kid, he was unable to start formal school until he was 11 due to an injury he had when he fell from a wall onto stone pavement at the age of 7. He graduated from the local Ryazan Church School before entering the local theological seminary. He left, however, in 1870 to study math and physics at a St. Petersburg university. Though he completed his courses with outstanding achievement, he continued studying due to his interest in physiology at the Academy of Medical Surgery.

In 1891 he was invited to the Institute of Experimental Medicine to direct the Department of Physiology, where he would remain for the next 45 years. Starting in 1901 he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine. He finally obtained the Nobel Prize for his studies and experiments over the digestive glands. The study was over how dogs began salivating before food was ever actually presented by pairing the sound of a bell with the deliverance of food. This experiment is the one in which Pavlov is most well-known for.

In May of 1881 Pavlov married his wife Seraphima (Sara, for short). They had many financial problems their first few years of marriage. They often had to stay in the homes of friends or relatives because they could not afford a place to stay, and even at some points they lived in separate places from each other. Conceiving proved to be hard for them, for Sara’s first pregnancy ended in miscarriage. And though her second pregnancy was successful, the child died in early childhood. After this, they were able to have four more children. The youngest of the four died of pancreatic cancer one year before Ivan’s death. Ivan passed away February 27th, 1936 due to complications of double pneumonia.

Terms: Ivan Pavlov, classical conditioning, psychology, physiology, behavior, behavior studies

TERMS: scheduled reinforcement, behavior, reinforcement, negative, continuous reinforcement, desired, punishment, fixed ratio, fixed interval, reward, variable ratio, variable interval, responses, emitting,

For my assignment, I wanted to look more in the concept of scheduled reinforcement in order to help me with my final project. Recently, I have been bad with reinforcing my behavior of waking up to my alarm the first time instead of snoozing it too many times. I just wanted to look at the different forms of reinforcement in order to alter my project a bit. Maybe I need to focus on the negative behavior more or alter the type of reinforcement I am using. During this assignment, I learned about variable reinforcement types and continuous reinforcement which we talked about in class. Reviewing the reinforcement schedules made me realize I need to strengthen the desired behavior and increase the occurrence of that behavior.
There are four types of reinforcement which break down into two groups: continuous and variable. Continuous reinforcement is best used when using punishment which makes it consistent to make the behavior stick. With continuous, there are two types of schedules which are fixed ratio and fixed interval. Fixed ratio would be applying the reinforcement after a specific number of behaviors. The problem with this type of reinforcement would be knowing how many you are allowed to get away with like spanking. You know you can get away with three behaviors and the third one would get you spanked. Like if I used this one, I would be able to snooze my alarm a certain number of times until I get punished for it. I do not think this one would work. Fixed interval would be applying the reinforcer after a certain number of time. The example they used was getting a raise after every year and not in between. I think this would be a problem because I cannot snooze my alarm too long but I could do I am allowed to snooze for only ten minutes and get rewarded.
The other type of scheduled reinforcement is applied on an irregular basis and is called variable reinforcement. The first type of reinforcement is called variable reinforcement which is applied after a variable number of responses. I don’t think this would work because I need to know when I will get up instead of guessing when I will get up. The second kind of reinforcement would be variable interval which is applied after a certain amount of time. I also don’t think this will work because I will forget how long it has been. Overall, I think I need to review all the types again to see which one is my best bet. I think a form of continuous is the best option because I need to get reinforcement or punishment with reinforcement in order to stop emitting the behavior of snoozing my alarm. I also think I need a fixed ratio that if I get up before two alarms I should get rewarded. I enjoyed reviewing all the schedules of reinforcement in order to review for my project

http://www.allpsych.com/psychology101/reinforcement.html

https://www.boundless.com/psychology/learning/operant-conditioning/schedules-of-reinforcement/


http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/schedules.htm

Habits
I choose to research more into this topic of habits because we all have them. I thought it’d be interesting to see what the web is saying about habits and their way of changing them. I also wonder if this might help me with the project we are working on because some days I do better than others with a reinforcer.

In the last decade, our understanding of neurology of habit formation has been transformed. This less known revolution has helped aid our concept of the way patterns work within our lives, societies, and organizations. This has been brought on by studies as simple as biting nails or eating a cookie every day around the same time. There are two kinds of habits: positive and negative habits. These are based on effects that the habits have on us including the biological consequence that the habit evokes. A negative habit is a behavior that is repeated mechanically and automatically. It drains our energy, has harmful repercussions on our body and/ or emotions and tends to go against what we actually want for ourselves.

Think of it, do most smokers really want their lunges and other aspects to their body to be negatively effected? Not usually, it is more the case that they are addicted and the act of smoking is a negative habit that they formed. Characteristically, bad habits have immediate positive benefits. These benefits are short-lived and have negative consequences. The difficult part is that the same part of our mind that automatically replays, feel bad, smoke, feel good is not part of us that can evaluate the continue usefulness of the habit.

So how do are we supposed to fix our negative habits? Habits can be broken down into three components: cue (trigger to certain routine), routine (behavior), and reward (why the habit exists). The reward is most important to look at because it is why the habit is continuing and it is what we are actually craving. For example, one of the stories I read was about this man that would get a cookie from the cafeteria every day around 3 or 3:30 and chat with his co-workers. His wife had pointed out that he had gained some weight from this. He went onto try changing his habit by instead of getting a cookie at that time, he got a candy bar, and then the next time he just went up to the cafeteria and talked with his friends and the craving for the cookie was no longer there. He realized that he actually was just craving socialization- so now around 3 he will just get up and talk to a co-worker for ten minutes and his craving is fulfilled. A similar quick habit change happened for this girl that had a horrible habit of biting her nails, it turns out that she actually found out that she was actually craving a physical simulation and as soon as she figured that out, she quickly replaced her nail biting habit with a different routine that produced the same reward.

Overall, the golden rule of habit change says that the most effective way to shift habit is to diagnose and retain the old cue and reward, and then just try to change the routine itself. This can be done through various tactics. Some tactics that were discussed included: habit-reversal therapy and being aware/ having consciousness- or wakefulness, awareness, presence, and eyes wide open. One famous gestalt psychologist, Fritz Perls proclaimed, “Awareness cures”. Habit reversal therapy has been used to treat verbal and physical tics, depression, smoking, gambling, and other behavioral problems. Also being able to stop and ask oneself is this what I wish to choose this moment?- helps strengthen and exercise our choosing and awareness muscles.

http://psychologyofeating.com/simple-psychology-habits/

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/07/17/the-golden-rule-of-habit-change/

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/03/05/the-power-of-habit/

Terms: behaviors, positive habits, negative habits,consequences, and awareness cues.

I decided to research violence in our society and how to possibly reduce the amount of violent behavior. This could be done several ways: understanding how antecedents affect behavior, examining the function/typography of the violent behavior and understanding how the consequences affect both the behavior and antecedent.
If we examine when people act violently (aka the antecedents) we could possibly stop violence happening presently and prevent future violence. By defining moments that are likely to cause (elicit) violent behavior. Using my example clip from Workaholics: whenever the main characters (Adam, Blake and Anders) were called a gay slur while playing online video games, Adam would emit the violent behavior of throwing his headphones on the floor then threatening the person who called them the slur. This clip come from the end of an episode where the plot was all about how the boys learned a lesson about how violence can be avoided by examining the antecedents and decide to play a nice game of tennis instead of a violent first person shooter game only to get cussed out anyway. Watson would have encouraged creating a positive environment through social engineering that bred better ways to deal with anger than violent outbursts, as he was known for believing he could build a utopia that would not include violence if that was his target behavior.
Examining the topography/function of the violent target behavior also helps understand why violence happens, and therefore can be avoided. Defining what violent behavior looks like(be it physical or relational) is key step in reducing violence as you cannot change a behavior if you do not know exactly what behavior you want to change. Looking at the function of the violence behavior is also important. The function of Adam throwing his headphones impacts how to deal with behavior. If the behavior of Adam throwing the headphones while angry was to avoid a more aversive situation (like physically hitting something else and possibly hurting himself, or someone else) it might be encouraged in the situation.
Wither the consequence has a pleasurable or aversive valence effects the likelihood of the target violent behavior being repeated. This is called Establishing Operations. For instance, if the headphones broke Adam would have to; fix, replace or go without them. As far as I know, headphones are a major component of playing games online (if not required?)- So not being able to play the games would have an aversive valence. If Adam had to spend money fixing/replacing enough headphone sets, eventually the target behavior of throwing the headphones while angry would be extinguished but only if he placed a aversive valence on spending that money to fix something he could have avoided breaking in the first place. When you consider how desensitized some people have become to violent outburst like that, it has major implication for the whole of society when violence extremes like that are deemed completely normal by most gamers. And when people become desensitized to violence, violence only becomes more accepted and there is the problem with societies where violence is not out of place.
Reduce behavior, antecedents, function, typography, consequences, elicit, emit, social engineering. Environment, utopia, target behavior, Defining, situation, aversive, consequence, pleasurable, aversive valence, repeated, Establishing Operations, extinguished, desensitized.
http://www.justice.govt.nz/publications/global-publications/s/safer-communities-action-plan-to-reduce-community-violence-sexual-violence/reducing-violence
http://www.pamf.org/parenting-teens/emotions/violence/violence.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tPx-RryAZA

The topic I chose for this topical blog is going to be over observational learning. Although we did just learn about it, I found this topic to be interesting, and something I am going to have to use in the future.

I am going to school to become a guidance counselor, and have yet to decide if I want to do high school or elementary. If I choose elementary school, observational learning will be a huge aspect of my teaching and working with students. Not that it does not apply to people of all ages, but it works better for younger kids.

Based on my first source and readings in class, there are a lot of different ways to learn, such as operant conditioning, classical conditioning, ect. As we age a lot of our learning comes from opservational learing. This is through the process of watching others, and learning by what they do or from what they do. For my project I am trying to stop biting my nails, but the way that it started was when I was little I remember watching my mom bite her nails, and so I just did it one day because she did. She has since stopped, but she did it for twenty years before she stopped. I learned to emit the same behavior as my mom through observational learning.

"Albert Bandura first demonstrated observational learning in his now famous Bobo Doll experiment." My first two sources talk about this, and I have also leared about the Bobo doll experiement in many of my psychology classes. Basically it was after kids saw how an adult treated a "bobo" doll, the kids more often than not did the same thing. If the adults were mean to the doll, the kids would be the same way. Simply put kids often act the way the see others acting.

My third source is kind of a goofy video made my high school students, but it explains really well what exactly observational learning is. The first half, two guys are walking down a hall way, one slips because it is wet and a couple seconds later, the other one slips, again because it's wet. A few seconds later a third guy comes walking down the hall and sees that the two guys slipped so it was wet, and walked to the other side of the hall to avoid slipping as they did. He observed what they did, and learned from it. In the last half of the video, one boy does "the cinnamon challenge" where you try to swollow a tbsp of cinnamon. It rarely ever ends well and the person that does it ends up feeling miserable. As the other boys gathered around to watch, they saw how much he didn't like it, then when asked to do it, they wouldn't because they did not want the negative consequences he had just experienced. They once again learned through observational learning.
All of these examples listed are different variations of observational learning and I feel as though I have a bit more through understanding of it. After reading these and watching the video I also realize that we all use observational learning throughout our lives. If someone in front of you swerves on the road, you most likely will to to avoid hitting whatever is there. Simple everyday things you may not notice at the time, but definitely do.

operational learning, operant conditioning, classical conditional conditioning, emit, behavior, negative consequence


http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/learning/cognitive-approaches-to-learning/observational-learning/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caPSqvkQ-Q8

For this week I wanted to research more about ways to change the antecedents or environment. This section was introduced and elaborated in chapter 5, section 4 of the textbook. We have been talking about modifying our own behaviors and I wanted to learn or see if there were different ways to change the antecedents in more complex and realistic situations. I am interested in this because for our own project I would like to learn how to alter my environments to have the most success in my project.
It is important to understand the antecedents and how to alter the environment because with this technique you will ultimately alter the behavior to become desirable along with the consequence. In the textbook the example of alter eating junk food is used and how to alter the environment to postpone or decrease the undesirable behavior, eating the junk food. These may be referred to as DRO (or Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior), which is a positive approach to change undesirable behaviors. This can also be called omission training procedures. Another example of this would be to reduce classroom disruptions, in which the amount of time a student doesn’t disrupt class time he/she gets a reinforcement or reward for their desirable behavior. The DRO can benefit tremendously in a classroom or school environment to maximize learning potential, as well as with children with autism and can also be used to decrease the frequency of punishment procedures. The reason the DRO can help alter the antecedents in an environment is for the reason of decreasing an undesirable behavior while reinforcing a desirable behavior. There are certain steps on can take when trying to use the DRO successfully. Step 1 includes identifying the undesirable behavior, for example, in the classroom with disruptions, the undesirable behavior would be rude comments or disruptions. Step 2 includes defining the undesirable behavior using precise language, for example, disruptions may include talking when teacher is talking, being disrespectful, or body gestures. Step 3 includes using a timer to select a time interval for how often you are going to check on this undesirable behavior, for example, 10 minutes of no disruptions. Step 4 includes responding to the behavior and either rewarding with positive reinforcement (extra recess time) or the individual gets nothing if he disrupts. Finally, Step 5 includes if the undesirable behavior decreases then increase the time interval, for example, if the student goes 10 minutes without disruptions then the time interval can be increased to 20 minutes.
http://www.grrec.ky.gov/CaveWeb/autism/ASD%20Webpage/Module%203/-%20How%20To%20DRO.pdf
http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/bi2/cresource/what-techniques-can-ms-rollison-use-to-manage-the-disruptive-and-non-compliant-behaviors-of-students-like-patrick-and-tameka/bi2_06/
http://special-learning.com/article/differential_reinforcement
antecedents, behaviors, consequences, desirable, undesirable, positive reinforcement, reinforcement, Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior, punishment

I chose to do my synthesis on extinction. Extinction is the process of ceasing to reinforce a behavior that you want to eliminate. For example, if someone wants to stop an ex from repeatedly calling them, they must not answer the phone call as them answering the call is reinforcing their behavior. Extinction burst can occur during this process in when the ex may get very angry that they are no longer being reinforced with their calling behavior, but eventually the calling behavior will stop.

I find this topic interesting because I am curious as to how extinction bursts pertains to withdrawal symptoms when trying to stop an addictive substance. I noticed that during my behavioral change project (which is decreasing the number of cigarettes I smoke), if I do not light up a cigarette when I get into my car, I begin to feel upset and irritated.

Because I have associated getting into a car with positive reinforcement (receiving nicotine), I have developed a conditioned tolerance and experience an extinction burst when I do not reinforce myself with nicotine when I get into my car. Equating withdrawal symptoms as extinction burst has actually greatly helped me in dealing with the feelings of irritability.

Research also suggests that extinction training to cope with withdrawal associated with cocaine usage can actually return areas of the brain that change due to constant administration of addictive drugs to normal--including the dopaminergic reward system. This is intriguing because nicotine affects the same area as well.

URLs: http://psychology.about.com/od/eindex/g/extinction.htm
http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/extinction-burst-in-psychology-definition-examples-quiz.html#lesson
http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/extinction-burst-in-psychology-definition-examples-quiz.html#lesson

Terms: extinction, extinction burst, reinforce, positive reinforcement, behavior, conditioned tolerance

This week I decided to cover behavioral change projects, particularly when it comes to parenting styles with younger children. Terrible twos and threes are sometimes affected by environmental factors. After studying behavior concepts for several weeks now, we know that modifying antecedents is one effective way to modify behavior. Similar to our studies in the ABC’s of behavior, the Everyday Family article recommends a simple process of identifying the antecedent, and using this knowledge to modify the behavior. Additionally, we can brainstorm alternative desirable behaviors which the parents and caregiver can work together to help the child develop. It is then crucial the desired behaviors are rewarded. Everyday Family and the Parents Education Network both recommend small rewards such as stickers and verbal praise. As reported in the Parents Education Network information, positive rewards are more effective at changing a behavior than only punishing the negative behavior. All sources agree that where punishment is used, it should be administered consistently, utilizing a continuous schedule at first. Successful behavioral change relies on consistent parenting techniques, otherwise the child will become confused as to what acceptable behaviors are. Both reinforcement and punishment should be delivered specifically and thoughtfully. Common mistakes are to administer too lengthy of a time-out, or to do so in an agreeable environment. Parents should keep in mind a time-out should be assigned directly after the undesirable behavior and in a monitored, undesirable environment, such as a uninteresting corner where the child cannot become distracted or diverted. Although Everyday Family and the Parents Education Network emphasize the importance of highlighting the reasoning behind consequences, the National Center for Biotechnology Information study shows that a rationale is not always enough to encourage desirable behaviors and/or discourage undesirable ones. At different ages, children have varying capacity to understand rationales and also the expectations, and so a rationale should always be delivered at the correct developmental level for the child, and in conjunction with the resulting consequence if at all possible. For example, if the child is sent to time-out for emitting an undesirable behavior, it should be communicated to them that the time-out is the result of their behavior, in a way that they understand. If the punishment is administered consistently, they will learn to avoid emitting such a behavior in order to avoid time-outs. Similarly, when a child learns they will receive a sticker and praise when they use good manners, they will emit this behavior consistently.
Terms: behavior, antecedent, consequence, behavioral change, desirable, undesirable, reward, reinforcement, punishment, rationale, emit, continuous schedule of reinforcement

Everyday Family, Toddler Behavioral Change: http://www.everydayfamily.com/creating-a-behavior-support-plan-for-your-toddler/

Parents Education Network: http://parentseducationnetwork.org/Resources/documents/DKorb_Handout_PEN.pdf

NCBI Compliance in Children: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2998253/

I chose to do more research on the topic of changing our antecedents. This relates to what we are studying because we just read about it in section 5.4.
I have learned from this class that we are all in control of our own behaviors. We just need to be aware of our surroundings and now when to change them. For example, if I was addicted to drugs I should not surround myself with people who do drugs. Therefore changing the antecedent. In my research I have found that there are many ways to change the antecedent. First we must remove ourselves from the situation. We must then replace it with a more positive antecedent. We must set goals. When we have a goal this will direct our behaviors through which the environments in which we live. It helps if we have a friend point out
the bad situations in which we are living in because an outsider can see more clearly and without a bias the situation at hand. This relates to the ABC's of changing a behavior, which we have been discussing all semester. In most of my readings I found that it is best to avoid troublesome settings. For example, if I was on a diet I should not study by the dessert section at Starbucks.
Terms: antecedents, behaviors
http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/?q=behavior_plans/positive_behavior_support_interventions/teacher_tools/antecedent_interventions
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/15/how-to-change-your-behavior_n_4791184.html
http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/ss/behaviorchange.htm

I decided to do more research on schedules of reinforcement for this blog. I decided to do this topic because it relates to the class project we are doing. As we have learned in class there are many different types of reinforcement schedules. We have learned about fixed and variable schedules and continuous reinforcement schedules to name a few. Using continuous reinforcement may seem like its very effective, but in the long run it only teaches the person that they will only elicit the target behavior only when they are reinforced. This is bad because you want to be able to have the target behavior be elicited, even without reinforcement. Using fixed ratio or fixed interval schedules are more useful and they are predictable in the sense that you will have an idea of when you will be reinforced. When changing a behavior for the better you want it to resist extinction. The best schedule of reinforcement would be the variable ratio one because it is the least predictable and this encourages one to continue eliciting the good behavior.
For my project I decided to do a fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement because I thought that I would be motivated to work harder towards my goal so I could be rewarded but it has not worked that way. I feel like I need to choose a different schedule and reinforcer to make a bigger change in my behavior. After doing a little more research on this I was reminded that a variable schedule has a greater chance to resist extinction since it is less predictable. A variable schedule is more likely to make a bigger difference in modifying a behavior because it encourage the continued behavior. Using any type of schedule you should be eliciting a target behavior and should have an increase in that target behavior. You could also do a combination of schedules to continue to increase or decrease your target behavior. The combination of schedules would be depending on the behavior you want to change. For my project I am going to add continuous reinforcement for every time I emit a good behavior, and change from fixed ratio to a variable ratio reinforcement schedule. I feel like the combination of these two schedules will encourage me to continue my good behaviors. The continuous reinforcement will be verbal praise for every time I emit a good behavior. And the variable ratio will be for every 3 days I emit the good behaviors.

Terminology: schedules of reinforcement, fixed ratio, fixed interval, target behavior, elicited, reinforcement, reinforced, extinction, variable ratio, eliciting, reinforcer, continuous reinforcement, emit

https://www.boundless.com/psychology/learning/operant-conditioning/schedules-of-reinforcement/

http://www.cehd.umn.edu/ceed/publications/tipsheets/preschoolbehavior/schedule.pdf

http://www2.psychology.uiowa.edu/faculty/wasserman/glossary/schedules.html

My topic is Iconic and Echoic memory storage. Iconic memory is the persistence of visual perceptions, and echoic memory is sensory memory of audition or sound. I chose Iconic and Echoic memory storage as my topic because I could not tell you what I had for breakfast this morning let alone yesterday. Im always looking for tips and tricks on how to improve my memory, so I thought I would look a few things up on memory and the different types.

Our iconic and echoic memories allow us to remember visual and auditory information for a short period of time. Iconic memory is a type of sensory memory, named by George Sperling. Experiments performed by Sperling and his colleagues provided evidence for a rapidly decaying sensory trace, lasting only approximately 250 ms after the offset of a display. In Sperling’s experiments, observers were presented with displays composed of between 3 and 16 alphanumeric characters for a short period of time. Memory performance was compared under two conditions - the whole report and partial report conditions. The whole report condition required participants to recall as many elements from the original display in their proper spatial locations as possible. The partial report condition required participants to identify a subset of the characters from the visual display using cued recall. Observers were typically able to recollect four to five characters, regardless of how many other characters were present within the display.

In Sperling's partial report condition, observers were required to identify characters within a visual display. At differnt intervals after the removal of the visual display, a tone was sounded. The frequency of the tone indicated to observers which particular set of characters within the display they were to report, all rows were composed of only three or four characters. Performance in the partial report condition can be regarded as a random sample of an observer's memory for the entire display. This type of sampling revealed that for short intervals following exposure, observers have a much better memory than suggested by the whole report procedure. By varying the time between the offset of the display and the sounding of the auditory cue, Sperling was able to probe for changes in accuracy of report over time. Using this technique, the initial memory for a stimulus display was found to fade rapidly after display offset.

Echoic memory, the auditory version of sensory memory, refers to the phenomenon in which a brief mental echo continues to sound after an auditory stimulus has been heard. When compared to iconic memory, echoic memory is thought to last a little longer, about three or four seconds. Due to its short span, echoic memory is a type of sensory memory; echoic memories are temporal and last only for a brief period of. An example of working echoic memory is having a friend recite a list of numbers, and then suddenly stops and ask you to repeat the last four numbers. To try to find the answer to the question, you have to “replay” the numbers back to yourself in your mind as you heard them. Since echoic memory lasts for a few seconds, if your friend did not pause between the moment he stopped reciting the list to the time when he asked you to repeat the last digits, then your echoic memory would be able to pick up the last few numbers, and you could recite them back quite accurately. But, if he paused after he stopped counting before he asked you to repeat the numbers, your recall would not be as high because the numbers would have left your echoic memory.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iconic_memory
This link contains a lot of information regarding iconic memory. It goes into the development of the sensory memory, its history, and types of experiments performed to aid in furthering the research. I used this website mainly to get a better idea of early experiments worked, It is also where I got the information about the whole and partial report.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echoic_memory
Think link contains information regarding echoic memory. I sued this one mainly because it discusses the methods of testing echoic memory and how echoic memory has a neurological basis.
http://explorable.com/sensory-memory
Think like goes into a little bit of information about both subjects, but it also discusses who George sperling is and how he contributed to the research of iconic and echoic memory.

Terms: (Since the subject is different from the usual behavior assignments, no current terms we use have come up, so im listing other words important to the subject discussed)

Ichonic memory, echoic memory, visual perceptions, auditory, sperling, intervals, auditory stimulus, temporal, memory

The topic that I chose to do my blog on this week is the topic of The Premack Principle. This fits into what we have been talking about and what we have covered in class because it is a topic that was covered in the changing the antecedents section of the book. It fits into the section because in the section it talks about reinforcer and all the different kinds of reinforcers. The Premack Principle falls into the fact that a reinforcers can be an event and not just on object. I found this topic interesting because of the fact that I thought that reinforcer was always an object or something you can give to the participant. I had never really thought about the fact that it can be an event or something that you are in and a part of. The Premack Principle is also a principle of operant conditioning and I have also always found that it be very interesting.
The Premack Principle was first started by David Premack in 1965. What the principles tells us is that a preferred activity can be used to reinforce a less favored activity. The video I used as a reference in this blog is from ABA Strategy and he explains The Premack Principle in a very simple clear way. He said how it works is that first and then. First clean your room than go play with friends. He said that the person knows what going to happen next so even if they don’t want to do what they’re doing they will still do it because they can’t wait to do what they get to do next.
Another references that I have talked about the fact that when you have the two reinforcers one is for you and the other is for the participant. In other words the high-probability behaviors are what the participant wants and the low-probability behaviors are what you want. In order to make the Premack Principle to work you have to look at the participant’s life and see what they want most or in other words their natural reinforcers. Then you use that as the reinforcers and the participant will emit the behavior so that they can get the reinforcers that they are wanting. When everything is said and done you have conditioned the participant to do the task you ask of them.
terms and terminology
conditioned, emit, natural reinforcers, the high-probability behaviors, low-probability behaviors, Premack Principle, operant conditioning,
URLs for the three websites.
http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Premack+Principle

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=The+Premack+Principle+s

http://www.druidalegsd.karoo.net/premack.htm

This week I decided to write my blog on the Premack's Principle. I wasn't understanding it very well in class, so I decided to write about it in order to learn more about it. In summary, the Premack's Principle says that more probable behaviors can reinforce less probable behaviors.

The principle was created by David Premack. Most therapists use this principle for applied behavior analysis. This is also known as behavior modification. I think it is interesting how these activities become reinforcers. For my experiment, I have decided to use this method as a weekly reinforcement.

My behavior that I am trying to modify is to spend more time running. My daily reinforcer was watching another country's Netflix. I did this with an app called 'Hola! Better Internet'. However, I feel like my reinforcer has started to become less reinforcing. So, I have decided for a weekly reinforcement to go to the rock wall at the WRC, and climb. This is a good example of Premack's Principle because it is reinforcing my behavior of running for fifteen minutes with the behavior of rock climbing.

In one of the articles, it talked about about how a side effect of using Premack's Principle is that you begin to start liking the original behavior you are trying to modify. I think this is true with my old reinforcement. I started to really like watching Netflix as reinforcement after a run. But now, I just like to run, and I wouldn't feel the need to watch a movie or something on there. I figured I didn't need the reinforcement anymore, because I liked the activity more. But I am thinking now I need something more reinforcing.

One suggestion I have decided to try is reinforcing my running work out with a work out I like better. For example, maybe using a different running route that I like more than my usual. David Premack first experimented this on monkeys, and then moved on to children. Sad sounding, but it got results. Their responses were based on what was expected for the children individually. The Premack's Principle rang true in the results from his experiment, and it soon became a widely known practice. Most parents use it with their children. An example would be when they say, "You can't hang out with your friends until you do the laundry."

The Premack's principal runs along the same lines as positive reinforcement. The fact that the behavior is the addition of something pleasurable makes it positive reinforcement. In the example above, the child emitting the behavior of doing laundry will lead to the consequence of hanging out with friends. Getting positively reinforced will elicit more behaviors to obtain that reinforcement.

I thought this was a very interesting topic to learn more about. I am excited to start implementing it into my behavior modification project. I will also probably use this when I have a family of my own.

Terms: Premack's Principle, reinforce, reinforcement, reinforcer, behavior, positive reinforcement, consequence, pleasurable, emit, elicit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premack's_principle
http://gettingstronger.org/2010/12/stop-procrastinating-use-the-premack-principle/
https://psychlopedia.wikispaces.com/Premack+Principle

Direct and Indirect Assessments
The reason I chose to look into direct and indirect assessments was because I had never really looked into the specific categories before. After the short reading from last week, there was enough information there that left me wanting to know a little more.
Direct assessments are more straight-forward. They look at actual results and progress of learning. According to Office of Institutional Assessment, they listed a few direct assessment examples:
•Pre and posttests
•Course-embedded assessment (e.g., homework assignment; essays, locally developed tests)
•Comprehensive exams
•National Major Field Achievement Tests
•GRE subject exams
•Certification exams, licensure exams
These examples show the evaluators scores and results as answers to how well a behavior, such as learning, is changing. According to Anoka-Ramsey Community College, “A possible weakness of direct measurement is that not everything can be demonstrated in a direct way, such as values, perceptions, feelings, and attitudes.” There has to be more to it than just scores on a paper. I know that I personally am not a good test taker but am intelligent. It all depends on the type of person being assessed too.
Indirect assessments are more attitude and feeling oriented. According to Missouri State University, “This assessment approach is intended to find out about the quality of the learning process by getting feedback from the student or other persons who may provide relevant information. It may use surveys of employers, exit interviews of graduates, focus groups, or any number of Classroom Assessment Techniques.” Indirect assessments provide answers right away as to the attitude and feeling toward certain methods of learning. According to Anoka-Ramsey Community College, “The weakness of this approach is that, in the absence of direct evidence, assumptions must be made about how well perceptions match the reality of actual achievement.” You never know if there is something going on behind the scenes that makes a student or a member of faculty give a certain answer in an interview. There could be hot water going on between two people or simply lack of motivation.
Overall, I enjoyed learning more about these two different types of assessments. I can relate, because I have been in school for the past 15 years and have been tested and interviewed throughout the whole duration. It is interesting how education has changed from investigating these assessment results.
http://wp.missouristate.edu/assessment/3122.htm
http://www.anokaramsey.edu/en/about/information/assessment/measures.aspx
http://assessment.tamu.edu/resources/methods.html

Topical Blog Week #13
This week I decided to write about punishment. More specifically, punishment and our criminal justice system. I am interested in looking at the statistics of the recidivism rate in Iowa. This fits into our reinforcement and punishment sections of this course. I find this interesting because I am also minoring in Criminology and have always been curious about all aspects of criminality and our criminal justice system here in the United States.
Over the last seven years, recidivism rates of Iowa offenders have declined. Recidivism is specified (for above statistic) as the percent of offenders released from prison or work release who return within three years. I was interested to learn about the differences in recidivism in gender. Recidivism rates for women offenders declined by 7.4% in the past seven years. Male offenders declined by 3.2% in the past seven years. This may due to the factor there are generally more offenders convicted than females.
There are things that can influence recidivism. So in behavioral modification lingo, the target behavior is committing another crime. There are antecedents to the target behavior. The consequence of committing another crime is returning to prison.
The younger the offender when released, the more likely recidivism will occur. Also those with gang affiliations have much higher recidivism rates when compared to other offenders. Those who affiliate with White Supremacy currently have the highest recidivism rate. Also, the type of offense effected the act of returning to prison. Those who committed serious violent crimes had the lowest overall recidivism rates. This could be because overall they are sentenced to serve longer periods of time and do not experience the opportunity to commit another crime in society.
The top five offenses with the highest recidivism rates were drug possession, burglary, forgery/fraud, drug trafficking, and theft. What can we say about this? That our criminal justice system is failing to modify the behavior of its inmates? The criminal justice system overall relies on punishment. But there are some types of reinforcement perks such as good behavior. If the inmate continues to follow prison rules and be respectful of staff and other inmates (no fighting), they can be given parole sooner because of good behavior. For some this may work, for others not so much.
For Iowa, our recidivism rates are on the decline. But this is not the case for other states. If we look at the big picture I think it would be fair to say that our criminal justice system is not reaching its full potential in reducing the recidivism rates of offenders. The fact that the offenders have to spend time is prison is an aversive punishment. I understand it could be tricky business, but what would the recidivism rates look like if we could implement more forms of reinforcement (maybe token economy?) within our criminal justice system?
Terms: punishment, reinforcement, behavioral modification, antecedents, target behavior, consequence, recidivism, aversive punishment, token economy.
URLS:
http://www.doc.state.ia.us/Research/TrendsRecidivismFY13.pdf
http://www.doc.state.ia.us/Research/DOReturnRatestoPrisonFY2007_10final.pdf
http://sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/inc_StateRecidivismFinalPaginated.pdf

I am doing this assignment over differential reinforcement of behaviors. The reason I wanted to do more information on this topic is because different behaviors have always interested me. Dr. Maklin always talks about how we want to reinforce desirable behaviors and we want to punish or remove undesirable behaviors. People will often reward for those desirable behaviors so they reoccur again. However, people will punish if an undesirable behavior is performed.

The reinforce should want to reinforce the target behavior that came across. Praising children for doing something good or that they're told so you know in the future they will want to be praised so that behavior or action will reoccur. However, if a child is punished due to a behavior hopefully this will permit them from doing this undesirable behavior in the future.

A good example of trying to emit behaviors that are undesirable. People should try and eliminate all unwanted bad behaviors. For example: a teacher will give the student a star every time the student doesn't talk bad about his or her neighbor.

URL's:
http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/content/differential-reinforcement
http://www.appliedbehavioralstrategies.com/reinforcement-101.html
http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/bi2/cresource/what-techniques-can-ms-rollison-use-to-manage-the-disruptive-and-non-compliant-behaviors-of-students-like-patrick-and-tameka/bi2_06/

Terms used: reinforcement, behavior, emitting, punishment, undesirable, desirable.

I would like you to say what your topic is,

I chose the topic observational learning.

how exactly it fits into what we have been covering in class,

This fits well into our class because we have talked about observational learning during class one time as well as read about it in one of our section assignments.

why you are interested in it,

I am interested in this topic because I have to write a paper for my history and systems of psychology class about Albert Bandura. Turns out not only is Bandura still alive but he was also the psychologist who came up with social learning theory or in other words observational learning. He also got his PH D at the University of Iowa which makes things even more interesting for me. I decided it would be nice to do a little more research about observational learning because I will eventually have to write a paper over it anyway.

Next, I would like you to take the information you found related to your topic, integrate/synthesize it, and then write about it.

Operational learning or social learning theory is when people learn certain actions by watching others and then trying to imitate those same actions. It can also be referred to as shaping, modeling, and vicarious reinforcement. It also tends to be the most common during childhood. After doing research on this topic, I found out that Albert Bandura was able to show this social learning theory through an experiment with his collegues called the Bobo doll studies. It comes from both behavioral and cognitive views of learning.

Albert Bandura formulated this finding into four steps. The first step includes attention, which is when the individual sees or notices something in the environment. The second step is retention when the individual actually remembers what they noticed. The third step is reproduction which is when the individual tries to copy what they noticed and produce the same action. The fourth step is motivation where the environment gives the individual a consequence that creates a probability of whether or not that individual will continue to emit that behavior again. This includes reinforcement and punishment.

I also learned while doing research that there are many factors that influence observation learning. These factors include people who we see as warm or nurturing, when we lack confidence in our own abilities, and people who are similar to us which can include similarities in age, sex, and interests. Other factors include whether or not the situation we are in is confusing or unfamiliar to us, and whether or not we admire the person we are watching. It can also depend on if we have received awards for doing that behavior in the past. Overall, this topic was very interesting to research and learn about. It covers a lot of information over how we learn certain actions and what influences us to imitate other people's actions especially when we are younger children. For me, it is a fun topic to learn about because it is not very complicating or confusing at all. It is very easy to understand and can be seen throughout our every day lives if we are paying attention.

Websites:

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

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

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

Terms: observational learning, social learning theory, Albert Bandura, experiment, bobo doll studies, behavioral, cognitive, attention, retention, reproduction, action, motivation, consequence, probability, emit, reinforcement, punishment,imitate, shaping, modeling,vicarious reinforcement, influence, rewards

I have decided to do this blog on observational learning. Observational learning is the learning that occurs through the observation of others. Observational learning does not need reinforcement to occur but it does need a model. A social model is important because it facilitates cognitive process behaviors. A social model can be a parent, teacher, sibling, or a friend. Observational learning can cause diffusion to occur across cultures where one person learns a behavior and is a model of that behavior for someone else and then that person becomes a model for another and it keeps going. Culture plays a role in whether observational learning is a dominant learning style in a person or community. Albert Bandura believes that the environment can play a role in the behavior of individuals. Observational learning differs from imitation in that it does not require the behavior exhibited by the model to be duplicated.
Observational learning is sometimes also called shaping, modeling, and vicarious reinforcement. It can take place at any time in life but is most often seen in childhood as children are learning from authority figures and peers in their lives. Observational learning plays an important role in the socialization process as well. Children learn how to behave towards others by watching their parents interact with others.
In Bandura’s famous Bobo doll experiment he had children watch a video of an adult hitting, punching, and kicking the doll. He was also shouting at the doll “hit it, kick it.” Bandura then gave kids a puzzle that they could not solve to make them frustrated. The kids were put in a room with toys and the Bobo doll and many of the kids hit and kicked the Bobo doll as well as shouting “hit it, kick it.” Not all kids behaved aggressively towards the doll. They put the kids in a room with a video of the Bobo doll being abused and this time the abuser got punished for the abuse of the behavior. The children were then put back in the room with the Bobo doll and were bribed with candy and juice to behave the way they saw on the video. Learning and performing the behavior are different things. Just because we don’t perform certain behaviors does not mean we have not learned the behavior.

Terms: observational learning, behavior, model, learning, reinforcement, social model, cognitive process, diffusion, imitation, exhibit, shaping, modeling, vicarious reinforcement, socialization process, Bobo doll experiment, punish.
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observational_learning#Observational_learning_compared_to_imitation
http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf3-tRpmGmY


I have decided to research the topic of Removing the “NO”s from an environment. Section 5.4 of our book explains how this can be extremely useful when working with children. Especially when children are at the age of the “terrible twos”, they learn through observational learning. They emit the behaviors their parents emit, so they often say the word “no” numerous times during this point of life. I am interested in whether it is a negative thing that children say “no” so much, or whether it is a normal, psychological process that should take place. I will look at both points of view to get all angles on this topic. I am interested in this because I definitely noticed how often children say “no”. After babysitting for several years and working at a day care, children have told me “no” countless times. I want to further understand whether parents should tell their children “no”, or set up environments that limit what they can say “no” to. The book suggests letting children play in rooms that have been removed of “no” situations. This means covering electrical outlets, putting breakable things out of reach, or removing any expensive furniture.

One article I researched gave tips for positive parenting. This article focused on how reinforcement is much more effective than telling a child “no”. This article listed ways to reword the messages you send to your kids. It explained that speaking in positive terms is most beneficial to children. For example, if a child asked to go out to play before dinner, instead of saying no, you could say “yes, you can go outside and play after dinner”. This way, they learn the rules but also learn they can play later. Providing a choice, offering options, and tone of voice used are also big components of reducing “no”s. Instead of saying “no”, provide alternative options, or set limits with your words. The average toddler hears the word “no” 400 times a day. According to studies, children who hear this word too much have poorer language skills than kids whose parents only use positive or negative reinforcement. Many experts believe there are more effective ways to communicate than telling kids “no”. Explaining yourself and expressing your feelings can help a child understand why they cannot do something. Or, instead of overusing “no”, you could develop a “look”, like a glare, that helps the child understand that something they are doing is wrong. Without saying no, they will understand to stop the behavior they are doing.

Some experts say that the word “no” is powerful, and it is necessary for children to recognize this power. The word “no” can keep people true to their principles and values, protect you from dangerous situations, keeps you focused on personal goals, and can be used when changing your life course. If children learn from their parents, that they should not be saying no, this could potentially harm them later in life. “No” is not always the easiest thing to say to others, since it is usually not received well, but oftentimes it is necessary for a person’s well-being. I agree with this article that it is important for children to learn the power of “NO” and that it is okay to be told “no”.

Terms: removing the “NO”s, observational learning, consequence, emit, values, behaviors, principles, reinforcement, positive reinforcement

http://thekidcounselor.com/articles/stop-saying-no-tips-for-positive-parenting/

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201310/the-power-no

http://www.redbookmag.com/kids-family/advice/how-to-say-no

Dieting is a prime example of the importance of goals and behavior modification. Many people in the world try to lose weight for various reasons in their lives. Some want to attract the opposite sex, some look better to themselves, some to make weight for competitions (wrestling/fighting), and others to get into a more healthy lifestyle. Whatever the reason there is a beginning goal that instigates this behavior change. It is important to take many factors into account when setting a goal weight, such as how much can I healthily afford to lose, how long do I want to keep it off, and what route do I want to take to lose weight? For many people the pride in achieving the goal is the reinforcement, but there are other reasons such as finding more dates or winning competitions. Having said that having sub goals is important like wanting to move down a pants size every month, in which I will purchase myself new pants at that time. Very few will actually follow through on a successful weight loss, it's very hard to make diet and exercise changes. Others are so committed they will punish themselves if they aren't successful whether it is not eating for a period of time or making themselves vomit if they are to cheat. Whatever reason elicits this change in lifestyle it is important to do it safely and in a healthy way. You must have a functional analysis of the diet before having success. You must see what the antecedents are to when you skip the gym or when you snack and try to eliminate these. Once you have these distractions and setbacks figured out you can emit changes in your lifestyle to have successful weight loss. The consequences for everyone that works for it will be positive.

terms: Behavior modification, goals, reinforcement, sub goals, punish, functional analysis, antecedents, emit, consequences

http://www.besthealthmag.ca/eat-well/diet/5-reasons-most-diets-fail

http://www.fitbie.com/slideshow/6-ways-reward-weight-loss-success-without-using-food

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_(nutrition)

This week I decided to research observational learning theory. This caught my attention while reading the section of the chapter this week. I think it’s really important to think about when trying to parent as well as trying to understand any child and their behaviors. As I’ve said, I nanny and so this is interesting to me because I can understand why a child does what they do, and I can even potentially steer clear of certain behaviors that are undesirable. “Observational learning is a type of learning that occurs as a function of observing, retaining and replicating novel behavior executed by others.” Children learn so much in their first few years of life and much of their learning is done through observational learning. We learn how to cook dinner, eat food, walk, etc. by observing others doing it first. Youtube is a phenomena that reflects this idea perfectly. There are countless tutorials that teach viewers to do makeup, change tires, cook a meal, etc.
One of the main themes I saw throughout my research was that there are four conditions defined by Bandura to successfully model the behavior of another person. Attention to the model- seeing what they do and observing it, retention of details- remembering what that individual did to create the behavior, motor reproduction- physically reproducing the behavior, motivation and opportunity- the motivation and opportunity to actually reproduce the behavior.
There was also a lot of discussion about Bandura's bobo doll experiment. This experiment resulted in a new understanding of observational learning. The results showed that children who observed the aggressive model made far more imitative aggressive responses than those who were in the non-aggressive control groups. Boys imitated more physical aggressive active than girls and there was little difference between verbal aggression in males versus verbal aggression in females.
These facts have vital implications about the effects of media violence on children. As psychology majors, knowledgeable individuals in the field of behavior modification, and higher educated students in general, we have a particular responsibility with this type of information. When I was a kid, I wanted to change the world, I wanted to do something HUGE that everyone would talk about for centuries to come. Who didn’t? But, as I’ve aged, I’ve become almost fearful of potential and change and broad horizons. I think my generation takes this opportunity to educate ourselves at a higher degree very very lightly, and it shouldn’t be. This is a huge opportunity! We have this sort of information at our fingertips and we should DO SOMETHING with it! If we want less violence, better education, and an all around better world for our children to grow up in, WE have to be the catalysts for change. WE have to change the antecedents for our children, invest in them, grow them, and make sure that they’re observationally learning things that will better them, not hurt them.


TERMS: Observational learning, behaviors, ABC’s of behavior modification, learning, Bandura, Bobo doll experiment, Bandura’s conditions, and antecedents.

http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Observational_learning.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsQqb1E-bAU
http://www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html

The topic I decided to choose this week is choosing effective reinforcers. We talk about reinforcers a lot in class. For our behavioral project we were to choose an effective reinforcer that would work for us and motivate us to reach our goal. I think reinforcers are one of the main things we talk about in class. Reinforcers differ for everybody. It is quite difficult to find something that will work with you consistently. For my behavioral project I decided to do chocolate as a reinforcer. I had to change my reinforcer during my project to something that would work better for me. It is challenging to find a reinforcer because people do not want to spend too much money on it.
It is very tricky finding a reinforcer that works. For example, if junk food is a great reinforcer for you, but your target behavior you want to change is to work out more and stay in shape, then junk food would not be the best way to go about this. A lot of people who are unsuccessful with reaching their goals do not use any type of reinforcer. They will not congratulate themselves or have a pessimistic attitude. Reinforcers vary with age, personality, and culture. A little boy might find a sticker satisfactory, while a middle aged woman not so much. There are a lot of reinforcers we can choose from. We can choose something tangible like food, something social like going out with friends, or something activity-related like watching a show on Netflix if we accomplish the specific task. We can effectively choose a reinforcer by finding incompatible behaviors that are a lot different from our specific target behavior. If our target behavior is to stop eating so many sweets, then we can find a different behavior that is not topographically the same as eating sweets. We could maybe resort to eating a lot of fruits to compensate for the sweets. Every time you have a craving for a chocolate bar, you could grab a juicy apple instead. Like we mentioned in class, keeping a diary of your behaviors is very important. By writing down what behavior you do every day and writing down the reinforcers, we can see which ones worked most effectively and which ones had no impact.


http://personalexcellence.co/forums/thread-do-you-use-positive-reinforcement-to-help-yourself-reach-your-goals

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/sr/cresource/what-techniques-will-help-alexandra-and-zach-become-independent-learners-and-how-can-they-gain-those-skills/sr_07/

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/effects-positive-negative-reinforcement-21099.html

Terms:
Reinforcers, target behavior, negative reinforcement, behavior, consequence, elicit, topographical behaviors, punishment, reward, motivation.

For my topical blog I have chosen to research Premack’s principle. We have discussed Premack’s principle briefly in class and we watched the TED talk which also briefly touched on the topic. Since we have only briefly discussed the topic I thought that it would be interesting to dig deeper and find more information on the topic.

Premack’s principle is the idea that high frequency behaviors can reinforce low frequency behaviors. Premack’s principle is considered a part of operant conditioning because there are behaviors being reinforced. High frequency behaviors means behaviors that are pleasurable, desirable or behaviors that we enjoy. These behaviors are activities that occur frequently. Low frequency behaviors are behaviors that are less desirable to us. These behaviors are activities that occur less frequently. Premack’s principle states that we can increase doing behaviors that we dislike or are undesirable by reinforcing them with desirable behaviors (Beacon for health). Boiled down the principle states that behaviors themselves can become reinforcers. An individual will be more motivated to perform a particular behavior if they know that they will be able to partake in a more desirable behavior as a consequence (Wikipedia). A very common example of Premack’s principle is when parents tell their children that they must clean their room or do their chores before they are able to watch television or play with their friends (Psychology wikia). This is a good example of how low frequency behaviors are being reinforced by high frequency behaviors.

In many cases a reinforcement hierarchy is used to determine the frequency and desirability of different behaviors. A reinforcement hierarchy is a list of actions that starts with the most desirable behaviors ending with the least desirable behaviors (Psychology wikia). The hierarchy allows us to determine which high frequency behaviors would be the best reinforcers for our low frequency behaviors.

David Premack and colleagues conducted several experiments to test the Premack principle. One of the earliest studies was conducted with young children. Premack gave the children two response alternatives, which were either eating candy or playing a pinball machine (Beacon for health). The responses were then measured based on which response was more probable for each individual child. In the second phase of the experiment, the children were tested with two different procedures based on their individual differences. In procedure one, eating was the reinforcing response, and playing pinball served as the low frequency behavior (Wikipedia). This means that the children had to play pinball in order to eat candy. The results were consistent with Premack’s principle, only the children who preferred eating candy over playing pinball showed reinforcement. In the next test, playing pinball became the reinforcing response and eating candy became the low frequency behavior (Wikipedia). The results were identical to the first procedure, only children who preferred playing pinball over eating candy showed reinforcement. The results of this study provided evidence for Premack’s principle that high frequency behaviors could reinforce low frequency behaviors.

I think that this is an interesting take on behavior modification and I think that it could be useful when trying to find a reinforcer for our behavioral change projects. I also think that this information can be applicable to other area’s in my life.

URLS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premack's_principle
http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Premack_principle
http://www.beaconforhealth.org/PDF/TrainingwithPremack.pdf

TERMS: Premack’s principle, high frequency, low frequency, operant conditioning, reinforcer, consequence, reinforcement hierarchy, behavior modification

I decided to write about the Premack Principle. I thought it was a really interesting concept that I wanted to look into more. We talked about it briefly in class and it was also mentioned in the TED talk video with training dogs.
The Premack Principle is essentially using behaviors as reinforcers. Essentially a person will perform a less desirable behavior in order to have the chance to perform a more desirable behavior. The consequence of performing the undesired behavior is the more desired behavior. Premack had to do experiments to test his principle. He used human subject, mostly children. He found that more desirable activities can be an effective reinforcer for a response that the subject is less likely to perform, only if the subject prefers the more desired behavior. A good example of using the Premack Principle with children would be saying that they can play video games after their chores are done. The less desirable behavior would be doing chores. The more desirable behavior is playing video games. The kids would be more likely to do their chores because they are getting reinforced with the behavior of playing video games. If the kids didn't have the option of playing video games they would be less than likely to do their chores. A good way to find a desired behavior would be to observe an individual and see what they do voluntarily. The Premack Principle is primarily fueled by intrinsic motivation because the action of doing the behavior is the reward. We can also use the Premack Principle while training dogs. The high probability behaviors are what the dog wants to do and the low probability behaviors are what we want the dog to do. It might be a little bit difficult at first to figure out what you want from your dog and what your dog really wants. It is important to remain calm and put any behaviors that don't need to be reinforced through extinction. I see myself using the Premack Principle in my own life. It's something I picked up from my mom, work first and fun later. I always try to get my homework done before I go out and do fun things. The less desirable behavior is doing my homework and the more desirable behavior is hanging out with my friends. I think the Premack Principle has helped me with time management. We can modify other people's behavior using this principle to get behaviors we desire done that the other person might not want to do by enticing them with a more desirable behavior.
Terminology: reinforcer, Premack Principle, intrinsic motivation, behavior, extinction

URLs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premack's_principle
http://www.intropsych.com/ch05_conditioning/premack_principle.html
http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/applying-the-premack-principle-in-the-classroom.html#lesson
http://life.familyeducation.com/dogs/pet-training/47296.html?page=3

The topic I chose to research is rule governed behaviors and norms that people in society often follow. These behaviors often happen because they are rules from the past, they are the “normal thing” for people to do, and/or they are laws that people with authority enforce. In class we did not go very into depth about this topic at all, but it relates to what we have covered in this class because we have discussed the fact that rules and laws can affect behavior and govern behavior, and it’s not always just reinforcement and punishment that affect behavior. I am interested in this topic because I have always been curious about why people follow laws that they don’t agree with or why society has certain “rules” that people live by.
The context that a person is in, or the antecedent that they are in can affect what “rules” or what norms they follow. When a person follows the normal rules of everyone around them they are conforming to the rules of the people around them. Sometimes approval or disapproval of behaviors that a person emits can have an influence on whether or not they emit that behavior in the future. In a way, this approval can be considered a reinforcement, and it will increase the likelihood that the behavior will occur in the future. If everyone else is emitting a certain behavior it can be considered the normal or right thing to do, and this can become an unwritten rule that society follows. An antecedent, or an environment can inform someone about the rules that they need to follow. Laws and rules are different depending on where a person is.
Rules and laws aren’t always in place just because people conform or just because everyone is doing something the same way as everyone around them. Rules and laws can keep people safe and they can elicit a behavior that can protect a person or keep order in society. For example, traffic signs help to keep order and safety on roads, and they can cause a person to elicit a safe behavior that can help keep them safe and keep the road organized. Laws are often enforced by society, and sometimes morals and laws can overlap. Often, society will dislike or look negatively upon someone that is not following laws. This can be because of the fact that the person disobeying the law is acting differently than everyone else, and it can also be because of the fact that the law-breaker is putting themselves or others at risk. Morals can be enforced by society because society views certain things as right or wrong, even if they are not laws. For example, there are some things that are not illegal but some people still view them as being wrong, and this can cause people to behave in a way that does not stray away from the moral path or the “right” way to do things. Some people view abortion as being wrong and immoral, even though there are many places in which abortion is legal. The main idea is that morals and laws can both govern and influence the behaviors of people, even though they are not the exact same thing. Morals and laws can overlap many times, but laws are put into place by a government, while morals can be different from one person to the next.
People don’t always follow laws because they have been reinforced or punished with certain consequences, but instead they might follow it because they know it can be effective and it has kept safety and order in the past. A person might simply follow a rule or law because it’s “the thing to do” or “the right thing.” If a person does not murder it is likely not because they have been punished for it in the past, or that they have even committed murder in the past, but instead it is likely because they know that it is the normal rule or the right thing to do to not take someone else’s life. Rules can also come from history, or even the recent past. It might be considered “normal” to lock your car because that’s how you’ve always done it, or that’s what your parents told you to always do. There is no law or rule written anywhere that says people have to lock their cars, yet people continue to do that time after time. This can be because of the fact that rules like this one are often considered the regular or ordinary things to do, and people learn about them from past experiences.
In summary, a context can greatly impact a person’s target behavior, and this is because the rules in every context are different. Some “rules” or “norms” are laws, and some are just considered to be moral. Laws and rules aren’t always followed because consequences have caused people to follow them, but instead some laws and rules are just considered the right and normal thing to do, and people are willing to follow the norms in society.
http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-roles.html
http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialsciences/ppecorino/intro_text/Chapter%208%20Ethics/Mores_Law_Morality.htm
http://www.nalpexchange.org/how-does-law-affect-the-lives-of-the-society.cfm
Terminology: Morals, behavior, punishment, elicit, emit, reinforcement, rule governed behavior, societal norms, consequences, antecedents, conform, society, target behavior, context

For this assignment I wanted to look more into the concept of scheduled reinforcement in order to help/go along with my final project. I have been reinforcing my behavior of working out with naps. However, I learned that if my friend works out with me I am more likely to go. I still take a nap every now and though and I use the excuse I am working out tonight after work or I worked out yesterday. I am looking at different forms in order to figure out what exactly I am doing or if I can find a better way. During this assignment I found out about variable reinforcement types and continuous reinforcement. We talked about some of these in class.
There are four types of reinforcement out of the two groups I discussed above. Continuous reinforcement is best used when using punishment which makes it consistent to make the behavior stick. However, with continuous, there are two types of schedules which are fixed ratio and fixed interval. Fixed ratio would be applying the reinforcement after a specific number of behaviors. The problem with this type of reinforcement would be knowing how many you are allowed to get away with like spanking. You know you can get away with three behaviors and the third one would get you spanked. If I used this I would be able to skip working out and that wouldn’t help me with my goal really. I would get punished eventually, but I don’t think it would help me. Fixed interval would be applying the reinforcer after a certain number of time. The example they used was getting a raise after every year and not in between. I think this would also be a problem because I wouldn’t always get rewarded and if I don’t I feel like I would give up.
The other type of scheduled reinforcement is applied on an irregular basis and is called variable reinforcement. The first type of reinforcement is called variable reinforcement which is applied after a variable number of responses. I don’t think this would work because I need to know when I will be working out instead of winging it otherwise I won’t do it and continue to put it off. The second kind of reinforcement would be variable interval which is applied after a certain amount of time. I also don’t think this will work because I will forget how long it has been. Overall, I think I need to review all the types again to see which one is my best bet. I think a form of continuous is the best option because I need to get reinforced in order to stop emitting the behavior of not working out and getting healthy. I also think I need a fixed ratio that if I go workout I can be social too, like talking with Jess.
TERMS: scheduled reinforcement, behavior, reinforcement, negative, continuous reinforcement, desired, punishment, fixed ratio, fixed interval, reward, variable ratio, variable interval, responses, emitting

http://www.allpsych.com/psychology101/reinforcement.html
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/learning/operant-conditioning/schedules-of-reinforcement/
http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/schedules.htm

My topic for this assignment is observational learning, learning by example. Specifically I wanted to look at what example observational learning is and the work of Albert Bandura, who discovered it. This fits into what we have covered in class because in the last reading section, 5.4, we were first introduced to this concept with the example of “removing the no’s” when raising toddlers. I am interested in this topic because I have always found it very interesting how much of our behavior comes from the observation of others. For example, as of late, I have noticed myself emitting behaviors I know I emit because they are the same behaviors of my parents. This intrigue for the concept and my recent observation of how the concept is present in my life made me interested to learn more about it.

Observational learning, sometimes called social learning theory, can take place at any point in life, but is often thought to occur most often during childhood. It can teach new behaviors or affect previously learned behaviors without a behavior being emitted before the learning takes place. Those observed are often called models, and these models can come from people such as family, friends, peers, and teachers. The models can also originate from non-immediate people, like those in the media and in the imagination. When children are deciding which models to imitate, they often consider three factors: the first being what model is similar to themselves, the second is what model’s behavior will allow them to receive approval, and the third is what consequences have the models received for their behavior.

Observational learning was first introduced by Albert Bandura in 1977. He was able to prove learning can take place by simply observing the behavior of others, without receiving consequences. Taking an opposing view against Skinner, Bandura believes people are information processors, they think about the relationship between behaviors and consequences; humans are more likely to be influenced by what they believe than what they experience. Bandura believes the mind, behavior, and the environment all play a part of the learning process, taking on a combined view of cognitivist and behaviorist.

Bandura developed a four-step pattern an individual goes through in observational learning. The first step is attention, noticing something different in the environment. This step is impacted by the characteristics of the model and the observer. The second step is retention, remembering what was noticed. This step depends on the ability of the observer to encode information. The third step is reproduction, emitting the behavior of what was noticed. This step depends on the ability of the observer to emit the behavior; some behaviors may require skills the observer has yet to obtain. The fourth and final step is motivation, when the environment gives the consequence of either reinforcement or punishment. This step is necessary because without motivation, the observer will not emit the behaviors observed.

Bandura demonstrated the observational learning process in his famous “Bobo Doll” experiment in 1965. This study took 66 children, ages 3-6, and divided them into three to watch a film where an adult in a playroom aggressively interacts with a “bobo doll.” One group of children saw the film with an ending where the adult received the reinforcer of praise, in another group the film ended with the adult receiving the punisher of a time out and not being allowed to play with the toy, and in the third group the film ended with the adult walking out of the room. After watching the film, all the children were allowed to play in the playroom with the “bobo doll,” the antecedent to the target behavior the experiment aimed to elicit, the aggressive behavior towards the “bobo doll.” The results showed a high level of the children emitting aggressive behaviors when interacting with the “bobo doll,” specifically in boys, and specifically among the children who watched the films where the child was praised for their behavior or received no consequence, walked out of the room.

In addition to this “bobo doll” research, Bandura did additional research on children and observation learning. This further observational research stemmed from the observations of the “bobo doll” experiment, as the children who imitated the aggressive behavior of the adult in the film, emitted additional aggressive behavior not modeled by the adult and also had increased attention to guns. His further showed that children act more aggressively when they view aggressive cartoon characters then when viewing adults acting aggressively and that if children watch non-aggressive behavior, it reduces their aggressive behavior.

URL’s:
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/soccog/soclrn.html
http://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/cognitive-approaches-to-learning-48/observational-learning-203-12738/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjTxQy_U3ac

Terms: observational learning, behavior, consequences, emit, reinforcement, punishment, experiment, reinforcer, punisher, antecedent, target behavior, elicit

Observational learning is a topic we read about in the last section. I wanted to know more about it because my boys act differently at the babysitters than when they are home. The way my wife and I play with the boys is much different than the way our boys play with the kids at daycare. The observational learning theory was developed by Albert Bandura. It is also sometimes called vicarious learning, modeling or social learning. People learning by observing is the basic theory behind this theory.

Bandura theorized four conditions in order for observational learning to take place. They are attention to the model, retention of details, motor reproduction and motivation and opportunity. Attention to the model means in order for learning to take place, one must be paying attention. Retention is important because it you can’t remember (store) what you learned you won’t be able to use it when it’s needed. Motor reproduction means that you are physically capable of doing the behavior that you are observing. It is also in this stage that you emit or do not emit the behavior that you were observing. Motivation is important for observational learning to be successful. In order for modeling to take place that person must want to learn.

Repetition is not required for the behavior to be learned. An example of this would be watching someone emit an unwanted behavior and seeing them be punished. By simply observing the learner, learns not to do that behavior. Bandura also said mental state is another important aspect of observational learning. He thought not all behavior was due to external reinforcement. He developed the idea of intrinsic reinforcement. Intrinsic reinforcement is like an internal reward. Some examples would be pride in oneself, satisfaction of accomplishment, or a sense of purpose.

Albert Bandura developed this social learning theory after doing an experiment with a toy doll. His experiment has become known as the Bobo Doll Experiment. In this experiment Bandura wanted to see if a social behavior like aggression can be learned through observation. Bandura placed two groups of 3-6 year olds and divided them into a control group and an experimental group. The control group watched a video of an adult playing in a nice non-aggressive way while the experimental group watched a video of an adult being aggressive with the bobo doll. They were shown punching, hitting, and kicking the bobo doll. Bandura found that the kids in the experimental group emitted many more aggressive or violent acts towards the bobo doll than those in the control group. This study was the first to show that learning can happen just by observing. This study also showed great support for Bandura’s social learning theory.

Terms used: Albert Bandura, observational learning, modeling, Bobo Doll Experiment, behavior, social learning theory, attention to model, retention, motor reproduction, motivation, emit, punished, reinforcement, intrinsic reinforcement.

http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htm
https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Observational_learning.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=128Ts5r9NRE


I totally forgot what topics I have done in the past so I decided to just to my topic on behaviors in general and how to change them. Behaviors are the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems, or artificial entities in conjunction with themselves or their environment, now in class we have talked about environments and how we can change the environment the change our behaviors. Or changing that environment can help with the antecedents next time when you are trying to do that behavior.

Our behaviors are somewhat hard to change without having some type of a plan. We as humans have the chance to increase behaviors and decrease them. We deal with reinforcements when we increase our behaviors and we deal with punishments or penalties when we are trying to decrease our behaviors. Even though there are disadvantages and advantages to both of these ideas we are most likely to use the negative and positive reinforcements because no one likes to get punished for doing something. It is inhumane to us, at least I think.

When we are looking at behaviors and trying to change our behaviors we can look at 5 easy steps or stages to helping us achieve that change. According to psychologytoday.com the 5 stages would be: precontemplation, contemplation, determination, action, and maintenance. In some funky way, we have talked about these ideas in class or in our readings but we just don’t know it. When looking at our own projects that we are doing for class we can see that these steps/stages come in handy. We need to think about the change and think actively about the changes that we want to be made.

Determination is definitely something that we have talked about in our readings. If we are not determined to change our behavior then what is the likelihood that we will change? It would be slim to none. We want to be able to change so our mind must be in it at all times. The next few steps would be the action itself and maintenance. We need to carry out our plan and continue doing the behavior that we want changed. We may also use the reinforcement in these steps to try and keep up with the new behavior. They say that one stage leads to another stage. So we need to start with stage 1 and 2 to get the journey going.

Behaviors do not have to just be in the human sense. Behaviors can also happen in earth sciences, management, and biology. Our body creates behaviors that we do not know about or it happens so fast that we cannot see it.

The topic of behaviors and how we can change them interests me not only because we have talked about it in class but also because it can be used in the different areas of life; such as the biological area and other sciences. Our entire class is based on the idea of behaviors and getting them to change, thus the name Behavior Modification. Each time we are working on our project we are dealing with this idea of behavior modification and trying to get things to change that we may not like about our behaviors. I hate when I pick my lip and it bleeds or looks gross. So I am using this gross behavior and using some reinforcement to stop my ugly habit.

http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/leader_model/development/media/Targeted%20Lessons/how_to_change_behavior.htm

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

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happiness-in-world/200910/5-steps-changing-any-behavior

Behavior modification, behavior, Positive/Negative Reinforcement, punishments, penalties, environment, precontemplation, contemplation, determination, action, maintenance

For this blog I chose the topic of observational learning. It was discussed in section 5.4 on changing antecedents. In that section it was mentioned to create an environment that eliminates the need to say “no” to children. This way kids don't have a “no” stage, because they aren't consistently hearing it. I picked this topic because I have a lot of younger cousins. It is interesting to see how my families' and my behavior can actually influence them. We also are very familiar with arguments that violent video games produce violent children.
According to psychologists, children experience opportunities for learning every day. Various role models such as parents and teachers play a large part in shaping a child's behavior. The observational learning theory expands on this and states that daily observations such as television contribute to behavior shaping as well.
Also known as the social learning theory, the observational learning theory is developed around the idea that people learn by watching another person do something. An important point about this theory is that reinforcement is not needed for a behavior to be learned. In other words, people and children imitate. For example, a child might put soap on their face and pretend to be shaving. When curious witnesses ask what they are doing the answer will likely be along the lines of “Daddy does it.”
A well known study done by Albert Bandura called the “Bobo doll” experiment supported his development of the theory in the 1960s. In these studies children were separated into groups and watched a film. In the short clip a person was shown hitting, kicking and yelling at a Bobo doll. Reinforcement and punishment outcomes varied between groups. Bandura found that most children, when given a Boho doll treated it similar to the way the person in the clip had.
Bandura thought observational learning happened in 4 steps. 1) Children watch a behavior 2) Retain the behavior 3) The behavior is duplicated 4) Finally, the resulting consequences rule whether the behavior is emitted again. Bandura also found that children were more likely to repeat behaviors seen on film, especially cartoons, versus live actors. This brought up concern about what children were watching on TV. Today, many are concerned with aggression and violence levels in TV shows and video games and what behaviors they elicit.
Like previously stated this process can be broken down into attention, retention, motor reproduction, and reinforcement. Attention is the observation of the behavior, noticing the details and possibly hands on experience. For example, watching and helping your grandma bake bread, the kind you can't find in any recipe book. Next, retention is remembering all the details. How was the dough mixed, how long did she let the dough rise. Third, motor reproduction is the attempt to emit the behavior yourself. This would be baking the bread on your own. Finally, reinforcement is the positive and negative result of the elicited behavior, which increases or decreases the odds of repeating the behavior. This could be the praise from your grandmother after she tries your bread.
Bandura's theory goes beyond children and adults, in fact, it can be applied to animals as well. Research however does appear to be inconclusive because discussion still stands on whether animals need to be rewarded and are goal directed. When applying the social learning theory to animals, it is stated that animals learn from observation of other animals. It can also be more effective when the two animals are of the same species.
Some examples of this are when an owner trains their dog to go through a dog door using reinforcement. When a new dog is introduced to the family it will observe the target behavior and emit the same behavior without being reinforced first, observational learning. Another example is a dog swimming and another being hesitant, but eventually swimming as well. Contrary to this example, my family had a dog that hated water and a second that loved the water. It stayed that way forever and the first dog never liked swimming. Whether or not this disproves the theory and applying it to animals, I'm not sure. However, there are so many other examples that greatly support the idea!

Terms: Observational Learning Theory, Antecedents, Behavior, Reinforcement, Albert Bandura, Punishment, Consequences, Emitted, Elicit, Positive, Negative, Target Behavior.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/155023-observational-learning-in-children/
https://iaabc.org/dog/social-learning-theory-and-animals-observational-imitation-learning
http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/observational-learning-definition-theory-examples.html#lesson

When our book talks about self-directed behavior, goal setting, and the behavioral intervention project, it often uses the example of New Year resolutions. New Year resolutions often fail because we do not know how to implement a successful behavior intervention. I did some research to see if the web pages I found on the internet were consistent with the advice from our book. I found a lot of similarities. I was interested in this topic because I wanted a reminder of techniques to use in my own behavioral intervention and if I wanted to make a new year resolution in the future.

USA Today tells is viewers to have SMART Goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-specific. Make your goal specific so that it is not a behavioral class. We cannot attempt to change a behavior if we can’t even define what that target behavior is. Other sources also recommend that your goals be simple and something that could really have a positive impact on your life (making your goal relevant).

Goals should be measurable because you will not get any feedback from your intervention if they are not. The Huffington post recommends keeping records so you can see how you are improving as well as you compare to those going through the goal process with you. Getting an app specifically for goal tracking is a great tool. Short-term goals, rather than long terms goals, are also a lot easier to measure. Raising $5,000 dollars in a year is overwhelming while $100 dollars is easily measurable and attainable. Also make sure to schedule time in your busy life to attain the goal (making the goal time-specific) even if it is just thirty minutes at the gym. If you are worried about skipping, set an alarm on you phone. Make a time-frame by using a calendar or diary and keep notes in it as well.

Goals must be attainable or we will only become frustrated. Do not aim too high or ignore reality. Break you goal down into steps to make it more attainable. If you do have a goal that you do not reach, remember that you are only human and shouldn't be too hard on yourself. Do not let that stop you from reassessing your goals and trying again. Many behavior interventions will need to be reassessed. Resolutions are about becoming a better version of you. Make your resolution about the journey and not the outcome.

It is also important to keep reinforcing yourself. When made great strides toward your goal, it is important to reward yourself. However, it is important to make sure these rewards do not work against your goal. If your goal is to save money, do not reward yourself by shopping. Maybe a bubble bath at the end of the week is all you need.

There are a few more additional tips these websites gave. They emphasized the importance of having going though a goal with a friend. If someone is going through the same behavioral intervention you are, you may be able to support each other along the way. It could also make for a healthy competition. Simply stating your goals to your buddies can also make you more accountable. Buddies are all around a very good support system to have when going through a change in your life.

A lot of this research was a research I did on this topic was very consistent with the information in the textbook. It was a nice review for me to go though it and think about my own behavioral project more in depth.

Terms: self-directed behavior, goals, behavior intervention, target behavior, behavioral class, reinforcing

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2013/12/27/keep-new-years-resolutions-goals/4192127/

http://psychcentral.com/lib/10-sure-ways-to-keep-your-new-years-resolutions/0005

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeanette-pavini/10-tricks-to-help-you-actually-keep-your-new-years-resolutions_b_4550549.html

The topic I decided to choose was positive punishment. We learned about punishment in section 2.3 and it interests me because we discussed reinforcement is more beneficial to manipulate behavior. If we want someone or something to elicit a particular behavior we should use reinforcement. I decided to do some research on positive punishment on the law when dealing with traffic. We are all guilty of texting while driving. The government sees this behavior as a problem, so they try to decrease this behavior by adding tickets as an aversive stimulus. Do tickets really stop us from emitting this behavior? Maybe for a little bit after we receive a ticket, but it usually just makes us more aware if a cop is present and if it is “safe” to be on our phone.
The government placed cell phone bans while driving because they wanted to decrease accidents. They believed many people were getting in accidents because people are distracted while using their phones. This is very controversial because there are various articles that texting and driving will decrease accidents and various articles that texting and driving tickets will decrease cell phone usage behavior while driving. The reason accidents may not decrease is because accidents are caused by other distractions such as fighting kids in the backseat or eating while driving. Many government officials are against texting and driving because it is dangerous for the driver and other drivers on the road. Many people still seem to use their cell phones while driving even if they are banned while driving and could receive a ticket as the punisher.
We know the risks of texting and driving, so why do we do it? It is a major distraction because we take our eyes off the road to read the text message, we take a hand off the wheel to respond and not being aware of the road are all distractions that can put us in danger. The government already put laws on cellphone bans while driving, so why do we still do it?! Do we need a more aversive punishment? We are basically addicted to our cell phones anymore. Dopamine is released when we use our cell phone. Dopamine is the same neurotransmitter that relates to smoking and gambling. It is acts as a pleasure stimuli which makes us keep texting even though we know the dangers.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123084040
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/article/Yes-ban-cell-phone-use-while-driving-5736747.php
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brad-stulberg/we-need-to-consider-stron_b_6051798.html
Terminology: positive punishment, emit, elicit, behavior, reinforcement, aversive, punisher

One of the most common topics we talk about in this class is changing behavior. One behavior that I am curious about is smoking cigarettes. We have discussed in class how to slowly but surely decrease the behavior through behavioral intervention and rewarding, but I'm curious as to how it is some people are able to quit cold turkey when it comes to smoking. I'm also curious as to if there are any other behaviors that can occur this way.

In class we have talked about identifying the target behavior that you want to change, and then coming up with a baseline figure of the behavior to see how much and how often it is occurring. Once those things are established you need to identify a way to keep track and rewards for emitting the desired consequence/outcome. One way that I found for smokers to gradually quit smoking was a nicotine therapy treatment. In which, smokers chew gum or wear a patch that distributes a small amount of nicotine to the person to stop them from experiencing the negative consequences from withdrawal or reducing their smoking. There are also new guidelines when it comes to the effective treatment of quitting smoking. There have been 7 new medications many more treatment options than previously.The updated guidelines also point to additional efficacious counseling strategies.These include telephone counseling as well as counseling that helps smokers enlist support outside the treatment context. The updated guidelines contain strong evidence that smoking cessation treatments shown to be efficacious are cost-effective relative to other routinely reimbursed medical interventions.

Some people are able to quit cold turkey, my mother for example was able to. She did because one day she collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. She decided to quit right away after that. One thing I noticed was that because she stopped smoking without weaning herself, she started emitting other behaviors with different consequences, like eating or chewing ice. These new behaviors have lead to her having sensitive teeth and a little weight gain. One of the ways I read about to effectively quit cold turkey was to write in a journal. I feel if my mother would have done this she might not have picked up the other behaviors, and thus, not suffering the consequences with them.

Terms: consequence, emitting, behavior, target behavior, behavior intervention, desired, negative.

Links:
http://www.cancer.org/%20healthy/stayawayfromtobacco/guidetoquittingsmoking/index
http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/418531
http://www.wikihow.com/Quit-Smoking-Cold-Turkey

The topic I decided to research was on goal maintenance. We talked about this issue in our importance of goals chapter. When we figure out a behavior that we want to modify or change it is often put into goal form so that it will be easier and more manageable to accomplish. When we are consistently performing the behavior that was our goal, the next step is goal maintenance.
Goal maintenance can be thought of as part of our cognitive process. One basic but very scientific definition of goal maintenance might go as follows. Goal maintenance is a process of completing tasks with an express goal that can be easily accessible and maintaining this information over a certain interval to achieve the goal. This definition is often used by scientists and researchers working on memory and how it relates to goal maintenance. More commonly, people think of goal maintenance as it relates to things like weight loss, or getting good grades in college.
The challenges of goal maintenance are often underestimated by people. This can lead to upsetting results when dealing with a goal like weight loss. It is common for people who are trying to lose weight to talk about their “end” weight, or when they reach their goal what they will do. It is unlikely that they will be thinking about what they will need to do in order to keep that weight off and maintain their goal weight. If you don’t have a strategy in place for continuing on with your new behavior once the goal is reached, then you may end up reverting to the old behavior or taking even more steps back.
A common theory both in psychology and other mental health related fields is the Stages of Change Model. This model is based on making sure people successfully keep up with new behaviors they have developed. One of the stages is called maintenance when people can become assured that they will in fact be able to continue implementing their new behavior. Some techniques to use during the maintenance stage include things like avoiding temptation and trying to replace your old habits with new and healthier ones. It is also important to set up a system of rewards when your goal in maintained and remember that being too hard on yourself could be detrimental to your goal overall. If you get too down on yourself you may quit instead of trying harder.

Terms: Goal maintenance, goals, behavior, modify, strategy, Stages of Change Model, maintenance, reward

http://cntrics.ucdavis.edu/meeting3/talks/SmithTalk.pdf
http://blog.fittothefinish.com/2013/10/reaching-your-goal-weight-is-not-the-end/
http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/ss/behaviorchange_7.htm

Today I choose to look at what works better reinforcement or punishment. I did not want to stop there so I went even further to see if if positive or negative worked better for the type of consequence that did its job more of the time.This ties into our class because these two consequences are what behavioral modification is about. When B mod is used it is to either raise or lower the amount that a certain target behavior is emitted by a subject.To do this you need to use reinforcement or punishment and to do it well you will need to know which works better to elicit the response that you want.

The saying that comes to mind when I think about this is the carrot or the stick. Meaning either give them a pleasurable consequence (carrot) or a aversion one (Stick. To begin with I thought what would be more motivational to me personally. I believe that the stick would be the stronger of the two stimuli because pain is a good a good motivator. In this case I was wrong plenty of research done has empirically shown that reinforcement is the way to go to shape the kinds of responses that a subject emits. In research done on test subjects ranging from 8/9 to 18-25 year old it rang true they learned and responded better to reinforcement.Then I began to think about it more and delve deeper into the research and the articles. It did seem more clear that reinforcement was the way to go. Would I rather work harder for someone I like and enjoy or a mean person, the nice person is where my bet would lay. There are many kinds of behavioral modification such as self directed or other directed behavioral modification. It is helpful to know that reinforcement is a better consequence to go with these. I may not be able to control the antecedents in all situations but if I can control the reward and choose to punish myself instead of reward myself I do not think that self directed behavioral modification will work and then nothing will change. If some one else is doing it to change my behavior and is averse to me I would become stubborn instead of trying to change.

Now that which is better between those two has been decided lets go a bit deeper into the subject at hand. I did some research into the matter and found that positive reinforcement works better then negative reinforcement. According to the National library of medicine it worked better in reducing escaped maintained behaviors in autistic children. It also made them more likely to comply the researchers found. Now to be clear positive reinforcement is the addition of something pleasurable like a good feeling from a "Good Job" given in class. While negative reinforcement is the removal of something not pleasurable so both consequences are good in the sense that they make life better.

We had talked about reinforcement being better many times in class. I think that we may of mentioned a few times that positive was better then negative but this research cemented in in my mind that to change my behaviors I have to first reinforce myself and do it by introducing pleasurable things to my environment. I think that I am doing this in my behavioral change project. I look forward to seeing if my results fall into line with the results outlined in the above blog.

http://www.uni.edu/~maclino/bm/book/sec2.2.pdf
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/family-affair/200809/rewards-are-better-punishment-here-s-why
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1284349/

Terms used: punishment, reinforcement, positive, negative, behavioral modification, emitted, target behavior, elicit, consequences, pleasurable, aversive, stimuli, shape, response, consequences, antecedents, reward, self directed behavioral modification, other directed behavioral modification, averse, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, environment

PreMack Principle

The topic that I am interested in and have chosen to do more research on is the PreMack Principle. This topic relates to behavior modification because we have discussed it in class recently and have learned a little bit more about it in the week #12 online assignment video. I am interested in this topic because it is a principle that I have experienced before in my daily life and will most likely come across again in the future.

First off, the PreMack principle states for the opportunity to engage in a high frequency behavior, we will engage in a low frequency behavior. This works with humans and animals. We learned a little about this principle in the video we watched with Ian Dunbar’s presentation. Dunbar mentions that owners of dogs should use this principle when they want the dog to want to do what we want them to do. The owner should follow a low frequency behavior; a behavior that the dog doesn’t want to do, with a high frequency behavior; something that the dog wants to do (a dog hobby or behavior problem). The dog hobby/behavior problem will then become a reward for the low frequency behavior.

Through reading on this topic, I’ve learned that the PreMack principle comes from Professor David Premack. The principle was created when he was studying monkeys, but he learned the principle can be applied to humans very well. The PreMack principle is also known as the relative-theory of reinforcement and states that if a person wants to perform a target behavior, they will emit a less desirable behavior to get at the more desirable behavior (Citation A). This principle can fall under behaviorism, and I learned that activities can become reinforcers. Like I mentioned before, I have experienced this principle in my own life. For example, when I was younger my mom would tell me that I had to eat all my vegetables (low-frequency behavior) before I could eat dessert (high frequency behavior).

I wanted to get a visual of what the PreMack principle looked like so I searched for some videos on YouTube. There was one video that I thought was simple and interesting with a dog illustrating the PreMack principle (Citation B). A woman wants the black dog to sit at its bed while the other dog goes off and the woman pours food for the black dog. The low frequency behavior in this video is the dog waiting patiently (less desired behavior) and the high frequency behavior is the dog eating the food happily (more desired behavior). This was just one of many good videos on YouTube that illustrates the PreMack principle works well with animals too.

With additional research on the internet about superstitious behaviors, I have read about what makes up our less desired and more desired behaviors (Citation C). When we emit our more desired behaviors, this is referred to as intrinsic motivation. These are behaviors that we would emit on a day off; participating in activities that we like to do and essentially the behavior is the reward. When we emit our less desired behaviors, this is referred to as extrinsic motivation. These are behaviors that we wouldn’t normally emit if we didn’t get rewarded for doing them; i.e. going to work and getting paid for doing so. We essentially use our intrinsic motivation to help ourselves complete behaviors driven by extrinsic motivation.

After researching further on this topic, I feel I have become very well informed about not only the PreMack Principle, but other relative terms and concepts that are also used in our Behavior Modification class.

Website sources:
A) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premack's_principle
B) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPzrNg1_ajg
C) http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/applying-the-premack-principle-in-the-classroom.html#lesson

Terminology used: PreMack principle, behavior modification, reinforcement, emit, target behavior, (low/high frequency) behavior, reward, intrinsic/extrinsic motivation.

This week I chose to further research observational learning. We've discussed observational learning a few times over the course of the semester, in class and in our text. Our whole class revolves around behaviors so learning by watching others behaviors I feel fits right in. I chose to look at this topic over others because even though it seems like such a simple thing, that it sometimes happens to you without you realizing it catches my attention.
Observational learning is defined as simply learning by watching others. Instead of a reinforcer being used, a model is used instead. A parent for example, models good behavior at the table. Therefore the child learns appropriate behavior at the table by watching his mother. Observational learning's founder was Albert Bandura of the famous Bobo Doll experiment. Bandura showed that children will repeat behavior they watch by putting children in a room with the doll after watching others act aggressively towards it. The children would then enter the room and act aggressively as well.There were many variations in the experiment and ended with conclusions of many different things. For example it showed children who watched others act violent towards the doll they would repeat the behavior. It also showed that boys tended to be more aggressive than females, and that the children exposed to the aggressive model tended to be more verbally aggressive. This study is important because it concludes that our behavior is affecting what others learn, therefore we should watch our behavior. Not only does this tell us to watch our own behavior but shows us what we can do to get others to follow. Knowing others learn by watching us shows us we can teach others by behaving in a certain way. We always can pin point why certain people behave the way they do. Not only are other people watching and learning from our behavior, but animals as well. A dog watching you get food off the counter may learn to look for food on the counter as well.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observational_learning
overview on the definition of observational learning and what it entails

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_doll_experiment
explains in detail the bobo doll experiment, which is what led to the understanding of observational learning.

http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/soccog/soclrn.html
graphs on what we have learned from observational experients


terms: observational learning, albert bandura,
reinforcer, model, behavior,

The topic I chose to do research on is delayed gratification. I specifically looked at a test done a while back called the marshmallow test. It was very interesting to see a bunch of kids have delayed gratification. Many emitted eating the marshmallow before the lady returned. But those who did wait got their second one. It was very funny, and I enjoyed watching it. With this marshmallow test, delayed gratification was put to the test. This fits into what we are talking about in class because we have talked about delayed gratification as well as target behavior. The target behavior here is eating the marshmallows. The process of having to wait or do something longer to benefit in the long run was talked about in class and in the book. I am interested in this topic because I find it very interesting. Delayed gratification is something I have always observed in other people and myself. I just never had the name of placed on it. I enjoy looking at the different benefits to behaviors and ways to go about acting out one. Delayed gratification is everywhere in our lives and that is something I wanted to know more about. It is in relationships, smoking habits, drinking habits, and so many other things in our world. I find it very interesting and a fun topic to learn about. The way the teacher reinforces the kids positively and negatively is cool to look at as well.

TERMS: Delayed gratification, emit, reinforce, positive, negative, target behavior.

The topic I chose for this week’s topical blog is something we actually just covered in the last reading. That topic would be observational learning, which is also called vicarious learning, social learning, or modeling. This is something that is very useful when raising children as children learn by example and watch what other people do, especially their parents. Most people will actually unconsciously behave in a way similar to people around them, especially if they like that particular behavior. What I mean by this is that people may talk or act in different ways around different people. For example, I might talk or act a lot different to my friends when watching a football game than I would to a professor.

Observational learning is a type of learning that occurs as a function of observing, retaining, and replicating different behaviors emitted by others. Many consider observational learning to be most important in one’s childhood when they become familiar with authority. In the YouTube example, an older brother, who is 16 years old, is teaching a very young child how to make a basket on a little toy basketball hoop. He keeps showing the boy the ball to make sure he’s paying attention, and then he puts the ball through the hoop. The child doesn’t catch on at first as he just keeps throwing it when he’s given the ball. The older brother continues to demonstrate how to make a basket, and the little boy eventually catches on. When the little boy puts it through the hoop, the older brother reinforces the little boy with a compliment by saying “yay”. At that point, the little boy knows he did it right and continues to do it.

There are four conditions that are required for an individual to successfully model the behavior of another individual. The first one is Attention, which involves people needing to pay attention to what’s going on around them to help them learn. People need to be sure to observe the desirable behavior. The second one is Retention, which states that observers must recognize the behavior, but they must also be able to remember it at a later time. The third one is Reproduction, which states that observers must be physically and intellectually capable of doing the behavior. They should be able to copy the behavior. The fourth one is Motivation, which states observers will perform the behavior only if they have motivation to do so.

A very good example on observational learning came from Albert Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment. In this experiment, children watched as an adult used violence on a rebounding doll. After that, the children were put in a room with that rebounding doll, and their behavior was recorded. More times than not, the children mimicked the behavior of the adult. The children punched, kicked, and hit the doll with different things.

Observational learning is a topic that is very interesting to me. All children learn this way, especially in their first few years. That is a very vital period in a child’s life, and it’s important that people, especially parents are setting good examples and emitting acceptable behaviors that will help with the child’s growth and development. Although observational learning is most important for children, all people do it whether they realize it or not, including adults. People are always observing different behaviors, and they will mimic that behavior if it is desirable to them.

http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Observational_learning.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2wYLo0nET4

http://www.funderstanding.com/educators/observational-learning/

Terms: observational learning, vicarious learning, social learning, modeling, behavior, imitate, reinforce, desirable behavior, Bobo Doll Experiment, mimic, emit

This weeks topic is the functional assessment of behavior and how to change behavior. This fits into what we have been talking about because in section 5.3 most of the reading is about functional assessment of behavior and how it can help us change our behaviors. The section goes through a six step process in changing behaviors. Not only do we see this topic in the literature, but we are also doing individual studies where we are trying to change a behavior. We have all come up with a behavior we want to change and have implemented the functional assessment of behavior on ourselves. I am very interested in this topic because I am constantly trying to better myself and change my behaviors, although sometimes it can be very hard. To change my behaviors for good, I need to really look at those behaviors I want to change and look at the many components that surround the behavior such as environment. Many people want to change their behaviors as well and if I am to help them, I better understand the method/ways to go about changing a behavior for good or in an effective manner.

The functional assessment of behavior is designed to help you develop a hypothesis using the ABC's of behavior. It helps you identify the environment in which you elicit these behaviors (antecedents), and what the outcome of the behavior is and the function to maintain it (consequences). One of the biggest factors that leads to our behavioral change being unsuccessful is our environment. Let's say you are trying to give up sweets, but you work at a candy factory. It is only going to make it that much harder to quite eating sweets when you are surrounded by them on a daily basis. Usually it would be beneficial to remove yourself from these environments, but in this case you may have to be more creative and experiment with different ideas.

If your plan does not work the first time, you may need to rework it, and possibly more than once. Be nice to yourself as well, you may need to realize that you might not go from being a super sweets eater to an all fruits and vegetable eater over night. Give yourself manageable goals and guidelines along the way that will help you to be beneficial and will help elicit the desired response.

Functional assessment of behavior can be used for a variety of people. Not only can you apply it to yourself, but it is very beneficial in a variety of contexts such as your students if you are a teacher. If children are emitting challenging behaviors you may need to look into a way to help them change these behaviors.
There is a six step process in behavior change:
1-describe the target behavior
2-describe the consequences
3-describe the antecedents
4-examine ABC's (functional assessment)
5-devise new antecedents and consequences
6-evaluate the outcome
In a functional assessment we look to investigate behavior and the things that are reinforcing it so we can create a new way of doing things to decrease the aversive or undesirable behavior. Once this has been determined in the child and you have looked at and defined each area, then it is time to start implementing the behavior. With children, (and all people for that matter) you will probably have to do some tweaking until the desired responses are emitted. This can be very challenging with unruly, excitable children.

Once new antecedents and consequences have been implemented that work, you can begin to lean the child out or use random scheduling in reinforcement. Hopefully the new behaviors will become natural contingencies and will not have to be worried about any longer. Then you can move on to another behavior or child.

Functional analysis of behavior are extremely effective and are beneficial to many people.

Terms: functional assessment of behavior, behavior, six-step analysis, environment, hypothesis, ABC's, elicit, antecedent, consequences, experiment, desired, emitting, target behavior, functional assessment, reinforcing, decrease, aversive, undesirable, lean out, random scheduling, natural contingencies

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/15/how-to-change-your-behavior_n_4791184.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sIYgSZiZ28
http://www.ped.state.nm.us/RtI/behavior/4.fba.11.28.pdf

If an addict is placed back within an environment where he or she is easily bombarded with triggers and outside influence they will most likely use again. Also, without tangible triggers, peer triggers can be just as harmful as people are always influenced by each other. Context is important when changing an antecedent so that the function of the target behavior becomes extinct. New behaviors must be learned to replace the aversive ones.
Time.com describes five steps that a person must go through to break a bad habit, this is behavior modification in its most understandable form: 1. awareness of the habit, 2. what triggers said habit, 3. replacing the habit, 4. manipulating the context, 5. maintenance of the replacement habit. National Geographic has ten steps, but also includes changing your friends and your environment, Addiction Recovery 101 offers the same solutions.
Reinforcers are necessary to maintain long term change when replacing a behavior. Certain environments elicit behaviors that are not conducive to needs or wants of the individual or the society in which the individual lives. Reinforcement and punishment determine if behaviors will be continued or become extinct. The problem with modifying addictions is that when people become deprived of their go-to drug and they have no replacement behavior, they can resort to using again. Addiction lasts a lifetime but active using does not have to.
Changing environments does not just include changing location and people. It also refers to our personal environment. A person does not always have to up and move or replace those around us, it can be a very difficult undertaking, but an intervention is needed. Our environments also include our homes. If I want to change an eating habit, I can remove the food from my home that I no longer want to eat. I do not have to buy that food, but deprivation of a habit can lead to relapse. To avoid this, I can set up social supports to help with my change in habit, I can schedule activities to keep me occupied and on track, and I can replace unwanted foods, with foods that I want to be eating instead. There are always options, but a person has to accept accountability for themselves and be able to act as a self-reinforcement. Changing your behavior is ultimately your responsibility as a functioning individual.

http://execucarearc.com/addiction-recovery-101-changing-playmates-and-playgrounds/
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/drugged/articles/tips-and-reminders-for-a-successful-recovery/
http://time.com/3593367/change-bad-habits/

Terms: antecedents, functional assessment, behavior modification, behavioral control, observational learning, context, function, target behavior, extinct, reinforcers, punishment, elicit, deprived, intervention, self-reinforcement

I may have already written about a superstitious behavior in the past, but I want to look at these behaviors again because some can be so subtle that they aren’t even noticed by the average person. The difference that some people express toward tasks can be stereotyped as superstitious, but it can also be seen as just a “feel good” behavior that eventually became a habit. One behavior that I am going to reference often is the act of working out on a regular basis. I have a few friends who take major pride in their commitment to working out and weight lifting. As they would say, “Lifting is a lifestyle not just a hobby.” I am so proud of them for taking the initiative and actually doing something for themselves, but sometimes I wonder if they take things too far. Now, don't get me wrong, I’m all for them getting healthy and taking pride in their body image, but for some reason, a few of these friends tend to take the extinction burst approach. They will go very hard and strict for a few days, maybe even weeks, just to try and lose the old habits and create new ones, but typically they just end up going back to their old routine. This type of attempt really just pushes them to reach a goal that isn’t really meant for them to reach. (Getting in shape in 4 days after they haven't moved in 3 years)
Just about every fashion magazine, reality show, and online article eventually shares the same views about getting healthy; you gotta start somewhere, and usually that somewhere refers to a gym. “…You’ll be happier… You’ll live longer… You’ll be even smarter…” These are all reasons why someone should start lifting weights according to Women’s Health Magazine (http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/weight-exercises-women). With that being said, it takes a little more than just hitting the gym to see the results that people typically want these days. Behaviors occur at different rates, and so do consequences. No one is going to have a miraculous weight loss over night, and sometimes the months that it does take to notice are too long for some. Emitting the behavior is only worth it if we see results with the work that is being done. Therefore, the results are both the consequence and the reinforcer. I have noticed that even though they may be seeing the results that they think they want, they still think that they need to speed up or enhance the progress. This is where the supplements come into play.
While I was doing the research on this topic just to get some more information, I simply googled the term “weight lifting supplements” and it came up with 457,000 results (https://www.google.com/#q=weight+lifting+supplements). I felt that this was a significant source in itself because it just shows the variety and complexity of weight lifting. There really is a science to understanding the measurements and time increments that need to happen in order to obtain the desired results. Each person is going to have their own workout routine and demands, and its easy to see in many of the tutorial videos that are available online. I watched a few that were posted by a few different people, and I found that depending on the build of the person and the gender, they had different approaches and motivation levels. Some obviously geared toward the easy and quick way to see results, while others spent more time focusing on the form and consistency (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXae7qYFV24) and (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w2ssgjdIts).
So, what I’m trying to get at with this is that there are so many different styles that people use to get in shape. You can either use the extinction burst approach, the classical conditioning approach, the variability approach, or even the relatively sad discrimination extinction. I made this connection because these are all different types of methods, and excuses that people use when trying to get in shape, and with the holidays coming up, the New Year’s resolution are piling up as well. Gym memberships here we come.


Terms: superstitious behaviors, habit, consequences, reinforcer, extinction burst, classical conditioning, variability, discrimination extinction

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/weight-exercises-women
https://www.google.com/#q=weight+lifting+supplements
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w2ssgjdIts —> Please don't watch the whole 30 min video :p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXae7qYFV24

For this blog assignment I’m going to research how behavioral science can be used to reduce power consumption and increase environment friendly behaviors. This topic fits into the class because it’s using behavior modification concepts and techniques discussed in class. After researching, I found one common method, using social norms and pressure to make people emit behaviors that are good for the environment. In a TED video with Alex Laskey, he talked about how they use behavioral science to make people use less electricity. What he does is run a company that tells utility consumers what their neighbors pay for utilities, and urges consumers to use less energy like their neighbors do. The catch is their “neighbors” are always using less energy than the consumers. What’s going on here behaviorally is rule governed behavior through rules of social norms. This company introduces the antecedent and new social norm of “Use less energy” by telling consumers that everyone else is using less energy, and its normative now. This makes consumers decrease their energy use in order to follow the rule of the now established social norm of “Use less energy” like everyone around them has. The consequence of not following this rule is that they will be unlike everyone else in their neighborhood, supposedly, and the consequence of following this rule is that they will fit into their neighborhood because they are following the new social norm.

This social norm pressure was also used in a study that wanted to increase hotel guest reusing their towels. What they did was place different cards to random hotel guest doors with different messages for why guests should reused their towels. The messages were "Help the hotel save energy,” "Help save the environment," "Partner with us to help save the environment,” "Help save resources for future generations," and "Join your fellow citizens in helping to save the environment." The last message employed the method of establishing the social norm of the hotel is “reuse your towel” by saying everyone else is doing it. Not surprisingly, this method worked the best for guests to reuse their towels. Reusing their towels reduced water consumption that would be used on washing these towels, so they promoted and increase environmentally friendly behaviors. This method is a form of positive reinforcement because it increases the target behavior of environmentally friendly behaviors, of reusing towels, by adding the desired consequence of fitting into the social norm.

I also found another method to change people’s behaviors to increase their environmentally friendly behaviors. This method was used by NYU Stern researcher Hal Hershfield and colleagues H. Min Bang and Elke U. Weber of Columbia University in research. They found that if they changed the antecedents before people donated to an environmental organization. They found when they should and emphasized the length of our nation’s history, they would donate more. Emphasizing the already existing past and that we can last even longer as a nation, made people think more on extending our future environmentally. So changing the antecedents before donating money, increased their donations, and resulted in the consequence of feeling better about our nation’s future environment.

Overall, this research showed that behavioral sciences are used to promote and increase environmentally friendly behaviors through emphasis on changing antecedents that elicit the behavior better, and using rule governed behavior through social norms.

URLS:
http://www.ted.com/talks/alex_laskey_how_behavioral_science_can_lower_your_energy_bill#t-410730
http://www.apa.org/research/action/shaping.aspx
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/obsonline/making-every-day-earth-day-the-behavioral-science-way.html

Terms: elicit, emit, social norms, antecedent, positive reinforcement, rule governed behavior, consequences, behavior, target behavior, environment

APLK

For my blog topic this week I chose to further research functional assessment. We have been discussing it in class and it’s a topic that caught my focus and I wanted to learn more about it. I’m really interesting in the various different ways an undesirable behavior can be changed so I thought using this as my topic would be very beneficial.
Functional behavioral assessment is a problem solving process used in addressing a problem behavior. It relies on many techniques to classify the drive of a specific behavior and fix it. Functional behavioral assessment also looks beyond the targeted behavior itself.
This problem solving process uses socially meditated positive reinforcement to deny a person access to attention, activities, or tangible items or gives the individual plenty of them. It also uses socially meditated negative reinforcement by withdrawing something that’s aversive by another person after a stimulus makes the targeted behavior more likely to occur. It also uses automatic positive reinforcement as another technique.
During the functional behavioral assessment process, there are multiple different steps in order to fix a behavior. One step is to test the behavior by allowing the person to be alone with the stimulus and observe how the person reacts. Then another test can be performed by testing the behavior based on their attention by allowing the individual to engage in preferred activities and keep track of the number of times the certain behavior occurs. Then you can test by escape or avoidance by placing the person in a situation and allow them to leave after each time the behavior occurs. The last test is a test of control conditioning by putting the individual in a reinforcing environment and allow them to engage without consequence and record the number of times they emit the behavior.

Terms: emit, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, stimuli, functional assessment

www.armstrong.edu/fuctionalassessment--PDF
http://cecp.air.org/fba/
http://www.greatschools.org/parenting/behavior-discipline/904-functional-assessment-a-positive-approach-to-misbehavior-at-school.gs

I chose to look up effective reinforcers for this weeks assignment. We already know that positive reinforcement is more effective than negative reinforcement, but what kind of reinforcers work? When you're in 2nd grade, a gold star on your homework does the trick, but as you get older you need a little (lot) more than that.

Effective positive reinforcement is genuine, age appropriate, at the person's level of functioning, and provides support. An example of this is getting a raise after you do a good job at work.

Often, it can be as easy as being an approval of behavior. For example, a professor saying "good job" on your exam, or someone complimenting you on your weight when you've been trying to lose a couple pounds.

Positive reinforcement is most effective when it's emitted immediately and frequently. However, this may not always be possible so you might have to get a little creative.

In animal training, effective reinforcement could be as simple as giving your dog a couple pets when she does something good. It does not always have to include a physical treat or toy.

Terms: emit, behavior, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, behavior

http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/specedu/behaviour/key_element6.pdf

http://psychology.about.com/od/operantconditioning/f/positive-reinforcement.htm

http://www.larimerhumane.org/animals/resources/159?task=view

This week I am going to talk about self-directed behavior modification. This is something that was discussed in our text and I believe that it is very important. There are four reasons for changing behavior. One, they bother ourselves; two, they bother others; three, they might lead to more trouble later; and four, they are illegal. When someone chooses to implement self-directed changes, they are usually doing it because of reason number one, whatever behavior they are trying to changes is one that they do not like themselves.

The first step in self-directed behavior modification is to choose a specific target behavior. One important thing to remember is that this behavior must be observable and concrete. We can’t say that we want to “walk more.” What is more? More than what our roommate walks? More than you are walking now? But how much are you walking now? Saying that you want to walk more is a good direction to take your goal, but you need to be much more specific. Pick a value that you want to walk, like 5,000 steps a day or 3 miles a day or whatever you want your behavior to be changed to. It is also important to put a time frame on this behavior. Do you want to walk 3 miles every day, every other day, or every week? If there is no timeframe on this goal then it is difficult to determine the frequency of the reinforcement. It might also be important in this step to set some short term goals if your ending behavior is going to take a long time to reach. Along with the target behavior, you should also develop a specific reinforcer. If you would like to reward yourself with candy, pick something like skittles and only eat them as a reinforcer. If you were to eat them all the time, then they would lose their importance and would no longer work as a reinforcer.

It is important to remember that sometimes you are not going to complete your goal on you desired timeframe. There are obstacles that you will face but it is important to remember that you can overcome them. What are the antecedents before your undesired behavior occurs? To reiterate the example from the text, if you are trying to cut back on snacking and your roommate constantly snacks in front of you. How are you going to change your situation to help prevent snacking when your roommate is doing it right in front of you? Perhaps you could not keep any snacks around at your disposal. Or, you could ask your roommate not to snack in front of you. Or, you could leave the room when they get out their food. All of the above are viable options to help change the environment to remove the temping antecedents to the behavior that you are trying to change.

Another important thing to remember when using self-directed behavior modification is to keep a written track of your progress and to record it immediate after it occurs and not later. If you wait until later to record things, you may forget the antecedents or if it even happened at all. Perhaps you want to make you schedule of reinforcement such that you do not reward yourself until after you have recorded the event, that way you do not forget.

Terms: self-directed behavior modification, timeframe, frequency, antecedents, reinforcement, goals, schedule of reinforcement

http://www.slideshare.net/MatSouthwell/self-directed-behaviour-change
http://www.mhhe.com/cls/psy/ch14/behmod.mhtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL1ZGAQo6J4

I want to do my weekly synthesis of behavioral information on the process of choosing effective reinforcers. I cannot find a worthwhile reinforcer to help increase my running behavior. Others have specified that it is challenging to find reinforcers because they do not want to spend money, a secondary reinforcer, to buy primary reinforcers. I will attempt to address these issues with the help of various sources.
It doesn’t make sense to say that such statements as: ALL people like candy. ALL people like beer. ALL people like television. We cannot state these. These are overgeneralizations and when used in behavioral interventions can lead to trouble. It also brings up a fundamental point about behaviorism. Not one person is alike. Sure we may emit similar behaviors, but what situations elicited those behaviors vary from person to person. I am going to conclusively say that money is the most powerful reinforcer that we can use. If I had an endless supply of money and I was willing to give it away, I could entice almost any person in the world to do what I needed them to do, granted it was a legal behavior. However, it is not practical to give money to children during school or dish out money every time a person emits a particular target behavior. Money serves as a secondary reinforcer because it allows us to obtain primary reinforcers. When we receive money, it is rarely the joy of receiving money that makes us happy, but rather the joy of knowing we can buy primary reinforcers with our money to make us happy. Besides money, how can I choose a reinforcer that suits my lifestyle?
Like I stated before, some people, including myself, do not want to spend money on reinforcers if we do not have to. Furthermore, reinforcing with junk food would not be practical if our target behavior was to lose weight or exercise more. Therefore it becomes imperative for us to find successful reinforcers that can be administered after the target behavior has been emitted. As human beings, we have the advantage of using delayed reinforcement. Delayed reinforcement can occur hours or even days after emitting the target behavior. When viewing weight loss as a target behavior, delayed reinforcement can be used in this context. Let’s say I eat healthy for 6 days of the week, but on the 7th day I allow myself to eat at a restaurant with some friends. If I had established prior to the 6 days of healthy eating that I would allow myself one cheat day, I have successfully reinforced my healthy eating by eating at the restaurant which typically isn’t healthy.. Self-will and some restraint will need to be used to make sure that the cheat days do not occur in succession or become a new habit.
In addition to delayed reinforcement, we can effectively choose reinforcers by finding incompatible behaviors that differ from our target behavior. If eating junk food is the main reason why we want to lose weight than we can find alternate behaviors that are not topographically the same as eating junk food. If binge eating is our specialty, then we could use healthier foods to binge eat. You don’t hear a person gaining weight by eating too much celery. We have successfully found an incompatible behavior from eating junk food.
In order to understand what reinforcers may work for an individual, if becomes important to keep a diary of what we do on a daily basis. Behavioral hierarchies occur as a result of a person keeping track of what behaviors they engage in every day and ranking them in order of most enjoyable. T.V. is usually high on the list of enjoyable behaviors while doing some sort of housework or exercising could be low on that same list. I could effectively use the Premack Principle by rewarding myself with a high frequency behavior after emitting a low frequency behavior. For instance, after running or exercising (low frequency behavior) I could reward myself by watching television (high frequency behavior). It is important to distinguish between the association of running and then watching television to simply watching television without having actually emitted the target behavior. This occurs in people who may watch T.V. directly upon waking up in the morning or to unwind from a stressful day.
The Premack Principle in particular has shed some light on what sorts of reinforcers I can use to increase my target behavior. All people can benefit from keeping a daily log of antecedents, behaviors and consequences to help figure out which behaviors they engage without much thought and which behaviors require more self-directed behavioral measures.
http://www.iloveaba.com/2012/02/how-to-select-reinforcers.html
http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/specedu/behaviour/key_element6.pdf
http://www.intropsych.com/ch05_conditioning/premack_principle.html
Terms: elicit, emit, reinforcer, secondary reinforcer, primary reinforcer, delayed reinforcement, differential reinforcement, Premack Principle, behavioral hierarchies, topographical behaviors

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

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

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

I chose to do my synthesis on changing antecedents. It relates to the class because it comes from section 5.4, and we have discussed antecedents multiple times throughout the semester. The examples of "Toy time outs" and removing "No's" are the ones that stick out the most from the section in 'ABC's'. I firmly believe There is nothing wrong with saying no to a child. The child cannot be put in a bubble its entire life to protect it from learning no. Because once it gets out of the house, its going to hear no and not understand how serious that word can be. If you cover all of the outlets and put EVERYTHING up out of reach, the child will never learn a total sense of discipline.
Toy time outs, however, I see as a great way to change an antecedent in behavior modification. Every now and then, punishment is necessary and unavoidable. This proves that sometimes it can be for the better and teach a lesson. If your child is emitting an undesirable behavior, you can choose to either punish that behavior, or, reinforce the opposite. But, sometimes, the child doesn't always connect the two. The child may simply enjoy the rewards it receives after emitting a certain behavior, that's obvious. But, the child might also continue to emit the other behavior and just simply not care that it isn't going to receive an award this time. But if the child never receives a negative consequence for its undesirable behavior, it might never understand the purpose of the reward they get for the desirable behavior. Rewards may be the best reinforcers, but sometimes a punishment is just unavoidable as far as clarity. Changing the antecedent by giving the toy a time out rather than the child, is seen as negative by the child at the time, but then he will understand the reward aspect once he gets the toy back after playing nicely with it. A few times after it being taken away for the undesirable behavior, and the child will better grasp the concept, and no longer emit the negative, undesired behavior because he knows he will lose his toy. He will then only emit the target behavior.

Sources:
http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/outreach/occyshn/training-education/upload/ADHD-Behavior-Management-PowerPoint.pdf
http://www.pcma.com/PDF/Antecedent%20copy%20with%20copyright.pdf
http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/?q=behavior_plans/positive_behavior_support_interventions/teacher_tools/antecedent_interventions

Terms: Emit, Undesirable behavior, Negative consequence, Target Behavior, reinforcer, antecedent, punishment, reinforcement, behavior modification, behavior, desired/desirable behavior.

The topic I chose to research further was the power of antecedents and the power they hold over which behaviors are elicited or emitted. More specifically, I research antecedent interventions and the benefits they have over children who deal with autism. This subject fits into our previous section very well because it was an overview on who environment and the presence of antecedents effected the target behavior in behavior modification. I am very interested in this topic, especially when dealing with children with autism because there is a common misconception that they are unruly and difficult to deal with. I am curious to learn that if controlling the antecedents more specifically could greatly benefit children who suffer from Autism and their behavioral problems.
I found quite a bit of information over the topic of antecedents and children with autism. A larger majority of the information stressed that all information needs to be given to the children in a very clear and mater-of-fact manner. Most antecedes for aversive behaviors with children with autism comes from the children becoming overwhelmed and flustered when they cannot understand something. The research also talked about the fact that learning what antecedents to avoid with children with autism relies greatly on trial and error. Children with autism sometimes have trouble when needing to communicate effectively and will not be able to convey what was the antecedent that caused their outburst. Extinction burst are also more common and more regular in children with autism, according to my research.
Another reoccurring theme throughout my research is the use of punishment and rewards. When faced with punishments, children with autism shut down and become very frustrated. My research talked about how reward is the most beneficial tool in helping modify behaviors of children with autism. If a punishment is administered, it is very important that it is immediately after the negative behavior and the reason for the punishment is communicated very clearly and you ask the child if they are able to understand the reason for the punishment. If they are unable to do so, they punishment with have an aversive effect and not change the target behavior at all.
Terminology Used: antecedents, behaviors, elicited, emitted, target behavior, aversive, punishment, rewards, extinction burst
URLs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXh-dmY8lqY
http://theautismhelper.com/take-great-abc-data/
http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/?pageId=444

I choose to do more research on the topic of goal setting; this was discussed in section 4.3. This topic is important and relevant to what we are talking about in class because we are currently trying to change a current behavior that we have and if I am able to change this behavior then I will be reaching a goal that I have set for myself. I am interested in this topic because I know there are other areas in my life that I want to establish a goal for and be able to accurately follow through with it.
I like that there are clear cut steps to be able to complete a goal. One source that I read said that goals should be written down because once you write something down it is now not a dream but a commitment. Also when you have a written goal you are more motivated toward what you want to accomplish so you are more willing to work harder to complete your goal. Specifically referencing goals and exercising a study I read about said that when setting a goal for weight lose it is better to set behavioral goals instead of outcome goals, for example to tell yourself that you want to run on the treadmill for 30 minutes every day is more realistic and how has better outcomes then saying you want to lose 25 pounds in 3 months. But it is a good idea to set a specific date because then there is a commitment to the date and hopefully will reduce the possibility of procrastination and slacking. Certain goals that you set may involve the support and motivation from others. Exercising could be improved if you had a trainer or coach because most likely they have specific goals for you as well being their participant. I really liked the quote I saw while researching it said “people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.” This shows the emphasis on how goal setting takes time and a thorough thought process in order to complete a goal. In the work environment goal setting is beneficial in getting your employee’s to work harder and follow the rules because they will be motivated by the rewards of money, because most likely the reward in the workplace would be a bonus or a promotion also it could be an advance in the number of days you have off. A productive goal setting process evaluates the goal first by making sure it is achievable, realistic, manageable, and will not take over your life. Then from there it will be helpful to make a behavior diary and also to incorporate reinforcers or punishers in order to help achieve your goal. As in my experiment I am reinforcing myself with music I do my desired behavior. I choose to do a reinforcer instead of a punisher because I feel a negative intrinsic reward when I do not follow through with my specified behavior. So in order to accomplish a goal follow the appropriate steps and also have a realistic goal that is healthy and not unattainable that could have aversive outcomes.

Terms: behavior, reinforcer, punisher, experiement, rewards, intrinsic, goal, goal setting, aversive, desirable.

http://www.bluinc.com/news/theimportance.html

http://www.exrx.net/Psychology/Goals.html

http://www.brighthub.com/office/human-resources/articles/107630.aspx

I chose to research more this week about self-directed behavior modification. This topic was discussed in more detail in sections 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3 of our text, and it really interested me because it is very important. There are four reasons stated in our text for why we change behaviors. One is that the behaviors bother us. Another reason is that the behaviors bother other people. Two other reasons are that the behavior may be illegal and the behavior might lead to trouble later on. Most of the time, the reason people decide to change one of their behaviors is because of reason number one- they bother themselves. The steps involved in self-directed behavior are: 1) set a goal, 2) define the goal as a set of specific target behaviors, 3) keep a record of your behaviors, 4) graph a baseline, 5) determine the contingencies, 6) determine the antecedents, and 7) implement and adjust the contingencies to fit your needs.
In other words, you pick a behavior you want to change and then pick specific target behaviors to focus on. You then start keeping records of your behavior that you want to change, so you can graph a baseline. This is the first week without any reinforcers. You then determine what you will use to reinforce yourself, determine the antecedents to happen before your desired behavior, and then start using your reinforcers and adjusting them as need be until you find something that works. It is important to make sure your goals are attainable and realistic. For example, I am trying to get enough sleep. My goal is to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night. My target behaviors that make up my goal is to go to bed before 1:00 AM every night, finish my homework before 9:00 PM every night so I am not up late doing it, and stop using my phone at 12:30 AM every night because it just distracts me and keeps me up. I will record when I go to bed each night and when I wake up, so I know for sure how many hours of sleep I get. I will then graph my first week (baseline). The contingencies (reinforcers) will be watching Netflix for a couple extra hours at the end of the week. The antecedents will be having my phone out of my reach by 12:30, being in bed at 1:00 AM or earlier, and doing all of my schoolwork during the day. I will then evaluate how my reinforcers are working and change them if I need to.
It is extremely important to have effective reinforcers and powerful antecedents to ensure that it is possible to change behaviors. It is also important to make sure it is easy to record your behaviors right away, because relying on memory often causes false and inaccurate data. Using reinforcement is always more effective than using punishment.

Resources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL1ZGAQo6J4

http://www.mhhe.com/cls/psy/ch14/behmod.mhtml

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAcCbPSe-Dw

Terms:

Self-directed behavior, behaviors, target behavior, baseline, contingencies, antecedents, reinforcers, reinforcement, punishment

I chose to do more research on superstitious behaviors from section 2.4 because growing up around sports, my team has always had some sort of superstitious behavior but we never really understood why. Superstitious behaviors are also all around society including black cats and walking under a ladder. Learning about where it originated from and why humans believe it to be something so important that life changing decisions can be made from it was very intriguing to me. Superstition is a type of behavior and fits into the reinforcement sections we have covered because it all stems from being reinforced because of a certain behavior that was emitted.
Superstitious behavior goes back to 1947, when B.F. Skinner found that even pigeons are susceptible to superstition. Skinner did an experiment on a group of pigeons whose body weights had been reduced to 75% of their normal weight. For a few minutes each day a mechanism fed the birds at regular intervals and the pigeons developed superstitious behaviors believing that by acting a particular way, food would arrive. By the end of the study, three quarters of the birds became superstitious. One bird believed if it turned counterclockwise two or three times between being fed, the food would come. Other behaviors included moving their head back and forth and up and down. Skinners experiment proved that pigeons can be conditioned to be superstitious, but this behavior is a lot more common among humans.
Superstition is all around us and more than half of Americans admitted to being at least a little superstitious. One question that arises with this behavior is whether people can suffer from it like those with OCD. It’s been found though, that although some symptoms of OCD can mimic superstitious behavior, there is no connection between the two. Once a person starts to experience any symptoms of anxiety including tension, trouble sleeping, and excessive worrying, etc. whether it is superstitious or not, it’s important to get help. Superstition gives a sense of security and confidence, can give you a boost and promotes positive thoughts. Along with these positive aspects, there are also negative ones. If a person loses an object that they believe brings luck it can hinder their performance. No matter what the superstition, this behavior has been around for many years and will continue to stay. With more research we may even be able to discover superstitious behavior in a wide variety of other animals.
http://www.psychologistworld.com/superstition.php
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/psychology-of-superstition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm5FGrQEyBY
Terms: behavior, emit, superstitious behavior, reinforcement, intervals, conditioned

The topic I chose to explore further is the terrible twos, as far as what they entail, how they come about what to do to alleviate or stop them in behavioral terms. This topic fits into what we are talking about in class because section 5.4 briefly mentioned how a constant environment of no’s because two-year-olds are moving around more causes them to repeat back what they have observed. I am interested in this topic because I know I will have kids and friends will at some point and no parent wants to deal with punishing their child at such a young age so often. If I have the knowledge for myself and to help others prevent this terrible behavior at this age rather than prepare for it, which would be to everyone’s benefit.
Many parents feel the age when their child suddenly becomes difficult, moody and bossy. Many of these same parents learn that reactionary techniques are the best they can do, often opting to ignore a temper tantrum or put the child in time out then they emit an undesirable behavior. The age of around 18 months to three years is when to ‘expect’ this behavior, but these changes in development can happen anywhere between one and five years of age.
Children around this time want to prove they can make in on their own, in a sense. They want to be more independent and risky despite a lack of communication and full body coordination. These children are also not entirely detached from a consistent contact and reassurance from their parents or caregivers, constantly being held and talked to. When they start to explore they don’t realize that they are prompting a cut off of the continuous reinforcement their parent had been previously providing. This is why they start to throw fits to maintain a balance between independence and dependence and when parents react the first few times, they know it works. Many online resources for parents promote time outs for problem behavior explaining the parent should reduce the amount of words used to explain why the child is there, make it a separate location, keep time based on one minute per the child’s age, etc. They are promoted to physically place/force the child in time out if they resist or refuse to go.
Some information I found incredibly interesting is how a few choices of words can really impact a child’s perception. Their behavior is motivated on emotion and not logic so it doesn’t make sense to punish or reinforce the child but to punish and reinforce their behavior. This way a child understands that hitting is bad rather than they are bad. Additionally, many parents over use the word no. So not only does the child coopt it for their own purposes but also learned to ignore it when a parent uses it. An easy way to remove the no’s from the terrible twos is to not say them as a parent. One way to do this is to remove things in the environment that would require one, such as a flimsy shelf that if a child wiggles would cause sometime to drop on them. It is better to alter the environment and control the antecedent rather than be reactionary and remove things that could cause harm after a child is having a temper tantrum because then you are creating an environment for them to have one.
Preventing the terrible twos starts by reinforcing good behavior rather than setting up an environment that requires punishment. Reinforcement is time consuming but by anticipating that a child will go through a lot of developmental stages at once at this age allows you to reinforce early instead of responding after it starts. One way is to use positive phrases for reinforcement instead of confusing positives and negatives. Say I like when you talk quiet rather than I like it when you don’t talk loud. Make time outs able to be anywhere. A time out could simply be you and your child holding hands and you not paying attention until your feel like it has been enough time, you don’t necessarily need a time range. To an extent a child is a lot like a pet when it comes to modifying behavior at this age. This requires a parent to act immediately after a behavior, because it will likely confuse the child if you wait too long because they will not remember what you are punishing or reinforcing them for. You also have to be consistent across all individuals and the specific target behavior you are trying to change. This means one parent can’t ignore a behavior and the other encourages it, this will confuse the child. The last few take aways that I thought were really important were model good behavior for the child, they learn a lot through observation and give your child a break, if a behavior isn’t worth a time out, don’t punish it at all just let it go. Knowing boundaries and setting consistent rules can potentially reduce if not prevent the ‘inevitable’ terrible twos.

http://www.baby-medical-questions-and-answers.com/toddler-behavior.html
http://jane.tv/terrible-twos-a-sign-your-toddler-is-growing-up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDYVvNlWPes

Terms and Terminology: punishing, emit, continuous reinforcement, antecedent, punish, reinforce, target behavior.

For this blog I decided to research how to potty train dogs using bells. I first encountered this method of dog training when I visited a friend and her dog began nudging the bells that were hanging on the doorknob. I wasn’t sure what the purpose of the bells was until she said that the dog had to go to the bathroom, hence the bell-ringing behavior. This topic is interesting to me because I think it uses a lot of the behavior modification strategies that we have talked about over the course of the semester, and this is something that I plan to implement when I begin training my future dog and I found a lot of the information that I read very insightful into how precise you have to be when pairing an unconditioned stimulus with a conditioned one.

This is a form of behavior modification for the puppy and the owner. The dog is being trained to ring the bells when it has to go to the bathroom and the human is being trained to take the dog outside when they hear the bells and both of these are instances of classical conditioning.

First I will look at this behavior modification from the aspect of the dog. This type of training is an example of classical conditioning because you are pairing an unconditioned stimulus with a conditioned stimulus. The unconditioned stimulus is having a full bladder and needing to go to the bathroom while the conditioned stimulus is the ringing of the bells. The unconditioned and conditioned response is going outside to use the bathroom, thus feeling relieved afterwards. The different websites had different examples of how to pair the bells with excretion, but I will discuss the one that seems more logical/effective in my opinion. This article said that you must first choose a bathroom command, such as “let’s go potty” and then as you are saying that command, swat the bells with your dog’s paw. Then take the dog immediately outside. The most important factor that this article highlights is consistency because the more consistent you are, the stronger association that the dog will make between ringing the bell and urinating outside.

This article also emphasized that you should not reward your dog after using the bell, only reward your dog for relieving himself once it has actually done so. The reason that you do not want to reward the dog for using the bells is so that way the dog doesn’t begin associating the bells with a reward, if this happens then you will have the dog continually ringing the bells and you will have to extinguish the behavior later on. Other articles that I read did encourage putting a treat on the bells so that way the dog was rewarded for ringing the bell, but like I just said, this can create some confusion for the dog as it is creating associations between treats, bells, and going to the bathroom. The author said that using this method, your dog should begin using the bells in as little as one day, or else it can end up taking 4 weeks to fully train your dog. I believe that this range of time is due to the effectiveness of the dog trainers and whether they create a strong pairing between the bells and going outside.

From the perspective of the owner, this is an example of operant conditioning. Here are the ABC’s:

A: bells ringing
B: let dog outside
C: pleased that the dog went to the bathroom outside and not in the house

The antecedent of the bell ringing elicits a behavior from the owner to let the dog outside because the owner knows that it is a signal that the dog as to relieve itself. And the consequence of this behavior is a feeling of happiness that the dog is properly trained and not using the carpet as it’s personal bathroom.

URL’s:
http://www.dogtrainingbells.com/training.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Potty-Train-Your-Puppy-Using-a-Bell
http://www.howtodothings.com/pets-and-animals/a4691-how-to-potty-bell-train-your-puppy.html

Terms: behavior modification, classical conditioning, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus, reward, extinguish, elicit, antecedent, consequence

For this blog I choose the topic on observational learning. I chose this topic because I read in one of the assigned readings that usually children learn by experience at a young age. My major involves a lot working little kids therefore I was very interested on it. Learning by example is called observational learning. As I did a further research on the topic I found some really interesting information. Observational learning can be known as social learning and it was discovered by albert bandura in 1977. He had four steps that are the keys for this type of learning. 1) Attention, when the individual notices something on the environment. 2) Retention when the individual remembers what was noticed. 3) Reproduction, when the individual produces an action that is a copy of what was noticed. Last one, number 4, is motivation, when the environment plays an important role if the behavior may or may not be emitted again. These four concepts used in sequence allow organisms to acquire the ability to engage in new, at times complex, behaviors simply through observation.

There was a famous experiment known as the Bobo doll, where children from the age of 3 to 6 maybe perform different behaviors changing their original once just by watching other kids doing something else. This type of learning tends to be the most common during childhood as children learn from the authority figures and peers in their lives. It also plays an important role in the socialization process, as children learn how to behave and respond to others by observing how their parents and other caregivers interact with each other and with other people. This reminded me of school usually when someone got a new pairs of shoes, games, or even a new backpack and just watching it and liking it the other kids will tell their parents to buy it for them. Also this theory plays an important role in family. Usually older brothers and sister are the Role models. Therefore, anything they may do, the little siblings will watch it and may perform it as well. Sometimes it may bring problems because some aversive actions may be perform and parents do not want this actions to be elicited but the little kids. However, actions like helping an elderly, studying to get new grades and see rewards, are actions that they should definitely follow and parents usually will encourage this actions for their siblings to follow them

Since I started going further into my major and we are now focusing on little kids there different things that little kids learn from observational learning. Some of them are how to walk, how to play certain games by watching others, and this also happens with sports. Also for example a girl may fall in the snow, and the girl coming behind will avoid that spot because she learn, noticed that is a dangerous spot and she may get hurt. We learn a lot in our everyday life and mostly by observing them. It is up to us if we want to perform the same positive behaviors or to avoid the negative behaviors. We learn usually the lessons even though some of them may be for bad and others for good.

If we choose to perform this behaviors that we learnt from others this behavior may be also influenced. For example, following the example of studying like you older brother did, may bring you a reward from you parents to you and also to you as a person since you will bring success to yourself and to them because they want to see you to success in life. Television and social media may also have a big impact on this topic. Certain programs are not the best programs to follow certain behaviors. However, some programs promote the decrease of underage drinking, stop smoking which will bring a benefit for the ones being affected but also to the world and this type of programs or ads should be followed. On the other hand, there may be certain programs where there is involved a lot of shooting, deaths, that may give ideas to people to follow this type of events. Not all the time because I bet the program is not trying to promote violence, but in a way it has an impact on ourselves.

So observational learning, it a great way to learn things but it may be dangerous when aversive actions are performed. If you have little children, parent should always keep track of what their child is watching, who he is hanging out with and different everyday situations the child might be involved in. Also if there are positive learning examples encourage them to take advantage of them and get the most of it, for example when drawing, painting, playing sports.

URLS:
http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/cognitive-approaches-to-learning-48/observational-learning-203-12738/
http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/social/bandura.html

Terms:
Elicit, Emit, observational learning, social learning, behavior, consequence, antecedent, reinforcement, reward, punishment, target behavior, aversive.

For this assignment, I chose to do a little bit more research on scheduled reinforcement and “leaning out” scheduled reinforcement and the implementation of a random schedule of reinforcement. This fits into the current chapter in regards to the ‘tweaking’ and redefining the contingencies in behavior modification.
Reinforcement works best when we are trying to change a target behavior in both ourselves and other people. Scheduled reinforcements are strict sets of rules that are used to reward, or sometimes punish a specific behavior, usually one in which we are trying to change. When looking at research in regards to scheduled reinforcement, there are multiple different ways in which someone can administer reinforcements to change a behavior including fixed and variable ratio schedules, continuous schedules, or random schedules of reinforcement. Fixed ratio schedules of reinforcement is when someone is reinforced after emitting a certain number of responses in a given time frame. Without the proper responses, no reinforcement will be administered. Variable schedules of reinforcement is when someone is reinforced based on an average amount of correct responses that have been emitted. Once again, if the correct response is not produces, no reinforcement will be distributed. Both of these forms of scheduled reinforcement are also referred to as partial reinforcement. Continuous reinforcement is when reinforcements are administered every time the desired behavior occurs. This type of reinforcement is most effective in the early stages of modifying a behavior and is usually transitioned into a different form of reinforcement once it has set a strong association between the behavior and the reinforcement.
In section 5.3, the reading talks about how changing and making adjustments to your scheduled reinforcement can be highly beneficial to changing your behavior. Looking at research online, I found more information on how scheduled reinforcement can be very situational. Take continuous scheduled reinforcement for example. This form or reinforcement works best when you are trying to teach a new behavior. Once the behavior is established, a change in the reinforcement is needed in order to still be beneficial to modifying the behavior. At this point it is best to switch to a form of partial scheduled reinforcement. Using partial reinforcement also serves the purpose of being easier to monitor for the fact you are not having to reinforce each time a behavior takes place.
Looking a bit more in depth on ways to change scheduled reinforcement has really helped me think about my behavior modification plan and how I will be able to ‘tweak’ different aspects of my plan to be successful at changing my desired behavior.
Terms: scheduled reinforcement, contingencies, behavior modification, reinforcement, target behavior, fixed ratio reinforcement, variable reinforcement, continuous reinforcement, emitting.
http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/schedules.htm
http://www.psychology.uiowa.edu/faculty/wasserman/glossary/schedules.html
http://www3.uca.edu/iqzoo/Learning%20Principles/lammers/schedules.htm

Cassidy Monaco
Topical Blog #13

I chose to do more research on observational learning. This is a topic that we read about in the text. I think it is really interesting because this is such a frequent way that we learn. Children observe their parents and other adults to learn so much of what they know as adults. Even as adults, we observe others to learn a new skill or to learn what is expected of us in a particular setting. Albert Bandura developed the observational learning theory. It is also sometimes called modeling or social learning theory, which makes a lot of sense since it is all about how we watch and copy others to learn new behaviors. The basic idea of this theory is that people can learn by observing. Bandura came up with four conditions in order for observational learning to take place- attention to the model, retention of details, motor reproduction and motivation and opportunity. Attention to the model means that in order for learning to take place one must be paying attention. Retention is important because if you can’t store what you learned, then you won’t be able to use it when it’s needed. Motor reproduction means that you are physically capable of doing the behavior that you are observing. It is also in this stage that you emit or don’t emit the behavior that you were observing. Motivation is important for observational learning to be successful. In order for modeling to take place one must want or choose to learn.
Behaviors do not have to be repeated in order for them to be learned. An example of this would be watching someone emit an unwanted behavior and seeing them be punished. Just by observing another person emit the behavior and receive a punishment, the learner learns not to do that behavior. This is so interesting to me. Mental state is another important aspect of observational learning that Bandura talked about. Albert Bandura thought that not all behavior was due to external reinforcement. He came up with the idea of intrinsic reinforcement. Intrinsic reinforcement is like an internal reward, or something that does not need to be reinforced by someone giving you something. Some examples would be pride in oneself, satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.
Albert Bandura came up with his social learning theory after doing an experiment. His experiment has become known as the “bobo doll experiment”. In this experiment Bandura wanted to see if a social behavior like aggression can be learned through observation. What Bandura did was take 3-6 year olds and place them into either the control group or the experimental group. The control group watched a video of an adult playing in a nice non-aggressive way while the experimental group watch a video of an adult being aggressive with the bobo doll. He was shown punching, hitting, and kicking the bobo doll. What Bandura found was that the kids in the experimental group emitted many more aggressive or violent acts towards the bobo doll than those in the control group. This study was the first to show that learning can happen just by observing. This study also showed great support for Bandura’s social learning theory. Aside from these two things it proved, it also showed that aggression in some way is a learned behavior. This is also very interesting to me, because our society and media (movies, tv shows, songs, etc.) are very violent and aggressive. If aggression is a learned behavior, this is a very serious problem that we are teaching our children to emit violent behaviors, and I think we will see a negative reflection of this in the future, especially as these children grow up.

TERMS: observational learning, modeling, social learning, attention to model, retention, motor reproduction, motivation, emit, punished, reinforcement, intrinsic reinforcement.

URLS
http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htm
https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Observational_learning.html
http://www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html

This assignment elicited me to emit the behavior of looking a little more at positive reinforcement and its importance compared to negative reinforcement or even punishment. For the most part we want to use positive reinforcement, because when the consequence is the addition of something desirable than we are more likely to emit that behavior in the future compared to just punishing if we do a wrong behavior or do not emit the target behavior. The third article gives a more detailed look at this, but basically they took a group of kids and they measured what was more effective in learning and reinforcement kids were far better then punishment kids.
In our behavioral intervention project we are working at increasing certain behaviors. Almost all of the behavioral interventions that I have heard of so far in class are trying to increase behaviors and not decrease them. In fact, I do not think I have heard anyone who is not using positive reinforcement to try and increase behavior for this class. I have heard a couple of people who are trying to stop certain behaviors (cheek biting, nail biting, etc.) and I do not know for sure what they are doing for reinforcement and maybe they are punishing for doing there unwanted behaviors, but they could be reinforcing for not emitting the behaviors as well.
Positive reinforcement can be especially important for children. We know that children need approval and when they do something that they see as good they will come to mom, babysitter, teacher, etc. looking for a pat on the back and some type of reward. Maybe a pat on the back or an ‘atta boy’ is enough to elicit kids to emit more of those desirable target behaviors. The first two articles both state that some sort of verbal affirmation is important to children because it helps them recognize that they have done right, so if you do not give an actual physical reward it is important to acknowledge verbally of a child’s good behavior. And of course, especially with children, some time of physical reward is good too the articles say.
Stopping and thinking about it, a handshake and a congratulations from my boss is nice but a bonus is even better and would probably increase the likelihood that I do whatever target behavior my boss wanted me to do more then that handshake. And going back to the third article and the first part of this post, (while unrealistic) my boss withholding money or some kind of benefit is less likely to decrease a behavior of mine compared to adding something desirable.

Emit, elicit, behavior, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, consequence, target behavior, reinforcement

http://kidsmakingchange.com/positive-reinforcement/
http://www.newkidscenter.com/Positive-Reinforcement-for-Children.html
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/family-affair/200809/rewards-are-better-punishment-here-s-why

I am going to cover the importance of goal setting. Goal setting can help a person in multiple ways. One aspect that setting a goal can help with is defining exactly what you want. This can help you understand what it will take in order to achieve your goal, what factors may stop you from achieving your goals, and it will help you visualize your goal. Being able to visualize your goal can help motivate you to work your hardest at achieving those goals.
There are certain things to keep in mind that were discussed both in the book and the websites that help you set yourself up for success. It is very discouraging if you are not able to reach your goal successfully and may stop you from working towards goals in your future. One guideline for creating a good goal for yourself is that the goal should be measurable. If you say that your goal is to be more happy, it can be hard to define what that looks like and reach a successful place where you are happy without quantifying happiness. This would be an example of not a good goal to form because it can not be measured. Another aspect to keep in mind is to be realistic and to not go overboard when creating a goal. Progress is best taken in small steps and it is a lot easier to build your way up, then aim too high and miss the target. There is a quote that says, “dream small dreams. If you make them too big, you get overwhelmed and you don't do anything. If you make small goals and accomplish them, it gives you the confidence to go on to higher goals. This might mean that you make several short term goals in order to build up to the possibility of a long term goal. Along with being realistic is that your goal should be something that you have control over. Do not base your goals off of something or someone because that can introduce factors on which your success lies. If my goal depends on outside factors, I could be disappointed with failure only because of the outside factor and not because I, myself failed.
Another aspect that will contribute to a successful goal is writing the goal down. This will first help you define the goal and all of the parts to achieving the goal. If you keep a copy of your goal in a place where you will see it often, it will help with motivation and keeping the goal in your head. I want to start adding this element to the self-behavior modification project that we are working on. I think that putting a reminder where I will see it will help me remember to wear my retainers every night. Writing down your goals and tracking your progress has been shown to help achieve your goals. There was a study done where they found that people who wrote down their goals had a better chance of achieving those goals than people who didn’t write them down.
There is no time like the present, so if there is something that you want to change about your life or something that you complain about and realize you are unhappy with you can change. It is never too late to accomplish and do what you want to do because ultimately you make your own decisions. I think that sometimes we let social norms get in the way of us going after what we want in life, but I firmly believe that no one should ever settle with something that they are not happy with in their lives.

http://getlevelten.com/blog/sumeeta-kumar/importance-goals http://generationiron.com/importance-goal-setting/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/85broads/2014/04/08/why-you-should-be-writing-down-your-goals/

Terms: behavior modification, self-directed behavior, goal setting, measurable,

Extinction is observed in both operantly conditioned and classically conditioned behavior. When operant behavior that has been previously reinforced no longer produces reinforcing consequences the behavior gradually stops occurring. In classical conditioning, when a conditioned stimulus is presented alone, so that it no longer predicts the coming of the unconditioned stimulus, conditioned responding gradually stops. For example, after Pavlov's dog was conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell, it eventually stopped salivating to the bell after the bell had been sounded repeatedly but no food came. Many anxiety disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder are believed to reflect, at least in part, a failure to extinguish conditioned fear.
In behavior modification, extinction eliminates the incentive for unwanted behavior by withholding the expected response. A widespread parenting technique based on extinction is the time-out, in which a child is separated from the group when he or she misbehaves. This technique removes the expected reward of parental attention.
Extinction is the most effective way to eliminate undesirable behavior, although it is not the easiest way to deal with problem behaviors. Punishment is the old fall back position, but rather than eliminating the behavior, it drives it underground, to pop up whenever the punisher is gone or removed. Extinction requires ignoring or redirecting the target behavior. Research has shown it to be the most effective and permanent way to change problem behavior. Because the target behavior may be dangerous, it is sometimes necessary to physically make the behavior difficult if not impossible. Ignoring the behavior is not an option. That means the focus needs to be on replacement behavior, and redirection as a way to avoid the problem behavior.

Terms: extinction, operantly conditioned, classically conditioned behavior, reinforced, consequences, conditioned stimulus, response, reward, punishment, target behavior,

http://www.minddisorders.com/A-Br/Behavior-modification.html#ixzz3XKjtZAp1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction_(psychology)

http://specialed.about.com/od/glossary/g/Extinction-Eliminating-Problem-Behaviors.htm

I mentor a little girl, and something she brought to my attention recently was bullying. She was talking to me about how she was being called mean names and not being included by some of her classmates. For this reason, I have decided to look more into how bullying affects a child's behavior. This fits into class discussion because there are many ways behavior can be affected by this. For the consequence for the kids bullying her, I told her that if the behavior they emit is name calling or anything that hurts her feelings, that she needs to react and have the consequence of going to talk to a teacher and tell her mom about it as well. Hopefully, someone at the school will take control of the situation and the bullies will receive a form of punishment that is aversive to them. Another way that may help the bullying cease is with the use of extinction. She said that sometimes when they call her names, she yells back at them and tells them to stop. I told her to completely stop acknowledging that they are even talking to her when they are being mean. Maybe they like to get a rise out of her and see her react. Extinction could be a helpful way to stop some of the bullying, but the teachers need to step in and help.

Students that are bullied have many aversive behaviors happen, such as they can become depressed, feel alone, and it can affect their grades. Students who emit the behavior of bullying tend to get into fights, have poor grades, and eventually get into bad things like vandalizing. Bystanders of bullying majority of the time live in fear and are too scared to help or say anything because they have a fear that they will be the next victim of it. The school, overall becomes an aversive place for everyone to be if there is a history of bullying there. Bullying is just bad for everyone involved. Students need to be reinforced for good behavior rather than letting them get away with them doing awful things.

URLs: http://www.violencepreventionworks.org/public/bullying_effects.page
http://www.gomasa.org/news/what-effect-does-bullying-have-students-and-schools
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/bullystoppers/Pages/impact.aspx

Terms: behavior, consequence, emit, punishment, aversive, extinction, reinforced

Scuba diving is a fun and exciting hobby enjoyed by many people around the world. It requires a specific set of skills and behaviors. Very cautious and safety minded divers will likely have the least amount of problems during their dive, and are unlikely to have a detrimental effect on the marine life. In this essay I’ll examine some of the behaviors that make for safe recreational dives.

First, to go scuba diving it is highly recommended that you have a buddy to dive with. Those with many friends to scuba dive with often have a high level of a certain characteristic: agreeableness. Although we think of agreeableness as a personality trait, that trait is manifested in certain behaviors such as friendliness, being polite, being cooperative, and considerate.
Once you and your buddy are geared up and ready to scuba dive new target behaviors become imperative to staying alive underwater. Staying calm and relaxed, even when you encounter a problem, is vital. When an issue arises, let’s say you got tangled in some fishing line (an antecedent), your initial reaction is to panic. The consequence of this though, is that you may become more entangled in the line. Panicking is a natural reaction to a high stress antecedent (or antecedents). To break your own operant behavior take deep breaths and remember to STA (pronounced ‘stay’) which stands for Stop Think Act. Make a functional assessment of the behavior you need to emit to eliminate the stressor.

Unfortunately, nitrogen build up in tissue is an unavoidable aspect of diving for extended periods of time. Nitrogen build up also can change a person’s behavior and has the effect of making a person feel ‘drunk’. This is dangerous because it can elicit carelessness – a potentially deadly behavior deep underwater. To disrupt the operant behavior here we would want to get the person with nitrogen neurosis to a shallower depth where their body can dissolve the nitrogen more quickly. When ascending be mindful to not ascend faster than 60 feet per minute to avoid decompression sickness (a buildup of nitrogen in the bloodstream), and stop 15 feet below the surface for ten minutes to allow your body to dissolve the nitrogen and avoid getting the Benz.

Terms: antecedent, behavior, consequence, operant behavior, emit, elicit, functional assessment, target behavior

http://www.padi.com/scuba-diving/padi-courses/course-catalog/padi-skin-diver-course/
http://www.aquastrophics.com/articles/articl32.htm
file:///C:/Users/Chris/Documents/5482cdb10cf25dbd59eab42c.pdf

I was interested in learning a bit more about Edward Thorndike as he seemed to be one of the few psychologist I felt I did not know much about prior to behavior modification class. His work on comparative psychology and the learning process led to the theory of connectionism and helped lay the scientific foundation for modern educational psychology.
Thorndike was born in Williamsburg Massachusetts. He graduated from Wesleyan University before continuing his education at Harvard University where he would earn his Master’s degree in 1897. After a year of unhappy work Thorndike would find a job as an instructor in psychology at Teachers College at Columbia University, where he remained the rest of his career studying learning, education and mental testing. Eventually, Thorndike’s research would lead to the development of operant conditioning within behaviorism.
One of Thorndike’s largest contributions to research in behavior modification as we learned in section 3 was what we now know as Law of Effect. Law of effect states that when the behavior led to a positive consequence the ‘animal’ (in the case of his puzzle box) was most likely to remember the last few behaviors and associate it with in this case, the door opening. Thorndike believed that associations with successful attempts were stamped in, and associations with unsuccessful attempts were forgotten. The Law of Effect can be used when trying to teach a dog a new trick. According to the video “Training #1- Law of Effect” when training a dog a behavior it is most important to give them the consequence immediately following the behavior, especially at first. In this video she encourages using positive reinforment rather than punishment to elicit are particular behavior, but her main point is getting people to emit the consequence as soon as the behavior is emitted because of the law of effect- the animal is most likely to associate the last behavior it emitted with the pleasant consequence (if given a treat) and is therefore more likely to repeat that good behavior again. Punishment does not work as well as reinforcement in behavior change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhEnUuDOxW8
http://www.simplypsychology.org/edward-thorndike.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Thorndike

Terms: Law of Effect, Thorndike, Behavior Modification, operant conditioning, behaviorism, positive reinforcement, punishment, emit, elicit,

The topic I decided to cover this week is observational learning. We actually read about it in section 5.4 (most recent section), and it's very useful in behavior modification because children and others tend to mimic our behaviors. Children mirror these behaviors in order to learn appropriate behaviors in their society as well as learning culturally appropriate languages, gestures, and phrases. Older humans tend to mirror the behaviors of people they spend a lot of time with, especially if they like the person whose behavior they are mirroring. This is done unconsciously and is a form of bonding and further identifying with that person, as well as unconsciously making them like you more. If you watch yourself closely, you will see that you speak, act, and even laugh a certain way around a particular person that is not exactly how you would normally act. Observational learning is very interesting because everything is learned this way, except bodily functions like going to the bathroom; but even then, you learn where to go to the bathroom and how (standing or sitting) by observing what others are doing. If you were trapped in a dark, soundproof room from the moment you were born to when you were ten years old, you wouldn't know how to walk, talk, or function normally in society. That's where observational learning comes in.
"Observational learning (also known as vicarious learning, social learning, or modeling) is a type of learning that occurs as a function of observing, retaining and replicating novel behavior executed by others." It works the best for children, when they need to become familiar with authority, and observational learning is best conducted by those who are only a year or two older than the learner. There are three conditions that must be met in order for observational learning to be effective: Attention (make sure subject is observing the desirable behavior); Retention (show the behavior and consequence so subject will remember); Reproduction (if successful, the subject will be able to copy the behavior); and Motivation (give the subject a good reason to perform it--like reinforcement--and demonstrate what contexts/antecedents it is appropriate).
A great example of observational learning comes from Albert Bandura's Bobo doll experiment. In this experiment, children watched as an adult used violence on a rebounding doll. They were then put in a room with the rebounding doll, and their behavior was recorded. In many instances, the children imitated the adult's behavior by punching, kicking, and using objects to hit the rebounding doll very similarly to how the adult did. I also work as a phone interviewer for the Center for Social and Behavior Research, and we ask about childhood adversive experiences: this is done in order to correlate childhood experiences with similar adult activities. An example would be that we ask a question about how much the respondent has drank in the past month, and one of the corresponding childhood questions is whether or not the person ever lived with a person who was an alcoholic. That way we can see whether the behavior may be a result of observational learning, or imitating their parents behavior.
A very big part of observational learning is the environment in which it occurs, including the people within that environment. If there are other people in the environment that contradict the behavior you are trying to teach, the subject will likely ignore the conflicting behavioral displays. An example would be teenagers smoking cigarettes. The environment, and the people in that environment, will determine whether a teenager begins smoking are does not. If they hang out with a part crowd and observe that many of the "cooler" people are chain-smoking cigarettes, they are more likely to attempt smoking because they see that there is motivation (the "cool" person is being reinforced by receiving more attention than the others). But if that same teenager hung out with a different crowd in which no members smoked (and we assume no one else who is close to that teenager smokes either), then there is no one for that teenager to observe and imitate, meaning there is a very slight chance they will begin smoking.
http://www.ehow.com/way_5426220_observational-learning-psychology.html
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Observational_learning.html
http://www.funderstanding.com/educators/observational-learning/
Terms: observational learning, emit, mirroring, imitate, reinforced, adversive, social learning, modeling, desirable, context, behavior, antecedent, behavior modification

Something that I found particularly interesting that I'd like to know more about would be parenting incorporated with behavior modification. Typically, parenting and behavior modification is characterized into punishing or reinforcing the child themselves, but a new idea is brought up in the reading from Monday (5.4). The idea of a "toy time out" is very interesting to me. According to the reading, this is defined as putting the TOY in a timeout when children are fighting over it, instead of putting the child themselves in the time out and punishing them. Since the toy in inanimate, no one is getting their feelings hurt, and it's still interrupting the negative behavior and giving a consequence. When looking further into parenting and behavior mod, there was a lot that came up on being consistent when reinforcing or punishing the child. In BMod, this is referred to as continuous reinforcement (versus intermittent reinforcement). By remaining consistent, you are reassuring the child about what they can and cannot do. Another point that is brought up is focusing on the problem and not the person; this is a great example of putting the toy in timeout mentioned before. Bribing is also a common form of behavior mod that parents tend to do quite frequently. By saying "if you're good at the store, maybe you will get a lollipop" to a child to make them behave at the store, you are reinforcing them, but also promising them that reward over and over again, every time they behave. The antecedent in this example would be going to the store, and then good behavior would be the target behavior- consequence being the lollipop. The biggest way parenting children and behavior modification are connected would be through reinforcement. There are plenty of children who grow up in houses where if they do something right, they will get a sticker to add to their chart or they'll get an allowance. Both examples of these are good examples up to a certain age, but if the reinforcement goes on for too long (especially with allowances), it will have an adverse effect on the child and the parent. Just as our project for class, when going to use a chart or reward to change the behavior of your child, you need to go through the proper steps to see how often the behavior happens, in other words, establish a baseline. After the baseline, you can find an average and work your way from there.


http://life.familyeducation.com/slideshow/discipline/64782.html?page=3
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/fashion/modifying-a-childs-behavior-without-resorting-to-bribes-this-life.html?_r=0
http://childparenting.about.com/cs/behaviorproblems/a/behaviormod.htm

TERMS: punishment, reinforcement, consequence, continuous reinforcement, intermittent reinforcement, reward, adversive, antecedent, baseline, behavior modification, target behavior


As the weeks go on, I found it harder and harder to pick out a topic. After a while I finally decided to learn more about observational learning. We talked about this is the passed section so i knew it tied in well with what we have been talking about. I understood it pretty well but not exactly so I thought it would be a good one to look more in depth about and also I wanted some examples to help with it.

Observational learning is one of the most influencing theories to answer why behaviors happen. It is when your learn through the process of watching and imitating others. This can also be referred to as shaping, modeling, and vicarious reinforcement. This type of learning is tremendous in the younger ages of life. Children do this a great deal of time as they are watching their parents.

Albert Bandura is the main researcher that came up with this theory. He first started to identify this as young as twenty-one days old. The babies would start to mock their parents or guardians facial expressions and also mouth movements. He is also famous for his Bobo doll experiment. This is a prime example of this theory. An infant would continue to see aggression and violences within a video. The child would then be put in a room with a doll and if they are the adult being rewarded for their actions, the child would do the same. Bandura formulated his findings in four steps:

1. Attention: the individual notices something in the environment

2. Retention: the individual remembers what was noticed

3. Reproduction: the individual produces an action that is a copy of what was noticed

4. Motivation: the environment delivers a consequence that changes the probability the behavior will be emitted again (reinforcement/punishment)

People are most likely to do mock or learn a behavior for several different reasons. People who are more perceived as warm and nurturing more will be copied more. People who receive rewards, who lack confidence, and who have authority over someones lives tend to have the influence on someone.

I do think that this theory can be a good thing for some people. If they are continuously being reinforce or around good things that can be mocked, it should be fine. But there are a lot of negative outcomes from this behavioral learning. Children are being taught things, unknowingly, that shouldn’t be in a child’s life. I do also think that this is one of the things that we can’t entirely control though.

https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/cognitive-approaches-to-learning-48/observational-learning-203-12738/

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

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

Terminology: observational learning, behavior, shaping, modeling, reinforcement, Albert Bandura, reinforce, punish

Topical Blog Week #13

This week’s readings were about how we can change antecedents to get different behaviors and consequences. This seems like a pretty simple concept, but I don’t feel that many people use it as an option. Basically, what we want to do when changing the antecedent, is prevent the behavior from ever happening (in most cases). For example, when someone is trying to eat healthier, they could just get their junk food out of the house. If they remove the junk food and change the antecedent, then the target behavior of eating junk food will never occur and they will end up getting the consequence they want. There were other examples of this that the text gave that had to do with parenting children.
The material in this week’s section can be easily related to children and different parenting/discipline techniques. One part of the section talked about how time outs for kids are not an effective way to discipline a child. It also talked about the idea of a “toy timeout”. This is when we remove the toy (object of bad behavior) from the situation rather than removing the child. For example, if there are two children fighting over one toy, it will be more effective to just take the toy and give the toy the timeout. This allows the child to change his/her behaviors rather than putting them to a halt altogether. I wanted to look further into this idea and see if there are any other opinions on giving children timeouts or what other disciplinary actions would be better.
Overall, it seems that many people agree – timeouts are bad. Timeouts can be ineffective techniques to discipline children, and I have found that this is mainly because so many people are doing it wrong. Timeouts are one of the most popular discipline tactics, but a lot of parents don’t do it in an effective way. One example is when a parent gives a timeout a specific spot. For example, when I was little and my babysitter gave us timeouts, it was always in the same spot: in the one spot in the kitchen where we could not see into the play room. If we were sent to timeout, we had to sit with our backs against the wall, facing away from all of the other children. I have found that this makes timeout a “spot” and that is bad. Parents should not use timeout as a specific corner or chair because the spot is then used to shame the child.
What timeouts are meant to do is give parents and children both a break. Children get timeouts when they have done something bad, and all the parent should do is remove the problem (maybe remove a toy or even remove the child from the situation) and then not respond to them until it seems that they have understood that they are being punished. This is another thing that parents struggle with. For example, if you put a child in a corner or in a chair and tell them that they are in timeout, they may get up and run off. This is okay, as long as they don’t go back to what was getting them in trouble. And what makes it worse is when the parent gives in to the defiant children and gets angry.
If the parent gets upset with the child that is not cooperating, then it is only giving the child what they want: attention. The parent will need to ignore the child for a little while until they understand and calm down. The parent wants to extinguish the target behavior, so they have to go through the extinction burst. Timeout will make the child unhappy, and they will probably act out even worse than they were before. But what the parent needs to do is ignore the child and not give in to their act. After a while, the child will eventually understand and the extinction burst will occur – resulting in the child being calm and accepting the timeout.
I have found, and I have learned from this class, that punishment is always a less effective option. We must teach children what is appropriate behavior and what is not. It is the teaching process that will help, not the punishment. If we can be teachers and modify behaviors, children will learn better than is we were to use punishment. We need to reinforce them when they are doing well, and we need to stop reinforcing them when they are not doing well. When children are being naughty and misbehaving, the parents need to simply take a minute and stop reinforcing them.
There are also other things we can do besides giving children timeouts. One of the things that the class material discussed was giving toy timeouts. Another thing that can be done is taking a parental timeout. Sometimes the parent will have to take a timeout to calm down. If they just sit down and practice deep breathing, they will start to feel better. Maybe the parent will even benefit from stepping out of the room. I know that when I was little, my mother would step outside or walk away if my brother acted out. This worked all the time when we were in the store. My brother would stop in an isle if he saw something he wanted, buy my mom would just continue moving because he’d always eventually follow. After he threw a fit and realized he wasn’t going to get what he wanted, he listened to my mom and started to follow along and eventually forgot about that item that he wanted.
Behavior modification is essential to parenting and raising a child. There are several things parents do that prove to be ineffective. Timeouts turn out to be one of those things – if you don’t do it right. There are ways that make timeouts more effective and less like a punishment or a shaming to your children. But if the parent can’t master the timeout (the correct timeout), then there are other things they can do to modify the child’s behaviors and teach them to behave appropriately.


URLs:
http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/discipline/time-out/why-time-out-is-out/

http://time.com/3404701/discipline-time-out-is-not-good/

http://www.tipsonlifeandlove.com/parenting/no-more-timeouts-no-more-tiger-moms-how-to-discipline-your-kids-by-disciplining-yourself

TERMS: Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence, Target Behavior, Toy Timeout, Extinguished, Extinction Burst, Punishment, Behavior Modification


For this week's assignment i chose to emit the behavior of researching the topic of cognitive behavioral therapy(CBT). The brief psychotherapy was originally implemented in the treatment of depression, but now spans a wide variety of mental illnesses by working to change undesirable thoughts and behaviors that are based on a combination of both cognitive and behavioral rules. The cognitive part of it examines how your negative cognitions contribute to, for example, your anxiety; whereas the behavioral part examines how your behave and react in these antecedents that elicit the consequence of anxiety.
CBT fits into what we have been covering in class because it provides another different antecedent and perspective as to how behavioral modification can be used in the real world. The type of intervention is mainly based on classical conditioning techniques, which has been thoroughly discussed in class, developed by Hans Eysenck and Arnold Lazarus. CBT is different because it depicts a way that attempts to manipulate one's thinking and replace undesirable thoughts, such as magnifying the negatives or minimizing the positives, with more realistic and desirable thoughts. These unrealistic negative thoughts, often about oneself, that can become a form of positive punishment and lead to aversive consequences, are known as cognitive distortions.
I am interested in this subject because it is another effective form of behavioral modification that I can use in the real world and specially in my personal life. I believe that it's very beneficial to be able to assess a current undesirable situation and be able to look and figure out what the antecedent to the issue is and what target behaviors are being elicited that eventually form your undesirable consequences.

Terms: Behavioral modification, Cognitive behavior therapy, undesirable/desirable, manipulate, antecedent, cognitive distortions, aversive, consequence, positive punishment. consequences, elicit, emit, target behaviors, classical conditioning.

Sources:
-http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/cognitive-behavioral-therapy/basics/definition/prc-20013594

http://www2.nami.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Inform_Yourself/About_Mental_Illness/About_Treatments_and_Supports/Cognitive_Behavioral_Therapy1.htm

-http://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/therapy-for-anxiety-disorders.htm

The topic that I chose to write about this time is the power of classical conditioning in advertising. The book has discussed a fair amount of material on classical conditioning. However, I thought doing a research on classical conditioning and advertising would be interesting and knowledgeable to me as I will learn how classical conditioning is applied in the real world by the media.

Classical conditioning, also known as Pavlovian conditioning, is defined as a learning process that occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired. A response that is, at first, elicited by the second stimulus is eventually elicited by the first stimulus alone. It is a mechanism whereby organisms learn about relationships between stimuli and come to alter their behavior accordingly.

To begin with, advertising is mostly based on classical conditioning. The idea behind its use in advertising is simple. Companies want to make advertisements that bring forth a severe response in the viewer or reader exposed to the advertisement. This makes the advertised product the conditioned stimulus. The ultimate goal of the ad is to make viewers associate the feeling they had with the product when they come across with it in real life. This means that the feeling is now the conditioned response.

Let’s take the familiar golden arches of McDonalds for instance. Everyone knows that the golden “M” like arches symbolizes the McDonalds food and then thinking of food often makes a person hungry. So McDonalds has successfully used classical conditioning on almost the entire world to associate their golden arch logo with hunger for food. So be warned when you are driving down the road and see those golden arches and your stomach starts to give a little growl then you should realize that you are probably being classically conditioned just like Pavlov’s dogs.

Any advertisement that you hear on the radio or see on the TV is using classical conditioning to make you change your behavior and go and buy their product. Besides, the use of celebrities in advertising is to make the general population feel that their fame is related to their position on a certain product or political issue. The use of attractive people in commercials for products, even those that are not related to beauty, influences us to think that the product will make us attractive as well.

Another example would be the Coca- Cola commercial. In the Coca-Cola commercial, the conditioned stimulus is the coke, and the unconditioned stimulus is the view of beach and hot men and women. The view and hot people make us feel excited and refreshed, which is an unconditioned response. By repeatedly showing this ad on TV, they eventually make conditioned response, which is feeling of excitement and refreshment from solely seeing the coke at markets.

In a nutshell, classical conditioning is a very effective tool for advertising and is used in many different forms of advertising. By just turning on the television and watching a few commercials you are sure to see quite a few examples of classical conditioning.

Terms: Classical conditioning, Pavlovian conditioning, conditioned stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned response, unconditioned response, stimuli, stimulus.

https://www.msu.edu/~malogian/classicalconditioning.html
https://sites.ewu.edu/cedp324-sain/2013/08/12/advertisements-and-classical-conditioning-by-natasha-barnhart/
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/huber195/myblog/2011/10/advertisement-and-classical-conditioning.html

The topic that I have researched and am going to talk about is observational learning. I believe that people of all ages learn a lot through observing how others act and through others behaviors. We talked about this topic in section 5.4 and it really interested me. Observational learning is something that happens indirectly. When thinking about observational learning, most would probably think about how a child learns by watching his or her parents. This is a great example of this concept but people of all ages can learn this way. To use this as an example though of what observational learning is, you think about how when there is a toddler and you are trying to show them how to clap, you usually do the action, and then they learn from watching you. Eventually they will also clap because they want to do what you are doing. Albert Bandura started this work of observational learning in 1977. He came up with a four step process that combines cognitive and observational learning. His four steps are: 1. attention, 2. retention, 3. reproduction, 4. motivation. Bandura also did a study called the Bobo study. He had children from the ages of three and six emit the behavior of watching a video of other children behaving aggressively with a bobo clown doll. He wanted to see what type of behavior the children would elicit after watching. After doing so, one child was praised, one child walked out of the room, and the other child got in trouble. At the end, the boys were mostly still aggressive with the clown no matter the consequence. The girls were not as aggressive, especially when they saw the child that was punished. This is an example of how kids and others learn from observed behavior. Observational learning can also be called shaping or modeling. Children as young as 21 days old can imitate facial expressions and other things. Observational is a powerful learning tool. The choice to replicate the behavior is usually based on whether the behavior was rewarded or punished. It is more likely to be replicated if it is rewarded. Observational learning can be positive or negative and happens every day. It is more likely to occur in children but can happen at any point in the lifespan. I can think of multiple times that I have learned something from observing and I bet that a good amount of people can do the same.

Terms: observing, observational learning, replicated, rewarded, punished, shaping, modeling, emit, elicit, Bobo Study, Alburt Bandura, cognitive,indirectly, observation

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

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

http://psychcentral.com/encyclopedia/2009/observational-learning/

For this blog, I decided to look more into changing antecedents and the environment in order to influence behaviors regarding toddlers. This fits into what we have been covering in class because there is an entire section about it in our class text. Section 5.4 discussed changing the physical environment around us to control target behaviors. I am particularly interested in this subject because it can be applied to young children easily. I work with children ages one to three years old, and the concept of changing the physical environment to control behaviors works well with children this young. Section 5.4 has two great examples for doing this with toddlers. Toy time out is one example. Children, especially toddlers, fight over toys because they want a toy that another child has or they hit a child with a toy. Instead of punishing the children by putting them in time out (which would be negative punishment), the toy gets a time out. In other words, the toy is taken out of the children’s physical environment so that they can no longer emit the fighting behavior. Doing this changes the environment by removing the antecedent of the fighting, which disrupts the fighting behavior. The other example is removing the “no’s” from the environment. Children, especially one and two year olds, like to say no to adults. This is because they have learned through observing adults say no to them for everything. Adults often tell a toddler no in order to ensure their safety, but this causes the toddlers to assume it is okay for them to say no back. If adults prepare a safe room for their children to play in that has no hazards to their safety, they can remove the no’s from that child’s environment.
Toddlers benefit the most in behavior modification through redirection and reinforcement. They often do not understand what they are being punished for, so it is important to control their environments and antecedents to the target behaviors so that they don’t have to be punished, only reinforced. If toddlers have a hard time sharing (and they often do), change the environment so that they have to share. In other words, let them play in only groups, set up group games at tables, etc. Another way to change an antecedent to an undesirable or aversive behavior is to try and redirect the toddler. If they are about to emit an undesirable behavior, distract them by saying their name or showing them something that they really like. This will distract the young toddler long enough to make them forget what they were about to do and redirect them to a new behavior. Toddlers also need an environment with a structured and consistent schedule, or they will behave in an undesirable way. To avoid punishing them for acting out, it is best to control their physical environment so that they know what to expect, how to behave, and don’t get confused. Controlling a toddler’s environment as well as using positive reinforcement instead of punishment is a very effective way to control a toddler and elicit desirable behaviors from them.
As previously mentioned, I work with toddlers quite a bit. They are my favorite age to work with, and I have used a lot of these behavioral techniques to elicit desirable behaviors from them and to avoid using punishment. Whenever the toddlers would start to fight over a toy (it was almost always over a doll, a block, or a puzzle), I would take that toy out of their environment and put it out of sight (a toy time out). This made the children stop fighting. To get them to share, I also controlled their environment by only letting groups play with certain toys, instead of individuals. I also set up group activities so that they had to share toys. We also had a very structured schedule for the children, so they behaved desirably a lot of the time because they knew what was expected. Changing and controlling children’s environments and antecedents is a very effect behavior modification technique.


Terms:
Antecedents, behavior, target behavior, emit, behavior modification, reinforcement, redirection, punished, reinforced, undesirable, aversive, elicit, desirable


Resources:
http://lee.ifas.ufl.edu/FCS/FCSPubs/Behavior_Management_Childcare_Training.pdf

http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/examples-behavioral-modifications-plans-kids-16879.html

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/parenting/discipline-behavior/8-tools-toddler-discipline

One of the first things I remember about this course is that we discussed that we will learn how to use behavior modification and understand it. A point was made that we were not going to study the ethics of behavior modification; I want to do just that. Ethical questions regarding behavior modification all sound the same: do we have the right to be doing this? It's pretty universal that people are okay with applying behavior modification to their own children as a form of parenting. But when applied in any other setting people seem to think that it is wrong to control other's behavior.
So let's look at why we use behavior modification. According to the text for this class there are four reasons behavior modification is used: something is annoying to us, annoying to others, it can lead to trouble, or it is illegal. I think it is universally appropriate to use behavior modification in the case of illegal actions and potentially harmful behaviors (like talking someone out of suicide). However, when do we draw the line for behaviors that annoy you? Is it appropriate to use behavior modification techniques on your roommate to get them to do what you want simply because they annoy you? What about using it on children with neurological or behavior-based disorders? How bad is it really to simply change an antecedent to a behavior? Changing of a consequence or adding a punishment or reinforcement is a little more invasive, but how bad is it to change an antecedent?
Behavior modification is being taught to teachers and used wide-spread in schools (even without parents knowing or their consent). Is this okay? The behavioral community is asking what is appropriate to change, who decides which behavior we should change and what is an appropriate change? Others ask if this is controlling, like a manipulative-type agenda. While it may not be purposeful, Behavior Modification is used all the time to manipulate behavior. People use behavior modification all the time without realizing it, so are there ethical implications then?
Through my research I am at a stand-still. In instances that include behavior modification with problematic behaviors (say with children with ADHD, criminals with violent behaviors), manipulating behaviors can be beneficial to treating their disruptive behaviors. People are questioning free will and their ability to decide what they do. However, are people with some disorders or states of mind able to make proper decisions regarding their behavior? Maybe not. So in order to create a society with minimal disruptive behaviors (through something other than social engineering or complete outright control of everyone), we turn to behavior modification.
Consent can't always be given to these methods: if one knows they are under behavior modification it could ruin the likelihood that it works. Or in other cases they can't give consent because of their mental state or age, someone has to do it for them. It all comes down to an individual's rights. What they have the right to: knowledge of what is happening to them, why, who is doing it, etc. I guess I now understand why we didn't discuss it in class. There are a lot of arguments but really nothing is settled. I guess the psychology community has just put this issue in a box in the corner and continued on.

http://www.uni.edu/~maclino/bm/book/sec2.1.pdf
http://uwf.edu/wmikulas/Webpage/behavior/chaptertwo.htm
http://www.academia.edu/230127/The_social_control_of_behavior_control_Behavior_modification_Individual_Rights_and_research_ethics_in_America_1971-1979

terms: behavior modification, behavior, social engineering, antecedent, consequence

This week I chose to write about selecting a reinforcer. This fits in very well with this class as using an effective reinforcer is of great importance in behavior modification. If a reinforcer is not effective, the behavior modification program will not work. That is why choosing the right reinforcement and also scheduling the reinforcement properly is of the utmost importance. I am personally interested in this because I plan on using behavior modification for myself and for clients when I become a licensed psychologist.

I came across something interesting during my research. An article discussed another topic we've covered in this class: Autism. In the article, it explains that negative reinforcement is more effective than positive reinforcement because usually children with autism have a characteristic desire to be left alone. This site was very thorough, discussing reinforcement schedules like ratio, interval, fixed and variable.

Behavior modification is also important part of getting people to obey the law. One area of this is modifying antisocial behavior like shoplifting. If an effective reinforcer is used, the likelihood of stopping the antisocial behavior is greatly increased, especially when punishment usually comes with behaving in an antisocial manner, whether it be from law enforcement or other people. Selecting reinforcers like this can be greatly difficult, especially if being antisocial is part of an individuals personality or if it comes as part of a mental illness. This is why the study of such things is so important.

Humans are not the only living things that need to consider effective reinforcers, however. Take your pet for example. A cat getting a bath is likely not an effective tool to use to prevent it from urinating in the corner, however giving a cat a food treat when it urinates in it's litter box could be. Often, foot items are effective reinforcers for our cats and dogs. Even in animals, primary and secondary reinforcers are used, just like in humans. This shows how effective behavior modification can be in many different areas and different species of living things.


http://globalnaturopath.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=100:reinforcement&catid=45:aba-tips&Itemid=29

https://books.google.com/books?id=HaUrjn3F-1UC&pg=PA112&lpg=PA112&dq=selecting+a+reinforcer&source=bl&ots=E6htoqHp5b&sig=RB-gRe_tj-EdAOVj4PKE38fWUfM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=H-cuVefOGcTEsAXOk4C4CQ&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=selecting%20a%20reinforcer&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=EgLXlfT6keUC&pg=PA276&lpg=PA276&dq=selecting+a+reinforcer&source=bl&ots=kRiyWJfFd6&sig=r-PSgxRbpQm988pXnjvm3Dmut2c&hl=en&sa=X&ei=YOsuVfT2KMbssAX0xoHwDA&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBzgU#v=onepage&q=selecting%20reinforcers&f=false

Since we have been doing these choose your own topic a lot recently, I decided to throwback to an early topic that we read about. Superstitions and superstitious behavior. This topic could fit some people’s personal behavior medication project as some behaviors that are trying to be modified might be superstitious. For example, somebody may want to stop biting his nails, but he only bits his nails when they are drawing winners for the lottery and he thinks that biting his nails will help him win.

So first I need to explain superstitions. A superstitious behavior is behavior that we elicit to produce a certain desirable outcome. The catch is that our behavior actually has not effect on the outcome. We think that we are changing fate or making things happen a certain way, but in fact we are not.

Superstitions permeate society and everyday behavior. The lucky socks you wear when you have an interview or the same buffalo wings you eat every time the Chicago Bears play are behaviors that you think help determine the outcome, but in actuality do not. But we do them anyway. Why? Why do we do things that have no basis in reality? The behavioral psychologist would answer that we do these things because we have been conditioned. Superstitions arise because we elicit a behavior then a desirable consequence occurs. We enjoy desirable consequences and we all know that reinforcement is very effect, so those two things get paired in our mind. We elicit a behavior and then we are reinforced. That is how superstitions arise. Even if the behavior we elicit is not related to outcome, we have a need to be in control, so we fool ourselves into believing that our superstitious behaviors work.

The most obvious examples of superstitious behaviors come from sports. As an athlete, I have my own superstitions. I didn’t think that I had any superstitious behavior because they are not big superstitious, but now that I think about it, I did exhibit some superstitious behavior. Most athletes and fans have their own superstitions. What I looked at was whether or not these superstitions were helpful (from the athlete’s perspective).

The answer is no and yes. Superstitious behaviors for athletes can be harmful, but in moderation they can help. Some athletes take things too far. If a superstition involves some sort of physical activity, this can hurt an athlete before completion. Stephanie Rice, a professional swimmer, used to do arm swings before a race. Shoulder problems led to poor performance. Other athletes get fixated on the superstitious behavior rather than the competition. They will focus their energy on getting the superstition right and that leaves little focus for the actual competition. Athletes may get stressed or anxious if their superstition is not completed. Maybe their lucky socks weren’t washed for the big game. They will be distracted from the task at hand (the game) because they are thinking that their feet feel weird because they don’t have the right socks on. Superstitions can be very distracting and that is very bad for athletes.

But the flip side of distraction is focus. If a superstition is not big or distracting to an athlete, it can bring about focus and flow. If the athlete thinks their superstitious behavior works, then it does. It may only be a placebo effect, but that may be enough to bring about better performance. The curse of competition is that the best athlete does not always win; rather it is the athlete that performs better on that particular day. Superstitions can get an athlete not only to focus, but think that they have the advantage. This slight mental edge may be enough to win. Even further than a placebo effect, superstitions can create routines. Maybe its doing the same stretches before a match or listening to the same warm-up song, routines lead to success. Superstitious behaviors can turn into routines.

Superstitious behavior is all about control. We want to control everything that we can, and so these superstitions develop out of a perceived control. They can be harmful and distract from the task at hand. But they can also help us, giving us a slight mental edge. We develop superstitious behavior to cope with the stress of the unknown future. We want to control it, but we can’t so we have superstitions to give us the perception of control.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201410/why-were-so-superstitious
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUELNjp37VI
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/27/us-oly-superstitions-day-idUSBRE86Q12G20120727

Terms: superstitious behavior, superstition, elicit, conditioning, consequence, reinforcement, placebo effect.

This week I want to do something slightly off topic but still relevant: therapies for obsessive compulsive disorder. I want to do research on this topic because OCD is a behavioural disorder where people feel compulsive to perform an activities that they may not enjoy repeating over and over again, and behavioural disorder will require therapies that tackle the unwanted behaviours. My father had OCD and although I am not sure how he overcame his crippling mental illness, he used a great deal of behavioural modification techniques on us kids when we were younger. I believed that he were treated with behavioural therapies and learned a lot about manipulating people. From most of the websites I went through, cognitive behavioural therapy and exposure and response prevention are the two most popular models for treating obsessive compulsive disorder, and I will talk about these two models for this week’s topical blog.

BEHAVIOURAL TREATMENT FOR OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER

Modern treatments for obsessive compulsive disorder assert that there is hope for individuals who receive this diagnosis, as these treatment models provide people with means to control their symptoms and allow people with OCD to restore normal function in their lives. Ideally, people who suffer from OCD should receive both psychotherapy and medication, and the psychotherapy should be tailored to treat the disorder (some therapies are even tailored for individuals), by modifying the behaviours as well as by discovering insights regarding the roots of the unwanted behaviours. . Since this class is a behavioural modification class and we want to know how to modify obsessive and compulsive behaviours, I will skip the medication today and jump straight into therapies that are tailored to reduce unwanted behaviours in suffering individuals.

To understand how behavioural therapies can help individuals cope with their obsessive compulsive actions and thoughts, it is important to understand what obsessions and compulsions are. Obsessions are thoughts that are involuntary and perhaps even uncontrollable; these thoughts surface frequently over and over again, and often times these thoughts are disturbing and distracting. Compulsions are behaviours or rituals that are driven by these thoughts; people who suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder act out the compulsions to make the thoughts go away. Unfortunately, the relief never lasts, and the obsessive thoughts usually come back stronger after the compulsion. Thus, the compulsive behaviours end up causing anxiety and become more demanding and time-consuming.

Cognitive behavioural therapy’s (CBT) principles stand that people become their own therapist, and they are in charge of their own recovery. Approximately three quarters of people who suffer from OCD find CBT significantly helpful. Furthermore, there is no side effects to this kind of therapy, so it remains the most popular treatment among psychologists who specialize in OCD. So what is CBT? CIT is a form of talking therapy that is designed to help a person become aware of their dysfunctional way of thinking and actions, and thus help them change and adopt to another way of thinking that can be beneficial.

Just like behaviour modification, CBT asks individuals to become aware of the antecedent that may bring on the bouts of anxious, obsessive thoughts. By becoming aware of those intrusive thoughts and urges, patients are able to learn that those thoughts do not mean harm will occur (those thoughts are responsible for the compulsive behaviours though), and by ignoring those unwanted thoughts and not act upon it, the brain will rewire and realize that no harm will occur if compulsions does not occur after the obsessions, and eventually the brain will understand that harm will not occur in some certain antecedent.

There are usually homework assigned between each session, and to complete those assignments are completely up to the patient and how badly they want to rid of their anxiety as well as their dysfunctional way of behaving and thinking. However, the anxiety that individuals with OCD can experience may be so overwhelming that medications are prescribed before CBT can run its course.

Exposure and response prevention is a part of CBT, where repeat confrontation of fearful situations that are usually avoided is used to help reduce the anxiety that is conditioned with the stimuli. For the treatment to be successful, the exposure must be long enough and over a prolonged period of time for the anxiety to diminish. Desensitization is the key. The fear has to be constant and the exposure should be repeated often enough that the individual grows to acclimatize the anxiety and stimuli. The exposure should be done without the compulsion, so the individual can experience the anxiety and the discomforts, then learn that no harmful consequences will occur if the compulsion is not performed.

CBT and ERP can also work well on other anxiety/compulsive/obsessive disorders such as bulimia, anorexia, body dysmorphic disorder, and trichotillomania.

http://www.ocdaction.org.uk/resource/what-cognitive-behavioural-therapy-cbt

http://www.get.gg/ocd.htm

http://www.ocduk.org/cognitive-behavioural-therapy

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/obssessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd.htm
http://www.camh.ca/en/hospital/health_information/a_z_mental_health_and_addiction_information/obsessive_compulsive_disorder/obsessive_compulsive_disorder_information_guide/Pages/ocd_treatments.aspx

http://iocdf.org/about-ocd/treatment/cbt/

TERMS: cognitive behavioural therapy, exposure response prevention, stimuli, antecedent, behaviour, consequence, behavioural therapy, compulsion, obsession, bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, body dysmorphic disorder, trichotillomania

For this weeks blog I chose to do it on Selecting a Reinforcer. I thought I would do it on this topic because the first time I read chapter 5.5 I did not understand it clearly so I thought I would refresh myself with this chapter. After rereading Chapter 5.5 I learned what the best types of reinforcers are best to use and which are not. After I learned how to modify the Behavior by choosing a reinforcer that is best for me I learned it is a lot easier to get the target behavior. After doing further research on this subject I learned its not only what you change the reinforcer its also when you do the target behavior. The articles I found talked more on how to omit the old behavior permanently and with changing the reinforcer to something fits you better like; money, or candy, or pop, or shopping. Whatever fits you the best and makes you want the best. Another website I found stated there were 6 primary reinforcement rules. They all involved what the reinforcers should be and they should really be reinforcing to the curtain individual, and the condition they were in. After doing more research on Selecting a Reinforcer I learned I need to have more self control and actually only reward myself after doing the target behavior.

Sources:
http://www.iloveaba.com/2012/02/how-to-select-reinforcers.html
http://www.appliedbehavioralstrategies.com/reinforcement-101.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10818166


Terms:Selecting a Reinforcer, Reinforcers, Behavior Modification, Target Behavior, Omit, and Conditions

For this post I wanted to look further into punishment, specifically at punishment within sport. Many high schools have begun to view disciplinary running or drills as a form of corporal punishment. For decades coaches have been using lap running or some form of physical exercise as a form of punishment when a team or player does something bad. However, complaints continue to roll into schools from outraged parents and students saying that this is an excessive form of punishment. The definition of corporal punishment is stated as this, “application of physical pain as a method of changing behavior”. Technically, yes the behavior or forcing running onto students does in fact fit this definition, however these extra forms of drills or running also serve an underlying cause. Emitting these behaviors, although it is viewed as positive punishment, also benefits the students. Because of doing all this running or workouts, they are gaining cardiovascular and muscular benefits for themselves.

Yet another view on this would be that our obesity rate in children is rising BECAUSE physical activity is being used as a form of punishment. PE teachers and coaches may think that using physical activity as a form of punishment is right because it will show them that there are consequences to their actions, however, it also shows them how much is sucks. Therefore, they are less likely to become more physically active in their free time. These days adults are sitting or not being active an average of 8 hours per day and they say they avoid physical activity because of previous negative views of physical activity that was assigned by an old teacher or coach.

With both of these views making very valid points, I have always been a strong believer that physical activity as a punishment can be effective. Running laps because I did something wrong will make me think about doing that thing again in the future. While I’m doing the punishment It may not pop into my mind right away, but I would eventually see this punishment as being positive to my physical fitness levels. I believed in all of this until I read one line from this article (bottom link), “You can’t punish kids into doing acceptable behavior”. I strongly believe that the best way to teach kids between the right and wrong thing to do is give them a consequence that doesn’t make a good thing (physical activity), aversive. Instead the coach or instructor should make the child do some other form of punishment, perhaps give a speech to their team on their bad behavior, or be benched for a competition or game.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/schooled_in_sports/2012/10/could_forcing_students_to_run_laps_be_construed_as_corporal_punishment.html

http://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/2014/08/18/exercise-never-used-punishment/14189291/

http://www.empoweringparents.com/blog/consequences-rewards/giving-kids-consequences-exercise-as-punishment/

terms: behavior, punishment, negative, emit, consequence, aversive,

This assignment elicited me to emit the behavior of conducting further research on the “Terrible Two’s”. I chose this specific topic because it is an interesting point in human development, where need for dependence and desire for independence completely clash.
There “Terrible Two’s” is a result of toddlers wanting to emit the target behavior of becoming independent. At this point in time, independence has developed a positive valence, while dependence on parents has developed a negative valence. Toddlers want to build the contingency between succeeding at tasks and feeling self-sufficient, but their motor and vocal skills aren’t always quite developed enough to do so.
One major problem with this age group is that extinction and extinction bursts are very common. Temper tantrums occur frequently, because two year olds are experiencing a lot of emotions and skill development all at once. When they throw a tantrum and the parent uses positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement to get them to stop, it only increases the frequency of that behavior. Parents who wish two prevent their terrible two year old from throwing tantrums need to use the disruption of the operant behavior method or the extinction method.
Another way that parents can help to eliminate the consequence of the “terrible two’s” is by using the method of Differential Reinforcement of Other. One website gave the example of saying, “Great job! You didn’t throw any toys today” on a day where the child didn’t throw any toys, instead of negatively punishing them when they do throw a toy. It has been supported that reinforcement methods are more effective than punishment methods, even in the case of toddlers.
Another key to maintaining your sanity during the terrible two’s is to control the antecedent. If you notice that your toddlers is usually prone to tantrums around 2pm (or nap time), use a clock as a discriminative stimulus and prevent yourself from taking the child on playdates, to the park, shopping, etc. at this time. Controlling the antecedent is the most essential key to adjusting the frequency of any behavior, which in this case happens to be terrible two tantrums.
There are many things that parents can do to tackle the terrible two’s, but this is only just a few!

Terms Used: emit, elicit, target behavior, positive valence, negative valence, contingency, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, disrupting the operant behavior, extinction, extinction burst, negative punishment, differential reinforcement of other, punishment, antecedent, discriminative stimulus.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/infant-and-toddler-health/expert-answers/terrible-twos/faq-20058314

http://www.parenting.com/article/terrible-twos-myth

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/guide/the-dreaded-terrible-2s

Since my behavior modification project is to increase the amount of time spent studying and doing homework everyday I decided to base my topical blog on this research. Also since our section this week was over changing the antecedents, or environment, I decided to research some effective ways to do that to increase studying or homework everyday.
Of course all the sites I looked at said to set goals, not procrastinate, remember the negative alternatives to not studying, and start off by sometimes forcing yourself to do the studying. It's beneficial to just do studying or homework in short periods of time, and take breaks so you don't agonize yourself.
The environment has a lot to do with how productive you are. Most would believe you need a silent space, but it really depends on the individual. My research analyzed many aspects to the space in which you study.
Some people like to listen to music or have noise subtly in the background. It's been seen that if you are more familiar with the background noise or music it will be easier to "tune out", so won't actually hurt your studying.
Smells have also been shown to have an impact with how productive one can be. If you're hungry being around something that smells good, it can actually play as a distraction. Since you can't always change the environment, you can use DRO's, and change your behavior to work against the antecedent. This would be just picking up and moving.
Lighting is also important, if it's too harsh or too dim, it can effect how beneficial your study session is. Similarly, depending on the individual, it's important to be environment with the right type of temperature. Not too cold, or too humid.
Distractions play a huge role in whether you can study efficiently or not. If you know something might distract you, KEEP IT AWAY. These environmental triggers can have a huge effect on your behavior, and cause consequences. For example, if I'm watching my favorite Transformers movie, I cannot focus. So I try to study or do homework away from the TV in general. If netflix or your phone is a distraction it''s important to keep it away. This is something we can control about the antecedent so it doesn't elicit the behavior of being distracted, then we emit those behaviors of doing other tasks.
Also, being too comfortable or not comfortable enough is another environmental factor we can control that has an effect on our ability to be successful. Laying on your bed trying to read for a class probably won't work out well, because you might get too cozy and fall asleep. Also, being in a really uncomfortable chair won't work because it might cause you pain. Depending on the individual it's important to pick your study space considering these factors.
Overall a good study space is one that is well lit, comfortable, and without distractions. The environment should be set up so you can be organized and successful. Taking the time to control the antecedent and manipulate results in good study/homework habits, and then a consequence of doing better in class.

Sites:

http://www.planetofsuccess.com/blog/2010/how-to-get-motivated-to-study/

http://www.wikihow.com/Improve-Your-Study-Skills

http://www.wgu.edu/blogpost/improve-online-study-environment

Terms: antecedent, behavior, consequence, DRO, behavior modification, elicit, emit

For this week’s blog post, I picked the topic of changing the antecedents in order to stay focused and reduce stress. I picked this topic because it is about changing the environment to reduce temptations to do distracting behaviors. This topic also covers what to do to stop stress queues so that anxious behaviors are not emitted. I am interested in this subject because finals are coming up and it will be useful to know some relaxation tips and how to change my environment so I stay relaxed and focused.

The first piece of advice for staying focused and relaxed is to try to eliminate noise. Extra noises can be distracting and can elicit an involuntary response if you are trying to focus. Getting rid of extra noise also makes you feel secluded so that while doing a stressful task, you do not have outside distractions. Distractions always seem like an emergency in our minds so canceling out noises will make you hone in on what you are working on.

When trying to stay focused and relax, do the harder work first. If you have a paper and some note cards to make, doing the paper will require more of your focus while making the note cards will need less of your attention. This will make you less stressed in the end because your mind will not be drained while trying to do the harder behavior. Saving the worst for last also acts as a positive punishment by adding the stress to the situation. If you do the harder work first, it is rewarding and then making the note cards will seem like a drop in the hat so in the end, you are less stressed.

One of the most common things to do to stay focused is to remove the “No’s,” of the environment. By No’s, I mean the TV, cell phones and if at all possible, the internet so you stay away from social media, YouTube, games and other distractions. By changing the antecedent, you will emit the behavior you want and in the end, you will get a positive reward. Taking the phone away will make you focus on getting your paper done and when the paper is done, you get to check your phone. It is as easy as that. You will also get the paper done faster if you are not checking your phone so you will be less stressed if you spend less time working on it.

Staying focused and stress free is a very hard thing to do. By eliminating sound, doing the harder work first and getting rid of the “no’s” can make life way easier while studying. Finals are coming up and keeping stress levels down is very hard to do, but by changing your environment and behaviors, finals week will not be so hard on you.

Terms: behaviors, antecedents, consequences, elicit, emit, positive punishment, positive reward.

Websites: http://www.healthreviser.com/content/environment-changes-manage-your-stress

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225321

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-work/200910/easily-distracted-why-its-hard-focus-and-what-do-about-it

My topic is the Premack Principle and the various applications it can be used for. We discussed the Premack Principle as a way to reinforce a behavior without having to spend money on a reinforcer; this is possible by reinforcing a low rate of an undesirable behavior with a high rate of a desirable behavior. This is an example of differential of low rate behavior with the reinforcer being the opportunity to engage in a desirable behavior.


I found two separate research examples that used Premack’s Principle. The first research example was using Premack’s Principle in 3-year-old subjects to reinforce behavior that abided by the teacher’s instructions, such as to sit down and look at the blackboard. This behavior was reinforced with the opportunity to engage in a high rate behavior of their choosing, such as puzzles, running around the room, screaming, etc. This type of reinforcement was very effective in modifying their behavior. The other research article stated it in terms of using response deprivation as an establishing operation to make Premack’s Principle work. The article discussing the research on 3-year-olds made the comment that an observer that came in after this reinforcement had taken effect thought for sure that an aversive punishment or negative reinforcement was the cause for this change in behavior. This struck me as odd because it is widely known that reinforcement and avoiding aversive situations is more effective and a more salient reinforcer than punishment. However I was surprised by just how effective this technique was in younger children.


The other research article went into a lot of the history behind each of the terms of Premack’s Principle, establishing operations, and response deprivation. I learned a lot of interesting history behind the research relating to each of these topics. For example, I had no idea that the research on response deprivation went all the way back to the 20s. It also drew the analogy of activity, like having an appetite similar to any other reinforcer. I had never thought about it in that way, the possibility that activity can be used as a reinforcer. I realized that I have used this principle in my own life. For example, the other day I used the activity of watching Netflix as a reinforcer for completing an hour of exercise in the Wellness and Recreation Center. I have been using many of these principles in my own life and without recognizing that it is part of a behavioral technique.


I was therefore very interested to find a website that used Premack’s Principle in stopping procrastination. Procrastination is one behavior that I would like to extinguish. I could use differential reinforcement of the low rate of procrastinating or differential reinforcement of the high rate of getting my homework done in a timely manner. As the research connecting Premack’s Principle, response deprivation and establishing operations suggests, I can deprive myself of some behavior that is desirable, the establishing operation to make that behavior reinforcing, then I can reinforce myself for either a high rate of getting homework done in a timely manner or reinforce myself for a low rate of procrastinating. I can use some behavior that is a strong salient reinforcer, such as watching television or getting to play video games on my PlayStation 4, to increase the frequency of getting homework done sooner or decrease the rate of procrastinating until the last minute. This website about procrastinating has a lot of things to watch out for when it comes to procrastinating, such as ill-defined tasks like starting a project and boring or stressful work. Often these are the kind of tasks that get put off until the last minute because they are undesirable behaviors to emit. Reinforcement may elicit these behaviors at higher rates in order to attain the behavior that is desirable. This website also realizes that sometimes getting to the task that is most reinforcing is much harder to do when there are multiple unpleasant tasks before it They suggest that you work up to putting the reinforcer last in the sequence. Start with a more continuous reinforcement schedule, then lean out the schedule of reinforcement gradually so that there are more unpleasant tasks that get completed before you get the reinforcing task.


Terms used in this post: Premack Principle, reinforce, reinforcer, reinforcing, low rate, high rate, differential reinforcement of low rate, reinforced, reinforcement, aversive, punishment, negative reinforcement, salient, response deprivation, establishing operation, extinguish, differential reinforcement of high rate, emit, continuous reinforcement, lean out, schedule of reinforcement


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1404418/pdf/jeabehav00184-0045.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2731497/pdf/behavan00010-0055.pdf
http://gettingstronger.org/2010/12/stop-procrastinating-use-the-premack-principle/

For my topic this week I chose to do more research into the effectiveness of changing one’s environment in order to modify behavior. I was interested in this because I myself have had to use this strategy in order to deal with some of my own bad habits that wouldn’t go away otherwise. I wanted to know more about how it works and different strategies one could use in order to take advantage of it. This applies to our class because it is an idea directly from the reading.
My research gave me a lot of good information on why this works, and how one can use it to change their own behavior. The reading that I did suggested that this works in part because one of the most important functions of the brain is to identify and utilize patterns in order to decrease the amount of information processing required in our daily lives. This is why the environment can impact our behavior so greatly- our behavior is being elicited by stimuli we don’t even necessarily notice. We are incredibly reliant on environmental triggers to tell us how to behave. Take the example of a person who has just come out of rehab. One of the things that they always tell these people to do is to change their surroundings, and to cut people who are negative influences out of their lives. This is the reason why. Going back to the same people and the same environment will result in these things trying to elicit the undesirable behavior. By changing these things and simplifying one’s schedule, such changes are made much easier. You are then able to get out of those habits and associate the new stimuli/environment/antecedents with the desirable behaviors instead of the undesirable ones. This is also consistent with another item that I read which states that it is easier to make a habit consistent by using context clues- that is, behavior X is easier to perform/remember to perform if always preceded directly by behavior Y. This is because behavior Y becomes an antecedent that causes you to emit behavior X. It also works because behavior Y becomes a discriminative stimulus that lets you know that behavior X should be performed. One of the articles that I read supported this, and went as far as to say that anything can be changed by using these methods. I agree with this, if you include a rewording of what they mean. To me, it seems like it is possible to change any voluntary behavior with these methods. There are some things in life you simply can’t change (like blindness)- anything is too broad. Another way you can utilize changing the antecedents of your behavior to modify your behavior is by lowering the amount of options available to you. If you have the option to or to not do behavior X, you are giving yourself the chance to fail. Why not remove that so that behavior X is something you must do? The article states that by doing this, and making your other choices matter more, you can make a big impact on your own behavior. An example of this would be if you wanted to start biking after work. Instead of driving to work and giving yourself the chance to fail at actually going after work, why not either take your bike to work with you- or better yet, bike to work. If you bike there, you have to bike back. There is no chance to fail. I think this is a very good idea if you are having a lot of trouble with certain behaviors.
Overall, I think I learned a lot from my reading and I’m glad I chose this topic. Knowing more about it means I can better use it for myself, for class, and to help others.

TERMS: environment, behavior, elicited, stimuli, undesirable behavior, antecedent, desirable behavior, emit, discriminative stimulus

Links: http://www.promises.com/articles/addiction-recovery/how-to-structure-your-environment-in-early-addiction-recovery/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/habits-not-hacks/201408/want-change-your-habits-change-your-environment
http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2007/07/04/change-your-environment-to-change-your-life/

I wanted to write about how exercise can held cure “neurotic holding patterns” that are caused by the Ego, Super Ego, and ID (Freud’s terms). This goes with the idea of making a internal goal such as the one we are working on in class right now. By changing neurotic holding patterns you are curing yourself of discomfort by yourself with no need for reinforcement or punishment. This topic is interesting to me because I enjoy the ideas of Sigmund Freud and while reading his ideas coming up with my own. As well as how weight lifting and stretching can cure almost any minor illness, which in some cases is neurosis.
Today I wanted to write about a case study I have been doing on myself which is neurotic holding patterns that my body feels. For you to understand let me explain to you what I mean by neurotic holding patterns. Anything that keeps you from emitting a regular breathing pattern I believe is caused by neurosis. In my case and to use one of Freud’s terms I would have anxiety neurosis where it is hard for me to be around other people without feeling comfortable. Or they could be brought on by a certain phobia or fear that I have. So I have been learning that while breathing I need to relax my face, neck, shoulders, stomach, and lower pelvic region. A good strong breathe is held in for a second to let the oxygen enter the head and blood stream and then an even breath out while all these key areas are relaxed. Trying to remember to do this on a daily basis is challenging and it is so because in today’s world there is so much going on so fast. Not to mention many college students are in a transition that they have never experienced making it hard to remember to relax and just breathe. I believe that the frontal lobe or the Ego is the part of the brain that is focused on the most in today’s world. You get much positive reinforcement to be able to remember certain dates, or numbers, or formulas. Or spending most of your day in small talk or mindless chatter. However, on the other hand it is not as much reinforced to be able to use your ID (brain stem) which I believe to be your primal instinct mind. Which elicits you to think with your “gut” so to speak. Probably connected with why we are attracted to certain people just by the way they look or sometimes even smell. It is this part of the brain that controls all things that are done without us having to think about it. Such as pump the heart, breathing, and digestion. That is why I believe that those people who do not have a Super Ego (midbrain) strong enough to be able to balance and ground themselves may develop neurosis. All though most neurotics are not bad enough to be classified as clinical I still believe that it is a good thing to try to get rid of stress that is caused by a fear or a feeling of shame. Exercise is a good way to practice breathing because often while lifting weights you turn red and forget to exhale all together. It is a good starting point to be able to get your breathing in sink with your body for a certain amount of time daily. I am already starting to feel progress that to explain in words is difficult but I would say that obsessive ideas that we hold in are heads can end up being some sort of somatic illness where your body is affected. By focusing on relaxing the body one might be able to understand why he or she is not able to relax, and thus start working on the problem no matter big or small.

Positive reinforcement, punishment, emitting, elicit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy9tkav8x14
https://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/psychoanalysis/freud4.html
http://jap.physiology.org/content/77/4/1913

For this assignment I decided to do more research on goals, in particular the importance of goals have on modifying behavior. Section 4.3 of our book discussed the purpose of a goal which is to give an individual something to strive for and how to properly decide what should and shouldn't make up a goal. This area of behavior modification is interesting to me because I feel like determining goals is where most individuals set themselves up for failure.
One source I found set to explain the five reasons why goals are important, the reasons given were similar in some ways to what the textbook explained for example measuring progress allows individuals to reflect and observe the changes they've made. The website continues with how goals help individuals by giving them focus and motivation. The drawback to this website is that it doesn't explain very well the importance of proper goal setting.1
Proper goal setting has been shown to have a correlation to task performance as explained by study done by Locke (1990). The study took a look at laboratory and field studies and determined the effects of setting goals that were specific and challenging led to higher performance than easier goals. Proper goal setting improves task performance when the subject has feedback, a reward, an accepted goal, and sufficient ability. This study was interesting because it was noted that individual differences have received little attention when looking at goal setting, Locke expressed that this is most likely due to goals being typically assigned in these studies rather than self-set. The individual differences that need to be looked at are need for achievement and self-esteem.2
A second study I found sought to examine the individual differences in the relation of subjective goal difficulty to performance in goal-setting model. This laboratory study conducted by Beth Martin found the relation between goal-setting variables for individual’s assigned goals are very different from the relation between goal-setting variables for those assigned moderate goals. Individual differences in the assessment of whether one can reach a goal seem only to play a part when the goal is difficult. For setting difficult goals research indicates that the effect depends on the individual's assessment of whether they think they can reach the goal and the resulting evaluation of the goal.3

Terms: goals, goal-setting, feedback, difficulty, motivation, ability,

1) http://www.codeofliving.com/articles/5-powerful-reasons-why-goal-setting-important
2) Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990). A theory of goal setting & task performance. Prentice-Hall, Inc.
3) Martin, B. A., Snell, A. F., & Callahan, C. M. (1999). An Examination of Individual Differences in the Relation of Subjective Goal Difficulty to.. Human Performance, 12(2), 115.

For this blog post I decided to do more research on the topic of observational learning, or learning by example. Theories such as that of classical conditioning or operant conditioning express ways in which behavior is learned through direct experience through reinforcement and punishment. However, these theories do not account for behaviors that are learned indirectly, which accounts for much of learning that takes place. This process of learning may also be referred to as social learning, shaping, modeling, or vicarious reinforcement.

Social learning may take place at any point during someone's life. However, it is most commonly found in infants or young children. It is an important part of development because it is the time in which authority becomes important. An example of observational learning would be how a parent elicits their child to emit a waving behavior by waving at their partner or a friend. The child will see their parent emitting the behavior and will replicate it.

Another example of observational learning comes from the famous Bobo Doll experiment. The experiment showed that children will learn more from observation of a social model and whether or not the social model themselves were reinforced will determine whether or not the child will replicate the behavior. The experiment was conducted by the famous psychologist, Albert Bandura. He came to the conclusion that humans are more likely to be influenced by what they believe will happen rather than the actual experience itself. However, I won't go into detail about the Bobo Doll experiment as pretty much every psychology student has heard about it a million times.

The concept of observational learning is based mostly on the work of Albert Bandura. Bandura and his colleges demonstrated observational learning through a multitude of experiments, including the Bobo Doll experiments. The goal of these experiments was to demonstrate the idea that applying consequences to a behavior is not necessary for learning to take place. Bandura had the idea that learning could occur with the simple process of observing the actions of another. After the experimentation was completed, Bandura formulated his findings into a basic four step pattern. The pattern was a combination of the cognitive view of learning and the operant view of learning. The steps were as follows: 1. Attention: The individual notices something in the environment; 2. Retention: The individual remembers what is noticed; 3. Reproduction: The individual produces an action that is a copy of what was noticed; 4. Motivation: The environment delivers a consequence that changes the probability the behavior will be emitted again (reinforcement/punishment). He used his belief that the mind, behavior, and the environment all play very important roles in the process of learning in his development of the four steps.

Terms:
Observational learning, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, behavior, reinforcement, punishment, elicits, emit, Albert Bandura, consequences

Sources:
http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/soccog/soclrn.html
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/cognitive-approaches-to-learning-48/observational-learning-203-12738/

I chose the Premack Principle for this week's post. I chose this because it is the part that I liked most for this week's reading assignment. The Premack Principle arises from operant conditioning, and is also known as "grandma's rule," and it states that a high frequency activity can be used to reinforce low frequency behavior. It relates to our class because we covered it in this week's reading assignment. My reading taught me that the Premack Principle is used a lot in dog training. In the dog training, high frequency behaviors are what the dog wants. and low frequency behaviors are what you want. For any of these high frequency activities to be used as a reinforcer, it has to be something the dog wants at that very instant. This works because the dog who has this principle applied to it is thinking about the positive reinforcer, not the low frequency (non-preferred) activity. You can incorporate this principle into your training sessions by ensuring that your dog's every preferred emitted behavior that you can control, has a short training activity (non-preferred behavior) preceding it. With these associations, a dog begins to enjoy the behaviors you want him to perform. By this means, the trained behaviors and places and situations where it occurs become so enjoyable that they become self-reinforcing. This same principle can also be applied to children. As goals become easier to achieve, you vary the schedule of reinforcement so that the child do not become satiated. For example, most children like to watch television - this is a behavior that happens reliably (they learn to like TV all on their own and it is something they will do willingly without any interference from their parents) - and parents often use this behavior to reinforce something children like to do less such as washing dishes. So, some parents might condition children to wash dishes by rewarding dish washing with watching television.

Terms: Premack Principle, operant conditioning, reinforce, behavior, reinforcer, positive reinforcer, emitted, self-reinforcing, satiated, condition.

http://www.autismmom.net/premack-principle-and-behavior/
http://www.druidalegsd.karoo.net/premack.htm
http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Premack%20Principle

What I would like you to do is to find a different topic from what you wrote about before and from what we have covered so far in class that you are interested in and search the internet for material on that topic. You might, for example, find people who are doing research on the topic, you might find web pages that discuss the topic, you might find youtube clips that demonstrate something related to the topic, etc. What you find and use is pretty much up to you at this point. But use at least 3 sources.
Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into what we have been covering in class, and why you are interested in it. Next, I would like you to take the information you found related to your topic, integrate/synthesize it, and then write about it. At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

For topical blog post week 13, I decided to do more research on positive reinforcement as well as negative reinforcement. I chose to do more research on positive and negative reinforcement because these topics are really important to understand when it comes to behavior modification. Some psychologists who made impactful contributions to the world of psychology pioneered positive reinforcement. These psychologists include: Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, Edward Thorndike, and B.F. Skinner. Of these psychologists, B.F. Skinner brought positive reinforcement to the forefront of modern consciousness. B.F. Skinner used operant conditioning in many of his experiments. Through his experiments with operant conditioning B.F. Skinner also used positive reinforcement as a form of reinforcement on his test subjects.
Reinforcement is a stimulus, which follows and is contingent upon a behavior that increases the frequency of the behavior to occur again. Positive reinforcement is the addition of something desirable in order to increase the frequency of the behavior to occur again. Positive reinforcement is used not only on humans but also in animals. In operant conditioning, it is not uncommon for the experimenter to use this form of reinforcement on the animals. Positive reinforcement is an especially important technique for parents and caregivers to use in order to modify their desired behaviors. These reinforcers can be rewards that could range from tangible objects to pleasurable activities and events or even social recognition.
Another form of reinforcement is negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement is when a certain stimulus, normally an aversive stimulus, is removed after an animal or human emits a certain behavior. Due to negative reinforcement the likelihood of this behavior to occur again in the future has increases since the negative consequence has been avoided/removed. Like positive reinforcement, B.F. Skinner also used negative reinforcement in his experiments dealing with operant conditioning. Negative reinforcement is most effective when it takes place immediately after the behavior occurs. If you were to wait longer after the behavior occurs the connection between the behavior and negative reinforcement will become weaker as more time were to pass by.
When using either positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement it is important to establish a schedule of reinforcement. Schedules of reinforcement have a major impact on the strength and rate of the response. A schedule of reinforcement states when and how often a behavior will be reinforced. One form of schedule of reinforcement is continuous reinforcement; which the desired behavior is reinforced every time that it is emitted. This type of reinforcement schedule is usually best to use in the beginning stages of the behavior modification. Another form of a schedule of reinforcement is partial reinforcement. Partial reinforcement In partial reinforcement, the response is reinforced only part of the time, instead of every time the behavior is emitted. Learned behaviors are developed more slowly with partial reinforcement, however the response is more resilient to extinction. There are four schedules of partial reinforcement fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, and variable ratio. In fixed ratio schedules the behavior is reinforced only after a specified number of times occurring. With this type of reinforcement schedule, it produces a steady rater of responding with a brief pause after the delivery of the reward (reinforcer). In variable-ratio schedules a behavior is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses. This type of schedule will create a high steady rate of responding. An example of this type of reinforcement schedule would be delivering food to a rat after one bar press, again after four bar presses, and again after two bar presses.
Fixed interval schedules are those where the first response is rewarded only after a specified amount of time that has passed. This schedule causes high amount of response near the end of an interval, but has much slower response immediately after the delivery of the reinforcer. An example of this time of reinforcement schedule is reinforcing the rat with food for the first bar press after a 20 second interval has elapsed. The final schedule of reinforcement that is available is variable interval schedule. This is when a response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has gone by. This type of schedule of reinforcement produces a slow, steady rate of response. An example of variable interval schedule is delivering food to a rat after the first bar press following a two minute interval, another pellet of food after the first response following a five minute interval etc. It is very important to choose a schedule of reinforcement that works both for the individual/animal receiving the reinforcement and the individual that is providing the opportunity for reinforcement.

URLS:
http://www.positivereinforcementforkids.com
http://www.cehd.umn.edu/ceed/publications/tipsheets/preschoolbehavior/posrein.pdf
http://study.com/academy/lesson/negative-reinforcement-examples-definition-quiz.html
http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/schedules.htm

Terms- positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, behavior modification, Ivan Pavlov, Edward Thorndike, John Watson, B.F. Skinner, operant conditioning, reinforcement, stimulus, contingent, behavior, reinforcers, rewards, schedules of reinforcement, continuous reinforcement, partial reinforcement, fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, variable interval

Today I have chosen to write my blog post on the topic of observational learning. I've chosen this topic because it is one that I find very interesting and applicable to my own personal life. Growing up, my step mom owned a daycare, so I was around toddlers and children a lot. I absolutely was able top observe the idea of observational learning as it played out in the behaviors of those children.

Observational learning refers to the idea of learning through the process of watching and imitating others. A huge portion of our learning takes place this way. While observational learning can take place during any age or developmental stage in an individuals life, it seems to be the most common in the younger years. I was able to experience this first hand during my years spent helping my step-mom in her daycare. I would constantly see the behaviors of the children in the daycare being molded and shaped as a result of observational learning. It is at this time that children learn the most by observing how other individuals (such as parents, peers, caretakers, siblings, etc.) interact with each other.

For many people, the term observational learning may elicit a mental image of Albert Bandura. Bandura is often connected to the term because of his extensive research on the topic. Bandura had research that showed that observational learning begins to take place at a very early age. In fact, he showed that children who were only 20 days old began to engage in observational learning. I'm sure that anyone who has a child or younger sibling can attest to this being true. Have you ever made silly faces at a baby and noticed that they began to try and imitate the expressions? This is a clear example of observational learning in action.

Bandura is probably best known for his Bobo doll experiment. In this experiment, groups of children watched a movie where a child emitted aggressive behaviors with a doll. The child would hit, kick and yell at the doll in the playroom. The film had three different endings, each of which was shown to a different group of children. In one ending, the child in the film was reinforced for mistreating the doll. In another, he was punished, and in the last the child simply walked out of the room and there was no consequence.

After watching this film, the children were placed in a playroom. The groups which saw the child being rewarded and experiencing no consequence were much more likely to emit aggressive behaviors in the playroom than those who saw him get punished. Boys were also far more likely to engage in these behavior than girls.

I think that this topic is very interesting and brings to mind the age old debate of whether or not observing violence in films and video games can make a person violent. I have seen this play out a lot with my younger brother who spend a LOT of time on his x-box. While he is not violent, I have noticed that whenever he spends a large amount of time playing games he is always in a horrible mood afterward and acts very angry. I truly believe that this is in some way a result of observational learning. I think that this is something anyone who plays a lot of violent video games or watches a lot of violent movies should be mindful of. While I certainly don't think that observing these things will turn people in to violent killers, I do believe that it may cause them to become more angry or aggressive.

Sources: http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/soccog/soclrn.html
http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-observational-learning.html

Terms: Behavior, observational learning, ellicit, emit, engage, reinforced, punished, consequence,

For week 13 topical blog assignment, I choose too look further into positive reinforcement and how it relates to our out of class project. I choose to focus on positive reinforcement because our recent work with changing a behavior that is taxing to us. The behavior I chose to attempt to change is waking up earlier in the mornings before class. I am having a tough time in changing this behavior, and I’m thinking it could be due to not having a very good positive reinforcement for when I do actually get up at a suitable time.
When we reinforce ourselves we are applying behaviorism to yourself, some call it “training your inner pigeon.” My current type of reinforcement is getting a blueberry muffin every time I’m up on time, but I am not so sure that is the proper type of reinforcement. What makes an effective positive reinforcement? It should be genuine, age appropriate, at the person’s level of functioning and provides support. I think that a blueberry muffin covers most of the basis, except for one. It is not genuine enough for me; a muffin is something I am just fine going without each day.
Positive reinforcement is anything that occurs after a behavior that increases the likelihood that the behavior will reoccur. Indulging in a blueberry muffin is not something that is a must for me, which is a problem when wanting the targeted behavior to reoccur. Another problem with my type of reinforcement is that the muffin is not immediately and frequently, and that is a must.
Although I was not able to find the right type of positive reinforcement for my target behavior, I did come to realization that I might have to take a negative reinforcement type route, or even punishment.

Terms: positive reinforcement, punishment, target behavior, negative reinforcement, emit

http://slatestarcodex.com/2013/05/19/can-you-condition-yourself/
http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/?q=behavior_plans/classroom_and_group_support/teacher_tools/positive_reinforcement

Forgot to add my third link to the website I used
http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/pr/g/postvreinforcer.htm

1. A) My topic is positive reinforcement with children.
B) This topic relates to behavior modification because positive reinforcement is used to change a behavior for the better.
C) I am interested in this because I think using positive reinforcement would be a better way to reward someone.
2. Positive reinforcement is used in behavior modification It is adding something the child likes or finds pleasant to have the behavior continue occurring. Parents and caregivers use positive reinforcement with desired behaviors. Positive reinforcement is much better than any kind of punishment because it does not discourage the child. It is effective for many people who are taking care of a child. It is used to encourage good behavior. If a child gets a positive reinforcement it will encourage them to do that same behavior.
When a reinforcement is given to remove a behavior it is called extinction. An example of this would be stopping tantrums.
Schedules of reinforcement is also an important aspect. When using this parents could use charts and tables to keep track of their progress.
To give a reinforcement you give a reward. These can motivate the child. Some examples of this would be giving a high five, giving praise, giving a hug, a thumbs up, extra privileges, or an actual item. Actions to reward would be playing nicely, getting along, and daily chores. Positive reinforcement can shape a child's behavior.
It is important to remember to not accidentally reinforce a negative behavior. Do not associate it with negativity. Say exactly what you want them to do. Show them in advance what to do right. This can be very tough and it takes a lot of time. Let them cry it out and do not give them the attention.
3. Terms: Behavior, behavior modification, punishment, positive reinforcement, reward, reinforcement, extinction, schedules of reinforcement, shaping.
4. http://www.positivereinforcementforkids.com/
This cite was useful because it gave a lot of information and examples of what to reward and how to reward it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s66vBuTNxvE
This video was useful because it was mothers telling there perspective and explaining how hard it can be sometimes and ways to improve.
http://discipline.about.com/od/increasepositivebehaviors/a/How-To-Use-Positive-Reinforcement-To-Address-Child-Behavior-Problems.htm
This cite was useful because it explains why not to accidentally give negative attention.

Since we have been working on our behavioral change project I chose to talk about it. There are so many ways to reduce or quit certain and many behaviors; therefore I looked of some effective and helpful ways to use. Of course the use of behavior modifications ABC’s (antecedent, behavior, and consequence) is a way to help you break down the subject or concept you are trying to change. One thing I have always heard is practicing yoga helps you reduce behaviors that you don’t want or need; I know interesting right? For example, if focus is one thing you are trying to change, which actually this is another thing (besides washing my face everynight), I am trying to change. One of my best friends emits the behavior of doing yoga every other day. She is the one that told me that yoga helps with focus. After doing some research on yoga, it helps process information quickly, more accurately and also learning. I find it crazy that yoga can help you change certain behavior that deals with focus. For all you wanted to change focus on homework, try yoga! It helps!

Another thing I saw that helps you elicit the change of your behaviors is definitely be consistent when trying to have a behavior becomes extinct. Make sure that your behaviors are consistent and predictable routines. In my case, getting in to a habit of being consistent of washing my face every night and every morning will help me elicit this behavior.

Also, changing your environment will help you change your target behavior. In the long run the frequency of these behaviors may depend on the consequences, but any one moment it is primarily the stimuli in the environment that control our behavior. Most stimuli are compelling; therefore avoid situations that lead to unwanted behaviors and provide stimuli that prompt desired behavior.

Each of these factors help you change your unwanted behaviors into desired behaviors. Each and every one of these concepts have helped me to where I have been washing my face each and every night. Everyone should read this for help of goal setting and changing the behaviors they want.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/10/20-minutes-yoga-brain_n_3404766.html
http://www.pbs.org/parents/inclusivecommunities/challenging_behavior4.html
http://www.psychologicalselfhelp.org/Chapter11.pdf

Terms: ABC’S – antecedent, behavior, consequence, extinction, emit, elicit, desired behavior, stimuli, unwanted behavior, target behavior

The topic that I chose to talk about was the Premack Principle. As we all know, the Premack Principle states that preferred behaviors with high intrinsic motivation can be used as rewards for other, less preferred behaviors. The video linked gives an example about having a day off from work and the many different types of things you could do on your off day. An individual could watch a movie, take a nap, hang with friends, read a book, etc. The main thing is that the individual is most likely to spend more time or perform first the behavior that he/she wants to do. They will subconsciously place these behaviors into a sort of hierarchy and rank them in order of most pleasant to least pleasant. Once this is done an individual may use such activities that they enjoy to perform as reinforcers for activities they do not necessarily enjoy doing. For example, if you do not enjoy doing yard work, but love ice cream, you may use the reinforcer of ice cream after you finish your yardwork. This would be especially effective on a hot, sunny day when ice cream sounds good to just about anybody.

The Premack Principle is a tool that can be used to finish many tasks that an individual may consider unpleasant. I try to use it many times in my life. For example, I love going to the gym, it’s just something that I’ve always enjoyed. I often use going to the gym as motivator to finish homework or to do something around the house. I will often tell myself that I cannot go until I finish my assignments or study for a certain period of time. As explained above, it is an effective tool that is used to help accomplish such tasks.
There are many different ways in which you can apply this principle in real life. The topography may change from person to person, but it all it comes down to is the hierarchy of behaviors being emitted.

Terms: Premack Principle, behavior, reinforcement, reinforcer, motivator, behavioral tools, emit

I decided to emit the behavior of looking into reinforcement. Reinforcement involves the addition of something desirable or the removal of something aversive in order to increase the likelihood a person emits a specific behavior in the future. Researching reinforcement fits into the section we have been talking about because the reading sections as well as in class we have spent an ample amount of time discussing this topic. I am interested in reinforcement because the more and more we discuss it the more I think about ways I can use reinforcement to changes some of my own behaviors.
Positive reinforcement involves the addition of something desirable in order to increase the likelihood a behavior is emitted in the future, while negative reinforcement involves the removal of something aversive in order to increase the likelihood a behavior is emitted in the future. In a clip I found Cinderella must get her chores done in order to be able to attend the Prince’s Ball. Being able to attend the Prince’s Ball reinforces Cinderella to get all of her chores done because attending the Ball is something desirable she wants to do; therefor this is positive reinforcement. Something I found online said that a con to positive reinforcement is that people may become dependent on rewards given as reinforcement; I completely agree with this. I think especially if you are working with children they will become dependent on the reward they are given and may forget what exactly they are being rewarded for. When B.F. Skinner worked with rats and reinforcement, he would place a hungry rat in a box. The box had a lever, which delivered food when it was pressed. This is positive reinforcement for pushing the lever because a hungry rat got food, which is something, desirable. I think that positive reinforcement would be beneficial to modify behaviors only when used in combination with negative reinforcement so that as time goes on, a person doesn’t come dependent on receiving a reward as reinforcement.
LINKS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8rlKV_TrNo
https://managingaclassroom.wikispaces.com/Pros+and+Cons+of+Positive+and+Negative+Reinforcement+and+Rewards+II
http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
TERMS USED:
Emit, behavior, reinforcement, aversive, behavior modification, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, reinforce, B.F Skinner

What I would like you to do is to find a different topic from what you wrote about before and from what we have covered so far in class that you are interested in and search the internet for material on that topic. You might, for example, find people who are doing research on the topic, you might find web pages that discuss the topic, you might find youtube clips that demonstrate something related to the topic, etc. What you find and use is pretty much up to you at this point. But use at least 3 sources.

Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into what we have been covering in class, and why you are interested in it. Next, I would like you to take the information you found related to your topic, integrate/synthesize it, and then write about it. At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.

The topic I chose to do my research on was pet training. I chose to do more research on this topic because my Uncle's dog is very annoying and it's behaviors negatively effect those around it. It is important to choose a puppy that is similar to your activity such as, don't get a very active dog if you do not plan on being very active with it. Also you should always set aside time for training. It won't take long if you are training effectively. You should also keep the same set schedule. It's important to train dogs because untrained dogs can cause a lot of problems and some people end up getting sued because their dog bit one. It is also important to reinforce after every time the dog performs a behavior that is desirable so the behavior will more likely be repeated. clicker training it also a very effective in training because it is uses as an indicator of what the trainer is expecting. You should train your pet on an empty stomach so the treats are more reinforcing. Also switching up the reinforcer will help to keep the dog interested. It gets boring with tis the same reinforcement so the reinforcer may lose the reinforcement properties. This useful information to anyone who is planning on owning a pet because a trained pet is a happy pet.

Terms: Reinforce, reinforcement, desirable, reinforcer, behavior, negative effect, indicator, clicker training

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The topic that I have chosen for this week’s topical blog is Sigmund Freud and his theories. I chose this Freud because I have always been fascinated by his theories and ideas. In my opinion, he is probably the one made psychology a field that deserve the credit it has achieved today. I also feel that he is similar to a “hall of famer” in psychology if there is such a thing. Sigmund Freud is known for his infamous Psychoanalysis theory that examined the unconscious mind which was never really talked about before this. A lot of Freud’s theory now are discredited as pseudo-science due to its lack of empirical evidence and the fact that his theories are not only hard to prove but hard to disprove. That being said, he did come up with theories that were later on developed by future psychologists like Carl Jung. One of it is that our childhood experience affect us later on in life. Another interesting fact about Freud is that based on his theories it was clear that he was obsessed with how we are driven by sexual urges since we were kids and that can be seen in most of his theories.

One theory that most psychology students know as purely Freudian is the Psyche. The psyche according to Freud is the structural part of brain divided into three parts which is the ID, Ego, and Superego. These aren’t physical parts of the brain, instead it is a hypothetical concept that he assumed determined the decisions we made in everyday life. According to Freud, the ID is the part of the brain that is impulsive and is driven by libido-filled pleasure seeking activities. The superego is the complete opposite whereas it is our moral part and ensures we follow societal norms. The ego is the part that satisfies the ID in a safe and socially acceptable way.

Another theory that has gotten a lot of controversy is the theory of the unconscious mind. Freud compares our mind to an iceberg and that the tip of the iceberg is the conscious mind and the part that we are aware of and the rest is the unconscious mind which is a big part of the brain filled with experiences and thoughts that are suppressed. Freud discovered that because there are some events and desires that are frightening and painful for us to handle and so that is why we bury it deep within the unconscious. This process is called repression. Freud always emphasized the importance of the unconscious and how it controls every part of us without us knowing it and by unlocking certain parts of the unconscious we can start to learn a lot about our “true” self.

Finally, probably the most famous theory Freud came up with is the psychosexual stages which explains how we go through 5 sexual stages starting from infancy all the way through adolescent and a lot of the psychological issues that we face can be explained through this 5 stages. The 5 stages are oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital. Freud also believed that we are highly sexual beings and that kids are born with a libido. This led to the development of a theory called the Oedipus complex which explains how we identify our sexuality through our relationship with our parents. A very controversial and incestuous assumption.

Terms: Freud, psychoanalysis, unconscious, the psyche, id, ego, superego, unconscious, subconscious, libido, repression, psychosexual stages, oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital, Oedipus complex.

http://www.iep.utm.edu/freud/

http://www.freudfile.org/psychoanalysis/definition.html

http://www.simplypsychology.org/Sigmund-Freud.html

Extinction is observed in both operantly conditioned and classically conditioned behavior. When operant behavior that has been previously reinforced no longer produces reinforcing consequences the behavior gradually stops occurring. In classical conditioning, when a conditioned stimulus is presented alone, so that it no longer predicts the coming of the unconditioned stimulus, conditioned responding gradually stops. For example, after Pavlov's dog was conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell, it eventually stopped salivating to the bell after the bell had been sounded repeatedly but no food came. Many anxiety disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder are believed to reflect, at least in part, a failure to extinguish conditioned fear.
In behavior modification, extinction eliminates the incentive for unwanted behavior by withholding the expected response. A widespread parenting technique based on extinction is the time-out, in which a child is separated from the group when he or she misbehaves. This technique removes the expected reward of parental attention.
Extinction is the most effective way to eliminate undesirable behavior, although it is not the easiest way to deal with problem behaviors. Punishment is the old fall back position, but rather than eliminating the behavior, it drives it underground, to pop up whenever the punisher is gone or removed. Extinction requires ignoring or redirecting the target behavior. Research has shown it to be the most effective and permanent way to change problem behavior. Because the target behavior may be dangerous, it is sometimes necessary to physically make the behavior difficult if not impossible. Ignoring the behavior is not an option. That means the focus needs to be on replacement behavior, and redirection as a way to avoid the problem behavior.
Terms: extinction, operantly conditioned, classically conditioned behavior, reinforced, consequences, conditioned stimulus, response, reward, punishment, target behavior,
http://www.minddisorders.com/A-Br/Behavior-modification.html#ixzz3XKjtZAp1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction_(psychology)
http://specialed.about.com/od/glossary/g/Extinction-Eliminating-Problem-Behaviors.htm

The topic that I am interested in and have chosen to do more research on is the PreMack Principle. This topic relates to behavior modification because we have discussed it in class recently and have learned a little bit more about it in the week #12 online assignment video. I am interested in this topic because it is a principle that I have experienced before in my daily life and will most likely come across again in the future.
First off, the PreMack principle states for the opportunity to engage in a high frequency behavior, we will engage in a low frequency behavior. This works with humans and animals. We learned a little about this principle in the video we watched with Ian Dunbar’s presentation. Dunbar mentions that owners of dogs should use this principle when they want the dog to want to do what we want them to do. The owner should follow a low frequency behavior; a behavior that the dog doesn’t want to do, with a high frequency behavior; something that the dog wants to do (a dog hobby or behavior problem). The dog hobby/behavior problem will then become a reward for the low frequency behavior.
Through reading on this topic, I’ve learned that the PreMack principle comes from Professor David Premack. The principle was created when he was studying monkeys, but he learned the principle can be applied to humans very well. The PreMack principle is also known as the relative-theory of reinforcement and states that if a person wants to perform a target behavior, they will emit a less desirable behavior to get at the more desirable behavior (Citation A). This principle can fall under behaviorism, and I learned that activities can become reinforcers. Like I mentioned before, I have experienced this principle in my own life. For example, when I was younger my mom would tell me that I had to eat all my vegetables (low-frequency behavior) before I could eat dessert (high frequency behavior).
I wanted to get a visual of what the PreMack principle looked like so I searched for some videos on YouTube. There was one video that I thought was simple and interesting with a dog illustrating the PreMack principle (Citation B). A woman wants the black dog to sit at its bed while the other dog goes off and the woman pours food for the black dog. The low frequency behavior in this video is the dog waiting patiently (less desired behavior) and the high frequency behavior is the dog eating the food happily (more desired behavior). This was just one of many good videos on YouTube that illustrates the PreMack principle works well with animals too.
With additional research on the internet about superstitious behaviors, I have read about what makes up our less desired and more desired behaviors (Citation C). When we emit our more desired behaviors, this is referred to as intrinsic motivation. These are behaviors that we would emit on a day off; participating in activities that we like to do and essentially the behavior is the reward. When we emit our less desired behaviors, this is referred to as extrinsic motivation. These are behaviors that we wouldn’t normally emit if we didn’t get rewarded for doing them; i.e. going to work and getting paid for doing so. We essentially use our intrinsic motivation to help ourselves complete behaviors driven by extrinsic motivation.
After researching further on this topic, I feel I have become very well informed about not only the PreMack Principle, but other relative terms and concepts that are also used in our Behavior Modification class.
Website sources:
A) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premack's_principle
B) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPzrNg1_ajg
C) http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/applying-the-premack-principle-in-the-classroom.html#lesson
Terminology used: PreMack principle, behavior modification, reinforcement, emit, target behavior, (low/high frequency) behavior, reward, intrinsic/extrinsic motivation.

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
-The topic that I would like to cover is Observational Learning. This fits into the section that we have covered so far because it was mentioned while talking about “terrible two’s.” The reason why I picked this topic is because Developmental Psychology is one of my favorite parts of psychology. I find it very interesting how children learn from our behaviors and emit behaviors by watching others. I also find it interesting that this has been a topic that has been studied and talked about for such a long time.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
- The three aspects of the topic that I want to talk about for this assignment are what observational learning is, how it works, and about Albert Bandura studied observational learning and the affects of observational learning to children.
4) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
-Observational Learning is known as behaviors that are learned by modeling of others or by watching other act certain behaviors. Observational learning is carried out through out your life but it is most common in children while they are growing up. Observational learning has a strong voice for imitating others. Children in the childhood stage learn how to behave by watching their parents, siblings or older children that they are surrounded by. This is why most parents and adults try to emit pleasurable behaviors that the child is most likely to carry out rather than modeling an aversive behavior that can turn into a bad habit. Children are constantly observing and absorbing information. Children are more comfortable learning by observing because the people they are around are meaningful to them. It has been said that we are more likely to imitate others who are nurturing, ones that use positive reinforcement and rewards, people with authority over you, those we admire or are similar to us in age, sex and interest. Although there are several studies on observational or social learning, Albert Bandura did a study on observational learning that shows us how affective it really is in children. Albert Bandura study was called the bobo doll experiment. This study was done because he was really interested in studying how children learned aggression. The participants from the experiment were 36 boys and 36 girls ages 3-6. He had a total of 8 experimental groups and 24 of them were assigned to a control group that did not get any treatment. The rest of the children were divided into two groups of 24 participants each. He also He then had children witness adult’s behaviors in an aggressive and non-aggressive mode. Then, they were placed in the room without the model and were placed in a room without the model and were observed to see if they would imitate the behavior of the model that they observed. After the observation, the child was then taken into another room that had several appealing toys that they could play with. But then they were told that they were not allowed to play with any of those toys and were taken away to build frustration on to the child. Then the child was taken into a experimental room which had “agressive” toys including the well known bobo doll and it included non-aggressive toys as well. It was shown that the children that observed the aggressive model were a lot more aggressive than those children who were shown the non-aggressive model.
Although it is great that our children learn our behaviors by watching us, I also believe that it can be an aversive learning procedure. If a parent or others around the child have bad habits that are hard to break and they are doing it around a child, they are more likely to learn that behavior and carry it out. Once that child learns that observed behavior, it can be very difficult to teach that child not to carry on that aversive behavior. This is why watching your own actions around a child is very important!

4) URL’s:
http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm

http://study.com/academy/lesson/observational-learning-definition-theory-examples.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=128Ts5r9NRE

5) Terminology: observational learning, terrible two’s, developmental psychology, psychology, behaviors, emit, Albert Bandura, pleasurable, modeling, aversive, reinforcement

Megan Hasley
1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
I decided that I wanted to research the topic of toy time outs. I think they are interesting because I have not heard much about them before this section in our book. When my brother was younger we just simply had time outs, we did not put the toys in time out, and I wonder if this might have been more beneficial as opposed to arguing and trying to get him to stay in time out, which also continued to give him the attention that he was seeking. The subject of toy time outs is found is section 5.4 in our text, and I am going to explore the topic further.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The three aspects of my topic that I want to talk about are: how toy time outs work, why they are different from traditional time out, and how they might be more beneficial in the long run as opposed to traditional time outs.
2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
A traditional time out often occurs because a child is misbehaving. Some examples of behavior that could land a child in traditional time out would be: doing something that could be considered dangerous, hurting another child, breaking a rule, or not following directions after the child has been given a warning (cdc). Often times there are warnings that are given before a time out is actually administered. The warning needs to be clear and concise, after the warning is given a time out can be administered to a child, there should only be one warning given (cdc).
Traditional time outs are no longer considered one of the best options for disciplining children. The problem with time out is that it is often difficult to get children to stay where you told them to sit. As a result the parent is constantly scolding the child which gives the child exactly what they want, attention (parents). Another reason that time outs do not work is because parents also need to be practicing time in, this concept centers around praising your children when they are exhibiting behavior that you would like them to repeat in the future (parents). Time out has also been misunderstood by many parents. Many parents think that time out should last one minute for each year that the child has lived, but that was intended to be the maximum amount of time a time out should last, not the rule (parents). Unfortunately time out was only intended to give children a break from positive reinforcement, just enough time for the child to calm down (parents). A better alternative to the traditional time out is a toy time out.
A toy time out occurs if a child is unable to use a toy properly (mothering). Many times parents will say things along the lines of “you are having trouble using this toy correctly right now. It needs a break. When you are ready to have it back let me know” (mothering). This allows the child to receive a punishment without it directly reflecting on them (mothering). After the parent takes away the toy they may put it into an actual box that the child understands that he or she can no longer play with it. When the child decides that they are ready to use it properly the toy can come back out. After a while, even the mention of taking the toy away can be enough to change the behavior before it gets to that point again (mothering). Many parents find that a toy time out works much better than traditional time out because the parents do not have to try to keep the child in time out, it is much easier to regulate a toy (mothering).
3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/discipline/time-out/why-time-out-is-out/
http://www.mothering.com/forum/35-parenting/1161413-toy-timeout.html
http://www.cdc.gov/parents/essentials/timeout/whentimeout.html

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
The topic I would like to research more in depth is observational learning. This fits into the section because it is talked about in the part of Removing the Nos. Children learn how to say no because they are coping their parents because at that age children are getting into everything. But, instead of changing the antecedent, parents just say no instead. I am interested in observational learning because I have been around children my whole life I think it is extremely interesting how they learn.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
First I would like to talk about what observational learning is. This will help me get a better definition than the one provided in the book. Secondly, I would like to understand better how one learns through observational learning. Lastly, I would like to talk about is Albert Bandura and his contributions to observational learning. In this I would like to talk about one of his experiments.
3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.

Observational learning is sometimes called modeling or shaping. Observational learning can happen any time, but frequently this time of learning happens in childhood. Children model what the adults in their life do. One of the more important things observational learning does is that children learn how to base their social behavior by copying their parents. The saying monkey see, monkey do, is very fitting in describing how children learn during this time. So, the child sees the parent emitting a certain behavior, which causes them to elicit the same behavior. The creator of observational learning is Albert Bandura.
Albert Bandura is very well known for his bobo doll experiment. In this experiment, Bandura studied children who were old enough to be in kindergarten. The children were required to watch a short film where adults emitted behavior of aggression to the bobo doll. There were three different conditions shown in the film. The first one was a model reward. In this condition, the children witnessed a second adult give the aggressive adult a piece of candy for a “job well done”. The second condition was the model punished condition. Instead of being positively reinforced for attacking the bobo doll, a second adult punished the aggressive adult. The final condition was the no consequence condition. This time all the children saw was the adult behaving aggressively to the bobo doll. After watching this video, the children were left alone with the bobo doll and the props used in the film. The children imitated the aggressive behavior they had witnessed the adults conduct. Those who were in the reward and no consequences conditions were more willingly to imitate the aggression than those who witnessed the punishment. Bandura felt that there were four steps that needed to happen before someone could observationally learn. The first step is attention. If the subject is not paying attention they are not going to be able to learn from the adult. Attention is based on the adult in question. If the child likes or identifies with the adult, they will be more likely to pay attention to them. The second step is Retention or memory. Children have to pay attention, and they also have to be able to remember the behavior. So, adults have to make sure they emit a behavior which is easily remembered. Third step is initiation or reproduction. In this step, the children have to be able to actually replicate the behavior the adult is doing. Some of the things adults can do, children cannot. They do not have the skills needed. Also, they may not be able to do something just by observing them. They will actually have to attempt it a couple times before they can do it themselves. The last step is motivation. The child will have to be motivated to do emit the observed behavior. As we saw in the film, those who received praise was more likely to emit aggression to the bobo doll rather than those who witnessed the adult receive punishment. Also, if the child likes or resects the adult they will be more likely to copy their behavior.

4) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/cognitive-approaches-to-learning-48/bandura-and-observational-learning-203-12738/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHHdovKHDNU
5) Terms used.
Observational learning, antecedent, behavior, emit, elicit, Albert Bandura, positive, reinforced, punished,

Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
-The topic that I would like to cover is Observational Learning. This fits into the section that we have covered so far because it was mentioned while talking about “terrible two’s.” The reason why I picked this topic is because Developmental Psychology is one of my favorite parts of psychology. I find it very interesting how children learn from our behaviors and emit behaviors by watching others. I also find it interesting that this has been a topic that has been studied and talked about for such a long time.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
- The three aspects of the topic that I want to talk about for this assignment are what observational learning is, how it works, and about Albert Bandura studied observational learning and the affects of observational learning to children.
4) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
-Observational Learning is known as behaviors that are learned by modeling of others or by watching other act certain behaviors. Observational learning is carried out through out your life but it is most common in children while they are growing up. Observational learning has a strong voice for imitating others. Children in the childhood stage learn how to behave by watching their parents, siblings or older children that they are surrounded by. This is why most parents and adults try to emit pleasurable behaviors that the child is most likely to carry out rather than modeling an aversive behavior that can turn into a bad habit. Children are constantly observing and absorbing information. Children are more comfortable learning by observing because the people they are around are meaningful to them. It has been said that we are more likely to imitate others who are nurturing, ones that use positive reinforcement and rewards, people with authority over you, those we admire or are similar to us in age, sex and interest. Although there are several studies on observational or social learning, Albert Bandura did a study on observational learning that shows us how affective it really is in children. Albert Bandura study was called the bobo doll experiment. This study was done because he was really interested in studying how children learned aggression. The participants from the experiment were 36 boys and 36 girls ages 3-6. He had a total of 8 experimental groups and 24 of them were assigned to a control group that did not get any treatment. The rest of the children were divided into two groups of 24 participants each. He also He then had children witness adult’s behaviors in an aggressive and non-aggressive mode. Then, they were placed in the room without the model and were placed in a room without the model and were observed to see if they would imitate the behavior of the model that they observed. After the observation, the child was then taken into another room that had several appealing toys that they could play with. But then they were told that they were not allowed to play with any of those toys and were taken away to build frustration on to the child. Then the child was taken into a experimental room which had “agressive” toys including the well known bobo doll and it included non-aggressive toys as well. It was shown that the children that observed the aggressive model were a lot more aggressive than those children who were shown the non-aggressive model.
Although it is great that our children learn our behaviors by watching us, I also believe that it can be an aversive learning procedure. If a parent or others around the child have bad habits that are hard to break and they are doing it around a child, they are more likely to learn that behavior and carry it out. Once that child learns that observed behavior, it can be very difficult to teach that child not to carry on that aversive behavior. This is why watching your own actions around a child is very important!

4) URL’s:
http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm

http://study.com/academy/lesson/observational-learning-definition-theory-examples.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=128Ts5r9NRE

5) Terminology: observational learning, terrible two’s, developmental psychology, psychology, behaviors, emit, Albert Bandura, pleasurable, modeling, aversive, reinforcement

The topic that I have chosen for this week’s topical blog is Sigmund Freud and his theories. I chose this Freud because I have always been fascinated by his theories and ideas. In my opinion, he is probably the one made psychology a field that deserve the credit it has achieved today. I also feel that he is similar to a “hall of famer” in psychology if there is such a thing. Sigmund Freud is known for his infamous Psychoanalysis theory that examined the unconscious mind which was never really talked about before this. A lot of Freud’s theory now are discredited as pseudo-science due to its lack of empirical evidence and the fact that his theories are not only hard to prove but hard to disprove. That being said, he did come up with theories that were later on developed by future psychologists like Carl Jung. One of it is that our childhood experience affect us later on in life. Another interesting fact about Freud is that based on his theories it was clear that he was obsessed with how we are driven by sexual urges since we were kids and that can be seen in most of his theories.
One theory that most psychology students know as purely Freudian is the Psyche. The psyche according to Freud is the structural part of brain divided into three parts which is the ID, Ego, and Superego. These aren’t physical parts of the brain, instead it is a hypothetical concept that he assumed determined the decisions we made in everyday life. According to Freud, the ID is the part of the brain that is impulsive and is driven by libido-filled pleasure seeking activities. The superego is the complete opposite whereas it is our moral part and ensures we follow societal norms. The ego is the part that satisfies the ID in a safe and socially acceptable way.
Another theory that has gotten a lot of controversy is the theory of the unconscious mind. Freud compares our mind to an iceberg and that the tip of the iceberg is the conscious mind and the part that we are aware of and the rest is the unconscious mind which is a big part of the brain filled with experiences and thoughts that are suppressed. Freud discovered that because there are some events and desires that are frightening and painful for us to handle and so that is why we bury it deep within the unconscious. This process is called repression. Freud always emphasized the importance of the unconscious and how it controls every part of us without us knowing it and by unlocking certain parts of the unconscious we can start to learn a lot about our “true” self.
Finally, probably the most famous theory Freud came up with is the psychosexual stages which explains how we go through 5 sexual stages starting from infancy all the way through adolescent and a lot of the psychological issues that we face can be explained through this 5 stages. The 5 stages are oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital. Freud also believed that we are highly sexual beings and that kids are born with a libido. This led to the development of a theory called the Oedipus complex which explains how we identify our sexuality through our relationship with our parents. A very controversial and incestuous assumption.
Terms: Freud, psychoanalysis, unconscious, the psyche, id, ego, superego, unconscious, subconscious, libido, repression, psychosexual stages, oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital, Oedipus complex.
http://www.iep.utm.edu/freud/
http://www.freudfile.org/psychoanalysis/definition.html
http://www.simplypsychology.org/Sigmund-Freud.html

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
The topic that i am interested in writing about and doing research on this week is observational learning. This fits into the section we covered because it was mentioned in this weeks reading. They also mentioned it when they were talking about the terrible twos and how babies start to say no to there parents more then usual. The reason i am interested in this topic is because i want to know more about how to better develop and raise your child so when i have a kid their terrible twos aren't so bad as other babies. I also am interested in how you reverse observational learning in kids and let them learn something good instead.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
From the research that i want to do, there are three aspects of observational learning that i want to talk about. The first aspect of observational learning is what exactly is observational learning with the correct definition in the terms of the psychology field. The second aspect of observational learning that i want to talk about is how observational learning works, and how it can be used in other forms rather than with babies and learning. The third aspect of observational learning that i want to talk about is who created the idea of observational learning, and when it was created and why it was even thought of being a thing for psychology. Also with that i want to know the impact observational learning has had on psychology.
3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
I found a lot of information from the research that i did on observational learning. From the research i did i found out things on the three aspects that i wanted to talk about. The first aspect of observational learning that i researched and learned about was what exactly is observational learning with the correct definition in the terms of the psychology field. Observational learning is learning that occurs through observing the behavior of others. So from my research observational learning is when you learn something from someone doing an action repeatedly, and you model their behavior. An example of this is with the terrible twos and when babies start saying no. Babies at that age can now respond to you and know what you are saying to them. So with you saying no to them, they start to learn that and start to say no back.
The second aspect of observational learning that I want to talk about is how observational learning works, and how it can be used in other forms rather than with babies and learning. From the research that i did learned that observational learning can produce new behaviors, and either increase or decrease the frequency with which a previously learned behavior is demonstrated. An example of how observation learning can be used in a different form then with babies is with a group of children playing hide and seek. And one of the kids joins in and starts to play but doesn't know how. So she sits out for a couple of rounds and watches the other kids play. After observing the kids playing she quickly learns how to play hide and seek through observational learning.
The third aspect of observational learning that i want to talk about is who created the idea of observational learning, and when it was created and why it was even thought of being a thing for psychology. Also with that i want to know the impact observational learning has had on psychology. The creator of the idea of observational learning was Albert Bandura. His social learning theory stressed the importance of observational learning. This idea was created in 1961 with the Bobo doll study. In Bandura's most famous experiment he created a film in which a women was shown beating a Bobo doll and yelling aggressive words. He showed this film to some children and they watched the whole thing. Once they were done watching the kids where allowed to play with a Bobo doll in a room by themselves. Once they were in the room the children started to beat the doll and started saying horrible words just like the women in the film. This was a perfect example of observational learning and how it works on children. This experiment that Bandura did is still considered part of the cognitive revolution in psychology. His theories and thoughts have had tremendous impact on personality psychology, cognitive psychology and behavioral psychology.
4) URL’s:
http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm
http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/bio_bandura.htm
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/cognitive-approaches-to-learning-48/bandura-and-observational-learning-203-12738/
terms: observationl learning, terrible twos, albert bandura, behavioral, cognitive psychology

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
My topic for section 5.4 is “Removing the No’s” this fits into our section because it is one section of changing our antecedents. Also we had talked about this topic in class when we were referring to the “terrible twos” and how Dr. Maclin went about raising his child using this technic. I am interested in this because I think it is interesting how if we can control and change our environments this could greatly impact our behaviors. Also I think it is interesting when we cannot necessarily control our environments but still set up our antecedents so that our behaviors will correspond in a way that we desire.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
Three aspects of Removing the No’s that I want to focus on are the terrible twos, portion control while eating, and drinking less alcohol. I am interested in focusing on the terrible twos because if I ever do have children I think that this is a great technic for getting through the rough times. Portion control goes with the second half of Removing the No’s when we focus on changing the environment because a lot of people have a problem with eating too much and gaining weight. Drinking less alcohol also coincides with changing the environment because I would like to drink less sometimes and focusing on this aspect could help make a change for myself.
2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
The terrible twos is a hard time for any new parent, when their child can become more vocal and express their opinions in not the most subtle terms. This is a prime time for temper tantrums and outbursts, the parent will have to tell their child “no” and feel the need to punish them however that is not the case if we just change the antecedent and control the environment. According to our text instead of punishing the child we change their environment into somewhere where the child can do whatever they want in a safe environment. This includes removing all objects that could potentially harm them or covering up sockets or basically anything that you do not want them to get into or break. However this does require that you have space in your home to create such a space but it does not need to be large. With this the child will not have to be punished with the word “no” and can emit the behaviors they desire in their own space without punishment. Portion control is another aspect where we can change the environment or the antecedent prior to eating. Many people struggle with eating too much food resulting in gaining weight. However if we use these simple technics prior to eating than portion control will not be such an issue. If we change the environment by using smaller plates instead of bigger plates we feel like we are eating more and we feel fuller or using a smaller spoon then a larger one we tend to eat less. Other ways to eat better would be to instead only buy fruits instead of sweets to force yourself to eat better and avoid the temptation of sweets altogether by changing the antecedent or meal prepping, this is when you cook your food in advance for the week and are forced than to eat the food that you made instead of wasting it. A lot of college kids have the problem of drinking way too much and this is the environment that they are going to be living in for their duration of their time at college. With the Parole example from our section we cannot always leave the environment that we are in and especially as college students we do not have the means to necessarily live far away from campus. What we can do is that we can change the situations we put ourselves in. In this case we could join clubs or activities that consume most of our time or take shifts at our jobs that are early in the morning to avoid going out and drinking too much knowing that the consequences will override the desire to drink. Some antecedents that could help control the desire to drink so much is when you go out to the bars only take an allotted amount of money with you so that you cannot buy too many drinks, obviously there are always going to temptations to drink more with people buying you drinks or ordering the dollar tequila shots but if you were serious about reducing your drinking habits I think that this would be an effective strategy. Changing our antecedents and our environments can reinforce us to make more desirable behavior changes.
3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://www.sparringmind.com/changing-habits/
http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/development/behavioral/tackle-terrible-twos/#page=1
http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/supportingresearch/journal/toomey.aspx
Terminology: Removing the No’s, antecedents, behaviors, changing the environment, punish, emit, reinforce

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

I want to make an my topic about how you can make positive change in your diet by changing the foods that you choose surround yourself with. Manipulating and changing the environment that you eat food in is in my opinion a very effective strategy to healthy eating habits. I also think it can help you change your diet with having to use reinforcement or punishment. I think this is relevant to the reading that we did this week because it involves changing the antecedents of our environment to emit change in behavior. This topic is think is interesting and important because having poor diets is a very large problem for many people in the United States. I think that people often surrounded or surround themselves with unhealthy options of food and is a cause of poor diet. Having these bad foods around make you more apt to consume these bad foods and be unhealthy or overweight. Also I think this advice can be pretty useful to people as they try to change dietary and lifestyle decisions.

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

Buying decisions at the grocery store, Restaurant selection and decision making, Your home environment and related decision making

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

Making dietary change can be very hard for a person to do. Dietary habits have usually been developed over an entire lifetime and are hard to change in a long term effective manner. Many people go on diets and either fail miserably or not much after dieting fail to keep down the weight that they lost. I think much of this is because of the person's environment that they live and work in does not set them up for long term success. People that diet are usually not changing their environments but just their eating decisions and because of this they are using more willpower to keep honest and active in their diet. This is not a formula that encourages long term success and people should be considering more what they can do to manipulate their environment to help them have more successful and healthy eating habits.

Dietary success is set up at the grocery store. The foods that you buy are the basis of your everyday diet and you have to start at where you are buying your foods and what you are buying from them. The first thing you can try to do is make a change in where you shop. If you are able to shop in organic supermarkets such as whole foods then you should try shopping there. Stores such as whole foods tend to offer healthier options and do not alway offer those unhealthy junk foods that people love to buy and eat. Other grocery stores have also started to have organic sections where they sell healthier organic options for the consumer. If you live somewhere that has access to a store that has
these options available there are other options you can do to make adjustments to how you shop in your grocery store. You can mentally limit or block off sections of stores that you shop at in order to stop your from accessing those junk food aisles that are hard to say no to. If you limit your shopping at a grocery stores to the sections that sell produce, dairy, and other healthy options while avoiding the aisles that sell chips, candy, snacks, and soda you will go a long way to help yourself eat in a much healthier way.

Eating out is a common, and in some cases almost essential social activity. I also can be a major diet killer when given the chance. While it can be an enemy to your diet there are ways that you can go out to dinner and still make it so it can fit into healthy eating decisions. The first thing you can do is start with the choice of venue. If at possible you are going try to avoid places that fry your food and lather them in sauces and butters. You may want to choose a restaurant that specializes in salad or other healthy foods that are delicious. Other restaurants that although not all of their food may not be healthy they offer a low calorie menu so you can choose options are a not going to be diet killers. Picking the right place and item can be a savior when you go out to eat with your friends or significant other.

You also want to set up your home environment to help you be successful in dieting. With the combination of good shopping decisions at the grocery store you should have a good start in making your home a good dietary environment. You want to live in a way that promotes your healthy lifestyle so replacing those chips with apples and carrots is a good start. You also want to live in a way that helps you eat healthier. One bad habit people have in their diet is that they do not eat breakfast or lack a proper breakfast. Changing your sleep schedule to get up in time to eat a good breakfast is a great start and it will also keep you from having as many cravings for snacks in the later parts of the day and keep up your metabolism. All these decisions combined will set in up in the right path towards a healthy lifestyle.

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

http://www.hellawella.com/25-realistic-ways-to-improve-your-diet-in-2013/15963?page=9
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/guide/grocery-list?page=3
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/27/upshot/How-to-Eat-Healthy-Meals-at-Restaurants.html?_r=0

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

environment, antecedents, reinforcement, punishment, behavior, modification, decision making, habits, diet, lifestyle

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
I decided I would like to explore the topic of observational learning more this week. Observational learning was covered this week when talking about the terrible 2’s and how to remove no’s. I thought that removing no’s from the environment was particularly interesting because I had never thought about the concept before. Instead of saying no, you can present an environment where you have changed the antecedents so everything is a yes instead of a no. This seems like it would be beneficial to help people with raising their children so I wonder why more people don’t implore the concept of removing no’s.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
I’d like to explore the concept of observational learning and its differences from other types of learning. I’d also like to explore how observational learning works as well as the implications that it has for learning in the environment. I want to look into Albert Bandura and talk about what he did for psychology
3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Classical conditioning and operant conditioning emphasize the direct experience of something by using either punishment or reinforcement to create learning. Observational learning is different than these two theories in that it is a type of learning that can occur indirectly. It occurs when we reproduce actions that we have seen based on their predictive outcomes. Observational learning is sometimes referred to as vicarious reinforcement. Observational learning is most one of the most important socialization processes involving how children learn to act and respond based on how they see adults or their parents act and respond. Studies have shown that infants as young as 3 weeks old have actually been shown to imitate mouth movements and facial expressions. Often times we talk about observational learning in a negative way such as with violence or something else. However, it can be used in a positive powerful way by modeling others actions and inspiring positive behaviors. For example, we see on TV commercials non-profit organization members helping in some way to either help feed the poor, take care of an injured dog, get people to quit smoking, or be clean with the environment. There are many ways that we can channel observational learning to improve our surroundings and make a difference. One leads by example.
Albert Bandura’s most well-known experiment is the Bobo doll experiment where he discovered observational learning. In the experimental, kids watched a video where an adult hit an inflated doll. After watching the video, the kids were put in a room with an inflated doll like the one in the video. Bandura found that kids who watched the adult hit the doll without consequences were more likely to imitate this behavior and try to hit the doll as well whereas kids who watched an adult hit a doll but receive punishment for hitting the doll were much less likely to hit the doll. All this information shows how important it is to mold a child’s environment when they are younger so that they can experience a pleasurable learning outcome. In the book, it talks about changing the antecedents of the environment to take away the no’s of a child. Children learn to say no through hearing their parents say it repeatedly and that’s why the terrible 2’s can be so painful because children will repeat what they hear and imitate their adult influences. So it could be very helpful to try to set up your environment in a way and invokes yes’s instead of no’s.
Albert Bandura is well known for his research with observation and observational learning. He came up with the idea that observational learning is natural. Observational learning is very important to his social learning theory, which has become one of the most important theories when dealing with learning and development in children. This theory states that direct reinforcement cannot explain every type of learning and that there must be a social process that takes place known as observational learning. Bandura eventually expanded his theory to social cognitive theory to explain a more comprehensive overview of the human mind in social learning. He also studied the concept of self-efficacy beliefs and how they can arbitrate changes in behavior and fear-arousal. Overall, Albert Bandura is one of the most influential psychologists ever.
4) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/cognitive-approaches-to-learning-48/bandura-and-observational-learning-203-12738/
http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/social/bandura.html
Terms: observational learning, removing NO’s, antecedent, Albert Bandura, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, self-efficacy, punishment, consequence

I am interested in discussing observational learning because I think the concept of "monkey see, monkey do" is actually pretty significant in not only children, but adults and animals as well. This fits into the sections we have covered so far because it has to do with behaviors that are learned and how antecedents such as observing others can create certain behaviors. I am going to elaborate on the history and different views/definitions of observational learning, observational learning in children, and observational learning in animals.
Observational learning is sometimes referred to as shaping, modelling, and vicarious reinforcement. It tends to be most common during childhood and plays an important role in the socialization process. A leading research in the area of observational learning, Albert Bandura (1960s), is well known for his bobo doll studies. He created a movie of a woman hitting, kicking, and yelling at a blow-up doll. After showing the film to a group of children, they were sent to a playroom filled with bobo dolls along with a group that had not watched the film. The children who watched the film started hitting and kicking the bobo doll and the children that did not watch the film did not hit or kick the dolls at first, but then started to after watching the film-watching group. According to Bandura's research, there are a number of factors that increase the likelihood that a behavior will be imitated. We are more likely to imitate: people we perceive as warm and nurturing, when we lack confidence in our knowledge and ability, people who are similar to us in age, sex, and interests (this is also similar in animals and animal species), and more.
In children, observational learning is the first way of exploring their abilities along with their internal motivation to learn and accomplish new things. Observational learning allows the brain to tap into its inner need to excel and advance at the most basic level, watching and doing. When a child is in a situation where a peer or adult exposes them to a new behavior, they are attentive to what is new and often will try to behavior for themselves. Sometimes this is a conflict with the adult, often parents because the children will do something the parent did that isn't especially appropriate for children and the child will be punished. But the parent might fail to look at where their child learned the behavior... by their parent. This could be a environment or an antecedent that could be changed so the child will have behaviors that are appropriate after imitating the parents appropriate behaviors. Setting realistic expectations for children, as well as explaining them in detail, offers the child the ability to feel they can succeed along with building self-esteem.
In animals, observational learning is very similar to children. It is found that many animals are capable of imitation and that animals can often benefit from watching another member of their species perform a particular task. For example, casual observation in natural settings reveals that young chimpanzees intently watch their elders perform intricate tasks. This suggests that learning by observation is very common in some species. An artificial, laboratory example of observational learning would be to allow an observer rat watch a demonstrator rat pressing a lever for food. If the observer has never before pressed a lever and was given that opportunity for food, the more likely that rat would more rapidly press the lever. A more advanced example is research that was done with two monkeys that took turns as demonstrator and observer. The demonstrator's task was to choose between two objects, one in which contained food. The objects were changed on each trial, so there was no way for the monkey to know which one was correct; it chose randomly. The observer, however, watched the observer's trial and could find out which of the two objects was correct. When given the opportunity to choose, the observer more often chose the correct one. This is because the monkey didn't pay attention to which choice the demonstrator monkey chose, but which one was wrong and which one was right.

URLs:
1. http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm
2. http://www.funderstanding.com/theory/child-development/observational-learning-and-the-young-child/
3. http://www.britannica.com/topic/animal-learning

Terms: antecedent, behavior, observational behavior, environment

1) The topic that I decided to look more into this week is how changing the environment and the antecedent that elicited the behavior can help with a successful behavior modification. The reason why I chose this topic is because while the changing of the environment seems like such a simple solution, it can be difficult to actually find a way to do it, as well as implement it. This chapter focused mainly on ways to change the antecedent of a behavior so that you can successfully modify your behavior, but it was a short section and so I decided that it was a great topic to look into. I wanted to go more in depth on the subject than what the section mentioned about changing an environment so that I could get a better understanding of it, as well as learn more about why it is so successful.

2) The three aspects that I wanted to discuss about my topic are how antecedents are important when deciding behaviors, how to change the environment correctly, and why manipulating these important factors are so successful. These characteristics are important to look into because understanding where these ideas came about, and what exactly they are, can help expand my knowledge on the subject as well as be able to answer any questions that I had previously. I’m also curious to see what problems people have with actually implementing the change in the environment and how to fix that because that is one thing I am struggling with for my behavior modification project.

3) In order to understand and modify behavior, it’s important to analyze the antecedents and consequences. When we understand the antecedents of a behavior we have information on the circumstances in which the behavior was reinforced and was punished. Since behaviors tend to occur more in situations in which it has been reinforced and less in situations where it has been punished, having this valuable information helps us to predict the situations and environments the behavior will be more likely to occur. With this way of modifying behavior, we are using operant conditioning because the stimulus follows the response. In operant conditioning, the environment guides our behavior by providing cues about the probable payoffs. We are using antecedent cues anytime that we observe a situation and try to predict what the consequences will be. With self-directed behavior we are able to alter the consequences somewhat by providing special rewards and punishments and we can alter how we view the consequences. However, another way to do this is by changing the environment in order to give us self-control. Some techniques for changing our environments are to avoid any situations that may lead to unwanted behavior as well as providing stimuli that prompt our desired or target behavior. We can either avoid an environment entirely or change parts of it so that it is less likely to produce the unwanted behavior It is also helpful to recognize that many unwanted behaviors are the outcome of an easily recognized series or chain of behaviors. Which means that each step along the chain of events serves as the stimulus for the next step.
One simple way to say this is that you need to put yourself in the right place at the right time. Like with my behavior modification project, doing homework in my bed probably isn’t the best decision if I’m trying to avoid taking naps. We can help ourselves keep up with remembering to keep ourselves in the right place by adding reminders to our environment. For example putting a sticky-note on my pillow saying “don’t nap” may be that extra push or reminder I need to get out of my room or move around so I’m not as tired and tempted. Another part of our environment is the people that surround us. So telling others of your desired behavior, or asking them to keep you motivated will help change your antecedent to the one you want it to be instead.
One thing that keeps people from being successful when they are trying to change their environment that will lead to their behavior change is that they don’t take the time to plan or make the mental connection in advance between a specific situation and a specific behavior. Making in the moment decisions don’t work out well, and can often end in returning to the undesired behaviors. Successfully changing the environment is one of the best methods of self control that someone has. It is simple, safe, effective, and quick. The disadvantage is that we are frequently unable to impose the method on ourselves and sometimes we end up forgetting, cheating, giving up, changing our minds, deciding to start changing tomorrow, or some other excuse so that we don’t feel as bad.


4) Links:
http://bcotb.com/antecedents-the-a-in-the-abcs-of-behavioral-analysis/
http://www.psychologicalselfhelp.org/Chapter11.pdf
https://books.google.com/books?id=8TZBBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7&dq=changing+the+environment+behavior+modification&source=bl&ots=MdD9KtVnWt&sig=NAYB6wEzieCWRp_dPUfMKES9kQk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBmoVChMI_rX-lPeYyQIVwaoeCh0akw_5#v=onepage&q=changing%20the%20environment%20behavior%20modification&f=false

Terms: environment, elicit, antecedent, behavior, operant conditioning, desired behavior, reinforced, punished, reward, punishment, consequence

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
My topic for this topical blog is going to be on observational learning which we learned about in section 5.4 of our reading on changing an antecedent. I am interested in observational learning because I always believed that we learn from what we see our parents, other adults, and society doing. I can tell when I am around my parents that I have some of the same traits that they do. For example, my dad always showed up where ever he had to be early. I notice that in college I am always in class 20 minutes before it starts. I think I got this from observing him go to his daily responsibilities.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The three aspects of observational learning that I want to talk about today is what exactly observational learning is, Albert Bandura and the bobo-doll experiment which exhibits observational learning, and the factors that Albert Bandura said influenced observational learning.
3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Observational learning is when learning happens from watching and imitating others. It is also referred to as shaping, modeling, and vicarious reinforcement. Research states that people naturally tend to model the behaviors of others in their lives. When someone is observing others, information is being retained. While it is being retained, that information is being processed with prior knowledge in mind that will help them reach conclusions. Observational learning can occur at any time in your life, but it is most common to occur during childhood when children learn from authority figures and their peers.Observational learning also plays a role in the socialization process because children learn how to behave and respond to others by watching how their parents and authority figures interact with each other. Observational learning can result in good and bad behaviors. One example of observational learning working in a good way is when a child sees their parent doing laundry, they will imitate that by picking up clothes and folding them. A way observational learning can work in a bad way is if a child sees another child hit their friend, they are more likely to go hit one of their friends until they are told that is not okay.
One of the first experiments ever done on observational learning was done by Albert Bandura in 1961. Bandura believed that humans were cognitive beings and that they were likely to think about the connection between behavior and consequences at an early age and that they are more likely to be influenced by observing others. He took young children and had them watch this video where an adult was hitting a large, inflatable balloon doll. One of the groups of kids just watched this happen with no consequences afterward. The other group saw the adult get punished after aggressively hitting the balloon doll. Both groups were then taken into a room with the balloon doll to see what they would do. The group that saw no consequence happen, repeated the adults behavior and hit the doll. The group that saw the adult get punished did not hit the doll. This proved to his theory that children would respond to what they saw happen to the adult.
According to Bandura, there were certain factors that will increase the likelihood that a behavior will be imitated. One of them is a person that we see as warm and nurturing, because they are approachable and we are more likely to want to learn from them. ANother one is a person who receives awards for their behavior, because when we see someone get rewarded, we want to be awarded as well. Another factor is when you have been rewarded for that behavior in the past again because we want to keep getting rewarded. As we said before, another factor is a person who is in a position of authority in our lives such as a parent, teacher, doctor, etc. Someone who is the same age, sex, or has the same interests can also be a factor in observational learning as well as someone we admire or has a higher social standing. The last factor Bandura said contributed to observational learning is when a situation is confusing or unfamiliar because we want to learn from it.
In conclusion, I feel that observational learning is important because we imitate our peers and persons of authority. It is important to know what observational learning is, how it works, the history behind it, and the factors to look out for
4) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3139552/
http://community.miamioh.edu/writingcontest2007/node/87

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
observational learning, reinforcement, antecedent, modeling, Bandura, punishment

1) For this week's topical blog, I am going to discuss observational learning and the idea of "monkey see, monkey do" learning. This topic fits into our readings for this week in the section about the terrible two's. This topic is a very interesting topic to be because of the relevance it has on my life and surroundings.

2) In this blog, I am going to elaborate on what observational learning is and how it is defined, who discovered observational learning, and how it can be observed in children.

3) To define observational learning, we need to exclude what we know about learning styles dealing with classical conditioning and operant conditioning, for observational learning it significantly different. It instead combines cognitive learning theory and behavioral learning theory, being defined as a type of learning that is usually associated with social learning through both social interaction and environmental stimuli. It is the method of shaping and modeling, often called vicarious reinforcement. It is often seen in young children and babies as they observe adults and other children emitting certain behaviors, soon copying these same behaviors in the way of "monkey see, monkey do". This is because we as humans are naturally inclined to engage in this type of observational learning, mimicking what we observe in order to better understand and emit the seemingly correct behaviors we are shown.
This idea of observational behavior was first coined by psychologist Albert Bandura. In 1961 and 1963, Bandura conducted a number of experiments, which have now been collectively called the "bobo doll experiment". In the experiment, he first made a film showing a young woman hitting, kicking, and yelling aggressive phrases at a bobo doll. He then showed this film to groups of kindergartners, who enjoyed it. They were then let out to play in a room which contained a bobo doll and a few little hammers, such as the one the young woman used in the film to hit the bobo doll. The observers immediately noted how the kindergartners did exactly as the woman, hitting, kicking, sitting on, and even yelling the same aggressive phrases as the woman at the doll.
Bandura recorded the results, concluding that the children changed their behavior without even being reinforced for their imitation behaviors. He later created the theory of observational learning, stating that there are established factors that go into the modeling process. These are attention to stimuli, retention of stimuli, reproduction of behavior modeling the stimuli, and motivation to reproduce the behavior.
These are all very important steps in the modeling process, which should be observed and considered when working with children. Children are very prone to use observational learning. This can be seen in children who what certain media outlets like movies or from games. They start to imitate the actions of their favorite characters, such as superheroes in movies. This type of learning can have both a positive and negative impact, for children are more susceptible to learn aggressive and undesirable behaviors through others. But it can also be positive if they are shown healthy behaviors through shows such as Sesame Street, learning desirable behaviors with others.

4) http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/bandura.html
https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/social-learning-theory

The topic I will be using for this week’s blog post is differential reinforcement. In section 5.4 we learned about differential reinforcement of other behaviors, specifically, but upon doing research I found there were other types of differential reinforcement which I thought was interesting, and wanted to include in my blog post for the week. I hadn’t known there were other types of DR and I wanted to keep doing research to learn more about them and how they were different from DRO.

I will be discussing what differential reinforcement is, along with the other types and a little description of each so it is possible to see how they are all different. I will also go into detail about the steps involved in the differential reinforcement of other behaviors module and how to best use it.

Differential reinforcement is the implementation of reinforcing only the response or a behavior you are trying to increase, and applying extinction to all the other responses or other types of behavior you are trying to decrease. Extinction is when a behavior or response that was previously reinforced no longer is, because you are trying to stop it from continuing to happen. Discrimination is often a part of DR; developed by being able to determine when reinforcement will or will not be received. An example of using discrimination to determine reinforcement would be if a child was rewarded for brushing their teeth before bed, but if the child didn’t brush their teeth than he would not be rewarded.

There are different variations of differential reinforcement that can be used depending on the type of behavior being dealt with. Differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviors involves reinforcing only the behaviors that are incompatible with the problem behavior while at the same time withholding reinforcement for the problem behavior. In simple terms that means only behaviors that can’t occur at the same time with the problem behavior are reinforced. Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior involves reinforcing a behavior that serves as an alternative for the problem behavior. The alternative behavior doesn’t have to been incompatible with the problem behavior as with DRI. Differential reinforcement of low rates is used to reduce how often a behavior occurs, but not eliminate it entirely. DRI is usually used for socially acceptable behaviors that may happen too often, with reinforcement being occurring when the behavior is only engaged in below a predetermined amount. Differential reinforcement of other behaviors is when positive reinforcement is delivered only if the person does not engage in the problem behavior and instead emits a different behavior.

When using differential reinforcement, there are a few different steps in the implementation process. The first step in the process includes identifying the interfering behavior, which is usually disruptive or repetitive. It also includes gathering information on the topography of the behavior, the frequency, intensity, duration, and location where it most frequently occurs. The second step involves determining the function of the interfering behavior. A functional behavior assessment is often used for that process, and is important because it helps to identify the antecedents and consequences related to the problem behavior. Once those are understood it is easier to begin to work on changing the problem behavior. The third step includes identifying which data collection measures to be used to assess the interfering behavior, along with the collection of baseline data. When collecting the data during the baseline phase is it important to collect it for a long enough time period to be able to see if there is any consistency in the behavior. The fourth step is when the type of differential procedure to be used is determined. I discussed the different types above in more detail, but when deciding which procedure to use it’s best to keep in mind the importance of identifying functionally similar behaviors that a person might already use on a regular basis. The types and amount of functional skills-which are skills the learner currently has that are functional alternatives to the interfering behavior, need to be determined, as well as how frequently those more desired behaviors occurs. The topography, frequency of interfering behavior, severity of behavior, how it’s affecting the environment, and where it is most likely to occur to be considered in deciding which differential reinforcement procedure to use. For step five, an intervention plan needs to be created, where the procedures to be incorporated will be explained, a reinforcer assessment if identified, which is something to be used as a reward for emitting the replacement behavior. A schedule of reinforcement then needs to be identified, as well as criteria for changing the schedule when needed. Step six is the implementation of the intervention, where everything is finally implemented from previous steps. Step seven is the collection of data on how that implementation goes using the ABC’s and comparing with data from the original assessment and baseline information. For the final step (eight) is the reviewing and modifying of the intervention plan, where the outcome and baseline measures are compared, any new interfering behaviors are identified and assessed for function, and the plan is modified depending on if needed.


http://csesa.fpg.unc.edu/sites/csesa.fpg.unc.edu/files/ebpbriefs/DifferentialReinforcement_Steps_0.pdf
http://abaappliedbehavioranalysis.weebly.com/differential-reinforcement.html
http://www.special-learning.com/article/differential_reinforcement

Terms: differential reinforcement, DRI, DRO, DRL, DRA, reinforce, reinforcement, baseline procedure, schedule of reinforcement, functional behavior assessment, interfering behavior, topography, function, consequence, antecedent, behavior, differential reinforcement, problem behavior, extinction, discrimination, reward

Topical Blog Week 13
Controlling One’s Environment
When someone is wanting to change a behavior in the environment they surround themselves in can have an influence on them. Whether the influence is increasing or decreasing the behavior they are wanting to change. An environment for someone trying to improve their behavior is an important part. I am going to discuss ways to help people control the environment they are in to improve their life and behavior. This is associated with the whole chapter of 5.4 where it discusses changing the antecedent or the environment to help with changing ones behavior. The three aspects that I am going to focus on are what kind of environments can be changed, methods that can change the environment, and the benefits to changing ones environment. These are found from two articles and a video. This information can help one change their environment and will help them improve the behaviors they want to change or have more of.

Environments that can be Changed:
In our life there are many environments that a person can be in. Some of those environments can be beneficial for some and not for others. However, there are basic environments in our lives that we have control over. Some people might think there are very few environments that a person can change. However, according to Taking Control of the Environments that Control you there are nine general environments that can either add more positive or delete negative environments one is already stated in. The nine environments are stated below with a description of what will be in those nine environments.
1) Memetic: ideas information received
2) Body: physical body, health, observing own body
3) Self/ Intangibles: feelings, passions, values,
4) Nature: life, the outdoors, seasons
5) Spiritual: spirit, connection to God, meditation
6) Relationships: friends, family, staff, pets,
7) Network: internet, communities you belong too
8) Financial: money, financial support, investments, insurance
9) Physical: home, office, desk, gym, possessions

As people can see the nine environments are very simple day to day things in our lives. Also, the environments are very broad with more specific ones inside of them. The one environment that I find to be interesting that I think most people forget they have control over is their relationships. Many people seem to think that the people they hang out with are the only people that they fit in with. However, that is not true especially if one is to change a behavior. For example, say a person wants to be more positive and spiritual in their life, which is one of the environment, but their friends are not spiritual people and are negative. That person does not have to stay friends with them and find others that suit her new behavior better. This goes along with the video Jared James- How to control your environment Part 1 and Part 2. He states that the people you are around can have an effect on a person. Changing just the people around can change a person’s behavior and attitude. The scenarios we live in might seem like we cannot control our environment, but in fact we can we just have to accept change. Knowing some of the environments that a person can change allows options. Now how do we change the environments we have control over.

Methods to Change the Environment:
Once someone knows what environments they can change they need to know what steps to take to actually change ones behavior. According to The Best Way to Change Your Habits? Control Your Environment they provide four beneficial methods to get a person to change their environment to complete more difficult task, but can be applied to behavioral changes.

The first method is task association where a person use one object or thing to do a particular thing on each time. The example they state in the article shows that the writer uses a desktop for deep writing, a tablet for reading and a laptop for superficial writing. This allows a person to know what needs to be done when they see a certain object. Making a person more familiarized with the object and knowing exactly what needs to be done. This gives a person more organization and structure to their lives. This may seem too structured for some people, but having some objects for particular things allows task to become easier.

The second method is reducing or increasing friction by changing the environment to make a task easier or more difficult. The article states that if a person adds friction to an undesirable habit, behavior, it makes it harder for that to be performed again. Also, eliminating possible excuses in a person’s environment so the behavior will be continued or deceased.

The third method is using contextual cues making task 1 easier to perform if there is always a task 2 that precedes after. This allows more structure to one’s day and allows a person to continue with the behavior they are wanting to continue due to familiarity.
The fourth method is routinize with a system. This allows a person to have a set schedule. If a person allows them self’s to have many options during the day their schedule will be out of control. This leads to not having a behavior be continued.

Another method to changing the environment is to change the people that a person is around. According to Jared James- How to control your environment Part 1 and Part 2 if a person goes to a party where they know people who make them feel good they are going to stay around that person. A method to changing a person’s environment according to the video is to allow yourself to observe the environments you are in with the people surrounding and decide if that is a place a person would want to be. Knowing the environments to change and the methods are there benefits to this change?

Benefits of Changing an Environment:
There are many benefits to changing a person’s environment. For example as stated in the article The Best Way to Change Your Habits? Control Your Environment “In one study conducted on “habits vs. intentions,” researchers found that students who transferred to another university were the most likely to change their daily habits. They also found those habits easier to change than the control group because they weren’t exposed to familiar external cues.”. Another example from the article The Best Way to Change Your Habits? Control Your Environment, they found that if a person could not sleep they got out of bed to do something else provided the person with the idea that lying in bed was just for sleeping. This was a successful trigger to get people to fall asleep quicker. There are many more benefits for a person to change their environment.
Having a person change their environment to help them improve their behavior they are wanting to change can seem like a difficult process. However, there are many environments out their where we are in control of. There are also many methods to help a person control their environment. As well as many benefits. The most difficult part is finding the environment that needs to be changed and how to change it. However, there are useful tips to get a person there.
The Best Way to Change Your Habits? Control Your Environment.
http://www.sparringmind.com/changing-habits/
Taking Control of the Environments that Control you.
http://jackcanfield.com/taking-control-of-the-environments-that-control-you/
Jared James- How to control your environment Part 1 and Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDuCZHvygKs (Part 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knTOknsCPS8 (Part 2)

Terms: environment and behavior

1)For the topical blog of this week I have decided to talk about two main points of the reading which are Toy time outs and Removing the “NOs”, specifically observational learning. I think these topics are really interesting because they can influence the personality of children influencing the behaviors they will emit later on in life. The reading assigned for this week relates to these two topics as how when we change the antecedents we can change the behaviors that we emit

2)For this assignment I am going to talk about the Toys time outs, operant behavior and observational learning
For the Toy time out I have found a parenting forum that talked about the effectiveness of the Toy time outs and the length of it each parents applied to their children depending on the frequency the rules are broken by the children. I think this forum was a really useful source because it reflects personal experiences with this technique so for those parents that want to try it out there were a broad amount of answers in that parenting forum and they all had something in common which is the evidence that the Toy time outs technique works effectively. The reading talked about this section presenting it as a possible and interesting example of parenting which implies that when two kids fight over a toy or when one kid hurts another one with a toy instead of punishing the kids or kid with a time out we punish the toy with a time out.

For the second concept that I am going to talked about in this assignment which is operant behavior I have found a webpage that gave a definition of operant behavior, an explanation of what it is and some examples. The term was defined as a term issued by B.F. Skinner and that refers to the influenced in future behavior that past experiences have as a consequence of the outcomes of those previous experiences. Consequences can be natural or induced; the last ones take place especially when conducting studies on animals. Operant behavior is essentially based on the response to consequences that a person or organism emits and also the way in which behavior is influence by the answer displayed. The webpage included two really useful examples in order to make easier the understanding of the concept of operant behavior. The first example was rats being tested for speed when running and in order to see if there would be a difference on the time used by the rats to go through the maze, the scientists put a delicious snack at the end of the maze. The increasing of running time would be the operant behavior because it is being rewarded through positive reinforcement. There would be the option of seeing operant behavior through negative reinforcement by inducing pain on the rat in order to increase the speed. The second example was about extinction as another option of operant behavior which is especially used with children when they use the “cry it out” method to get what they want. The reading talked about this concept saying that the change of the environment in order to change the antecedent disrupting the operant behavior of fighting or arguing when two kids want the same toy.

For the last aspect of my topic that I am going to talk about on this assignment which is observational learning I have found a video in that reflects the best example of observational learning which is when we try to teach new things to young children that are on their learning process, they are the best subject for this concept although there are many more situations that also imply adults that learn things for the first time. On the video there was a father teaching his young son how to make a basket by getting the son engage with the explanation and by making sure that he would be clear on how to make a basket making a simple one no tricks or any additional stimulus that could distract the young kid from the main objective which is make the basket. After a few trials the young kid got to make a basket and from the first one he made a few more in a row which shows the effectiveness of observational learning. The reading talked about observational learning as a part of the Removing the “NOs” section which talked about the importance removing all stimulus that induce a NO as a response so the children would be less expose to the negative word and therefore there would be a decrease of their likelihood to use it with their parents.

3)http://www.mothering.com/forum/35-parenting/1161413-toy-timeout.html

http://www.wisegeekhealth.com/what-is-operant-behavior.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2wYLo0nET4

Terms and terminology used: Toy time outs, Removing the “NOs”, observational learning, personality, behaviors, emit, antecedents, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, extinction, environment, learning process, stimulus, effectiveness.

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
The topic I have decided to cover is observational learning. I find this interesting because everyone has heard that children imitate their parents and that they are highly impressionable at a young age.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The three aspects I wish to talk about are the definition and example of observational learning. The early bobo doll experiment and its connection to observational learning. Lastly I want to touch on how observational learning can be used today in behavior modification.
2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Observational learning is a simple concept but in widely important in the field of behavior modification. Observational learning starts by the subject watching an action or behavior being performed. After this action is observed the subject is more likely to reproduce the observed action on their own. It’s a where the saying “monkey see monkey do” came from as this has also been observed in animals such as monkeys. I can also see a correlation between observed learning and rule based behavior. As I said in a previous journal that I learned that rule based behavior requires previous knowledge of the consequence to be effective. This is where observational learning comes into play. If you observe you brother getting a time out for punching a friend you in turn will be less likely to reproduce that behavior if a rule has been established and you now know the definition of the consequence. On the flip side though I could see if the rule is not well established then observational learning could come into play and you would be more likely to emit the punching behavior in the future.
In the early 1960’s there was a behaviorist who was experimenting with the idea of observational learning. He performed an experiment in which he had children watch a video of an adult punch and kick and use foul language against a blow up punching doll that looked like a clown. These children where then placed in the same room alone with the doll. These children were recorded to have reenacted the violent behaviors seen in the video where they previously didn’t prior to watching. This experiment had a large effect on the behavior modification field and is still quite prevalent today.
Since the experiment in the 1960’s we have come to find that we possess neurons that are specific to the function of observational learning. These neurons are called mirror neurons and they allow us to observe an action and reproduce it easily. This knowledge has been put to use in today’s medicine to help many people. One application is in the recovery from stroke. Stroke victims use AOT or action observation and execution treatment. This treatment entails the stroke patients to watch videos of actions or people speaking every day prior to their therapy. This is proven to increase mirror neuron activity and improve their ability to perform in their therapy. This speeds up their recovery time and helps with motor neuron connection and connections to the speech centers in the brain. There are other applications in use for Parkinson’s and cerebral palsy as well.
3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-observational-learning.html
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/cognitive-approaches-to-learning-48/bandura-and-observational-learning-203-12738/
http://www.omicsonline.org/applications-of-observational-learning-in-neurorehabilitation-2329-9096.1000146.pdf
Terms/ emit, behavior, modification, experiment, consequence, observation

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
The topic I choose to cover this week is observational learning. It was discussed in 5.4 while talking about removing “no” from a child’s environment. I have witnessed children mimic what their parents say many times, it often goes unnoticed until the child repeats something that is considered inappropriate. I am interested in this phenomenon because it is something I will have to deal with; either with nieces and nephews or with my own children.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The three aspects I am interested in this week are the history behind observational learning, pattern or steps to observational learning, and analyzing a real world example.
2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
The history behind observational learning has almost everything to do with psychologist Albert Bandura and his social learning theory. This theory states that learning takes place in social situations and is observed and then behavior is emitted. This theory also shows how important observational learning can be because of the Bobo doll experiment Bandura conducted. This experiment looked at how children would treat a doll after they watched adults have an encounter with the doll. The encounter the adults had with the doll was one in which they hit the doll. The children the majority of the time pick up the aggressive nature and behavior of hitting the doll from watching the adults hit the doll. Even though this might show the downfalls of observational learning, later I will touch on some of the positive things children might pick up on from adults.
The steps of observational learning are extremely important to look at because they explain why child do not mimic or model every behavior they watch other people emit. The first step is paying attention or being attentive that the action is happening. The second is remember or retaining the action. In my personal opinion this is where a lot observational learning is lost because even though we are aware of what someone is doing we are not always retaining that information. The third step is reproduction or replication of the behavior. The last step is motivation. This means that the person learning has some reason they want to or need to do this behavior.
All of these steps seem extremely simple laid out like this but it is interesting to look at them through real world examples. For example a child notices their mother putting the toys away. They pick up a toy and put it away at the same time as their mother. In the future they now know that if you are not using a toy this is how you put it away and would have reason to use that skill or behavior. Some interesting examples came up on Youtube. The most interesting for was to watch how something simple that a child watches can turn into something that gets them in trouble. In the clips from Big Daddy the young boy watches his father ties his shoes and throw a stick in front of a rollerblader. Eventually the child replicates both of these behaviors. The child is reinforced for being able to achieve the target behavior of tying his shoes but is punished for emitting the behavior of putting a stick in front of a rollerblader. Even if the difference between why one behavior was bad and was behavior was good was explained to the child how would they know someone is serious because there were no negative consequences for the adult when they emitted the undesirable behavior. Overall I think this has shown me that you have to be extremely careful about what you do around children because they are extremely impressionable and they will model things that they see others doing. If I do catch myself doing something that is undesirable for a child I might use Dr. MacLin’s example and tell them it is appropriate for adults but they are not allowed to do it until a certain age.
3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/cognitive-approaches-to-learning-48/bandura-and-observational-learning-203-12738/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mhe6p3Xkzt0
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/soccog/soclrn.html
http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm

Terms: undesirable, model, reinforced, target behavior, punished, emitting, behavior, negative consequences, observational learning, Albert Bandura, Dr. MacLin

bnc
1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
Observational Learning is the topic that I chose to explore more about for this assignment. Observational Learning relates to this section that we covered because it is talking about children in their “terrible two' stage and how children learn from their parents. I find this interesting because modeling has always been fascinating to me. It only makes sense that because parents are constantly saying no to certain things in the environment that children pick up on that and say no back.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
I am going to look more into the exact definition and who came up with it because I can't remember off the top of my head. I am also going to focus on how observational learning is used with children and what influences this learning style.
3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
“Observational learning is learning that occurs through observing the behavior of others.” Albert Bandura discovered this form of social learning in 1961. He did his study with the Bobo doll experiment. With this experiment he shows the difference in behavior between two groups of children being exposed to two different environments in a film. One group was in an aggressive environment while the other was in a passive role model environment. Children then demonstrated the same behavior they were being exposed to. Bandura goes into four different stages involved with observational learning: attention, retention (memory), initiation (motor) and motivation.
Observational learning is used with children especially because so much learning happens through the process of imitating and watching their care givers. Children model back when the parent waves this is a form of shaping and modeling that observational learning can sometimes be referred to as. Children are always around care takers and are never separated from that observation. This is how children learn to communicate and respond and react towards others.
There are eight factors that influence observational learning and who we are more likely to imitate: 1. people we perceive as warm and nurturing 2. people who receive rewards for their behavior 3. when you have been rewarded for imitating the behavior in the past 4. when we lack confidence in our own knowledge or abilities 5. people who are in a position of authority over our lives 6. people who are similar to us in age, sex, and interests 7. people who we admire or who are of a higher social status 8. when the situation is confusing, ambiguous, or unfamiliar. This social learning theory does not only portray to children. There are many examples that happen in my everyday life that this occurs with the children I nanny for or with people my own age or in higher status than me. People in the media are always seeking out to be modeled. People imitate their behavior because they are celebrities.
4) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observational_learning
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/soccog/soclrn.html

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

- The topic I was interested in the whole section, changing the antecedents. This can be a major game changer during a behavioral change. It's a conscious thought of removing tempting stimuli from the environment and replacing them with stimuli that will elicit the desired behavior. This is great with children because the they are less likely to be told no all the time and can enjoy their play time in a safe environment.

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

- What I want to talk about are toy time outs, observational learning with children, and changing the antecedents.

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

- Children are very smart and learn most things through observational learning. They are able to make connections between actions and the consequences. But sometimes children simply don't want to listen and will intentionally misbehave for the attention they receive. An undesirable behavior children tend to learn is swearing. Parents are human and a swear word slips out every once in a while or they don't know they child is paying attention. Typically swearing is a reinforcer adults use when they are angry, want to make a point, or want to gain attention. Children will use it the same way and become upset when the consequence they experience is different than they had observed. A tantrum can be elicited and behaviors such as hitting and throwing can occur. This is the time to use a toy time out. Instead of putting the child in timeout for something they don't understand was wrong, place their toys in timeout. This is a form of negative punishment. Parents and behaviorists really dislike using punishments but sometimes it's the better method to use. Children don't want to lose their toy privilege so they would be more likely to stop the target behavior. If a child is put in timeout, they are told to clam down and think about what they did. Sometimes they really don't understand that what they did was wrong, so they'll just sit there and be distracted. This can lead to disruptions in the timeout, upsetting the parents, and making matters worse. Put the toy in timeout, the child is upset but will realize what they did was wrong. In the future when they behave in the undesirable way, saying you're going to take away their toys will decrease their behavior before you even take the toys away. A saying that many parents tell their children is "Do as I say, not as I do" is very confusing for children. Children are impressionable and will watch what their parents do. They respect their parents and want to be like them (for the most part). So when they see their parents doing something, they are likely to want to try it for themselves. Actions speak louder than words. Parents need to be aware and think ahead of the game. Predict how the child will react to what you say or do and decide what antecedent to follow through with. Demands are no good and immediately will create an argument. An example of changing the antecedent would be to discuss the child's bedtime before their favorite tv show comes on at night. That way when the show is over, they know what to expect. This can reduce arguments and compliance will be more likely.

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

- http://www.netmums.com/coffeehouse/children-parenting-190/toddlers-pre-schoolers-12-months-4-years-59/527833-toy-time-out-box-all.html

- http://communitycounselingservices.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=33921&cn=82

- http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/departments/childrens_services/assets/ANCguide_2

Terms:

- Antecedents, behavioral, stimuli, environment, elicit, observational learning, consequences, undesirable, reinforcer, toy timeout, negative punishment, target behavior

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
For this week’s topical blog, I want to dig deeper into observational learning. This was something that was touched on in lesson 5.4 while discussing the idea of removing the no’s from a child’s environment.

2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The first main thing that I want to divulge into is how observational learning can be applied to kids. I think this is important because we all know easily children can notice another’s behavior, either good or bad and start recreating that behavior. The next thing I would like to look into is Albert Bandura’s experiment related to the bobo doll, and third, I would like to discuss what exactly observational learning is.

3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Observational learning is a form of social learning, which occurs through observing the behaviors of another person. It should also be pointed out that observational learning among humans doesn’t need any form of reinforcement, but rather just a social model such as parent, sibling, or friend. In animals, observations actually occur based on classical conditioning. While researching, I also learned of the four stages of observational learning. First is attention, during the attention stage the observer needs to pay attention in order to learn the behavior. The second stage is memory. During this stage the observer recognizes this observation while also remembering it. The third stage consists of initiation. During this stage they observe decided if they can recreate this observation. For example, just because a person observes another breathing fire, does not mean they can go home and do this behavior also. The last stage is motivation. During this stage they recognize the importance of this observation. The Bobo doll experiment was conducted by Albert Bandura. When this experiment was conducted Bandura observed children who were watching an adult act aggressively towards the bobo doll. Adults were either rewarded, punished, or had no response to the aggressive behavior. This study was significant because what it showed was that people not only learn through reward or punishment, but also through observational learning. While researching the articles often went back to the saying “monkey see, monkey do.” This was something that I had not previously thought about applying to this term. However, it makes perfect sense now and I think it is a great reference to the term. The research I conducted also talked a lot about internal motivation. Basically, this is a term that is used to describe a child’s motivation to learn new things. As we all know, children are a lot like sponges and everything that they often see others do they also do. Overall, I thought that the research I did was very interesting. I found it easy to relate to many of the things that were discussed throughout the articles because I’ve always grown up around younger kids. It made it much easier to relate to these topics as well as come up with examples and such on my own. I also enjoyed learning more about the bobo doll experiment. This is a very famous experiment that I have known about since I first started taking psychology courses. I think that it is always interesting to learn more about the experiment as well as Albert Bandura. One thing that I wasn’t previously aware of was that Bandura is much like a pioneer in the world of observational learning. I knew previously that he conducted the bobo doll experiment, but I hadn’t learned much about his theories that he had towards this area of psychology. If I were to do future research, I would love to learn more about Bandura. I think that he is an interesting person in general. I would also like to learn more about if there was a more modern theory to observational learning or if Bandura’s research is the latest and greatest research on observational learning. With future research, I would also like to see how this type of learning may be applied to adults. Not much of the research that I looked at talked about adults. The research previously done all seems to apply this theory to children and how they react to this type of learning.

4) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observational_learning
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_doll_experiment
http://www.funderstanding.com/theory/child-development/observational-learning-and-the-young-child/

Words used: learning, behavior, observational learning, classical conditioning, reinforcement, punishment, reward, modeling, environment, Albert Bandura, and bobo doll.

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
I would like to learn more about observational learning. The was talked about at the beginning of the section. It was mainly discussed when talking about removing the no’s. I am interested in learning more about this topic because I worked at a daycare and plan to work with kids in the future. Because of this, I think it would be good to better understand how children learn on a daily basis.

2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The three aspects I would like to discuss are the definition of what observational learning is, observational learning with animals, and Albert Bandura and his Bobo Doll experiment.

3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Observational learning is when a person learns how to do something just by watching another person do it and then mimicking their actions. This type of learning is most common during childhood. It has been recorded that even a baby who is only 21 days old can begin to learn by observing the action of those around him/her. Observational learning also plays a role is how well a child is able to socialize with those around them. If the child’s parents socialize well, there is a better chance the child will also behave well and have good socialization skills. There are many factors that help a person decide who to observe and learn from. These factors include but are not limited to, people we perceive and being warm and comforting, lose whom you have seen be rewarded for their behavior, people in a position of authority, and those who are of the same sex and around the same age.
Humans are not the only ones who learn through observation. Animals often learn through observation of other animals around them. They are able to individual behaviors as well as an entire behavioral collection. For example, at SeaWorld killer whale calves will constantly follow their mothers and imitate everything they do. By time the calf is one year old it will have learned close to a dozen different show behaviors. It has also been found that adult animals that are trained alongside experienced animals learn at a faster rate than if they were trained without them.
Observational learning was first recorded by Albert BAndura in 1961 when he conducted his Bobo Doll experiment. In this experiment he showed a film to a group of children. The film was of a adult violently hitting a balloon doll. The adult who was hitting the doll was reinforced by another adult. In another version the adult was punished, and in the third version there was no consequence for the adult hitting the doll. After the three group of children had watched the film they were taken to a play room with several blow up dolls. The children in the reward group and the no consequence group were much more aggressive with the dolls than the children in the punishment group. According to Albert Bandura there are four conditions that must be met for observational learning to be met. They are attention, retention/memory, initiation/reproduction, and motivation. In order for a person to observe they must pay attention to what is happening around them. The person is is doing the observing must also be able to retain and remember what they have learned. It is also important the the person is physically or mentally capable of emitting the behavior. Lastly, the observer must have some sort of motivation that causes them to want to produce the behavior that they have learned.
4) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.

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

http://seaworld.org/en/animal-info/animal-infobooks/animal-training/animal-behavior-and-learning/

https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/cognitive-approaches-to-learning-48/bandura-and-observational-learning-203-12738/

Terms: behavior, emit, motivation, attention, retain, initiate, albert bandura, bobo doll, reward, consequence, punishment, reinforced, observational learning, observe,

Once you have completed your search and explorations I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it?
For this week's topical blog assignment I decided to examine the idea of toy time outs. I thought that this was a very interesting topic and a neat take on a classical idea of punishment, aka “time outs”. I found this topic worthy of note since one day I will be a parent and perhaps this method would be more effective than trying to deal with arguing with a child about time outs or trying to make sure that the child stays in the time out chair rather than wandering around. Personally I never thought that time outs were very effective at achieving anything except for harboring resentment towards the punisher.
What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The three main aspects of toy time outs that I will focus on for this assignment are what exactly is a toy time out through the use of several examples, how these types of time outs differ from the traditional method and other methods of behavior modification that parents can use as an alternative to traditional time outs.
Next I would like you to take the information you found from various sources and integrate/synthesize them into three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Well let’s start with the basics. I am sure everyone is familiar with the concept of a timeout, where a child is misbehaving in some manner and the parents remove the child to a chair or a space in the house that is quite so they can calm down, or “work out their feelings” as my sister likes to say. The child resides in time out for a set number of minutes until he or she is calmer and more willing to discuss with the parent better behavioral choices they could make in the future. In one of my websites it recommended that parents base the amount of time that their child sits in time out based on age, one minute for every year of their life. Reasons for a child being sent to timeout can vary from hitting the parent or sibling, to talking back, or to breaking a household rule. Typically when a child begins to act out the parent will issue a clear and concise warning involving the punishment method of a time out. Should the child continue to act out the warning is typically followed through with a punishment. However, should the child alter their behavior to fit their parent or caregiver's request then he or she should receive some positive reinforcement such as praise or a hug. This, I feel, is a key concept that can be overlooked by parents as discipline. Discipline, although it is a method of attempting to alter behavior, often comes with a negative connotation which assumes that positive reinforcement cannot be involved in the process.
This all being said, traditional time outs are no longer considered to be that of the norm as it has been found to have negative psychological and emotional effects on children. In fact, several of the articles I researched actually discouraged parents from utilizing the “time out” method because it causes children to resent their parents for punishing them. Another issue that was brought up regarding time outs involved the age of the children. Sometimes, when a child is very young, they are often feeling emotions that they cannot comprehend, so they act out. Rather than forcing the child to remain in isolation through time out, the articles urged parents to work through these issues with their children and help them understand their feelings. Several of the articles mentioned how difficult this could be for parents, especially first time parents, however, by supporting your child during this confusing time it can help build a closer (more trustworthy) relationship with the child and enable parents to play a more positive role in the child’s life.
In my articles, several other methods of altering behavior were mentioned as a fresh alternative to “time outs”. A new take on the “timeout” method consists of the parents taking away a toy and placing the toy in time out. In psychology terms, this is called removing the antecedent. In parents terms, it is called finding other methods of disciplining your child as opposed to sitting them in time out. By removing the toy, the parents are removing the stimulus that is causing an issue, potentially between two or more children, therefore forcing them to resolve their issue and play with another toy. Being the youngest of three siblings I know first hand how quickly an argument can ensue when two or more children all decide to play with the same toy, or decide to take away the television remote. Using the traditional method, all four of us would be sent to timeout which is rather ineffective. Parents attempting to identify the instigator also proves to be difficult, and rather than punishing the wrong child, punish the object causing the conflict. This saves a lot of hard feelings and resentment.
Other methods of discipline for your child involve methods such as redirecting the child's energy. This is a very basic method that does not involve any form of punishment. It merely involves you taking your child for a walk, not talking, and letting them work out their energy through physical exercise, then talking to your child towards the end of the walk about better choices. Another method involves a monetary find where the child is to pay a price for their bad behavior. An example would be if a child was caught fighting with their sibling, he or she would pay a quarter into a jar the parents keep in the kitchen. The last method is one that my siblings are very familiar with and that involves doing extra chores if you were naughty. One website talked about posting a list of extra chores that the child would be expected to do if he or she acted out. By having this visual warning, it enables children to self regulate their behavior and alter it accordingly.

Terms: Discipline, Toy time out, reinforcement, punishment, self regulate,

http://www.parents.com/kids/discipline/time-out/when-time-outs-dont-work/
https://www.missouristate.edu/assets/swk Module-1_Handout-4_Effectively_Using_Time_Out_PMT.pdf
http://time.com/3404701/discipline-time-out-is-not-good/
http://www.cdc.gov/parents/essentials/timeout/steps.html

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

The topic I would like to discuss for this weeks topical post is that of observational learning. It fits in with what we have been discussing so far this semester through this weeks reading. This week we read about changing the antecedent and in this reading we talked about “removing the NO’s”, in this section the idea of observational learning is thrown into the mix. I was interested in writing about this topic because it seems like an important part of raising a child. Also, while the idea of observational learning seems pretty self explanatory, it wasn’t discussed very much in the reading so I wanted to learn a little more about it.

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

For this topic I would like to focus on three sub topics. The first topic I would like to focus on is more specifically what is observational learning. As I mentioned earlier it wasn’t mentioned heavily in the reading so I would like to learn more about what it is and how it works. Next I would like to investigate what age group it works most with, to see if its something we just use as a child or if we use it else where in life. Lastly I would like to reference the Albery Bandura bo bo doll experiment and show how that demonstrated the use of observational learning.

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

So what is observational learning, like classical conditioning and operant conditioning observational learning is another theory of how learning occurs. However, unlike those learning types, where things like punishments, reinforcements, and consequences are used to elicit the learning of a target behavior; observation learning occurs through the observing of behavior being emitted. An example of this would be when a child sees his mom wave at someone goodbye, and then tries to then wave as well. Although in the world of psychology this is most often referred to as observational learning it can also be known as shaping, modeling and vicarious reinforcement.
Now that we know what observation learning is, when is it used most. At what ages is this type of learning most effective. Like we could have expected, while researching this idea I found that it is most effective and most prevalent among young children. While it can take place at any point throughout our lives, when we are young we are around more authority figures in which we observe more mimic more often. This concept of learning is important to our growth because it teaches us the socialization process. It teaches us how to function in society, behave and respond with others, just by observing how our parents or other caregivers behaved and responded with others. This concepts of learning can be done at such a young age that infants only 21 days old have been shown to start to attempt to try to imitate facial expressions and mouth movements that they observed.
In this theory of leaning certain a certain psychologist has gone a great way in discovering and uncovering information to contribute to this learning theory. His name is Albert Bandura, and he is best know for his experiment known as the Bobo doll experiment. He believed that in society, as children, we are surrounded by many influencing factors. Things such as parents, characters on TV shows, friends and teachers, and that they provide example for us on how to behave. This theory was tested in Bandur’s bobo doll experiment. This experiment involved children watching a video of someone manipulating a bobo doll in certain ways, some aggressive some non aggressive. Then after watching the interaction unfolds the children where able to play with the same bobo doll. The results where that the children played with the doll in the same aggressive way which proved his theory of how we learn through observing. In addition to this some other findings where found through the study, these were that certain factors proved to have a greater influence on whether the action would be imitated or not. The first was that we are more likely to imitate those who we find warm and nurturing. Another is that you are more likely to imitate if you are rewarded for doing so. And the last one that stood out to me is that we are more likely to imitate those who we find to be most similar to ourselves.

Terms: manipulate, target behavior, elicit, emitted, consequences, rewards, punishment, antecedent, Albert Bandura, Bobo doll, operant conditioning, classical conditioning, reinforcement, observational learning, vicarious reinforcement

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_doll_experiment
http://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html
http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
For my section I would like to focus on changing the antecedents which is what this whole section of the ABC's book was about. I want to mainly focus on changing the antecedents of things in my life. This will also relate back to the target behavior I have been trying to change for our class and we have had a lot of class discussions about how we all want to change these behaviors. This not only fits into this class because of all the discussions we have had but because we have been talking about antecedents since our very first day of class. We have talked about antecedents and how they can manipulate our behavior and the consequences of behavior.

2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The three types of antecedents that I want to talk about changing are antecedents to get me to start working out more often, or more like making time to workout so it is a priority. Another antecedent I think I could change in order to reach my target behavior I set for class would be to stop spending so much money on food by going out to eat or ordering delivery (Jimmy Johns). I am hoping that I can find websites on the best ways to change an antecedent and antecedents that would relate to my target behaviors I want to change. Along with the antecedents I have mentioned wanting to change, I would also like to look at if there are some more (besides the ABC book provided) for eating healthier. In college I find it very hard to stay on a healthy eating schedule especially living with roommates who aren't on the same plan and the want to always go out to eat on weekends after or before going to the bars. I feel like if I learn more abut how to change antecedents I can find better ways to reach my target behaviors now and in the future. I also want to learn about how to change antecedents because when I get older I am going to be working with juvenile adolescents and I want to know how I will get the best outcome working with them and getting to stop the behavior that maybe put them into the correctional facility.

2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
The first website I found to be very helpful because I could use this website whenever I want for any behavior I would want to change in the future, not just the target behaviors I have set right now. The website listed different types of antecedent interventions. This was interesting to me because we had talked about antecedents in class and we had also talked about interventions in class, however we had never talked about them together. I found this interesting combining the two and having a specific intervention held to change the behavior. The website explained it as what better way to change a behavior then to just acknowledge it and try to eliminate it. One way that I could use this antecedent intervention on my target behaviors I want to change is by sitting down and keeping a log of how much money I am spending regularly and then make a specific goal on how much I want to cut down. This time to myself to try and figure out how much will be cut back on would be the intervention. Throughout this whole website there are many different ways that behavior can be changed by adjusting the antecedents but this was the one that stuck out the most to me. The next website I found to be helpful because it gave information on replacement behaviors and things that we can do to make sure the behaviors that we are switching to are good overall behaviors for us as well. One way that I could choose a negative replacement behavior is by instead of making time to workout and making it a priority, but instead create time to take a nap instead. This website was helpful because it showed me that I can think I am changing my behavior but really just creating another problematic behavior I am going to have to change in the future. So really, nothing is being accomplished.
The next website I found to just be helpful in giving more background information on the ABC's. They talked about how antecedents are not set and that you can alter any antecedent you want. Like the ABC book stated, some might be harder than others but my target behaviors would be some of the easier antecedents to control. Behavior was not something that I had wanted to focus on throughout this blog but I read an interesting point that said that behavior behavior is done to serve two purposes, to either get something or to avoid something. This I found to be very true when looking at my target behaviors as well as the reasons it's so hard for me to either do it or not to do it.

3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/?q=behavior_plans/positive_behavior_support_interventions/teacher_tools/antecedent_interventions
http://asdspecialist.com/blog/?p=766
http://www.projectidealonline.org/v/basic-behavior-components/

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
After reading this week’s section, I chose to look more into toy time outs. I think this is an important topic, it will be useful to almost everyone to know about because more than likely you will have children of your own or be around kids that need help with their behavior. Me for example, I work at a daycare and I think that this could be a very helpful tip for us to use there. I personally think that I will also use this method for myself when I have my own children.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
For my three aspects I would like to discuss, what exactly toy time outs are, what is the traditional timeout method that is used and lastly I would like to compare it with the normal timeout and show how it is a much more positive choice.
3 Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
To start off, if a parent doesn’t like the idea of putting their child in a timeout they can always use a toy time out, which consists of when a child is either misbehaving in general, with a toy, or with another child over said toy. As a punishment the toy is taken away from them. The parent then explains to the child what they did wrong and that they are able to earn it back with good behavior. This is actually using reinforcement. Instead of putting the child in timeout this gives them a chance to think about their behavior in a calm manner. Most parents use construct a toy timeout box so that they have a place that the child can see, although out of reach, all of their toys that have been taken away due to their bad behavior. Depending how the parent uses the technique, either once the timeout is over or the child earns a toy back by emitting desired behaviors, a toy is returned back to the child as a reward.
The traditional timeout method is one that has been used for a very long time and most likely we have all experienced it in some way. The steps for a timeout consist of warning a child if they are doing a behavior that is wrong or not allowed. If the behavior continues immediately and clearly tell them they are going into timeout and why. The best thing is to already have a designated timeout spot so they know what to expect. After a set amount of time, depending on the age of the child, end the time out and explain to them again as to why they received the punishment. A very important part to remember is that you need to praise your child for their next positive behavior that they show. Let them know that they’re no longer in trouble.
When comparing a toy time out and traditional timeout, the method of using the toy is a much more preferred method now. It uses positive reinforcement instead of punishment. And as we have learned all semester from class discussion and our textbook, learning and behavioral change takes place more thoroughly with reinforcement instead of punishment. The toy timeout is more effective at decreasing misbehavior and increasing positive behaviors. Toy timeouts reinforce the child for good behaviors and help them understand why they are in trouble if they do misbehave. I will most certainly be using this technique for my own children and for the kids at work. I think that it is a very effective method.

4) Terms: toy time out, behavior, punishment, reinforcement, reward, positive reinforcement

http://www.cdc.gov/parents/essentials/timeout/steps.html
http://fantabulosity.com/toy-time-out-a-positive-parenting-tip-for-toddlers/
https://www.missouristate.edu/assets/swk/Module-1_Handout-4_Effectively_Using_Time_Out_PMT.pdf

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
The topic that I chose to write on this week, like many others, is observational learning. I chose to do this topic because there were not many topics and this is something that can correlate to other classes in unique ways.

2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The aspects of this topic that I would like to talk about are, what is observational learning, what effects it can have on children and how it correlates to another class I have been in, specifically virtues of the mind.

3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Observational learning, or vicarious learning, is a style of learning discovered by Albert Bandura. This method of learning is closely related to operant conditioning, in which the consequences are what affect the learning and behaviors of the child. In observational learning, the classic example is of the Bobo doll experiment, in which children would watch an adult perform either vicious acts or playful acts on the Bobo doll. The children would then see these adults either be reinforced or punished by these actions, namely called vicarious punishment and vicarious reinforcement, and the child would then learn to emit the same behaviors as the adult assuming the adult was reinforced. This learning style is crucial in understanding child development because of the common phrase “monkey see monkey do.” Although this may not determine emitted behaviors of a child, it is a very easy way to comprehend why a child may come home and elicit new behaviors that were previously not an issue. This learning method is a common method for kids growing up at an early age, and understanding how it works allows for small problematic behaviors to be taken care of in a timely fashion if a parent knows what to look for.
Moving forward, how exactly does behavior become affected by vicarious learning. An experiment looked at observational learning and how it is affected in children in regards to creativity. In the experiment kids would have an unguided session of drawing, and then moving forward they would watch a video of it and mimic said video. The results across the board were fairly non-significant, however the reasoning is a child who is highly creative prior to the video will still remain highly creative. In technical ability, the children who were already high without guidance do not increase much after watching the video. However kids who were either non-technical, or not creative would experience some significant results. This is just one example of observational learning that can be used in a classroom setting. Although the results vary in whether they were significant or not, there were generally increases across the board.
Finally, the connection I see between my class, virtues of the mind, and behavior modification in regards to observational learning. In many discussions across class we talk about moral virtues and the praiseworthiness or blameworthiness of an action. In many writings, the case can be argued that a person is only blameworthy on a moral level if they are fully in control of the action they had emitted. In the end, if they are unaware, or do an action unknowingly, it can be said that they are not morally responsible for this. This may seem backwards at first, however upon philosophical discussion of the topics it makes much more sense and it is very difficult to give a simple gist of the scenario without overloading on information. But how I see this relating to the class is that in observational learning, a person may be unaware of the actions they are committing simply because they learned the action at a very young and impressionable age where they cannot recollect why they do said action. In doing said action across a lifetime that started prior to the memory recollection, it would be difficult to make them morally responsible, however in most psychological fields these people are most definitely responsible for the actions they emit. The exception I see is the insanity plea. However, take a racist neighborhood for example, if a child grows up without the responsibility for his surroundings, and then makes an off-hand remark, he will be bereted for it, and he will be deemed fully responsible, where internally this is an automatic action that he may not even do consciously. This is where I see my virtue and behavior class overlapping, in how behaviors are acted upon and the responsibility that a person may take for what may not be wholly there fault.
Overall observational learning is a simple concept and one that is important in any social situation as there is always messages and learning going on.

4) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observational_learning

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959475213000431

https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/cognitive-approaches-to-learning-48/bandura-and-observational-learning-203-12738/

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Observational learning, behavior modification, Albert Bandura, operant conditioning, consequences, behaviors, vicarious learning, reinforced, punished, vicarious punishment, vicarious reinforcement, emit, elicit, moral,

1) This week I chose to do more research on observational learning after reading section 5.4 about changing the antecedents. I have always had an interest in this topic because it is always happening for individuals in every situation. By learning different traits and actions from others it is easy to fit in and know what you are doing. I experienced it my whole life by watching my mother always rush us to get to a place on time or early and now I am almost never late to an event or place I am attending.

2) The three aspects about observational learning I am going to talk about are what observational learning actually is, who discovered the theory and how, and what steps have to be involved with the theory according to Bandura.

3) Observational learning, also sometimes referred to as modeling or social learning, is learning that occurs through observing the behaviors of others. It stems from Bandura’s social learning theory that states that it is a cognitive process that takes place in a social context and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction. Observational learning takes place all around us during every minute of everyday but has the greatest effect on children because they are learning practically everything. An example of this would be when you try and join a group of other kids playing a game. If you do not know how to play you will watch everyone else playing and eventually pick up on the game and be able to emit the same behavior in order to play the game. That is just one example but people can learn how to swear, hit, smoke, and have other inappropriate behavior from the behaviors of others.

Albert Bandura actually came up with the idea of observational learning in 1961 with his Bobo doll experiment. He had a thought that behaviors could be changed by their environment, or reciprocal determinism. In his experiment he tested the responses of nursery-aged children to different adult behaviors. Bandura would show the kids a video of adults beating up the bobo doll and see what their reaction would be when they were in the presence of a doll. He had three different conditioning groups consisting of the model-reward group where they saw a second adult reinforce the first adult by also acting aggressively, model-punished where another adult gave the model a consequence of a scolding to the first adult, and the no-consequence condition group where they saw the model act aggressively. Once the children were left alone with the bobo doll the ones in the model-reward and no-consequence group were more willing to imitate the aggression than those in the model-punished condition groups. By doing this he came up with the conclusion that one group of children who are placed in an aggressive environment would act the same way.

Along with coming to the conclusion that children rely a lot on the behaviors of peers and adults, he also set four steps that have to be involved with observational learning. Those steps are attention, retention, initiation, and motivation. He has attention as the first step because unless there is someone paying attention then there is no observing present. The second step of retention is because not only do they have to watch the behavior but they have to remember the information. Then, they must initiate the act. Then they have to have motivation in order to keep doing that behavior. By following these four steps observational learning can lead to change in behavior about different situations, have different experiences, and eventually a permanent behavioral change.

4) https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/cognitive-approaches-to-learning-48/bandura-and-observational-learning-203-12738/ - I chose this URL because it helped me learn more about what observational learning is but it also talks about how Bandura’s experiment made the theory well-known.
http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm - I chose this URL because it had a lot of information about observational learning. It compared observational learning to other theories like social learning theory and talked a lot about Bandura.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observational_learning - I chose this URL because it has information about what informational learning is and the history behind it. It helped me gain a little more interest in the topic.

Terms: observational learning, antecedent, Albert Bandura, behavior, consequences, reciprocal determinism, bobo doll experiment, reinforce, emit

I decided to do my research about observational learning because I would like to learn more deeply about it. This is an interesting topic to talk about because of the importance of the antecedent and how they influence our behavior. As we saw in this week’s section antecedents influence the environment and therefore our behavior in that particular environment, so by controlling the environment we could be able to control the behavior. Observational learning plays a big role in our development as a person because it is the way children learn, from the examples they see. I would like to talk the psychologist who developed this concept (Bandura), his experiment with the Bobo-doll and the conditions necessary for observational learning.
Bandura is the Canadian psychologist who designed the social learning theory, also known as the social cognitive theory. His approach for this theory has to do with motivation and less with environment, he believes that behaviors are learned from what we observed, more than from the interactions with the environment. His intention was to explain that aggression came from observation, so he designed an experiment where children were exposed to videos of an adult being aggressive towards an inflatable doll, named Bobo. Although there were three different endings for the video. The first showed how the adult was being rewarded for a good performance; this means that the behavior was reinforced with candy so it would increase. The second one showed the adult being punished for the aggressive behavior; this time punishment was used to decrease that aggressive target behavior. And the last ending showed no consequence to the aggressive behavior. The aggressive behavior mentioned behavior would consist of an adult kicking the doll, throwing it on the floor, and punching him. The results for this experiment showed that the children were more likely to imitate the aggressive response towards the doll when they had watched the rewarding video and the no-consequence behavior. This proved Bandura’s idea that children learn how to behave from what they can see.
Some testing after that experiment concluded that the key to emitting the aggressive behavior was in the motivation. So according to Bandura there are four conditions that must be present for the observational learning to occur. The first one is attention; the person observing a behavior cannot learn from it unless he/she is paying real attention to what is happening. This factor is not influenced by the own person, but it is also influenced by the person emitting the target behavior and the level of affinity with it. For example you don’t pay the same attention in your favorite class than in your least favorite, therefore you are more likely to learn more your favorite because you are paying attention. The second factor is retention or memory; this has to do with the ability of the person to keep the important information. Since the information we are in contact with is saved as an image or verbal description, this factor is more related to the person who is emitting the target behavior. Keeping up with the last example, you may be able to remember better a certain math formula because your professor used a fun technique so you remember what it means. The third factor is initiation or reproduction; this means that person observing the behavior should be able to do and repeat what he or she is watching. For example if you are handicapped and you are watching an extreme bike ride, even though you are paying attention and memorizing it you can’t physically repeat the behavior. The fourth and last factor the motivation; even though the previous factors are really important the behavior won’t be finally emitted if there is no motivation towards doing the action. The behavior that you are watching will make an impact on your motivation, so you will be more motivated to do it when the behavior was rewarded than when the behavior was punished.
All of this can be applied to real life like we saw on the section, and children are exposed to their parents’ behavior every day. But they are also exposed to other type of behaviors like television cartoons and shows. In my opinion it is a good idea for parents to have control of what their kids watch on television or the games they can access in phones. Although this is how we all learn how to behave, observational learning can be used at any stage in life. The point is that if we are able to change the antecedents we could change the behavior, so if a little child is watching a violent video that will be the antecedent when that child acts violent towards a toy. But on the other hand if we involve the child in a nice and kind environment we will have more chances of avoiding a bad behavior.
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/cognitive-approaches-to-learning-48/bandura-and-observational-learning-203-12738/
http://muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/bandura.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqNaLerMNOE
Observational learning, antecedent, behavior, environment, Bandura, rewarded, reinforced, increase, punished, decrease, punishment, target behavior, consequence, emit, social learning theory, self-regulation.


This week I wanted to look at how important changing the environment, or antecedent, can be for juvenile offenders. The topic of changing the antecedent relates to the reading of Section 5.4. I decided to write about this topic because I have an interest in general in criminology, and I find juvenile crime interesting. I think that it is a field that definitely needs more research done on it.

So first off, I will talk about the effect that an environment has on a juvenile, because it plays a large role in crimes that they may or may not commit. Next, I will look at how changing the antecedent can result in behavior modification of the juvenile. Lastly, I will look at how different things can help juveniles once they are released from the system.

Many people are aware that bad neighborhoods are correlated with criminal acts, especially for juveniles. Weak social structure, as well as being in an extreme poverty area, welcomes a breeding ground of aversive behavior. In my juvenile justice class, we read a book my Anne Nurse, and it is her in-depth study of juvenile boys in the system. Many boys, after being released, go right back to the neighborhoods where they come from. Often being around their old friends, etc. can be difficult, and some boys often fall back into the illegal activities that got them into the system the first time. The antecedent of being in a low-income neighborhood can lead to the behavior of engaging in criminal activity, which can lead to the consequence of ending up in the criminal justice system. We see that often once a person is placed in the system, it is very hard to escape.

One place that we see antecedent playing a large role in juveniles’ lives is in prison. There are several states that require juveniles are transferred to adult court at a certain age; often this age can range from fourteen to sixteen. By placing juveniles in adult prison during their formative years, they are more susceptible to negative influence. Let’s say that we are looking at a juvenile that is going to be in prison 25 years. Because they know that they have a lengthy sentence, and they are still at that age where they are trying to figure out who they are, they may get mixed up in the wrong groups. Searching for protection and identity, they may develop aversive behaviors, and even get in with hostile crowds. These behaviors are not beneficial outside of prison; in fact, these behaviors can get you into prison. This makes it painfully obvious that the environment that adult prison presents is not well suited for juveniles.

If instead of prisons and concrete cells, we take these juveniles and place them in juvenile rehabilitation centers, we see much more positive effects. Juveniles that are placed in rehabilitation centers with kids their own age are less likely to recidivate. Another antecedent change that can help modify behavior is providing a support system. Many youth that commit criminal acts do not have a support system, or someone there to reinforce their positive behaviors. Many programs are available post-release for juveniles, and one of the most effective is counseling intervention, especially in a group setting. By taking the antecedent of lack of support, and changing it to plenty of support, we see the behavior modify in a positive direction.

Another way of changing the antecedent, although less plausible, is to try to figure out a relocation system. Now, I know that this is probably not something that is probable in the near future or ever for that matter, but studies have found that juveniles are often released into risky neighborhood environments, meaning that more juveniles are going to recidivate and end up getting involved in violent or criminal behaviors. If we are able to get the juveniles out of this neighborhood, or find a way to improve the neighborhood, it could prevent more crime from occurring. Many areas around the country have taken initiative to set up neighborhood prevention approaches.

There are many things that people within communities can do in order to help juveniles stay on track once they are released. One would obviously be reinforcement; sometimes just being told that you are doing a good job can make the largest difference. Another way that can help juveniles is observational learning. This would probably be more important before a juvenile gets caught up in the juvenile justice system; however, if juveniles see adults around them living in a respectable manner and working hard, they are more likely to follow that path. We know that if juveniles grow up around a life of crime, they are more likely to engage in crime. Another thing that was talked about in this section was “removing the no’s”. Instead of literally removing the no’s, I was thinking that removing the negative would be helpful for the juveniles. For example, instead of focusing on the past and mistakes that were made, family members can focus on the positives and the great things that the future could hold.

Terms: antecedent, aversive behavior, consequence, reinforce, reinforcement, observational learning, “removing the no’s”, behavior modification

https://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/jjjournal_2003_2/page3.html
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/06/05/when-to-punish-a-young-offender-and-when-to-rehabilitate/prison-is-too-violent-for-young-offenders
http://yvpc.sph.umich.edu/2014/03/11/exploring-rehabilitation-programs-juvenile-criminal-offenders/
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucla-joint-study-finds-juvenile-176931


1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
For this week I decided to further my knowledge on observational learning. This was mentioned in section 5.4 when explaining why two year olds often go through a “no” phase after hearing their parents say it to them so much. I think this is interesting because most people/animals learn by watching what others do when growing up, in a new social encounter, or just not sure what to do. I remember when learning a number of things myself, like how to do a cartwheel, someone would often say “Now watch me” and trying to copy what they did until it would work out. I am curious how much of our learning is through observation and if some of the behavior learned could end up negatively affecting a persons behavior.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
I would like to organize my information into the following three aspects: What is observational learning? What factors influence it? & What disadvantages are there from learning through observation. I think these 3 angles will provide an accurate view of the topic.
3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
In short, observational learning is a learning strategy where the person/animal pays attention to the actions of others to understand how things work. The behavior being learned is being modeled by something else. There are many instances when observational learning is used. A child may watch their mother use a spoon, so they try to recreate the same movements. An animal may learn how to hunt by watching others in the pack do so. A child sees a peer in time out for hitting, learns that if he hits, he will also be in time out. A study done on observational learning between children and adults (studying aggressive vs. normal play modeling) showed a correlation with the amount of aggression that was shown with how the children acted themselves.

Some factors that influence increased observational learning according to a study by Alfred Bandura during his BoBo doll study are:
1) People we perceive as warm and nurturing.
2) When we lack confidence in our own knowledge or abilities.
3) People we admire,
4) When the situation is confusing, ambiguous, or unfamiliar.
As stated before, sometimes observational learning can produce aversive behaviors as well. In Bandura’s experiment, children would watch an adult be aggressive while playing with a doll, and then when it was the child’s turn to play they would often show the same behavior. In a real life scenario, this could be as simple as seeing older siblings play fight, than show violent behavior towards other kids at school. A child swearing is also a modeled behavior. When an adult slips the F word and everyone in the room gasps and says “Don’t say that in front of the kids!” and then when the children say it and get a similar surprised reaction they tend to repeat it. Observational learning is not just for children though. I know when I am in a situation where I am unsure of what behavior I should show, I watch other people to see what they do first. Think about if someone acted the same way they do in a movie theater as they do when they’re watching TV at home: making comments, laughing loudly, blowing their nose… though many of us pick up on other cues to know that behaving like that in unacceptable. Without people modeling behaviors it would be really hard to communicate with children how to behave and even harder to know what to do in new situations.

Terms: Observational learning, Albert Bandura, Model, Behavior, Aversive behavior, Behavior

3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://psychology.about.com/od/oindex/fl/What-Is-Observational-Learning.htm
http://www.funderstanding.com/theory/child-development/observational-learning-and-the-young-child/
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/cognitive-approaches-to-learning-48/bandura-and-observational-learning-203-12738/


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

After reading the section about Changing the Antecedents, I decided I would like to learn more about observational learning. Observational learning, also known as modeling, is basically learning by example. Since this can be applied in so many aspects of life, I found it incredibly interesting and wanted to look further into it. I had learned about observational learning in my previous classes and knew that it was a popular method of learning for young children. Observational learning fits into the section of Changing the Antecedents because we have control over what we model. If we change the antecedents, or the behaviors we want observed, we can have partial control of the consequences. In other words, if we are more aware of behaviors we are emitting, we can have more control in what behaviors this elicits.

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

There are three main aspects I would like to focus on within the three articles I investigated. The first being on observational learning and the Bobo doll studies. Albert Bandura is one of the first psychologists who did observational learning research. One of his first studies was to demonstrate that children can learn from simply watching the behavior of any social model. Another aspect that I would like to focus on is the four conditions for observational learning. The four conditions are attention, retention (or memory), initiation (or reproduction), and motivation. I would like to look further into how these compare to other terms we have learned previously in Behavior Modification. The third aspect I would like to focus on are the positive and negative implications that go along with observational learning. All of the articles touched on these subjects and I found these aspects most interesting.

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

Observational learning was studied greatly by Albert Bandura, a psychologist who actually studied at the University of Iowa for many years, and now teaches with the Department of Social Science in Psychology at Stanford University. One of Bandura’s most famous studies is known as the Bobo-Doll Experiment. This experiment was created to demonstrate the children can learn by simply observing the behavior of a social model. He also wanted to demonstrate the reinforcement of the mode’s behavior could determine whether or not the behavior is copied. In the experiment, Bandura studied predominantly with children in a daycare or nursery, and he watched their responses to the actions of adults. The children were to watch a film in which an adult acted aggressively towards a blow up doll. When the children were left alone with the Bobo doll with no adult supervision, they would imitate the actions of the adults. I found this study very interesting as it is one of the first studies greatly observing observational learning. Bandura was mentioned in all three articles and is greatly recognized as being involved with observational learning.

Another aspect I decided to focused on was the four conditions for observational learning. The four conditions are attention, retention, initiation, and motivation. Each play an important part in the process of observational learning. The articles express that naturally, children can only learn if they pay attention to what is happening. Attention is greatly influenced by each observer, but can also be influenced by observer expectation. Once the observer has paid attention to the behavior, they must retain the behavior in order to repeat it. This depends on the observer’s ability to retain and remember specific behaviors. The next condition is initiation. Observers must be capable of reproducing the act, both physically and mentally. The final condition is motivation. An observer must be motivated or have the desire to reproduce the behaviors or target behaviors they have observed. These are the necessary conditions in order to classify observational learning.

There are many different perspective of observational learning. There are both positive and negative implications that go along with observational learning. Referring back to the bobo doll study, there are negative implications that go along with violence being observed from the media and other models. These could create behaviors that are hard to extinguish, even using both punishment and reinforcement. However, there are also positive implications. Children can observe positive behaviors from role models and become well-behaved. Observational learning is a complicated situation.


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

http://www.funderstanding.com/theory/child-development/observational-learning-and-the-young-child/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/155023-observational-learning-in-children/

https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/cognitive-approaches-to-learning-48/bandura-and-observational-learning-203-12738/

Terms:

target behavior, reinforcement, punishment, extinguish, emit, elicit, antecedents, behaviors, consequences, Bobo, Bandura, negative, positive

1) The topic that I chose to explore for this assignment is something that every college student can relate to or benefit from; how to change your environment to reduce stress. The is relevant to the section in the chapter we read because the chapter was about changing our antecedents or modifying our environment to be more conducive to being able to change our behavior. I chose to write about this topic because this is probably the most stressful time in my life thus far. With the GRE in 6 days (6 days!!!), applying for graduate school programs, homework, trying to maintain an acceptable GPA, trying to balance a job, being the president of psych club, doing research and being a TA on top of everything, it goes without saying that I need some stress-related help. Hopefully completing this assignment will assist me with this, my behavioral change project, and allow me to find some strategies I can employ to reduce stress for the rest of my academic life.
The three topics that I would like to focus on for this assignment are why our environment plays such a large role in why we are stressed, how changes in environment can assist in stress reduction, and how we can implement changes in our lives to reduce stress.
2) We have learned throughout our readings from the textbook why our environment is an important element in our behavior, but the effect that our environment has on other behavioral influences is an aspect that we have not explored in as much depth. One of the first questions that must be answered in order for us to understand this is why our environments affect our behavior and mental states so deeply. One of the answers that has been suggested for this is that the connection is evolutionary in nature. According to this theory early humans developed an enhanced sensitivity to their environment in order to survive in dangerous settings. This suggests that we have a natural proclivity for being able to identify with our environment. Due to this, we tend to prefer environments that have characteristics that make us feel more physically and emotionally comfortable. For example, you might prefer to do your homework at a quiet coffee shop more than your noisy dorm room.
Because we are so sensitive to environmental change there are many different ways through which environments can impact people. Our environment can influence mood states, motivation, and interaction with others, along with many other aspects of our lives. One example of a way in which mood can be influenced via the environment is a problem that many people face at this time of year; seasonal affective disorder. Seasonal affective disorder can be caused by a lack of natural light in the winter, and this in turn causes a lack of vitamin D absorption that can lead to depressive symptoms. Another example of how environment may influence us psychologically could be having an isolated living space. If the living space prevented you from speaking with someone on a regular basis you may begin to experience feelings of intense loneliness or isolation. Looking at this from the behavioral perspective using the ABC’s; the antecedent would be the sequestered room, the behavior would be the reduction in socialization, and the consequence would be feelings of isolation.
There are countless suggestions for stress relief to be found; from religion to self-healing to the clinically based treatments we are most familiar with. Environmental stress relief also has a wide variety of recommendations, some of the most popular deal with addressing both personal and environmental stressors. Some of these are as broad as proposing those under a lot of stress simply expose themselves to more positive experiences. Surrounding yourself with calming imagery, spending more time in natural settings, and cutting back on time exposed to harsh noise or light are some tactics that can be implemented following this theory. Other theories suggest strengthening the social support in the environment to reduce stress; making yourself more open to communication from others, reaching out to those close to you in times of need, or even just being in an environment with more people can help those with feelings of isolation. If these seem too theoretical there are some basic approaches that just suggest making the environment that you are in more physically comfortable. Getting a more comfortable chair or curling up with a warm blanket can decrease feelings of stress by providing security and comfort. Another, maybe less obvious, suggested method is allowing yourself to have options when it comes to your environment. If you feel like you cannot change your environment, or have limited options to do so, the more likely you are to feel environment-related stress. Allowing yourself options gives a feeling of control over your circumstances and independence, which can also reduce environmental stress.


Terms: antecedent, behavior, consequence, ABC’s, behavioral change project, reinforcing, environment, environmental stress, personal stress,


URLS: http://www.healthreviser.com/content/environment-changes-manage-your-stress

http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/healing-environment/what-impact-does-environment-have-us

https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/environmental-social-and-spiritual-strategies-for-stress-relief/

1. I chose to research more about differential reinforcement of other behaviors. It fits into our subject in that it was a central part in our text this week about helping to encourage extinction of negative behaviors. I'm interested in this subject because it is a way to decrease a behavior, but to do so in a way that is not a punishment, and that is very interesting to me.

2. I want to look into a few different versions of the principle of DRO, look at how it has been implemented with humans, and how you can implement it with pets.

3. Differential reinforcement of other is a very interesting strategy in behavior modification. It is a way to reduce the frequency of a target behavior, without having to punish said behavior. This is an important and valuable tool because punishment is aversive, and when it can be avoided, it will usually lead to both a happier subject and behavior modifier. There are two different types of differential reinforcement you can use. There is differential reinforcement of other behaviors/omission training, and there is differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviors.
Differential reinforcement of other behaviors/omission training is an effective approach if you want a very structured system. It also is more effective in modifying the behavior of humans than it might be with animals. An important facet of this type of DRO is that is time dependent, not response dependent. The basic ideas in implementing this strategy then become defining the target behavior you want to reduce, and identifying other behaviors you want to reinforce. Then you set a scenario where for a set period of time, if they emit the behaviors you want, or alternatively, don't emit the target behavior you're trying to eliminate, they are rewarded. There have been studies that used this in various penal facilities, when dealing with inmates. They would develop a token economy, where they had to emit certain desired behaviors, and emit enough of them over the time period to retain a level or increase their level. This level that they earned translated to reinforcers such as cigarettes, or refreshments. Many of these studies that were done were done in juvenile facilities, and many of them were quite successful in reducing the target behavior.

Differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviors is perhaps the less complicated of the two strategies. In this method, when a target behavior that you're attempting to eliminate occurs, you introduce another behavior that is incompatible with the target behavior, and would serve to interrupt the target behavior. You then reinforce them emitting the other behavior, and ignore that they were doing the target behavior in the first place. This can be effective in classrooms, or in the training of pets. An excellent example would be with training pets. If your animal starts to do something that you consider a behavior you would like to have extinction occur with, instead of doling out punishment, you simply ask them to do a behavior that they already understand, and know to do. So if they are begging at the table, instead of yelling at them, you direct them to go lay in their kennel. You completely ignore that they were doing the target behavior, and reinforce them for completing the other behavior that you wanted to happen.

In summation, the big differences between these two variations in DRO is that omission training is more reinforcing for a lack of the target behavior, and incompatibility training is rewarding for doing a different behavior, without acknowledging that the target behavior occurred at all.

differential reinforcement of other, DRI, DRO, target behavior, emit, punishment, reinforcement.

http://www.grrec.ky.gov/CaveWeb/autism/ASD%20Webpage/Module%203/-%20How%20To%20DRO.pdf

https://books.google.com/books?id=sfExBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA198&lpg=PA198&dq=differential+reinforcement+of+other+behavior+in+prisons&source=bl&ots=RfpZA83QDN&sig=RMFzhr8KLrV6cVmjZGXDOmjDLNY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDIQ6AEwA2oVChMIoPKOtdibyQIVCiYmCh0H4AUD#v=onepage&q=differential%20reinforcement%20of%20other%20behavior%20in%20prisons&f=false

http://www.dogtrainingforpeople.com/files/differentialreinforcement.pdf

1) The topic I have picked to research this week is observational learning. This topic fits into what we have covered so far because it is talked about in Section 5.4: Changing the Antecedents. Observational learning can play a big role in helping explain the different behaviors that children emit early in their lives. I was interested in this topic because I wanted to learn more in depth about observational learning; such as, when is observational learning most likely to take place, factors that make some people more easily succumb to observational learning, and if there were any big examples in Psychology of observational learning.
2) a) The three aspects of observational learning I am going to discuss are what exactly is observational learning/examples of observational learning, what factors influence observational learning, and an example of observational learning experiment involving aggression.
2) b) Observational learning is a form of learning that is done indirectly; it happens from one individual observing what another person is doing, and then imitating the behaviors for themselves. Observational learning is similar to reinforcement because the individual's behavior often increases after watching someone else perform the behavior. Observational learning can happen any time during someone's life, but the most typical time for observational learning to take place is when an individual is a child. A child often does not have much knowledge on how the world works, and will gain this knowledge by watching the people around them. These people can include siblings, parents, teachers, peers, friends, or any other authority figure in their life. Through this learning children will learn what behaviors are acceptable in society by watching how the people around them interact. Some different examples of observational learning taking place in society are if one of your family members, let's say your dad, loves to play gold and you often watch him do it you will learn how to play golf by watching, and then try to replicate those actions. Another example of observational learning would be if you and a friend go out to a foreign restaurant you may have to observe how the people around you are eating, and then you will imitate their behaviors. One last example may be a child at daycare sees one child get in trouble for biting another child, the child will learn that he should not bite the other children or he will be punished as well.
Research done by the psychologist Bandura show that there are multiple factors that can raise the possibility that a behavior will be imitated by the individual. An individual is more likely to imitate a behavior when you believe the person you are observing is warm, caring, or nurturing; if they feel like they will receive a reward for copying the behavior, also known as positive reinforcement; if the individual does not feel knowledgable about the situation they are in; if the person performing the behavior is in a position of power over us; if the person is in a similar demographic to us; if we admire the person we are observing; or if we feel anxious because we are in a confusing or unfamiliar situation.
Albert Bandura is a psychologist who is very well-known for his work with observational learning, and he says there are four main influences for observational learning. These four include: attention, retention, motor production, and reinforcement/incentives. One very famous series of studies he did involved a bobo-doll, and this was to show how aggression could be acquired by simply observing others. He did this experiment on thirty-six boy and thirty-six girls between the ages of three and six years. He first found out how aggressive the children were before the experiment, and rated their behavior on four five point rating scales. The children were then group with other children who had similar aggression levels as them. Twenty-four of the children were show a model with no aggression, twenty-four children were shown a model with aggression, and then there was a control group made up of twenty-four children. These groups of children were shown to a room where a bobo-doll was located, and depending on which model group they observed different treatment of the bobo-doll. (aggressive model= aggression towards the doll, no agression= ignoring the doll, control= no behavior shown towards the doll) There was then some mild aggression arousal for the children. Lastly the children were placed in a room filled with aggressive and non-aggressive toys for twenty minutes while their behaviors were being observed. The study found that the children who were subjected to the aggressive model had a lot more aggressive behavior than the children in both the non-agressive groups or control groups. These studies supported the idea of observational learning. In other words, these children were imitating the behaviors that were shown to them.
http://psychology.about.com/od/classicpsychologystudies/a/bobo-doll-experiment.htm
http://www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html
http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/social/bandura.html
Terms: observational learning, behavior, emit, reinforcement, positive reinforcement, reward, punished, Bandura, bobo-doll, aggression arousal

As this week we only had one section to cover, the topic was very obvious: changing the antecedents. By manipulating the environment we can hopefully change our behaviors. As the test said, we can do many things; the options are unlimited. If need be we can reroute our entire lives. For me, I just need remove the couch from my premises two days a week, and I’ll be as good as gold!
As I said, I need to remove the couch, as this could be a crutch. In Antecedent Manipulations they state that sometimes changing the environment you are in is an actual crutch, instead of the environment you are changing. I get this. If you change your antecedent once, that is all fine and dandy and acceptable, but changing it ten times to suit what you really want will more than likely make the attempt at modifying the behaviors moot.
Modifying behaviors is a tricky business and according to this week’s readings says that to change a behavior; the first step is to go to the antecedent. We can change an old antecedent, avoiding antecedents, narrowing antecedents, and arranging new ones. This I feel is 100% true as I work through my project. I have had to change my target behavior once already as it was not attainable.
I found a very interesting video that goes back to the Autism Spectrum Disorder. In this video a woman works on speech therapy with a child who has been diagnosed with the disorder. While trying to teach the child that he needs to use words to communicate, she plays a game. When he reaches for the toy, she repeats “I want”. They do this several times before she changes the antecedent. When he reaches for the toy, she keeps it closed in her fist and repeats “I want” until he starts to become fussy. The woman then ignores him until he calms back down and resumes with the game. This goes on until he does not become upset. The woman goes on to explain that most parents will cave in to the child when they start crying as they think the child is in distress. She explains that this is not the case, it is only a way for the child to get attention. In this short clip of the video, I feel changing antecedents is very accurately and well depicted. It is simple and gets the point across that that is how one should use the change of an antecedent.
I know that this blog will not be of length requirement, but with having only one section and limited amounts of information available to write on, this was all I could possible think to relate.
Antecedent
Behavior
Target Behavior
http://www.interactingwithautism.com/section/treating/aba
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDQQFjADahUKEwiiv-m8xZvJAhVFJB4KHcK3DyI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcma.com%2FPDF%2FAntecedent%2520copy%2520with%2520copyright.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHi3_t1-8hDuzadj23TsnMbQHLVWg&sig2=R3FHjinzdZ5uBDtiZrpsBg&bvm=bv.107763241,d.eWE
https://books.google.com/books?id=RnajZreJgGwC&pg=PA158&lpg=PA158&dq=changing+antecedents&source=bl&ots=1R-jBwjBzE&sig=OZv45an8sTh8v3fYztPLAfl_cIg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAjgKahUKEwjY24qRxpvJAhUGqR4KHUOWAvQ#v=onepage&q=changing%20antecedents&f=false

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
The topic that I would like to talk about is changing antecedents to influence a person to emit their target behavior. This relates to the last chapter where the main topic was antecedents and how they affect behavior. Antecedents have been a part of the class since the beginning. Our book is titled, “The ABC’s of Behavior Modification”, and the A in ABC’s stands for antecedent. Antecedents play a major role in a person’s behavior. I wanted to talk about this topic because at the beginning of this class, I tended to focus only on what a person’s behavior was and what their target behavior was without considering the environmental influences. After further learning, I understand the immense influence that antecedents have on a person’s behavior. Learning this has helped me modify my behavior better than I could have without this knowledge.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
For this assignment, I would like to first talk about how the parts of the ABC’s of behavior modification work together, the importance of the antecedent, how I could change the antecedent of my behavioral project to make it more successful.
2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
There are many reasons why a person would modify their behavior or a person would modify someone else’s behavior. Typically behaviors that are modified bother ourselves, bother others, may lead to trouble later in life, or are illegal. Given these reasons, it is evident that modifying behavior can be important to every person’s life, so making sure that the modification is successful is also important. Using the ABC’s of behavior modification can help a person figure out what they must do to make the behavior modification a success. It is important to understand each part of the ABC’s. The A stands for Antecedent which is a thing or activity that precedes a behavior. This thing or activity is plays a major role in the eliciting of the behavior. This leads me to the second letter. The B stands for behavior, referring to the behavior that the person is emitting. The C stands for consequence, or the event that follows the occurrence of the behavior. To apply this to a real world situation, imagine that a person is at a party. The person is having a good time, maybe they are a little drunk, and they start dancing on a table. When they start doing this, people may join them or start cheering. So for this situation, the antecedent would be they are drunk at a party, the behavior would be the dancing on a table, and the consequence would be people joining them or cheering. The antecedent is important in reference to the whole situation. It can influence whether or not the person will emit the behavior or not, and if they do, it influences what the consequence would be. Imagine a person is at work. I used to work at McDonalds, so let’s say they work at McDonalds. So imagine that this McDonald's worker is at work, and they decide to start dancing on the counter for some reason. Without a doubt, they would get fired, which is a lot different than people joining them or cheering. Since the antecedent of the situation changed, so did the outcome. Typically though, if a person works at McDonald's, they aren’t going to start dancing on the counter because they know that it is not the place to do so and they know that they would get in trouble. They are not at a party and drunk. Since this is true, changing the antecedent should change the behavior. When defining a target behavior, the person doing so needs to be specific. When working to modify their behavior to reach a target behavior, they may need to change something in their environment to help them be more successful. If a person is trying to stop eating junk food, they may need to ask their roommates to stop buying junk food so they don’t eat it. For my behavioral project, I decided to start running more often. I used to run three to four miles a day, but in the past months, I stopped for some reason, and barely ever run. The first week of the project, there were a few days that I didn’t run or didn’t run for very long, so I looked at the reason’s why I failed to run on those certain days. First of all, I got a cold on the second day. There wasn’t really anything that I could do about that, and at that time, resting would have been better for my health than trying to run. Something else that I noticed was that I avoided running because it was rather cold outside. If I changed from running outside to running on a treadmill, that problem would be fixed. Also, I would like to run after I get up, but I don’t have the energy. Something that I used to do before I went to work out was take a caffeine pill, which would just wake me up, it would give me more energy to burn and led to me working out harder. Since doing this had fa effects when used in the past, I will begin to use it for this behavior project. These are all ways to change the antecedent to make reaching my target behavior a success.
3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/?q=behavior_plans/functional_behavior_assessment/teacher_tools/antecedent_behavior_consequence_chart
http://bcotb.com/antecedents-the-a-in-the-abcs-of-behavioral-analysis/
http://www.runaddicts.net/start-to-run/how-to-become-a-morning-runner
Terms: Antecedent, Emit, Target Behavior, Behavior, ABC’s, Behavior Modification, Environment, Eliciting, Consequence

1. PTSD Dogs (Canine 4 Hope). Post- Traumatic Stress disorder is a very serious thing that is most recently found in Military Infantry that have come home from battle. What I found is that dogs are used to aid the PTSD victims and while it was hard to understand it really packs a powerful punch. What this ties into is how stress, Distress, can lead to different circumstances and how the use of the dog can lead to a Eustress expierence. This also connects with the use of classical and operant conditioning in which the use of reinforcement that was used to train the dogs for the PTSD episode identification and what to do.
2. Identification Trigger, Emotional Engagement, Dissolution of the event.
Identification
what we have to look at is how the dog can notice an owner showing stress. What happens for PSTD victims is that there is a triggering event in which the person remembers and associates something that is happening to something that happened that they remembered. For example if a person seed a barbed wire fence it might remind them of the war, this would be normal for a person to remember something but if you have PTSD you actually relive the event in you consciousness and not in your mind. This trigger is what the dog needs to identify, what we notice is that the dog will notice Change of voice, Posture, and even eye contact.
Emotional Engagement
The role of the dog here is to take the identification and basically refocus the attention of the owner to the dog. While a person who has PTSD and gets in an episode might not snap out of it the early signs and even stages of an episode are where the dog might lick your face, rub against you are lie next to you with their head in your lap. this then takes the negative stress and changes the focus from the triggering event to the positive stress of the dog on your lap. or the dog giving you the emotional engagement.
Dissolution of the PTSD event or episode
This aspect is the end result of the emotional engagement the dog has. But it is a bit detailed. the dog must not only know when the event has happened but understand when the event has subsided. the dog takes the engagement of the emotional stimulus of the patient in a way disengaging the association of the triggered event. i enjoyed this topic and would like to do further follow up research.
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/problemsdisorders/posttraumaticstressdisorder.aspx
This site gives the basics for PTSD it tells about how PTSD works and who can have it. What this site gave that i really enjoyed was the discussion about How it happens. They did a great job explaining how PTSD can happen and what it might feel like to had PTSD. I used this to really understand the basics of PTSD.
http://www.canines4hope.com/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-dogs-ptsd-dog-training-florida.htm
This site gives information about the service dogs that are given to people who may have PTSD. What i really wanted to look at is exactly what the dog may do to help these people. This really ties in as a site of informational use more than one of demonstration. Either way i used this video to develop the structure of my response.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y_a_V1QD3U
This you Tube video is short but very powerful it is acutally an ABC televised event where they talk about inspirations around the nation. Here they have a video of a man talking about his PTSD and what it is like to have a Service dog. It gives a demonstrative view of how the dog helps and actually showed during the video how the dog reacted when the owner started showing evidence of a PTSD episode. I used this to understand how the dog could help and learn about the dog service.

Terminology : PTSd, Consequence, Behavior, Stress Distress, Eustress

For this week’s assignment, I chose to write about changing the antecedent, as discussed in Section 5.4. Pertaining to the subject of children and parenting, I would like to talk about the positives of changing an environment, as well as the negatives. I would also like to add some tips and discuss how they would be beneficial. The reason I chose this subject was to learn more about it; I can think of many useful applications, if not just for children, but for pets and people in my own life. Changing the environment, I believe, is a large part of changing a behavior.

A positive to changing a child’s environment is less stress on parents, creating a better environment for everyone. Another good note is better psychological effects on children. A simplified environment can create a stress-free space in order to allow growth of the mind and imagination. By decreasing overstimulation in the environment, we can also decrease the chance of other negative psychological effects, such as anxiety, for example. By changing the environment in a positive way, we can also make it easier for a child to take care of themselves. We are helping the child to become more independent. We also allow this to happen in a safe, child-proof environment. Finally, it is effective for kids of all ages, even though not always implemented with older children.

On a negative note, childproofing can be difficult. We can’t always remove unsafe things all the time, and we might not always have the funds. Also, sometimes children will test their limited boundaries—such as areas where they are allowed to be messy, or running around the neighborhood without notice. A method of changing the environment can include what is called a substitution—like trading an unwanted behavior for another Sometimes it is difficult to perform a substitution—such as your child wanting to use the vacuum. You could probably find a suitable fun alternative, like allowing her to “be the vacuum” by picking up crumbs, or getting her a toy vacuum. If not done properly, it can backfire if the child decides it is not as good as the real thing. Removing stimuli from an environment can also cause a negative feeling toward the parent.

How do we change the environment for our children? 1) Enriching the environment with several items to keep them busy: toys, games, art supplies, Play-doh, books, dolls, puzzles, paints, instruments, and pets. TV can be overstimulating. Allow an area for messes. 2) Childproofing the environment to make it safe for the child to feel creative: handles on stove, outlet covers, make sure that shelves are secured to the wall, wood floor, cheap tables, safe cups, stools, hide knives and medicines, hide matches and lighters, and little access to stairs could all be good angles. 3) Get rid of clutter by making a place for everything. Using labels for younger children can be beneficial. Creating a stress-free environment can allow the child to grow, as well as the relationship between the child and the parent to grow. Because isn’t that one of the ultimate goals of good parenting?—A good parent-child relationship?

With older children, like I mentioned before, we can also implement these behaviors of changing the antecedent to avoid bad behaviors. Limiting curfew and other rules, encouraging calendars and planning can also add to our goal of making an older child more independent. More activities that promote independence could include: choosing things for their room, choosing their clothes for school based on the weather, packing for trips. Trust can only happen once a child knows their boundaries. Removing bad behavior triggers, such as a naughty group of friends, bad TV show, or a violent video game, can also be great for changing an older child’s behavior. The ability for the parent to not worry about their child all the time makes for a happier parent, and a happier environment for the child.

I think that these tips could also be great for nannies and childcares. Being a nanny previously, I wish I would have implemented some of them. It will be great to share these with moms in my life. I find it interesting that these tools can be used with children of all ages. My mom probably was not that great at putting these to use. My parents used more punishment methods, but we would always eventually be allowed to have the negative stimuli back. I think a lot of parents probably do this with older kids, and I think it is a mistake. I believe it can make a child spoiled and or create a reinforcing vibe for whatever bad behavior.

Terms: Antecedent, Positive, Environment, Psychological Effects, Overstimulation, Negative, Remove, Substitution, Unwanted Behavior, Behavior, Stimuli, Goal, Boundaries, Relationship

Resources:
http://www.great-grandma.com/aquakeys/parent-effectiveness-training/chapter-8-changing-unacceptable-behavior-changing-environment
http://motherhood.modernmom.com/three-ways-change-behavior-18181.html
http://www.inclusivechildcare.org/pdf/Factors%20that%20Influence%20Behavior%20Tip%20Sheet.pdf

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
The topic that I choose to research for this week assignment is change your environment. This relate to this week sections when the author was discussing removing the “Nos” it is one thing that we can do to help reinforce the behavior that we want to have. I am interested in discussing changing your environment because it can help with change your own behaviors and I have a couple behaviors that I would like to change.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The three aspects of my topic that are going to be discuss are what impact does the environment have on you, ways to change your environment, and the effects that change your environment have on your behavior.
3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
The Environment have a major impact on your behavior. Some example of how the environment impact your behavior are the environment can facilitate or discourage interactions among people, the environment can influence peoples' behavior and motivation to act, and the environment can influence mood. Also the environment can influence your health by creating or reducing stress. You want your environment to be a stress free area. Some ways you can improve your environment to be less stressful are increase connection to nature, offer patient options and choices, enhance social support, reduce environmental stressors such as noise, glare, and poor air quality, and Provide pleasant diversions.
Some other simple ways you can change your environment are redecorating your space, change to a working with co-workers, move to a new city, bring in new team members, walk to work, and think globally. Change your environment can be beneficial but you have to change it to better yourself and how you change it all depends on your goals in life. Change your environment can have a major effect on your behavior. For example, if you use bigger plate and silverware when you eat then you will eat more than if you use smaller plate and silverware. So if your dieting and trying to look weight you make just try using a smaller dishes and see if you do not see a different.
4) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/healing-environment/what-impact-does-environment-have-us
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/243959
https://hbr.org/2009/03/the-easiest-way-to/
Terms: observational development, removing the “No”, reinforce,

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
For this week’s blog I have decided to research models related to how a change in an environment (antecedent) can influence a behavior or behaviors (how much of an impact an antecedent change can have on an individual or group).

2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk
about for this assignment?
I would like to define multiple main points of behavior change, define a few theories, and connect it to this week’s section 5.4.

3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
In order to change a behavior, a researcher or clinician must have a firm grasp on key elements related to behavior change. One of the key elements that I found is important to understanding the theories I will discuss later is how one perceives a threat. A threat is defined as a danger or harmful event of which people may not be aware (Link 2). In order for a clinician to change a client’s behavior he or she must increase awareness of the threat by focusing on the severity level and how susceptible his or her client is when faced with fear. Another key element includes self-efficacy, which can be defined as an individual’s perception of how well they are accomplishing a task or behavior. The clinician’s job here is to increase the individual’s self-esteem so that they can feel that he or she is accomplishing the task successfully; helping them believe they may “avert the threat” (Link 2). Another key element includes barriers, which are something that would prevent the client’s from being able to achieve his or her overreaching goal, or the “recommended response” (Link 2). The clinician must have the client become aware of cultural, social, or physical barriers they may encounter when wanting to change certain problematic behavior patterns. In my opinion, this is one of the most important key elements because a lot of changing behavior involves breaking down barriers or building them up to live a more productive lifestyle. One last key element I would like to highlight is the attitude, or mindset, of a client. Attitudes can be defined as an individual’s evaluation or belief system in regards to his or her behavior change. The clinician must make sure to measure existing attitudes toward the behavior so that at the end of treatment he or she can compare the client’s before and after behaviors. In order to evaluate the treatment, the clinician must pay attention to the attitude of his or her client.
One theory that I discovered while researching my topic was the Theory of Planned Behavior. This theory involves behavioral intentions being influenced by attitudes related to how an individual weighs the pros and cons of a behavior (Link 1). In order to ‘plan’ a behavior an individual must evaluate how his or her behavior will have an impact on others and the environment. One site I found mentioned that this theory can be linked to, or explain, health behaviors, such as breast feeding, drinking, etc. A limiting factor of this model includes the inability to account for environmental or economic influences. This is an extreme flaw because behavior modification is built on the ABC model and the A includes the antecedent or environment. If this model fails to address the environmental factors, then it fails to explain a large portion of behavior modification. Another theory that I discovered while researching my topic was the Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change). This model focuses on the decisions that an individual makes and “operates on the assumption that people do not change behaviors quickly and decisively” (Link 3). The transtheoretical model views behavior as a cyclical habit. This model includes six stages of change in the cycle of human habit and behavior formation. The first of the six is precontemplation where individuals are not aware that they have a problematic behavior, hence the name (before thinking about the behavior). The second stage is contemplation where individuals have identified the target behavior and recognize that the behavior may have positive and negative influences in their life. The third stage is the preparation stage where individuals are ready to begin the process of behavior modification and work on taking small steps toward their target behavior. The fourth stage is action where individuals take action and are in the process of modifying their target behavior (within the last 6 months or so). The fifth stage is maintenance where individuals have maintained the new behavior for, at minimum, over 6 months. The sixth and final stage of this model is termination. This stage is where individuals have no desire to fall back on their maladaptive behavior and will not suffer a relapse. It is extremely difficult to reach the final stage and many individuals remain in the fifth stage of maintenance because they may suffer relapses (Link 3).
I struggled this week with connecting a topic to the antecedent section this week. For a while I felt that I had already discussed a wide range of behavior modification and there was very little that I could contribute. At first I was going to strictly discuss how antecedents impact the environment but I believe that I had already done this in the past. In order to come up with this week’s blog idea I had to think of material I had not yet researched. I decided to connect elements in the environment to theories of behavior modification.

Link 1: http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/SB/SB721-Models/SB721-Models3.html (theory of planned behavior)
Link 2: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTGOVACC/Resources/BehaviorChangeweb.pdf (key elements of behavior change)
Link 3: http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/SB/SB721-Models/SB721-Models6.html (transtheoretical model; stages of change)

Terms: threat, self-efficacy, barriers, attitudes, behavior
patterns, Theory of Planned Behavior, Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change), precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, termination

1. The topic I chose for this week wasn't directly in our section that we read, but it definitely relates to the material from section 5.4. I chose to do research on learned helplessness, specifically how it relates to drug abuse. I mentioned in the my post on Monday that I used to work with recovering addicts/alcoholics. A common theme I noticed while working there is that many of them feel they are powerless in their situations and because so many of them usually go from treatment back to the streets they came in from, they feel they're just being set up for failure. This is what this section has made me think about.

2. Three things I'd like to talk about is what learned helplessness is, how it relates to this section, and specifically how both of these things relate to addicts.

3. Learned helplessness is essentially the sense of feeling powerless about one's situation. Most times, people who have adopted this mindset thinks they're situation cannot change and they often times look at themselves as a victim of their circumstances. Having this mindset is dangerous in that it can cause people to struggle with psychological issues, such as depression. In this section, we learned about how changing the antecedents in our environments can elicit an opportunity for us to emit desired behaviors, or eliminate undesired behaviors. A lot of times, people who have attempted to change antecedents in their behaviors have experienced failed attempts, which really just reinforces the mentality that things cannot change. This is a common trend with recovering drug addicts and alcoholics. When I was working at Pathways, we commonly worked with clients on their "addictive behaviors." They all had behaviors that needed to be changed, but part of that included changing their environments, and more so, changing the people they choose to surround themselves with. All of these things are incredibly difficult for drug addicts because a lot of the times, their only friends are people who are also using and abusing substances. It's really challenging to let go of almost all the friends you know. It's also difficult to change your environment when you probably don't have the money or resources to do so, plus you don't have a lot of support from friends or family that would be able to assist in making these changes. These are just a few of the reasons that relapsing is so common. Learned helplessness is a big reason that these necessary changes in antecedents are not implemented by people, and working with those who struggle with addiction is only one example.

TERMS: Elicit, emit, reinforce, behavior, antecedents, environment

http://www.balboahorizons.com/learned-helplessness-connection-substance-abuse/

http://alcoholrehab.com/addiction-articles/learned-helplessness-and-addiction/

http://womenstreatmentcenter.com/learned-helplessness-and-addiction/

1) For my topical blog this week I would like to discuss more reasons why it is okay to say no to your children. This topic is very interesting to be because the debate with how to discipline children is so diverse and there are a lot of different views. This relates to the topics discussed in section 5.4 because is modifying behavior of children and a way to change the antecedent before the child realizes what is actually happening.
2) The three topics I am going to talk about for this topical blog are why its okay to say no to your child, some barriers of saying no to your child, and ways to say no to your child.
3) It is okay to say no to your child because, when you say yes to everything that your child asks for you are conditioning your child to always ask for what they want and they will always think they are going to get what they want. Although it is very hard to tell your child no for many reasons because you want to give your child the world and everything they want. While I don’t understand what it is like to have a child of my own and go through these feelings I do work everyday with children that I have developed key relationships with. I can sympathize with these parents and not wanting to say no to a child because you don’t want to make them sad, but it will benefit them in the long run because they will understand better in real life situation. Saying no can also benefit the child by giving them determination and builds self-esteem so they can work towards what they want. If you always say yes that is a way of sheltering your child and that will hurt them in the real world. Saying no builds the ideal parenting style of authoritative parenting. This style is kind a mix between being hard on your child with expectations and punishments and being best friends with your child and letting them do what ever they want. Saying “no” to your child ultimately teaches them self control and build a healthy self-esteem. Some barriers of saying “no” to your child would be compensation compulsion, peer pressure, disappointment dread, and don’t tell policies. Compensation compulsion is when the parent would give into unjustified money demands from the child. Peer pressure can be a barrier because the parents want to keep up with the families around them they want to have equal or better things than them and saying no can limit that and then the family will be above your family. Disappointment dread is the fear of letting down your child and making them sad. The Don’t tell policy is when a parent gives a child something they don’t want the other parent to know they gave them. Some good ways to tell your child no with out actually using the word “no” would be rephrasing the statement, such as, “I know you like candy but it can be very bad for you teeth if you eat it to much.” Showing the child how to do something instead of yelling no at them and not explaining what they should be doing is another way of saying no to a child. Also giving an explanation of what is expected from the child instead of just saying no. If the child is doing something dangerous use other action words such as stop or danger or that’s not safe instead of yelling no because the child might not know the real danger and do it in spite of you saying no.
4) http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/parent-child/its-okay-to-say-no
http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/discipline/tips/discipline-without-saying-no/
https://experiencelife.com/article/saying-no-to-your-kids/

Terms: Antecedent, behavior, modification, authoritative parenting,


1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it. The topic I have choose to talk about in this assignment is how to make so that toddlers don’t use the word no back so much and to help treat some of their bad behaviors. This relates to our assignment from section 5.4 when we talked about many things about this. This very interesting to me because I want to learn it for when I have children and also when every there is a kid out one of my jobs it will help me out.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment? The three things that I want to talk about are how to remove no’s from the environment, examples of how to say no to your child without saying no, and Differential reinforcement of other behavior.
3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
The first thing I would like to talk about would be how to remove the no’s from any environment to keep those terrible twos from happening. First kids learn things mostly from observational learning. This is where the children learn from the examples that are present around them. An example of this would be when the kid go and tries to eat your food because you are eating it. So when you say no to your children all the time, guess what they are going to start saying back to you,” NO”. To stop your children from doing this you obviously have to stop saying no. What can you do to make it easier to not say no? You can start by controlling the environment. This would be child proofing everything in the room. If they cannot reach or climb to your special breakable object, there is no need to say no. Also you can remove anything sharp or dangerous, for example don’t put them in the kitchen when cooking but when putting them in a family room with sharp corners of the table you could put some cushions by it or cover it up with something to protect them from it, or you could get a rounded edge tables instead.
Next I want to talk about how to say no to your child without saying no. This is very hard not to say no to children because it is usually an essay fix at that moment. Yet they don’t realized that always saying no can make the toddlers have those terrible two where they are nonstop saying no to you. Some examples of how to say no to your child without saying no would be first with when our children are wanting too much of a dessert or any type of unhealthy food when they shouldn’t. Most right away would only to think of telling them no they cannot eat it. Instead you could simply tell them that eating too much ice-cream is not good for you and may make you sick. Another common example of a behavior in toddlers are them screaming you trying to tell you what they want. Instead of just putting them in time out for yelling, just tell they that you can’t understand them when they whine like that you should use your regular voice so I can understand. Lastly toy time outs, this is if the child is misusing the toy or using it to hurt other people. If they do this then you should say that this toy needs to have a timeout because it doesn’t like to be hurt or misused. I think you should also so that you can get them out of time out if you can use it correctly.
The next thing I want to talk about is DRO, this is differential reinforcement of other behavior. This takes a lot of time and work which is why most do not succeed. One thing to know it that even when the environment is difficult to control there is usually always someway to exert the control over it to help that behavior. What I want you to get out of this is the Premack principle which is decreasing the problem by competing with it. You can use the behavioral hierarchy with figuring out what is more desirable then another one. There are only two reinforcer types these are primary reinforcement and secondary reinforcement. Primary reinforcement are the things we have to have in order to live. Those are for example water, food, and air. The Secondary reinforcement are anything learned that we would what in life. This all relates to the subject in this assignment from how to teach ourselves and the children how to live our lives more easily without so much confrontation.
Terms: removing the no’s, differential reinforcement of other behavior, observational learning, toy tie outs, control the environment, Premack principle, behavioral hierarchy, reinforce type, primary reinforce, secondary reinforce.

4) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://motherhood.modernmom.com/three-ways-change-behavior-18181.html
http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/discipline/tips/discipline-without-saying-no/#page=1
http://www.inclusivechildcare.org/pdf/Factors%20that%20Influence%20Behavior%20Tip%20Sheet.pdf

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
The topic I am choosing to do for this week is the struggles alcoholics go through. The reason it fits into our section is because it is commonly talked about through the sections, and this one uses it as an example throughout this section. The reason I am doing this is also because it gets brought up as examples in almost every section but it leave me wondering why it is so common.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The three aspects I will be talking about for this assignment are why a person gets addicted, the ways to help not get addicted, and who gets addicted.

2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Alcoholics can get addicted for many different reasons. There can be biological, psychological, socio-cultural, or spiritual reasons causing it. A person who has family ties to alcoholism is usually more susceptible to alcoholism. There is a genetic link there, and a strong part of it shows that their is a change in someone's brain. To combat these, some people avoid drinking, some just avoid the drinking scene, but people who become alcoholics come find AA as their means of savior. AA is a group of self-supportive people of all groups who feel they need a change from the dangers and problems alcohol has brought into their lives. These people's brains have changed so their rewards system is telling them to seek out the drug to fulfill their wants in the pleasure system. Quitting alcohol becomes harder once it latches on because it changes the hypothalamus. The people who drink to reduce stress try to quit, causing them stress making it even harder for them.
3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites
http://www.amhc.org/1410-alcoholism/article/49099-the-biological-causes-of-alcoholism
http://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/what-is-aa
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-use-disorders/genetics-alcohol-use-disorders

1. The topic I chose to research about this week is differential reinforcement of other and how it relates to changing the environment by manipulating the antecedents. This relates to section 5.4 in the reading because the entire section is about changing the antecedents and it also talks about using the differential reinforcement of other.

2. In this blog I will discuss what differential reinforcement of other is, I will also talk about what are antecedents and why manipulating them is so important when wanting to modify a target behavior, and then I will talk about how differential reinforcement of other relates to the manipulation of antecedents.

3. Since the beginning of this course and even on the first few days it was emphasized that antecedents are extremely important when modifying behaviors. Antecedents form the environment and context for all behaviors. It is the situation that fosters the development of the target behavior and the consequence that stems from the behavior being emitted. It has been supported that by changing the environment or antecedents you can then control the behavior. After identifying and understanding the function of the target behavior we can attempt to change the antecedent in order to decrease the unwanted behaviors or to increase the desirable behaviors. By changing the antecedent we can change the situation or events leading up to the target behavior so that it will not be triggered. Recently in school setting Individualized Education Plans involve manipulating and changing the antecedent to reduce problem behaviors and limit aversive consequences. In accordance with changing and altering the environment to increase or decrease a behavior another way to is use a differential reinforcement of other behavior. The DRO behavior attempts to reinforce an incompatible behavior to the behavior that is undesired. This means we change the target behavior by reinforcing another behavior in hopes of decreasing or eliminating an unwanted behavior. It is possible to not only change the environment to reduce unwanted behaviors but to also control the environment so that it contains certain antecedents that elicit wanted and desirable behaviors to combat the unwanted behaviors. DRO is a crucial component of applied behavior analysis and helps parents, teachers, and others to change unwanted target behaviors of others. DRO uses positive reinforcement only when the target behavior is not displayed for a specified period of time. When using DRO reinforcement is provided for the zero occurrence of the unwanted or undesired target behavior. Simply put DRO reinforces the absence of the undesired behavior, and it is extremely easy to use because it only involves identifying when the unwanted target behavior is being used. If the unwanted behavior is being used you provide no reinforcement and when the undesired behavior is not used you deliver the positive reinforcement. A major disadvantage of the DRO procedure is that is does not increase any desired behavior, it just reinforces the absence of an unwanted behavior. Also there is a possibility of reinforcing other undesired behaviors because the reinforcement is given at the end of the interval for which the undesired target behavior was required to not occur. It is easier to use DRO to change a target behavior but changing the antecedent is a much more effective way to increase a desired behavior and decrease undesired behaviors.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjJxbSsmrrJAhXJ6iYKHbuIB8MQFghAMAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gvsu.edu%2Fcms3%2Fassets%2F2CF6CA25-D6C6-F19E-339DC5CD2EB1B543%2Fsecondarylevellinkprograms%2Fbehavioral_interventions_-_differential_reinforcement.docx&usg=AFQjCNE2ty2i1PIzUAA_uhjKRQe4TTrMPw&sig2=E22QEKC8RAPU1O0pwXVsTg

http://www.pcma.com/PDF/Antecedent%20copy%20with%20copyright.pdf

http://asdspecialist.com/blog/?p=766

Terminology: Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior, Antecedent, Desired Behavior, Undesired Behavior, Reinforcement, Reinforcer, Positive Reinforcement, Target Behavior, Elicit, Emitted

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