The Method of Negative Punishment - Assignment Example

Behavioral Modification This assignment is primarily meant for the discussion of my unwanted behavioral character. As a person, I realize that I have a bad habit that I must change from or eliminate it within myself. My bad habit is constant spitting of saliva anywhere and anyhow without caring. it has made most of my friends and family members to complain, and some are even bothering me to stop the habit. It is funny that I do not always realize whenever I spit (Miltenberger &Raymond, pg. 177). However, I realize that it may be hard and a challenging task to eliminate this habit, but I would be pleased if it can even slightly reduce, that would be my pleasure. This craving to remove this bad habit is what has influenced me to manipulate it. I have realized that I always spit when talking or walking, more so having a conversation with more than one person. The actually drives me to change the behavior that was not only embarrassingr, but also regularly spit and this distracts my friends and even my family members (Miltenberger &Raymond, pg. 177) I took the first four days in observing how often I spit, and I realized that it were just the same thing; I spit whenever I walk or whenever am having a conversation. I always spit continuously and am not happy; I want to change that habit. Arguing from the classical condition point of view; my walking and having a conversation was purely due to stimulus (CS). CS is the unnecessary splitting is due to the unconditioned response, the unconditioned stimulus is when am feeling to spit, and finally, my spitting in response to walking and having a conversation is due to the conditioned response (CR). Through keenly observing the data I collected during the initial four days, I realize that there is a correlation between occasions that I spit and the days. I realized that I spat so much on the first day than any other days, which I realized a decrease as days go by (Gardner &William, pg. 23). On the fourth day, my occasions of spitting have reduced significantly as compared to the first day. However, there were occasions that I could frequently spit and occasions that I could not spit. For instance, I realized that I could rarely spit when I was in class unlike when I was walking and having a conversation. The reduction of spitting was because I would now realize that I was spitting unlike other days that I could not realize when I was spitting. Recording down how often I spotted significantly influenced my awareness of spitting, and I could now minimize (Gardner &William, pg. 25). The next four days I was to face a challenging task since I wanted to eliminate or change my spitting behavior. However, I was to consider rewards and punishment as a motivation for achieving this goal. My goal was to remove the targeted behavior, which in this case was spitting anyhow. However, it was so challenging to me since I needed to use punishment to eliminate or reduce this behavior in accordance with operant conditioning. I opted to use a negative punishment to reduce this behavior. I decided that I would not have a coffee drink with my friends at the end of the day if at all I could spit on that day. Denying myself a drink with my friends was a form of my negative punishment. Nevertheless, missing a drink with my friends could help me reduce or eliminate the habit (Meichenbaum& Donald, pg. 45). On the other hand, if I could manage the whole day without spitting then I would join my friends for a drink. I realize that I was able to hold up my spitting during the four days that I was practicing to change my behavior. I was happy with this vast improvement since the rate of my spitting significantly reduced. I just want to eliminate this bad habit, and I must continue to work hard on it. It has come to my realization that the method of negative punishment has helped me a lot in changing my habit during my final four days. I appreciate the reinforcement that helped me to change my behavior drastically. I was amazed that the last four days I rarely spotted driven by my motive that I was to have a drink with my friends if I could succeed. I would so much be disappointed if I could not sit down with my friends and have a drink with them. In addition to reinforcement, I also reduced my conversation and unnecessary walking so that I could not spit. I realized that minimizing my talking and walking rate helped influenced my not spitting a lot (Meichenbaum& Donald, pg. 48). I appreciate the approach of classical conditioning since through it; I was able to understand my habit very well. I did not understand why I was always spitting being that I had practiced it for a while. My initial four days of this type of project made me start realizing whenever I could spit. This is because of classical conditioning that assisted me in beginning to understand why I could spit. My behavioral change was influenced by negative punishment as a part of Operant conditioning. In addition, I have also realized that positive reinforcement approach could have also aided in changing my behavior, which meant rewarding myself whenever I could a day without spitting. Meaning that I could not be spitting anyhow (Thomas &Edwin, pg. 67). Behavior Modification Data Sheet. Date Time intervals (45 minutes interval) Instances observed OR Duration of behavior during self-observation periods Situational factors 7/1 8:25 AM-9:10 11 I was having a long conversation with my friends. 7/2 9:15 AM-11:00 13 My conversation rate increased 8/1 12:00 PM-12:45PM 8 moderate 8/2 5: 00 PM-5:45 PM 8 moderate 9/1 7:15 AM-8:00 AM 6 Slightly moderate conversation 9/2 9:00 AM-9:45 AM 6 Moderate conversation 10/1 12:00 PM-12:45 PM 5 10/2 12:45 PM-1:30 PM 2 I was bored, and I opted to keep mom 10/3 2:00 PM -2:45 PM 3 Behavior modification worksheet: Date Time interval( 45 minutes time interval) Successful modification session( tick or no tick) 12/1 7:00 AM-7:45 AM √ 12/2 12:00 PM-12:45 PM √ 13/1 4:00 PM-4:45 PM 13/2 5 :00 PM- 5:45 PM 14/1 9:00 AM-9:45 PM √ 14/2 11:00 AM-11:45 PM √ 15/1 12 NOON- 1:45 PM 15/2 6:30 PM-7:15 PM √ Works Cited Gardner, William I. Behavior Modification in Mental Retardation: The Education and Rehabilitation of the Mentally Retarded Adolescent and Adult. Chicago: Aldine Publ. Co, 1973. Meichenbaum, Donald. Cognitive-behavior Modification: An Integrative Approach. New York: Plenum Press, 1978. Miltenberger, Raymond G. Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2011. Thomas, Edwin J. Behavior Modification Procedure: A Sourcebook. Chicago: Aldine Pub. Co, 1974. Read More