Behavior Modification Essay Example

Behavior Modification Essay Example Behavior Modification Essay Behavior Modification Essay Behavior Modification BY db80 Exercising Behavior Modification Part 1: Identify Target Behavior (2 pt) a. What behavior are you going to attempt to modify? Target Behavior:_Amount of exercise each day. Part 2: Baseline (14 pts Total) Create a spreadsheet (i. e. table in excel) to document your baseline target behavior. Spreadsheet should include the following items: a. When does the behavior (remember thoughts are behavior) occur (time of day? day of week? weekends vs weekdays? )? (2 pts) See page 9. b. When the behavior occurs, how long does it endure? (2 pts) See page 9. c. How intense is the behavior (e. g. re you sprinting or Jogging when running)? (2 pts) This category was not always applicable for my observation because many times my behavior was exhibited in thoughts. These thoughts did not have an intensity; therefore, I only recorded intensity during my work out. d. Frequency of the behavior: Is the behavior occurring per hour, per day, per week, per year (select the single most meaningful period of time). (2 pts) I left this part of my spreadsheet blank because my goal was to have the behavior occur more often every week and since it occurred multiple times a day I chose to leave it blank to make the spreadsheet asier to understand. . Where does the behavior occur? (2 pts) f. What was present or occurring 5-10 minutes prior to the behavior? (2 pts) See page 9. g. What was present or occurring within 2-3 minutes after the behavior? (2 pts) See page 9. Part 3: Functional Assessment (19 pts Total) While monitoring the baseline of your target behavior, reflect on the following questions. a. What is the pattern that the behavior displays? (3 pts) The behavior happens more often when I am looking at Instagram. My Instagram contains pictures of fitness and fashion models who strictly control their diet and exercise. It seems that the majority of times I engage in looking at my Instagram, I feel guilty or unsatisfied with my body. I think about fitness soon after I wake up and near the time I am getting ready to sleep. b. Does the location of the behavior have any meaning or purpose? Is the behavior only at home? at school? in the presence of particular persons or objects? )? (3 pts) The behavior happens most frequently at home. The presence of particular persons does not seem to have any affect. c. Is there anything significant about what or who was present around the time of the behavior? 3 pts) The behavior happens when I am reminded of working out. This occurred when I passed the gym and when I see pictures or videos on my phone of people training. d. Describe in very specific behavioral terms what ONE instance of the behavior looks like. Describe it so an actor could display the exact behavior. Relate what was said as well as what was done and with what. Even seemingly insignificant actions could provide a clue for moderating the behavior. (10 pts) One instance when the behavior occurs is when I sit down in class before the class starts. I choose a seat, set all my materials on my desk and then take out my phone to pass the time. I first start browsing through Instagram and track some of the fitness models fitness progress through their photos. I am fully invested in the pictures and do not pay attention to what is going on around me. I start to compare myself to the fitness models I see in the photos and begin to doubt my ability to change my body. The more I look, the guiltier and unsatisfied I feel. I then convince myself that there is no point in living a life so filled with restrictions and turn off my phone. Part 4: Intervention (32 pts Total) Identify potential interventions and select one or several that match the target behavior. . Identify and explain category of target behavior: (2 pts) My target behavior falls in the category of increasing or strengthening an existing behavior. I am already very familiar with exercising and used to be a competitive tennis player who trained six to seven days a week. When I stopped playing tennis competitively, I stopped training. In order to increase my exercise I will need to positively reinforce myself whenever I exercise. reinforcers are positive reinforcers. These will include both social reinforcement and automatic reinforcement. My social reinforcement will be praise that I receive from riends and family. My automatic reinforcement will be how good I feel when I see progress (Miltenberger, 2012). c. Specify the conditions under which reinforcement can be earned: (3 pts) I will earn my social reinforcement when I show my progress pictures to my family and friends every week, it will also come from my trainer when I attend group workouts. My automatic reinforcement will be when I step on the scale or finish a work out. . Apply intervention. Persist with intervention for a minimum of two weeks. e. Create another spreadsheet and continue to collect data throughout the two weeks(10 pts) See page 10. a. When does the behavior (remember thoughts are behavior) occur (time of day? day of week? weekends vs weekdays? )? (2 pts) See page 10. b. When the behavior occurs, how long does it endure? (2 pts) See page 10. my behavior was exhibited in tho ughts. These thoughts did not have an intensity, therefore I only recorded intensity during my work out. d. Frequency of the behavior: Is the behavior occurring per hour, per day, per week, per year (select the single most meaningful period of time). (2 pts) I left this part of my spreadsheet blank because my goal was to have the behavior occur more often every week and since it occurred ultiple times a day I chose to leave it blank to make the spreadsheet easier to understand. e. Where does the behavior occur? (2 pts) See page 10. 10. page 10. Part 5: Evaluating the Intervention (18 pts) a. Graph the baseline and results from intervention. Include 2 graphs. Each graph should include your baseline data and your intervention data. (8 pts) See page 1 1 and 12. b. Evaluate the results and reach conclusions. In each case, elaborate on the elements that worked well and those that did not. Evaluate the stages of the project and identify what was learned about changing the behavior that would be helpful if ou were going to do this project again. (10 pts) The intervention was successful as shown by both spreadsheets and both graphs. The baseline study shows that I spent a large majority of my time thinking about exercising without actually exercising. This seemed to be tied into my continuous following of fitness models on Instagram. The more I looked at the success stories of these women, the more inadequate I felt. I chose to employ positive social reinforcement because it is a strong motivator for me. I knew that self-management would be an issue for me because I tend to strive for eason I chose to have positive social reinforcement, if it is controlled by a person other than me, I am more likely to complete the task to gain the reward. During the intervention, I Joined a group work out that consisted of women who work with my boyfriend. I wanted to give myself the added pressure of the women knowing my boyfriend to help me stay committed to attending the group. The first week of the intervention the graph shows that the second half of the week my exercise time drastically increases. These results coincide with when I start my group sessions. The praise from my partners and my trainer encouraged me to try other forms of exercise on my own. I had the added reinforcement of later being able to tell my trainer that I trained on my own and again receive praise. The spreadsheet for my week one and two of intervention also so a decrease in the amount of time I spend looking at Instagram. I believe that my more positive attitude due to the workouts translated in me wanting to compare myself to radical fitness competitors. However, I did fail to stay committed to keeping progress pictures. This prevented me from receiving the additional reinforcement of self- atisfaction through progress. This failure did not stop me from feeling as if I made progress with my physical fitness. I also ended up relying on my boyfriend for a lot of reinforcement. I asked him how I look and if he sees progress, on an almost daily basis. I did not account for scheduling difficulties and feel that if I had, my intervention would have shown even stronger results. The holidays and family celebrations made training and eating a healthy meal extremely difficult. I also learned that it would have been helpful to document when I had thoughts of how I look and whether those houghts are positive or negative. Another element that I would add if I were to do the project again, is to be more aware of my activity on Instagram. The charts and spreadsheets show a relationship between my body image and the amount of time spent on the social media application. References Beck-Ellsworth, D. (2013). Behavior Modification [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from University of California, San Diego Psyc 154 FA13 Blackboard site. Miltenberger, R. G. (2012). Behavior modification: principles and procedures (5th Ed. ). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

12 Years a Slave. Solomon Northup

12 Years a Slave. Solomon Northup Free Online Research Papers In 1841, criminals seduced a free black New Yorker named Solomon Northup into slave territory by the promise of a job. There, they illegally sold him as a slave. When he protested to the slave dealer that he was free, the dealer beat him. He would learn not to assert his freedom, but over the next twelve years he attempted to free himself on several occasions, all which failed until the last, successful effort. (1-40) Solomon Northup first tries to escape while on board a ship that was sailing to a New Orleans slave market. Solomon and his two new acquaintances Arthur and Robert, plan to take over the ship and sail north. Solomon, Arthur, and Robert were to hide under another smaller boat that was on deck and to carry out their plan at night. Solomon and Arthur were going to sneak into the captain’s cabin and steal the pistols while Robert stood guard outside the door with a club. Unfortunately, they were unable to carry out their plans because Robert fell ill, and died of smallpox within a few days. (44-46) Next, Solomon was helping to build a cotton press when John Tibeats, who did not like Solomon from past experiences, critiqued everything he did, even though it was right. John Tibeats grew very angry and approached Solomon with a hatchet swearing he will kill him with it. Solomon and John Tibeats struggled a while and eventually Solomon was able to take the hatchet away from him. Then John Tibeats again tried to attack him with a stick and again Solomon was able to take control of the situation. While he struggled with Tibeats, Solomon or â€Å"Platt† considered killing him but then decided that he would severely beaten or maybe even killed as well, because he would be found guilty in the courts. Platt decided to run away to his former master’s house, that of William Ford. While trying to escape, John Tibeats and a pack of dogs chased him all day through the woods and marshes as Solomon ran for his life. Northup finally lost his enemies when we crossed the swamp , because the dogs were no longer able to track his scent over the water. Slaves were not taught how to swim, but growing up a free man, Solomon Northup loved to swim, and that ability saved his life. After days of crossing the wilderness and the swamps, Solomon met a white man and a slave on the road, and received directions from them to William Ford’s plantation. Northup arrived to the Ford’s plantation and they took him in and protected him from John Tibeats, because Ford still owned part of Solomon. If Tibeats were to hurt or kill Northup, Ford would lose his property, Solomon, or his value could drop. A few days later Solomon was rented to Randal Eldret by William Ford to work for him. (98-113) A few weeks later, Solomon Northup attempted to escape by persuading a ship captain to let him hide on board his ship that was headed north. Northup’s ability to play the violin gave him the opportunity to travel to other places and make more money then most other slaves. When Solomon went to Centreville, which is a port city on the Mississippi River, he asked the captain of a steamer to allow him to hide within his freight and sail north with him, and would pay him everything he had. The captain pitied Solomon and wanted to help him, but it was too risky for the captain because if he were caught he could have been killed or put in jail for helping runaway slaves because they are some else’s property, so he denied Northup’s offer. (149-150) Finally, Solomon met his master’s, Edwin Epps, friend Samuel Bass and Solomon finally found someone he could trust and possibly help him escape. Samuel Bass opposed slavery and thought that no man should have the right to own another man because he thought it was morally wrong. Solomon eventually told Samuel Bass his true life story and Bass was appalled by it. He felt bad for Solomon because he disagreed with slavery, so he vowed to help him gain his freedom. Samuel Bass agreed to send letters to Saratoga, which is where Solomon’s family resided, but there was never a response to the letters. A few months later, Bass again was able to get into contact with Solomon and told him that he would be going to Saratoga on his way to Canada, his homeland. Solomon gave him the names of his family and friends and Bass told him he would again send letters for him. A few months after Samuel Bass sent out the letters, Solomon was working in the fields and was approached by two men in a carriage. Solomon realized who they were and knew they were there to grant him his freedom. After proving to the men, the sheriff and Henry Northup, that he was Solomon Northup and he was free, they granted him his freedom. (204-242) Solomon Northup was a free man but was never allowed to admit to it and feared running away because of the consequences. The first time Solomon argued that he was kidnapped and was free, he was almost beaten to death and threatened that if he ever again admitted to that, he would be beaten worse or even killed. That fear that was inflicted into him was the reason Northup never told anyone his real life story. Another reason Solomon never tried to escape north was because every white man in the South had the right to stop and ask him where his freedom papers were, and if he did not have any, then the white man had the right to take him to jail. If a runaway slave was ever found or returned to their master’s, the punishment was almost too harsh to survive. In addition to the fear of being severely punished, most slaves did not know the exact route to the North and to freedom. Solomon experienced both freedom and slavery, and two completely different worlds of them. Northup hated slavery and periodically expresses his negative attitude towards it. Northup describes his first ever beating to the burning pains and agonies of hell. (25) Solomon describes his master, Edwin Epps, coming home intoxicated and whipping slaves for fun and making them play instrument and dance after a hard days work. (136-138) Another incident occurred when Solomon was ordered to beat another slave, which he did at least forty times. Edwin Epps was still not satisfied, but Solomon disobeyed his master and threw down then whip. Edwin Epps picked up the whip and beat her until she no longer moved and was on the edge of dying. After Solomon witnessed the beating, he said â€Å"Thou devil, sooner or later, somewhere in the course of eternal justice, thou shalt answer for this sin!† (197) Not all white men felt the same way towards slavery as did most of Solomon Northupâ₠¬â„¢s masters. Some white men, from the North and South, disagreed with slavery and thought that all slaves should be set free because no man should have the right to own another man and wanted to help free them, like Samuel Bass. Other white men helped free slaves because they felt it was their responsibility toward a son or family member of his family’s former slave, like Henry Northup. Research Papers on 12 Years a Slave. 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