Psychology

Operant conditioning connotes a process of behavior modification, wherein the probability of a specific behavior is altered, enhanced or reduced, due to positive or negative reinforcement following exhibition of the specific behavior. A behavior or response followed by a positive or satisfactory consequence becomes stronger over time. Such a stimulus, whose presence post the behavior enhances its likelihood, is called a positive reinforcer. A response that is succeeded by uncomfortable or unpleasant outcomes is less likely to be performed again. For such stimuli, known as negative reinforcers, removal of the stimulus increases the likelihood of the response. Since behaviors or responses are strengthened when they are instrumental in production of rewards, operant conditioning is also known as instrumental conditioning. In this paper, I propose a behavior modification plan for increasing my self-study time daily using operant conditioning.
   
The specific behavior that I intend to learn by operating on my environment is to increase the number of hours I study daily after coming from college. My aim is to study two hours daily on college days. I have chosen this goal because I feel my learning of concepts taught in the class is slackening. After attending college, I am left with little time, energy and will to revise the concepts that I learned in the class which makes their assimilation and recollection difficult. If I can devote two hours daily to revision of concepts taught on that very day, and allocate remainder time to enriching my prior knowledge, my performance in class and college grade is likely to improve.
   
In order to enhance my chances of two-hours of self-study on college days through the use of operant conditioning, I have identified a positive reinforcer and a negative reinforcer. The former will be implemented when I can put in two hours of study on college days. The negative reinforcer will be removed if I accomplish my self-study goal. The positive reinforcer highly likely to work to my advantage is thirty minutes of listening to my favorite music. The negative reinforcer will be consumption of green vegetable like spinach and broccoli for dinner to increase my mental capacity for next days study. To increase my chances of putting in two hours of self-study on college days, I will reward myself with the desirable stimulus of thirty minutes of listening to my favorite music. Since I greatly enjoy listening to music, the same will serve as a positive reinforcement for achieving my goal of self-study time on college days. Positive reinforcement refers to the application of positive reinforcer after the response, in this case, two hours of study on college days. I will also make use of negative reinforcement to raise my likelihood on studying two hours a day on college days. I loathe green vegetables. For every college day on which I successfully study for two hours, I will not make myself consume green vegetables for dinner. Negative reinforcement connotes removal of an unpleasant stimulus to strengthen the chosen response.
   
In addition to reinforcer, operant conditioning relies on the use of positive and negative punishers to strengthen the likelihood of my desired behavior. Negative punisher is a stimulus or event which when taken away decreases the likelihood of a behavioral response. Positive punisher, on the other hand, is a stimulus or event whose application post a response, diminishes the probability of future occurrence of the response. Punishment, both positive and negative, implies the use of punishers to discourage a response. My negative punisher will be no music on college days when I fail to put in two hours of work. My positive punisher will be a dinner of green vegetables on those college days where I fail to devote two hours of my time to self-study. To decrease the probability of failing to study for two hours on college days, I will use punishment. As regards negative punishment, I will not allow myself to listen to music on days where I fail to achieve the desired outcome. Since this involves removal of a desired stimulus, listening to music, the punishment falls within the realm of negative punishment. In future, I am less likely to defer from my goal to be able to listen to music. As for positive punishment, if on any college day I do not meet my goal of two hours of self-study, I will make myself consume green vegetables for dinner. Since the presence of this stimulus will enable me to lessen my chances of failing relative to the desired outcome, the stimulus is a positive punisher.
   
In totality, I will reinforce my goal of two hours of self-study on college day by allowing myself to listen to thirty minutes of music on its fulfillment and by not consuming green vegetables for dinner. In case I fail to meet my aim, I will punish myself my not listening to music on the particular day and having a dinner of green vegetables. Given my urge to improve my college performance by inculcating the desired behavior, my love for music and dislike for green vegetables, the behavior modification plan is likely to be highly effective if put into action. The intensity of my goal will ensure that the plan is implemented. To achieve maximum effectiveness, I will try to eliminate delay in application of reinforcement. The same is true for the chosen positive reinforcement strategy. The plan may encounter a few obstacles. For instance, it may not be possible to devote two hours to revising course concepts on college days when assignments must be prepared. On such occasions, assignment time can be considered as attainment of self-study target. Likewise, it may not be possible to play music loudly during certain times of the day. The situation can be countered through use of headphones and ipods. Availability of green vegetables at home may also intervene with implementation of positive punishment. This can also be eliminated through a little prudence in vegetable shopping. The same represent minor obstacles and can be easily eliminated.