May 2011
17 posts
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Three-term Contingency of the Day: Bath Mat Meet...
Antecedent: In the bathroom; see bath mat on the floor.
Behaviour: Pick up bath mat and drape it over the edge of the tub.
Consequence: Person taking the shower yells, "hey" (punishment).
Whoops! Apparently I don't discriminate whether or not someone is in the shower before I put the bath mat back on the tub. I must have gone through several ABC chains where I was the last one to take a shower in our house, and where my placing the bath mat on the tub was reinforced. This is an example of how a behaviour can be under stimulus control of one detail in the environment and not others. It would seem that only the bath mat on the floor (regardless of what else is going on) is the discriminative stimulus (Sd) for my picking up bath mat behaviour.
This time however, that behaviour, with the added stimulus of the shower being on, was likely punished. We won't know until I find myself in the same situation and observe my not picking up the bath mat.
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Another one for the ‘Behaviourism In...
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Why Won't the Door Open?
Eric and I returned home this evening after getting a slice of pizza down the street. Upon our arrival to the apartment door, I turned the knob and pushed against the door, expecting the door to open and let us in. Instead of that happening however, I slammed myself into the locked door. It would seem I forgot a few steps, such as taking out my keys and unlocking the door, but I turned the knob...
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Three-Term Contingency Of The Day: New Videogame
Antecedent: Game console and a recently purchased video game.
Behaviour: Insert video game disc into the game console.
Consequence: Disc works; get to play the game (positive reinforcement)
Each time Eric puts a disc inside the console, his behaviour has been reinforced with access to the game. A new game should be no exception. Because each disc has the same properties (round, shiny, hole in the centre), the chain of events will be the same no matter what game he chooses. How long he plays said game? Well that's a whole new four-term contingency. More on that later.
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Problems with Procrastination? Try Bribery... →
An “interesting” article on the benefits of deadlines and incentives on one’s performance or task completion. I say “interesting” because the research cited in the article is informative with respect to human behaviour; but “interesting” because it is yet another example of how behaviour principles are misrepresented by journalists. After reading the...
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Three-Term Contingency Of The Day: Olive Breath
Antecedent: Eat an olive, see your girlfriend
Behaviour: Lean in for a kiss
Consequence: Girlfriend turns her head and pushes you away.
I despise olives. I don't like the smell of them, let alone want to eat one. Eric knows this. My retracting away from him should be punishing except he keeps doing this (i.e., behaviour is not decreasing). I think he likes to see me react to the olive breath. Damn. I'm reinforcing the behaviour aren't I?
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Three-Term Contingency of the Day: VapoRub
Antecedent: VaboRub sitting on the nightstand.
Behaviour: Pick up jar of VaboRub, open it and smell it.
Consequence: It smells good (automatic reinforcement; assuming I'll smell it again, which I did!)
So this is a weird post, but I thought it was a good example of the many things we do that satisfy our senses. When we do something over and over again because of how it feels, smells, taste, sounds and/or looks, automatic reinforcement is at play.
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Are You The Driving Instructor?
“In learning to drive a car a person remains dependent on an instructor as long as he must be told when to apply the brakes, when to signal a turn, when to change speeds and so on; when his behaviour comes under the control of the natural consequences of driving a car, he may dispense with the instructor.” - B.F. Skinner (from ‘Beyond Freedom and Dignity’)
I actually use this as an example in my...
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“Will you please behave?”
– …(or something similar). One day I will teach every child to respond to this by saying, “I already am!”
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Don't Shake The Milk Carton
Not all milk cartons are made the same. Some have the folded-in spouts and others have the twist cap spout. I have a learning history with both. Day in and day out, I engage in a similar chain of events when grabbing the milk carton from the fridge and pouring milk on my cereal. This routine would seem almost mindless, automatic and yet, through behavioural processes, I discriminate between...
kalesyllog asked: I don't see behaviourists quite often here on tumblr... anyway, keep up the good work, your blog is great!
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Cued By a Coupon
I bought a piece of luggage today. It might not be blog-worthy except for how I came to find myself in the middle of The Bay this evening clawing my way through options with other customers. I’ve been in need of luggage for a while and yet, had not gone out to buy one. Today was different. In my inbox was a notice that The Bay was having a sale on luggage - 75% off! And, since I have...
thepinkdogs asked: hello! glad to see another behaviorist out there. ( : i love your new layout, but how do i comment on your posts or like them? if i press the "comment" button, it doesn't take me anywhere helpful. help! thanks!
smbshawn asked: where are you currently studying? What is your occupation? One last question, what area of the field do you want to work?
