Reference no: EM133882767

Problem

Experience: In this specific instance a punishment contingency was used that- at the time, and by the persons implementing it- was meant to increase a desired behavior or outcome of receiving good grades in school. When I was in eighth or ninth grade, my academics were much to be desired: at one point, I was failing maybe two of the six classes I was taking. The overarching rule in our household growing up was to put academics first- homework was sometimes more important than chores. The rule of homework first constitutes a discriminative stimulus, or rule-governed behavior (Wulfert, 2013): homework and studying must be completed before leisure activities are allowed (an if-then contingency statement (Wulfert, 2013)); if there's homework, it must be done to pass the class (reinforcement contingency that doing homework means getting good grades, and punishment contingency that not doing homework means poor grades (Wulfert, 2013)).

Contingency: As a contingency, the bad grades were met with positive punishment in the form of scolding, lecturing and reprimanding, as well as negative punishment (Cooper, et al., 2020) in terms of my environment- I had to do homework in the kitchen in the same area as my father and not in the comfort of my own room until my grades went up. A desired item- doing homework in my room and at my desk- was removed contingent on my grades. According to Cooper et al. (2020), a punishment procedure should be placed on a rich, continuous schedule until the problem behavior is lessened to appropriate levels. The implementation of doing homework at the kitchen counter while my dad was sitting in the living room was continuous: every day my dad would check my grades before coming home and if they were satisfactory, I could work in my room. If they were not, I had to do homework in the kitchen. This also meant that if I was already doing homework in my room and my grades were not satisfactory, he would come home and tell me to gather my things to work upstairs if I was not up there already. The problem behavior- not studying or doing homework- was significantly decreased because it meant that I didn't have to sit in an uncomfortable barstool while my dad came and checked on my progress every twenty to thirty minutes. This aspect could also be considered a positive punishment, because it involved the addition of extra supervision that was not present beforehand, as well as the addition of an uncomfortable/aversive stimulus (Cooper, et al., 2020) that was sitting on a barstool for hours at a time.

In the perspective of a "behavior analyst", the procedure that my parents used was appropriate in decreasing goofing-off, non-studying behavior and in turn increasing studying and homework-completing behavior. While the addition of an uncomfortable stimulus was present, providing positive punishment was not the deciding factor in implementing this procedure. The barstool happened to be uncomfortable after a prolonged amount of time sitting on it. This could've been decreased by my own actions of standing up and stretching; this was an unnecessary punishment that could've been controlled, but at the time was not. It seems my parents thought that changing my environment from a preferred, comfortable one to an environment where my dad could keep a closer eye on my homework was appropriate, and in my opinion, they were right. Being in my room, to me, is highly reinforcing and often additionally operates as an establishing operation (Michael, 1993): the longer I'm not comfortable in my room or the more deprived from it I am (i.e., going to work all day, or a two week vacation), the more motivated I become to have the opportunity to exist in bed and the act of being in bed becomes more reinforcing. Depriving me of a reinforcer (time spent in my room) meant that I would need to get my homework done quicker, and my grades up faster, before the desired outcome of doing homework in my room again could be presented.

1) Do you agree with the explanation of rule-governed vs. contingency shaped behavior provided? Why or why not? Get the instant assignment help.

2) Provide feedback on the modification of the strategy discussed to decrease the problem behavior, and one suggestion for additional modifications.