Week 8 - oops...

So, the operant conditioning is finally over! Some weeks I got awesome results, others… not so great. However, I think that there were indeed some short term changes to my behavior. I say short term because sadly, I am now procrastinating just as I was before. What I find interesting about this is that now I find it easier to stop procrastinating. In the middle I did improve, even stopping all procrastination for a while, but I think that was partially because I was paying attention to my behavior all the time. Along with this heightened awareness, I knew that I would have to post a blog entry on it, so this also motivated me to stop procrastinating.

I think what worked about my program were the reinforcers. The threat of taking my camera away and turning the internet connection off were extremely effective in getting me to work. My punishments were also effective. Over time, however, I noticed that they became weaker so that I continued my behavior for a while longer before stopping.

The biggest challenge I faced during this experiment was sticking to the program. Because I was my own experimenter, I could influence the number and strength of reinforcers/punishments given. Thus, I found it hard to implement these when I did not want to. I think in order to maintain changes, I would need an experimenter outside of my brain. Although my end results are not very satisfying, I found this assignment valuable. It helped me control my procrastination habits, even if it was for a little while. The biggest thing I got from this blog is that I do not turn assignments in late anymore (this entry is the only exception!). This assignment also helped me learn how much can be done if one refrains from logging onto Facebook. Knowing this valuable piece of information, I have increased my chances of surviving college. So although the operant conditioning was only slightly effective in changing my behavior, I did come away with other benefits.

Week 7 - One minute to go..

SUMMARY: This was a good week. I did not procrastinate too much, but I did not turn anything in early either. ^_^

BEHAVIOR:

THURSDAY & FRIDAY - I worked on schoolwork. Finished math and Arabic homework on time and got positive reinforcement of extra facebook time.

SATURDAY – Volunteered at Children’s Literature Day (ten hours!), not much homework done. But I spent a LOT of time going to y’all’s blogs to find my comments. I put them all in a Word doc and now I’m not stressed about that.

SUNDAY – Barely any procrastination. Completed most of a big project due tomorrow. Studied for soc exam, read the Reader’s Digest for reinforcement.

MONDAY – Soc exam. Worked on big project mentioned above. No hardcore procrastination, but I did spend too much time on YouTube… so I disconnected my internet for an hour (negative punishment).

TUESDAY – Finished Eng homework right before class, printed it during the break =/

I think I will get a bad grade on that one…and that shall be my punishment for procrastinating.

Wednesday – Had to use the reinforcer of post it because I put off a couple things for far too long. I am typing this blog up now! I have read Chapter 15 and will submit the quiz right after this

ANOTHER SUMMARY: I feel good about my behavior right now. I did use some reinforcers and punishments throughout the week. They did not seem to be as effective as they had been before, so I think that with humans, operant conditioning might not always work. Over time, it could lose its impact on the behavior. I may have to find new, stronger reinforcers/punishments, but for now, I really do think that my behavior has changed. Now I can safely say that I am no longer a procrastination addict! =P

Week 6 - Kinda...unique week?

SUMMARY: This week was better than my first week, but I did not show any more improvements in my battle against procrastination. I wasted a lot of time sleeping, facebooking, taking pictures, and doing other things that I did not have time for. I think this behavior occured in part because of my extra-busy schedule this week. I have started taking religious classes every day, right after my last class ends. When I get home around 6pm, I either attend my other classes till 7:30, fall asleep, or go online. This week I used punishments and reinforcements, except for an exception where I took my camera back when I wasn't supposed to (negative punishment) in order to take pictures of a cake I made. I just had to do it!!

BEHAVIOR:
Saturday: I forgot what I did on Sat. Blame the part of my brain that controls that.

Sunday: Worked on Field study paper, and on other bits of incomplete homework. Submitted everything on time. Went to Anaheim for three hours.

Monday: Really busy schedule. Wrote an essay or two that were due on Tuesday, final touches on field paper. This is when I gave my camera to my mom for going on facebook too much. Went to Anaheim for three hours.

Tuesday: Extremely long day. After three classes at Mt. SAC - you guessed it! - I went to Anaheim for three hours. I'll just have to endure one more week of going there every day...
Oh, I finished up something due on Wednesday. Reinforcement. I stayed up really late making a cake for my high school teachers, because it's teacher appreciation week! This is where I had to take my camera back.

Wednesday: I worked on a project due next week, studied for two exams, and went to Anaheim for three hours. Today is a bad day :( Bad weather, bad I-feel-really-sick feeling, and bad homework that keeps sneaking up on me. I just finished writing something due tomorrow and almost fell asleep before I remembered that I have this blog entry to post. And a psychology chapter to read! *moan*

ANOTHER SUMMARY: I have been keeping up with all my homework. However, I did procrastinate, and have punished myself for it. I did not use notes or any extra punishment because this week my schedule changed drastically and I have recently been feeling sick. Hopefully the week will be over soon, and then maybe this semester will also hurry up and end...
I am still optimistic about operant conditioning because when I look back at my behavior a couple weeks ago, I am astonished at how bad I was at putting things off (or how GOOd I was at it). This confirms my belief that operant conditioning does in fact work on humans. We may be able to make conscious choices, weigh consequences, and decide to ignore reinforcements/punishments, but because it has worked for me and several of my classmates, I think that operant conditioning does have the potential to change human behavior.

I'm not sure when our last entry is due (BAD GIRL!!) but I wanted to include a bit thanking everyone for your comments. They are very motivating! So, thank you =]