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.
It looks like you found some benefits beside changing your behavior. XD. It is not hard for you to stop procrastinating now if you want to. It is a great cognition to change your behavior.
ReplyDeleteI think we all had that problem of sticking to the program. We were all our own's administrators for punishments/rewards. However, we were all able to tackle operant conditioning, at least to an extent. Well, it was always amusing to read each week what you have been doing to fight your problem.
ReplyDeleteHave a good one! =]
hey although you didnt totally kick the habit, its ok. dont think that you didnt try enough or something!! just a few suggestions that worked for me. making lists of things you have to do for the day/week. it helps alot when you know what you have to get done and how long it will take to finish the task. also what worked fro me was posting post it notes on my door so that every time i left my room, i would see the work i still have to finish! good luck finishing up the last 2 weeks of school!
ReplyDeleteGreat job. Although you couldn't go as far as you said you wanted to, your grades say otherwise. I think in one of your blogs you mentioned straight A's so I believe your program has worked perfectly. Unless of course you already had the habit of getting A's prior to the program. There is also the interesting aspect about procrastination: lots of it doesn't necessarily lead to bad grades. But eliminating it does allow time to do other things.
ReplyDeleteThat's great that you can see the benefits of your work! And you may be procrastinating again, but nothing is stopping you from trying to change that...again. However long it takes, I think that developing healthy habits are worth it! Thats the only reason I'm working out five days a weeks instead of just drinking some "lose weight protein shake" the easy way isn't always the effective way, so keep going! You can do it!
ReplyDeleteHey Mehwish!
ReplyDeleteEven though this didn't work out for you all the way, it aid you in other ways. At least you tried it out,I think if you change your punishments or reinforcements over time it will work better. Yes, not wasting time on facebook helps out a lot, and you save a lot of time. But,overall good job!
Mehwish,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you successfully overcome your problem of procrastination. Although, you seem to not really satisfied with your result, but you could try to change some punishment or reinforcement that can help you to reach the result you want it overtime.
Anyways, keep up a good work !
Hi Mewish, I definately agree with your assessment that if you use the same reinforcers and punishments over a long period of time, they lose their effectiveness, which is why I'm continuing to update them until I have this behavior completely 100% changed no questions asked. Also, I agree with your statements that operant conditioning will work much better if you have someone else actually doing it. Anyways, Good Luck! Hopefully you won't fall into a rut again!
ReplyDelete