For this assignment, the student will take on the task of using behaviorism to assess and change a personal behavior utilizing the tenants of either classical conditioning, operant conditioning or both.
Create a 12 slide PowerPoint presentation that provides an overview of the behavioral change.
Use the following guidelines to complete your presentation:
- Include a title, introduction, discussion, and reference slide (four slides minimum).
- Provide an overview of the definition of behavior and create an operational definition for the behavior the student wishes to change (consider using the “Dead Man Test” to help define the behavior).
- Explain the desire for change, why is it important to incorporate this specific behavioral change.
- Track the behavior for three or more days documenting; how often the behavior occurs as well as the antecedents for the behavior and the consequences.
- Explain the behavioral intervention, how will the student increase a desired behavior or decrease a maladaptive one?
- Track the results of the behavioral change with the intervention in place, how often does the behavior occur each day, how often did the reward or punishment occur?
- Use a graph to compare the observation period from the experimental period.
- Document the results of the experiment; did change occur, what was the cause?
Behaviors may include, but are not limited to: tardiness, smoking, drinking, gambling, compulsive eating, social media addiction, interrupting, nail-biting, swearing, eating fast food, compulsive shopping, speaking with your mouth full, biting pens, or biting nails. You could also choose to start a new habit: taking vitamins, applying sunscreen before going outside, putting money in savings, exercise, etc.
Procrastination is NOT an appropriate behavior to choose for this assignment! You must choose something measurable!
Utilize information from the textbook and the GCU library. Information from non-peer-reviewed resources (e.g., simplypsychology.com, about.com, and W ikipedia) will not be accepted.
Include speaker notes below each content-related slide that represent what would be said if giving the presentation in person. Expand upon the information included in the slide and do not simply restate it (50 words per slide).
APA style is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
Benchmark Information
This benchmark assignment assesses the following programmatic competency.
BS Psychology, No Emphasis
BS Psychology, Emphasis in Performance and Sport Psychology
4.1 Implement strategies for self-management and self-improvement