Preview

B. F. Skinner's Weight Loss Program Analysis

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
192 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
B. F. Skinner's Weight Loss Program Analysis
In order to create a weight loss program based on the principles of B.F Skinner's operant conditioning you must have a positive reinforcement in which when you do something that is beneficial to your health and weight such as eating vegetables and going for a run, you will be reinforced with a positive item such as making the football team. Using the principle of positive punishment, you will be punished for doing something, for example if you eat junk food regualarly it will lead to an increase in your weight and thus not being able to join the football team. Thus, not being able to join the football team will serve as a punishment to the bad behavior of eating junk food. Next, the use of negative reincformcement means an action leads to something

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Marketed as a tough-love guide for girls who want to look fabulous, The Skinny Bitch Diet promotes a vegan, organic lifestyle. This dietary plan was described in the book with the same name, offering a healthy approach to weight loss. Its authors worked in the modeling industry for years, so they know the secret to staying slim.…

    • 345 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Unit 8 P1

    • 1345 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Skinners theory focused on operant conditioning, he worked mostly with rats to discover some of the key principles of learning new behaviours. He used a device called a Skinner box this box contains a lever, when pressed it releases a food pellet into the box reinforcing lever pressing behaviour. Skinner also investigated negative reinforcement by running a very low electric current on the floor of the Skinner box. An example of how humans use negative reinforcement is if you have a headache you take painkillers which results in the headache going away you are negative reinforced for taking a painkiller.…

    • 1345 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Assessment Cypop30

    • 4413 Words
    • 18 Pages

    Skinner believed that all behaviour is taught and shaped, through the use of punishment and rewards. He disagreed that it was useful to create theories about mental states that were unable to be observed and were unscientific. He believed positive reinforcement, for example praise, strengthens behaviour and that negative reinforcement, for example punishment or the removal of something that will cause the bad behaviour to stop, or decrease the possibility of it happening again. Skinner experimented with animals such as rats and pigeons, giving them rewards when they pressed a lever which was the desired behaviour (positive reinforcement) and giving them an electric shock every time they went to an undesired area of the maze, which would cause the animal to avoid that area (negative reinforcement). Positive reinforcement must not be confused with bribery or punishment, for example telling a child they will…

    • 4413 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    OTL 502

    • 1904 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Buskist, W., Davis, S.F., 21st Century Psychology: A Reference Handbook, 2008.-Skinner's theory of operant conditioning uses both positive and negative reinforcements. Psychologists have observed that we every action has a consequence, and if…

    • 1904 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The purpose of this research paper is to examine the financial performance of Weight Watchers International, Inc. over a period of years to decide if the company would be a good investment. The paper will include a company overview of Weight Watchers International, a company that has been recognized worldwide as the leader in weight management services. It will examine how Weight Watchers has grown over the last 40 years by focusing on helping people to lose weight, maintain their weight, and improve their weight…

    • 3838 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Another form of learning was shown in operant conditioning or reinforcement. This type of leaning was introduced by B.F. Skinner. He was famous for inventing the Skinner box, in which he used rats to show reinforcement, both positive and negative. The Skinner box consisted of a lever and a food dispenser in which if the rat pressed the leaver it received a pellet of food (positive reinforcement), from this behaviour the rat would start to repeatedly press the leaver as it was receiving a reward. Skinner believed this proved that a reward can repeat a behavior. On the other hand Skinner showed that negative reinforcement can occur by taking away the reward and replacing it with a small electric shock, so when the rat pressed the lever they would receive a small shock, from this form of punishment the rat quickly stopped pressing the lever.This showed that an unpleasant reward can stop a behavior from re-occurring. According to psychology.about 'Skinner used the term operant to refer to any…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Skinner thought classical conditioning was too simple to explain something like the human mind. Skinner went to work to expand on the finding of Thorndike and Watson. Skinner worked to expand Thorndike’s Law of Effect. Skinner eventually coined the word “operant conditioning”. Skinner built a device called “Skinner’s box”. The device consists of a lever connected to a food dispenser, only dispensing when the lever is pressed. He found that the rat will reduce “error” between attempts and goes directly to the lever. The device has reinforced the rat’s behavior. From this experiment, Skinner discovered positive and negative reinforcement. A positive reinforcement means giving a stimuli and a negative reinforcement is taking away a stimuli, along with punishment. Punishment weakens the behavior rather than reinforcement which strengthen the behavior. Positive and negative reinforcement works on punishment too. The Skinner Box also showed that the reinforcement had to be scheduled or else the rats will start giving…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The behaviourist approach is based on the concept of explaining behaviour through observation and the belief in which our environment is what causes us to behave differently. The behavioural learning model learning is the result of conditioning. The foundation of conditioning is that a reward following a desirable response performs as a reinforcer and increases the possibility that the desirable response will be repeated. Reinforcement is said to be the core of the behaviourist approach. Furthermore, once a desired behaviour established, irregular reinforcement maintains the behaviour. The behaviourist theory approaches are frequently used in weight loss, smoking cessation, assertiveness training and anxiety-reduction programs. The significance of frequently and…

    • 1874 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Unit 8 Assignment 2

    • 4190 Words
    • 12 Pages

    The behavioural learning model learning is the result of conditioning. The basis of conditioning is that a reward following a desirable response acts as a reinforcement and increases the likelihood that the desirable response will be repeated. Reinforcement is the core of the behaviourist approach. Continuous reinforcement in every instance of desirable behaviour is useful when a behaviour is being introduced. Once a desired behaviour is established, intermittent reinforcement maintains the behaviour. Behaviourist theory approaches are frequently used in weight loss, smoking cessation, assertiveness training, and anxiety-reduction programs. The importance of regularly and…

    • 4190 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Weight Watchers is one of the longest running weight loss programs in the country. The plan has even reinvented itself to give plan users variety and therefore another reason to stick with it. The Weight Watchers program is based on the POINTS? system and group support.…

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Firstly I am going to explain the psychological approach of the application of the behaviourist perspective which involves changing and shaping behaviour. By using positive and negative reinforcement, Skinner believed he could change/train any animal or human to change behavior patterns and this is achieved by changing or shaping behavior. Shaping behavior is achieved by writing a plan. There are four main steps to shape behavior which includes Identifying problem behaviors. But not all behaviors require a behavior management plan. Analyzing behavior. Behaviour’s do generally have a trigger or situation that causes the behavior---and a consequence. To develop an effective behaviour plan, you need to know what sets off the behaviour and what the behavior accomplishes. This means spending time watching the individual before even thinking as writing a plan. Then you need to select an approach because An effective behavior management plan must have positive reinforcement to support good behaviour, what reward would the individual wish to receive. Then you need to develop clear goals/targets. A plan should have clear goals (and achievable ones) when the individual has mastered a skill or is behaving well they understand this (because they have had positive feedback) and can move on to the next goal/target.…

    • 2146 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Diet Analysis Paper

    • 460 Words
    • 2 Pages

    They’re many different nutrients, minerals, and vitamins you have to take in to maintain a healthy diet. The nutrients in my diet I have to improve on are, eating higher protein, and fiber foods. But also take in less sodium and fat. Minerals and Vitamins are also a very important thing in your diet. I have to improve my diet by consuming more calcium and potassium. I’m going to improve my diet by doing these things.…

    • 460 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Operant conditioning, although not offering a full explanation for the causes of obesity, does have some good practical applications. Techniques using operant conditioning have been very successful in reinforcing healthy eating practices. Devlin and Yanovki found P's on such a programme has an average weight loss of between 15 and 20 llbs on the scheme. However, just because it is successful in treating the eating disorder doesn't mean it can be seen as a viable cause for obesity.…

    • 1135 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Metabolic Diet Essay

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages

    One of the challenges with most diets that are based on decreasing the total number of calories being consumed is sustaining a high metabolism. Our metabolism is responsible for burning through calories, but when the caloric content of our food is reduced, our bodies shift gears and decrease their calorie consumption. This results in that feeling of sluggishness and tiredness that is common among most dieters, meaning we become less efficient at burning calories. What a metabolic diet does is raise the metabolism to speed up the burning of calories, which equates to a faster weight loss rate. This method of dieting is much more effective than what essentially amounts to starving yourself. But if you are dieting to lose weight, how can you avoid…

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Diet Analysis Paper

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In order to improve my current diet, I need to reduce my caloric intake to the 1500-calorie diet recommended on USDA’s SuperTracker. The most efficient way to do this is to eat healthier meals at home rather than unhealthy, easy to procure fast food. In addition, I exceed my sodium intake with 2,016 mg on average, 516 mg over the recommended amount. Due to harmful effects of high sodium intakes on blood pressure, a prominent risk factor for cardiovascular and kidney diseases, the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine established the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for Sodium at 2,300 mg. This indicates that I must lower my sodium intake as a precautionary measure (Higdon, Sodium (Chloride), 2001). Again, as mentioned above, the most proficient way to do this is by eliminating fast food out of my diet along with analyzing nutrition labels for high sodium content.…

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays