Psychology of Personality- Unit 6 Assignment

Jessica Serko Unit 6 Assignment Question 3 A. Reinforced Behaviors 1. Brushing my teeth 2. Keeping active Keeping active was negatively reinforced because if I were too lazy, my parents would take away my dessert privileges. This behavior was negatively reinforced because my parents took away something (dessert) that increased the behavior (keeping active). As is true in Skinner’s operant conditioning, the reinforcement (taking away dessert) was given after the behavior (not keeping active). 3. Not Yelling 4. Keeping things neat and clean 5. Reading: Reading was positively reinforced because I was paid to read books every summer by my parents from a very young age until high school. This behavior was positively reinforced because my parents introduced something (money) that increased the behavior (reading). I was also reinforced in this way because, as Skinner notes, reinforcement occurs after the behavior and I was only given money after the reading was completed and not before. B. Punished Behaviors 1. Not eating too many sweets: I was positively punished for eating too many sweets because my parents would verbally reprimand me. This behavior was positively punished because my parents introduced something (reprimands) that decreased the behavior (eating too many sweets). In the eyes of Skinner, the effects of punishment may interfere with later healthy behaviors. This relates to me because the punishment that occurred over candy has carried into my adult life so that I feel bad when I eat sweets and tend to stay away from them all together if I can. 2. Completing school work well: This behavior was negatively punished because my parents would take away my TV and computer privileges if I did not complete my homework well. I say negatively punished because my parents took away something (TV and computer) that decreased the behavior (not completing homework well). As Skinner notes, punishment does not permanently