Program Evaluation!

My results show that overall, I have improved from my baseline level behavior. Before this program, I started out as taking long naps, naps that are longer than 30 minutes, almost everyday of the week. Although over the 3 progress weeks I increased from 2 days to 3 days of taking long naps, it is significantly better than the usual 6 days out of the week that I would take long naps.

In the beginning of the program, the long-term positive reinforcement worked because it was a goal that I would have to work for in order to spend the amount of money I want to shop. Initially it was a good motivator, but as time passed by I kept on spending bits of money daily and the desire to spend $50 by the end of the week disintegrated.
Immediate negative reinforcement always worked because I did get that natural, physiological good feel and lack of fatigue when I awoke from a short nap rather than a longer one. So I strived for this feeling all throughout the program.
Immediate positive punishment did work because it focused on giving money to someone that I did not want to give money to- my sister. This was the main part of my program because other people helped me stray away from bad behavior.
Long-term negative punishment did not work because I did not have to work to get a privilege I already partially had. My curfew was already enough time to hangout with my friends, contrary to what I anticipated.

The heightened awareness alone was not responsible for the change in my case, since I was already aware of it and tried to change this behavior a few months back. However, planning it this program out and making sure I follow through did help me focus on my goals more.

For changes to be long-term, I would have to continually revise my program week by week until it is perfected. I would continue utilizing long term positive reinforcement and immediate negative reinforcement. The most challenging aspect of this assignment was when I had to time myself to a limit of 30 minutes max for each nap. Usually when I take naps I just naturally fall asleep almost anywhere, so taking time to put up an alarm was a painful reminder that I can only sleep for so long.

The most important aspect of this assignment is that I continue with the momentum of this program. I truly want to change my behavior so I can improve my life overall. It was interesting that everybody in the class was "forced" to do a blog and record their progress throughout week, nevertheless it was effective.

This assignment made me realize that operant conditioning is much complex than I initially reflected. When starting this program I thought it would be easy to change my behavior once I put my mind to it, especially with this rigorous program I set up for myself. However I soon found out that nothing would work unless I diagnose the right reinforcements and punishments that can actually be followed through.

It was fun blogging and thanks for reading everyone :)