Token Economy Observation Paper

The phenomena being tested is the implementation of a token economy in an impatient psychiatric facility.

14. Evolutionary theories often emphasize that humans have adapted to their physical environment. One such theory hypothesizes that people should spontaneously follow a 24-hour cycle of sleeping and waking—even if they are not exposed to the usual pattern of sunlight. To test this notion, eight paid volunteers were placed (individually) in a room in which there was no light from the outside and no clocks or other indications of time. They could turn the lights on and off as they wished. After a month in the room, each individual tended to develop a steady cycle. Their cycles at the end of the study were as follows: 25, 27, 25, 23,24, 25, 26, and 25.

Within the concept of operant conditioning, there are various simple schedules of reinforcement that are a part of our daily routine. Operant conditioning is a category of learning that invokes consequences, either negative or positive, as a way to increase or decrease behaviors (Powel, Honey & Symbaluk, 2013, p. 264) Schedules of reinforcement, such as fixed ratio, variable interval, fixed interval and variable ratio, are used as ways to strengthened or weaken those wanted or unwanted behaviors (Powel, Honey & Symbaluk, 2013, pp. 271-279). When applying these fundamental concepts to real world scenarios, it is crucial to first acknowledge which behavior is to be strengthened or weakened and then proceed with the conditioning.

10. Slot machine players do not typically pause for rest following reinforcement, but rather, they continue to respond at high rates to reach the next pay-off. The schedule of reinforcement in effect here is:

“A recent report says we spend an average of two hours and 40 minutes each day looking at a smartphone. That doesn’t mean making calls, but using apps and browsing the Web. Spend that amount of time staring at anything, and it’s inevitable it’ll happen in the company of other people. We’ve all done it.” (Boxall, digitalforbes.com)

Initially, a search using the CINAHL database with CINAHL heading bed alarm and limited to the English language yielded 14 articles, three which were appropriate to this study. The CINAHL headings bed alarm AND hourly rounding did not generate any results. However, CINAHL headings hourly rounding AND fall generated one article that was useful to this study.

This study, conducted as a requirement for an introductory psychology course, was an investigation of how learning principles such as reinforcement and punishment could be applied to improve conditions in everyday life. In particular, I was studying to see if positive reinforcement would help me to increase my daily water intake. Conceptually defined, daily water intake is the act of drinking water by mouth on a day-to-day basis, in order to keep body cells hydrated and functional. The positive reinforcement I used was a treat of bite-sized Hershey bars, a candy of chocolate. I had hypothesized that I would remember to drink water more often during the day if I rewarded myself for remembering during the intervention period.

out of bed in the morning requires an intricate pattern of processes that allow us to

The fringe economy is one of the booming businesses in the United States of America and other parts of the world, such as Canada. I have never seen such a business from other parts of the world when I migrated to the States, from Africa. It is so shocking to me that people trade in their possessions to get a loan. I have seen many pawnshops, EZ cash and etc. I did not fully understand the description of the business until I read the book, “short change”. This book is eye opening to me about what people go through in life. You might see people smiling and laughing and not know that they have a problem that is weighing them down in life. A lot was said about the fringe economy in the book, but what I have

The mainstream classroom is a classroom that contains general education students. Currently, special education students are being placed into the general education classroom for part of the day. The important idea is to incorporate the lesson plan effectively and efficiently to properly teach both special education and regular education students. It is equally important to note that all students learn differently and have varying learning styles. My research question entails using the token economy system to decrease or eliminate problematic behavior of inclusion students in the general education classroom. Research has shown that by placing special education students with the general education students, the behaviors of those with special needs significantly improve as the general education students serve as excellent role models for the children to follow.

In this paper there will be an examination of the Operant Conditioning theory. It will describe the theory, and compare and contrast the positive and negative reinforcement. It will determine which form of reinforcement is the most effective, and will give an explanation of the reasoning behind that choice. It will also give a scenario in which operant conditioning is applied and how it shapes behavior. It will show a schedule that could be used in the reinforcement of the selected behavior in the scenario.

The formal method of instilling learning through reinforcement theory is to use a schedule. According to a fixed schedule, a person is rewarded for performing the behavior a specific number of times; according to a continuous ratio schedule, the reward occurs after every behavior, and according to a variable ratio schedule, the reward does not occur with any predictable consistency when the behavior is performed. The advantages of fixed and continuous rewards are that the behavior is more quickly instilled. The advantage of a variable schedule is that the behavior is less quickly extinguished, given the subject anticipates getting a reward for a longer period of time (Noe 2010: 143).

Operant conditioning has made a significant contribution into the development of psychology. However, as with most psychological theories, this theory it has its strengths and weaknesses. Nevertheless, operant conditioning, with both its positive and negative aspects, is very important in promoting learning of desirable behaviors or removal of undesirable

Are we addicted to our cell phones? This is a common question that has arisen in the past several years as our phone technology and capabilities continue to increase. According to recent statistics, 85% of the U.S. population are cell phone users (Chen).We Americans use our cell phones to do just about everything. We talk, text, check our E-mail, surf the Internet, and interact in social networking, all on our phones. Because our phones have become so resourceful to us in our everyday lives, many say that cell phones have become addicting. Cell phones in today 's life have become very addicting to many people, and there are many ways in which to show how they are addicting.

Over the past week I have been keeping track of my media use. I discovered I lead a pretty repetitive technological lifestyle. Weekday mornings I start my media consumption via my alarm clock on my cell phone. Why not use the regular alarm clock? Because with a cell phone I do not have to get up and out of bed in the morning- the snooze button is even closer to my barely awake fingertips. After hitting the snooze button at least once I make a point to check out Facebook because we all know everyone is constantly updating at 5:45 every morning.