Operant Conditioning Experiment

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In this experiment, I am planning to change my behavior of biting my nails. This is widely regarded as a bad habit, and I feel as though it would be quite simple to condition this rather unsanitary behavior out of my everyday actions. If the experiment goes as planned, I will no longer be biting my nails within the next seven days. If my assumptions are correct, then operant conditioning will be the most suitable form of conditioning for this experiment; this is my conviction because I feel as though this would involve mostly ¨voluntary¨ behaviors along with negative reinforcement. Operant conditioning seems like the most effective route in this experiment. The behavior that I am trying to change would most likely be an unconscious yet voluntary …show more content…

However, if there are apparent results within that time period, I will feel obliged to continue running the experiment. My approximate period for results would fall within the next three days or so. This estimate is very liberal, and I am aware that this may be too liberal. Although my expectations for the turnover rate in this experiment, the behavior does not appear difficult to modify. Nail Biting, although being difficult to notice when it is occurring, is an anxiety based behavior (In this case, at least). This makes it rather simple to control; if I am aware of the behavior, I may be able to simply calm myself and stop the undesired behavior. The fact that there are ongoing negative stimuli associated with this behavior, is extremely motivating for the subject. Whenever I will be able to stop the behavior, the pain and unsightly nails, will be absent for some time. This should be summed up as being a simple example of negative reinforcement. Overall, this experiment appears to be quite simple, especially considering the fact that there is only one form of reinforcement at play. The undesired behavior is nail biting, due to it leaving several negative effects. These negative effects may be considered to be the negative reinforcement in the experiment. If the experiment proves to show results by the deadline within the next seven days, I will continue it beyond this

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