The "P" Word

PUNISHMENT

Oh, no! What a horrible thing to talk about right? Wrong. We all contact punishment for behaviors in which we engage and each time we are punished we somehow come out unscathed. In behavior analysis, punishment simply means a stimulus that occurs immediately following a behavior that decrease the likelihood that the behavior will occur in the future.

Finally I get to share one of my stories that was part of the reason for starting this blog!

The Man's House 

Yesterday I showed you a picture of my dog Igor. Well, we live in an apartment building and do not have a backyard, so I have take Igor outside on walks to do her business every day. One day, last fall, I was walking Igor and she decided it was time to relieve her bowels in the neighbor's yard. Much to my dismay, I had forgotten to grab a plastic bag on the way out the door, so I had no way to clean up after her. So as Igor was using our neighbor's yard as her toilet, I noticed that the neighbor was sadly outside doing some yard work at that very moment. As Igor finishes her business, the man gruffly says to me "Are you going to pick that up?" I politely tell him that I forgot a bag and I will be right back with one to pick it up. He huffs and puffs about it and Igor and I promptly turn around to get a bag from the apartment building right next store. When we return to the scene of the crime he is still in his yard. He sees me clean it up and what do you think he does? Nothing, he stands there and watches me but does not say thank you or anything of the sort!

I have always been very sensitive to any sort of disapproval. When I was a child, one sideways glance was enough to punish any behavior and send me into a crying frenzy. So when this man showed his disapproval of me, even though I don't know him, he punished my behavior. To this day, I will not take Igor down the sidewalk that leads past his house, if I forgot to grab a bag when leaving the apartment.

So, thats one example from my life of punishment. I am not scarred from the occasion, although my behavior did change because of it. This story of punishment leads to many possible discussions to continue with in my next blog such as: Why do I not remember to always bring a bag with me because he punished my behavior or why will I only not go in his yard when I forget to bring a bag? We will have to tackle those questions another day though.

What about you? Can you think of any silly situations in which your behavior was punished? I would love to hear them.

The Basics

What is considered behavior? 

We can use the "dead man test": if you are alive, you engage in behaviors. Anything you do throughout your day that is not a reflex (blinking), can be considered behavior. So, when I fix my coffee first thing in the morning while half awake, behavior; when I drive my husband to work at 6am, behavior; typing this blog when I should be studying, behavior. Believe it or not, emotions and thoughts are behaviors as well. So as I was laying in bed last night thinking about all of the things I have to figure out in the next couple of weeks, I was behaving. Are you starting to get the picture that almost every moment of our lives is spent behaving?

So, now that we know what behavior is, it is important to understand that all behavior happens within specific environments. Many of my behaviors which I described above happen in the environment of my home. This picture shows the environment that is associated with worrying (and of course sleeping) for me. Each person has many different environments in which they engage in behaviors. Those specific environments play a very important role in shaping the behaviors you and I engage in. Even without any human involvement the environments we are in can change our behaviors.

All of this is very boring and probably reminds you slightly of a science class. It is necessary for me to explain all of these things in order for me to eventually share my insanely nerdy stories about how my behavior has been shaped and how I shape others' behaviors in my life.

My dog Igor

Coming up next: Learn about the principles of behavior that can be used to change the behaviors of your children, your husband, your boss and even your dog!

The First

Blogging... I never thought I would do this. I am not a big reader of blogs, although there are a few that I enjoy checking in with from time to time. The purpose for starting this blog is to give me a place to talk about all of the things that I notice throughout my day that relate to the field of study I am a part of. I am studying to be a behavior analyst. Any time I tell someone that, I get asked the same question: "What is a behavior analyst and what do they do?" 

The answer to the first part of the question is rather simple. A behavior analyst is a person who studies behavior and how to increase, decrease or change that behavior. The second part of that question is more difficult. Behavior analysts can do many different things. There are behavior analysts who work for businesses, helping increase productivity, employee satisfaction and safety within the workplace. There are also behavior analysts who study the behavior of criminals and help catch the bad guys, by looking at patterns of behavior and predicting, based on the scientific process, what the criminal is most likely to do next. There are also behavior analysts who work with the elderly. I will be a behavior analyst who works with children with developmental disabilities. I am currently working with children with developmental disabilities, but I am not yet a behavior analyst. 

The purpose of this blog is not to talk about my job, as I cannot really do that and maintain the confidentiality of my clients. Rather, I would like to show people through this blog that behavior analysis is a big part of everyone's life. I probably do not have the time right now to be starting a blog, but hopefully this will help me get some information out of my head, so my thoughts are not always swirling around in my brain at night keeping my awake. I also hope that my blog will get other people interested in the field of behavior analysis.