PSY 340

BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION RESEARCH PAPER

DESCRIPTION:

This paper is designed with 2 objectives in mind. First, I want you to be personally
invested in the topic by choosing a behavior change you are invested in. This
should be a behavior that you would like to change in yourself – either a behavioral
deficit or behavioral excess. Second, I would like you to research the topic and see
what behavior modification attempts have been studied in the chosen area and the
outcomes of such approaches. Ideally I would like for you to leave this class with a
practical approach to managing a personal behavior you would like to modify,
while also having a strong understanding of the field of behavior modification
itself. Thus, a blend of theory and practice.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Section A

1. (a)Begin be clearing describing a target behavior you would like to
adjust/modify/change/eradicate/increase. Operationally define your target
behavior. Be as specific as possible because you are going to monitor this
behavior. For example, I would like to decrease my sugary food intake to 3
times per week. Sugary foods include, but are not limited to: sodas and fruit
juices, dessert-foods (e.g., cake, ice-cream, pie), processed snacks (e.g.,
donuts, cookies, chocolate bars). Try to be expansive and inclusive in your
operational definition of anything that would fall under, or be descriptive of,
your target behavior. The more detail provided the better. (b)Then, explain
why you currently find your target behavior to be an issue you would like
to focus on. What problem(s)/challenge is the behavior causing you at
present?

[minimum 2 detailed paragraphs in length]

2. (a)For 2 weeks (Monday through Sunday for 14 days) you are going to
monitor your target behavior and record each and every time it occurs or
doesn’t occur. So, if you were focusing on nail-biting, you would keep a daily
tally of every time you catch yourself biting your nails. [You can choose whatever
consecutive 2 week window suits your schedule.] (b)I would like you to quantify
your behavior in terms of frequency and duration. If you were monitoring
attending the gym you would track how many times you attended across the
14 days, what you did while at the gym, and how long you worked out at the
gym. Again, the goal is to get a detailed baseline of the behavior as it is
currently occurring. (c)Summarize your findings over the 2 week period (see
[b]).

[all charts, quantitative data, and detailed summary paragraph are to be
included]

3. After recording your two weeks of data tracking, you want to address the
following questions:

– where does the behavior takes place; who is around when the behavior

does or does not occur?
– what reasons did you find for engaging, or not engaging, in the target

behavior over the past two weeks?
– what were the antecedents (i.e., what happened right before the failure

to perform the target behavior or that caused you to perform the target
behavior? For example, if the behavior was vaping which you want to
stop, what happened right before you decided to vape or not vape that
is related to your choice to engage or not engage in the behavior?

– what was the consequence of engaging or not engaging in the target
behavior? (e.g., emotional reactions and accompanying thoughts you
experienced at the time?)

– any other observations or insights gleaned from your tracking efforts?

4. Given the observations you’ve stated above in part 3, I would like you to ask
yourself what you think is the biggest hurdle to your own self-control.
Look back at the lecture notes for Chapter 25 at the beginning where I
provide a bullet-point list of causes for issues with self-control. What do you

feel is the biggest reason impacting why you are putting off (and have been
putting off) engaging in the desired target behavior currently in your life?
Or, why you can’t let go of a habit you really want to change. Or why can’t
you start a new behavior you really want to adopt? Discuss.

[minimum 2-3 paragraphs]

Section B

Read, summarize, and critique 2 current psychological journal articles related to
your target behavior and attempts at modifying the behavior. These must be peer-
reviewed and current (2010 – present). I would recommend using PsychINFO
through the library to access these materials. You may also use other scholarly
search engines such as Medline, PsychARTICLES, etc.)

• Summarize the author(s)’ paper and conclusions
• Critically discuss the article
• Each article’s summary, critique and discussion should be at least 1 page
• Be sure to use proper APA style in-text citations & referencing

Section C

In this section of the paper you will take the information you have learned from
your research and hypothesize how you might apply that information to your own
behavior change. Discuss specific strategies you could try that would relate to the
hurdles you have identified with your own attempt at behavior change in the past
and how you might be able to successfully navigate and get around those hurdles.

I would specifically like to see 2 clear strategies identified, based on your research,
that you feel you could apply to your behavior change (Plan A and Plan B).

[minimum 1 page in length]

Final Considerations

1. Formatting: please use APA style throughout the paper for in-text
citations and the “References” page where you will list your sources. A

title page and header is not required; however, a title to your Research
Paper would be preferable.

2. The paper should contain minimal grammar, spelling and punctuation

errors (or none at all). Having another person read over your paper is
always a good strategy to employ as it’s tough to accurately proof read
your own paper.

Grading Rubric:

Section A

1. /3 pts
2. /5 pts
3. /5 pts
4. /2 pts

Section B

1. /5 pts [Peer-reviewed article (1 pt), Summary (2 pts), Critical Discussion (2 pts)
2. /5 pts [Peer-reviewed article (1 pt), Summary (2 pts), Critical Discussion (2 pts)

Section C

1. /4 pts [strategy – how it would connect to personally-identified hurdle]
2. /4 pts [strategy – how it would connect to personally-identified hurdle]

APA

/2 pts [correct in-text citations and “References” page]

Grammar

Up to 10% deduction

Total points possible: /35 pts

Please email me with any questions or concerns. The paper is due: December 4th,
2023 by 11:00 pm.