Part 5: Final report (60 points)

What you will submit:

A final paper detailing your behavior plan and showing your graphed data. The paper should be roughly at least 8 pages of actual writing - this does not include data sheets or references. I do not need a cover page. You should have approximately 1 week of baseline data plus about 3-4 weeks of implementation data. Your final paper should include the following.

Everything should be submitted in this order and should include the subheadings I underlined below. Failure to follow the formatting will result in a deduction of 5 points.

Behavior, Definition, & Goal: Here you should report the behavior you targeted for change, the operational definition, and what was your final/end goal (and why you chose that number). If you made any changes to the operational definition at any point during the project please report 1) the original definition, 2) the modified definition, and 3) details surrounding the change (what did you change, why did you change it, etc.)

Rationale: The scientific rationale (social validity) for why you chose this behavior to change (along with at least 1 empirical source). In other words, why you personally thought this behavior change would be good for you. You turned in a rationale earlier in the semester (Part 1), this should be an UPDATED version of that. Your rationale section should contain at least 3 specific reasons for why this behavior is worthy of targeting.

Behavior Plan: A description of the behavior plan you utilized including your self-monitoring intervention, shaping procedure, and reinforcement plan. Again, you already wrote this back in Part 3, so what you are submitting now is just an updated and modified version of that - basically it’s the final version of the plan you ended up with.

Graphed data (see graphing instructions below) including chart titles, axis titles, phase change titles, phase change lines

Response prompts: Thorough responses to the following questions:

1. Did you see improvements in your behavior across the course of this project? In other words, did it work? Using what you’ve learned in this course, why do you think you got the results that you did? (Your answer should demonstrate your understanding of operant conditioning, behavior change programs, schedules of reinforcement, and the influences on operant conditioning.)
2. Did you make changes to your original behavioral change plan? If you made changes to your original behavioral change plan, what did you change and why? If you maintained your plan as it was originally laid out, was that the correct thing to do? Why/why not?
3. Were you consistent in your implementation of the behavior plan? In other words, did you meet your goal on a regular basis? Did you earn the reinforcement when you were supposed to (when you met your goal) and not earn reinforcement when you weren’t supposed to (when you didn’t meet your goal)? ***If you have less than 4 weeks of data, this is a good place to justify/explain/discuss that!
4. How did the addition of the social accountability check impact your behavior change project.
5. Using knowledge from this course, what is your plan going forward to either continue working towards meeting your behavioral goal or maintain the progress you have made? (Your answer should demonstrate your understanding of operant conditioning and behavior change programs. For instance, you may need to discuss how to prevent extinction or deal with spontaneous recovery.)
6. What did completing this project help you learn about a) yourself and b) human behavior more broadly?

References: A properly cited APA reference page with at least 5 EMPIRICAL SOURCES

Data sheets: ALL of your data sheets (including baseline- these are your implementation tracking sheets)

Graphing Instructions

You will submit a professional appearing graph of your results utilizing a computer program (Excel is the best way to do this). The final document with your graph must include all of the required components.

Instructions

1. Go to the “Behavior change Project” module in Canvas and download the “graph template” Excel file. Google Sheets does not work well, please use the desktop version of Excel.
2. In the “Date” column, I’ve plugged in a bunch of dates, you’ll need to update these to reflect the actual days you collected data. Type the dates you completed the project starting with the first day of your baseline all the way to the last day of your implementation phase (some programs can autofill the dates for you)
3. In the second column, where it says “Behavior”, you’ll type the data from each day of your tracking sheets starting with the first day of your baseline all the way to the last day of your implementation phase
1. This must be just one number per day and cannot have any words
1. E.g., if you had 25 tallies for that day on your tracking sheet, just type “25” in the cell
2. E.g., if you had 2 minutes, 25 minutes, 45 minutes written for that day on your tracking sheet, you will add those and just type the number 72 in the cell
3. Be sure to be mindful and consistent about your units (e.g., if it’s hours, convert everything to hours. If it’s minutes, convert to minutes)
4. Once you’ve entered your data, the line graph should automatically update but you’ll have to make a few adjustments. Replace the axis label that says “behavior” (in red) with your actual behavior (meditating, biting nails, etc.)
5. Modify the graph to have accurate axes labels and show appropriate numbers for your data.
6. You’ll notice text boxes that say “baseline” and “self-monitoring intervention” on the graph - these are to note which phase you were in at that time. You should also see a vertical line, please move this so that it falls in between when baseline ended and implementation began.This line should fall between two data points.
7. The line connecting your data points should not cross the vertical line where baseline shifts to the implementation phase. To remove it, you want to highlight the FIRST data point of your implementation phase. When the “format data point” box comes up on the right of your screen, choose “no line”. (Note - this is JUST for the space between baseline and intervention, you want lines connecting the points otherwise).
8. Copy the graph and paste it into a word processing software. Do not copy and paste the data, I just need the graph

Grading Rubric for Part 5 (60 points possible)

Grading Rubric for Part 5 (60 points possible)

0 points

5 points

8 points

10 points

Behavior & definition

Missing

Behavior chosen was not from list or operational definitions has been modified

Behavior chosen from list and operational definition was identified. It was mostly clear what was being measured

Behavior chosen from list and operational definition was clearly identified. It was very clear what was being measured

Rationale & sources

Missing

Rationale was weak or unclear. Costs and benefits to behavioral change were not identified.

Rationale for why this behavior should be changed is present, but needs clarification or development. 1-2 specific reasons for behavior change were identified. Costs and benefits to behavioral change may not be identified.

Clear rationale for why this behavior should be changed, including a discussion of social significance. At least 3 specific reasons for behavior change were identified. Costs and benefits to behavioral change are discussed.

Behavior plan

Missing

Behavior plan has not been modified from the original version according to instructor feedback and changes that occurred throughout the project, or has been modified incorrectly. Plan is vague and may have several errors or missing pieces.

Behavior plan has been partially modified from the original version according to instructor feedback and changes that occurred throughout the project. Plan is acceptably thorough, thoughtful, and clear with a few minor errors or missing pieces.

Behavior plan has been modified from the original version according to instructor feedback and changes that occurred throughout the project. Plan is thorough, thoughtful, and clear.

Graphed data

Missing

Graph is not accurate and not formatted correctly according to provided guidelines. Several major errors.

Graph is accurate and formatted mostly correctly according to provided guidelines. Several minor errors.

Graph is accurate and formatted correctly according to provided guidelines. One or two minor errors (or fewer).

Analysis of project

Missing

Analysis of questions was present, but lacking in detail and/or clarity. Student attempted to apply principles and terminology learned in class, although there were several errors. Student did not demonstrate mastery of most class concepts. Some prompts are not thoroughly addressed

Mostly thoughtful & clear analysis of questions. Student attempted to apply principles and terminology learned in class, although there may be a few minor errors. Student demonstrated mastery of most class concepts. All prompts are thoroughly addressed

Clear, thoughtful, and thorough analysis of all questions. Student accurately applied principles and terminology learned in class and demonstrated mastery of all class concepts. All prompts are thoroughly addressed

Grammar & formatting

Paper is largely incomprehensible with several major errors in spelling, grammar, & clarity of writing.

Paper is largely understandable but there are several major errors in spelling, grammar, and clarity of writing.

Writing is mostly checked for spelling, grammar, and clarity. Several minor errors.

Writing is thoroughly checked for spelling, grammar, and clarity. One or two minor errors.