So, I'm using plants as reinforcers for my Psych project...

[Silmarwen]

I'm in a behavior modification course this semester, and we had to do a project where we designed a behavior modification plan for a habit we want to change in ourselves. Part of this was designing a reinforcement system for the behavior.

Thus, I get a new plant or two for my tank every week that I get up on time 5 out of 7 days. This week, I'm 2/3 so far. My LFS had some nice red ludwigia when I was there last Thursday, so I'm thinking. It'll stay a bit pinkish still under low light, right?

I considered expanding my "reinforcement system" to include tanks, fish, and equipment, but my professor hates me and would take points off while telling me to "keep it simple".

But I might do that anyway. It's not like we're getting graded on the actual results.

[bikinibottom]

So does your reinforcer have to be positive? Because you could promise to take out a plant every time you don't get up on time, thus creating an even stronger incentive to get out of bed!!

[SpecGrrl]

Carrot and stick. Is it more useful than carrot alone?

[Silmarwen]

Well, the prof didn't indicate whether we were required to use positive or negative reinforcement, but I couldn't think of adequate negative reinforcements. Removing a plant sounds a little harsh It'd be a fantastic incentive, but I'd cheat on it so badly. As it is, I've settled on a token system--each stage of my goal has a different payment scheme, but I can earn anywhere from zero to three one-dollar tokens every day, depending on how long it takes me to get up.

Does the stick in carrot-and-stick refer to punishment? Because we were forbidden from including punishment in our strategies after someone jokingly(??) suggested using a shock collar to help reduce swearing. o_O