Monday, April 13, 2020
Sample Essay on Study Habit
Sample Essay on Study HabitA sample essay on study habit can be a good way to get started in your college classes. There are many people who work on a deadline that forces them to make the most of every opportunity that they get. This can be especially true for someone who wants to get ahead in their studies, but does not have the time to go through every subject. If you have a test or exam coming up and do not have the time to prepare your own essay, a sample essay on study habit may be the perfect answer for you.The main idea behind this essay is to demonstrate how much you are working towards accomplishing your goal. This is a good way to test yourself and see how well you have prepared yourself for this test. You will want to keep a journal of your progress. Write down the things that you did well and the things that you did poorly. Try to remember exactly what worked and what you should have done differently.Now that you know how much work you have done to prepare for your test, you can start to analyze your grades from the last few tests you have taken. Did you really study hard? Did you go through all the notes you needed?When you are working on a sample essay on study habits, do not keep it very general. Give an example that is specific to your particular situation. It would be a waste of time to write about something you have not tried yet.You may want to include some tips on how to use the sample. You can add information about what to do at your next class, the correct way to carry out homework, or how to handle questions on a test. When you get into writing about personal experience, this will be a good idea to show how you can relate the information to the college environment. If you are not sure whereto begin, give the essay more thought and see if you can come up with some other ways to include the personal information.College students should always be working on improving their grades. Since so many people are not given enough time in school, the y sometimes struggle with getting ahead in their studies. These students are often in a perfect situation to find a way to improve their grades with a quality essay.If you have taken many college classes in the past, then writing a sample essay on study habit can be a very good idea for you. If you have a good grade from one class, then writing an essay about your ability to improve your grades is just right for you. The important thing is to put in the time to really study and work on it before you write it down, to ensure that you have prepared well for your future tests.
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Gun Violence Essay Example
Gun Violence Essay Today in our society we have a massive problem with gun violence. Many people are abusing their right to own guns by doing was is called a shooting. A shooting is a kill spree of mostlky public areas. This happens because of people wioth a mental background not being check for illnesses and abeing allowed to purchase firearms. This is not always the case, for there are problems with bullies in our society. Bullies are a big party of this society in its day of age. Bullying has all forms. When this happens people think that the correct way to fix the problem of gun violence is to ban all firearms from being used by civilians. There aree many reasons why gun violence is bad in this day but one major problem is the violence in public city schools. Public schools are one of the biggest forms of problems with children in this day. The government does not realize that the violence shown on television is one of the main causes for children to be brain washed and is is one of the reasons for violence in the schools. We will write a custom essay sample on Gun Violence specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Gun Violence specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Gun Violence specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer One theory in sociology that deals with this problem is structural functionalism theory. structural functionalism is a theory that is believed that society is like parts in a machine that work together to maintain progress and stability. This being said the society is becoming more and more unstable by new threaths and constant forms of panic. People in society believe that the government system is corrupt and we are slowly being brought down lower and lower each day in society. Structural functionalism plays a big part in everyday life. Peolle do ot realize this but in someway your are helping another person. From donating to giving someone and idea to further their interests sociologist see this as framework. We build off one another in our lives. With gun violence a person comes is given an idea based upon something they have learned, seen, been told, and gives that idea to another and it becomes a huge network of thoughts and ideas. This becomes a stable thought and is vastly spread amongst others who think that it is a good stable idea. So as I said before above, say someone thought of an idea to make a movie or show about killing young school kids until you recieve whatever that person had sent out to achieve. Another person may watch that and thinkm ââ¬Å" thatââ¬â¢s not a bad ideaâ⬠then set off to follow something they had merely learned from a tv show or movie. This is the problem in society. There are many problems with broadcasts of shows movies or even commercials that show violence and a way to use it in society. For example the man who had watched a movie called the dark knight who had a foe that was a serial killer and said he was inspired by that man which he decided to carry out his work in real life. This man had walked into the premier of the next instalment of said movie with a gun and killed multiple people. One term that falls under the theory is downward mobility. This is when I society starts to move in a downward pace due to certain problems in said society. Gun violence is a hhuge part of that. Gun violence has taken a tragic effect on people. They live in fear not knowing when the next day could be there last that is in lower classes of the society. This effects society in more ways than one. The next term is class system. This is where your income determines what class you in. you would think that guns are expensive which they are but no matter the class of a deeraanged civilian they are still managing to get guns. This is a problem also for the government officials who are for banning firearms in the us. No matter if you ban guns that will give a bigger profit for smugglers. Although its not like they havenââ¬â¢t been already doing that. There is no way to stop gun from being in the possession of people who will take the risk owning one. The next theory is symbolic interaction theory. This is a social theory that focuses on the analysis of the patterns of communication, interpretation and adjustment between individuals. This is a part that happens in the societ every second of every minute of every hour and so on. Communication is received in so many ways in this society. With communication comes ideas and logic and other forms of understanding the ways of the communication process. With this theory and the interpretation of the communication amongst people there are many ways to misinterpret them. The government and the pople is a huge social conflict. The people want one thing for society while the government is writing bills to do the exact opposite. This creates a letdown for the people. Then the people start to fester ideas and state that the government is corrupted. Cults are vastly spread out on several different topics. One is in fact the corruption of the government. Cults are localized groups who have one central idea and maintain meeting about how to deal with said topic. This is all over the world. Peole have ties in cults that have to do with some actions against shootings. They have narrowed down searches for cults in the united states dealing with shootings. Faith is said to have people with high hopes in a commmunuty. Faith is a term used for people who believe in a winninng scenario in certain circumstances. Many people believe in this. Faith is to give better people a mind of clarity and to help them with their day. With gun violence faith is disrubuted every day. People go to work, they go to school, they go to public places know that that place could be the last place they go. Everyday of living in this society is a leap of faith in to the arms of people who surround you. The final theory is the social conflict theory. This theory is the idea of the wealth vs. the poor. In many casesthis theory is correct in most societies. The people that are wealthier have more power than a person who can barely put dinner on the table so to speak. The wealthy people of the united states could make schools and other widely accessed places more safe for everyone. They would much rather ban the guns that wont stop gun violence. Parents have thought about relocating their children to school that are private more than public schools. Public schools are for your everyday person who is the son or daughter of an average person or someone who wants to be average. Public schools or for the people who know they have money and want to parade it around. Peolle need the support of each other to help overcome the crisis at hand. The wealthy are people who donââ¬â¢t care about others as long as they have theirselves covered if anything goes wrong. On the other hand when a lower class person has another person with a problem they work together to come up with a solution. This is a great problem in our society today. When people are segregated into groups depending on their income it is easier to target the people with no intercom system in a schhol or a movie theatre ona bad street. A term that is used many times over is inequality which is when something isnââ¬â¢t equally distributed. Inequality is like when a man who is working a job gets paid 40 bucks a day but the other man who does the same job and the same amount of time only gets 30 bucks an hour. This is where the problem is the most in our government. Say the joker murderer got back to back sentences for ech person he murdered, now thatââ¬â¢s aking a nobody and sentencing him. If Lindsay lohan did the exact same thing she would have probably received 3 years in prison and 30 days rehabilitation. The inequality is a big problem in the united states therefore all rights should be distributed eaqually like intended by the forefathers.
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Politically Correct essays
Politically Correct essays For some reason it seems so true. The truth in the statement you never know what you have until you do not have it anymore is so over-powering. It almost turns around to just slap you in the face. When you have what you never knew meant so much you always wonder why it is there, and sometimes you even start to ponder over its existence. When these times occur you have to stop and look the world in the eyes to see the differences that portray themselves as being politically correct. As for being politically correct. Only politics can truly be politically correct. If you just look at the word politically, it in itself states politics. Therefore does that not mean that it pertains solely to politics? If politically correct simply sticks with the political state then should so many people use it within papers like this one? No! They should not because a paper of this standard has nothing to do with politics. Politics have a lot of meaning in society, although most of politics are one hundred percent bullshit anyway. (pardon my French) With this in mind we must search the meaning of government. The governmental party is full of lazy academically successful people that have nothing better to do then sit around in an oval office trying desperately to find a corner. Seriously the government is most likely hurting everyone more then helping us. What is the current national debt of the United States of America? That is right another pathetic rhetorical question. While the government is in their little oval office sitting in their measly made up corners they ask each other these pathetic rhetorical questions hoping to find a solution to the problems of the world. Terrorism is being solved with this genius attack of action. While the government tries to comfort us about how they are sending all the soldiers we have to fight against terroris ...
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Housing Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Housing Act - Essay Example The cost of these empty properties proves to be exorbitant for both the property owners and their neighbors in that it results in degradation of the entire neighborhood and decreased property values. 1 The scope of empty residential dwellings expands beyond the direct costs associated with vandalism and the decreased property values. It is also evident in the increased premiums incurred by homeowners within the neighborhood as well as related expenses. If one were to quantify the complete annual cost of leaving a residential property unoccupied for the period of one year, one can clearly ascertain an approximate cost of 8,000. This coupled with the fact that within England, there is has been a systematic rise in the number of homeless families has effectively prompted governmental involvement. This involvement came in the form of the Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO).2 Instituted on July 6, 2006 the EDMO gives the Local Housing Authority (LHA) the right to possession of property that has been unoccupied for more than six months. EDMO embodies the commitment of the English Government with regards to finding a permanent solution to a problem that is dyadic in nature and involves both the presence of empty private dwellings and the rising number of homeless families. ... These voluntary initiates have proved to be very ineffective thus necessitating compulsory action. It has been argued that these compulsory initiatives often favored the LHAs as the owners are view to be negligent in their responsibilities in maintaining their properties. In fact, many LHAs have been endowed with the right to purchase these properties at ridiculously low rates. Despite this, many LHAs view the procedure of acquiring empty dwellings as one that is cumbersome, time consuming, extremely bureaucratic in nature and complicated especially if their attempts to take over the properties are greeted with hostility.3 EDMOs operate with the intention of establishing a common ground between voluntary and compulsory purchasing ability. Essentially the LHA has the power to decide whether to actively pursue the purchase of an empty dwelling. Endowed with this power, it is the goal of EMDOs to compel the property owner to communicate with the LHA wherein an agreement may be reached with regards to returning the property to a condition whereby it is fit for human habitation. This agreement may entail active compromise between the LHA and the property owner. In principal and fact, it would be mutually beneficial for the LHA and the property owner to reach an agreement as it circumvents a great deal of bureaucratic red tape. This is especially important when one takes into consideration the fact that EMDOs are not intended to be utilized as an enforcement alternative but one that is necessary when the LHA has determined that its ownership of the property proves to be contraindicated. Additionally, EMDOs a re not meant to be stand-alone measures. They are intended to work in concert with the existing remedies such as
Monday, February 3, 2020
LMU Personal Essay AJ Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
LMU Essay AJ - Personal Statement Example I have witnessed the wars and poverty in my own country despite the knowledge that it is known to be a rich nation and I often wondered what could be wrong about us. As a result, I pondered about this and observed individual lives as well which I often thought have an effect on the national circumstances. I think so many people fall victims of physical and political wars not only because of poverty but also due to ignorance. A person is often easily carried by emotions and need when he has nothing else to hold on to. Thus, in order to survive and be at peace with oneââ¬â¢s environment, an individual should have something to hold on to as an anchor so that he will not be easily swayed by needs and emotions. In my quest to find out what makes people feel secure and stable, I discovered that among them is education. We had neighbors who were not very affluent years ago but when the children grew, they seemed to have climbed up the ladder of success in quite a short time. When I first became aware of the importance of wealth and education, I observed that I was more inclined to getting more information and not just let things be said and not thought about. I begun to envy our successful neighbors but with that, I yearned to know how they did it. I observed how they lived their lives and I really sought to find out what their jobs are and where they were working. In the process, I learned that some of them were working as engineers but most of the successful ones are chief executives or bankers. This made me think about the course I would like to take in preparation for my success story. I then assessed my talents, skills, interests and inclinations and decided to take __________. I know I will not just become successful in my career but that I will also be good at it with my talent and skills. However, I know that those are not enough as I found out in the past years. One must have to hold an education, a training that will show oneââ¬â¢s
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Major Contemporary Issue Affecting Organisational Behaviour Today Commerce Essay
Major Contemporary Issue Affecting Organisational Behaviour Today Commerce Essay According to Griffin and Moorhead (2012), Organisational behaviour is the study of human behaviour in organisational settings, of the interface between human behaviour and organisation, and of the organisation itself. As Knights and Willmott (2007) pointed out, in order to have a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of organisational behaviour as a field of study, the three areas that make up organisational behaviour must be studied together. These areas include human behaviour, the relationship between human behaviour and organisations, and the organisation itself. And they must be analysed from three points of view which are individual, as team or group and as an organisation. Question 6. Choose a major contemporary issue affecting organisational behaviour today..Discuss its practical implications for managing peopleà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦ Murray, Poole and Jones (2006) are of the view that, with the ever increasing globalisation of the continents of the world, organisational culture, product and production diversification, teamwork, information technology, flexible working practices are regarded as some of the current issues affecting organisations. For the purpose of detailed analysis and word count, I have decided to pick organisational culture as one of the contemporary issues to discuss. Organisational culture: Every organisation has a culture and it is this culture that defines the performance as well as the excellence of the organisation as a whole. Over the past years, organisational culture has been researched in order to get to its dept on how it affects both customers and employees. According to Ravasi and Schultz (2006) organizational culture is a set of shared mental assumptions that guide interpretation and action in organizations by defining appropriate behaviour for various situations. Organizational culture play an important role in every organization because it portrays the organizations values, norms, beliefs, systems, working language and habits. Therefore, priority should be given to organizational culture because it defines the companys image (Mullins, 2007). It is necessary to understand the concept of organisational culture by typologies and classifications. Handy (1982) pointed out four types of culture that would help in the understanding and classifications of organisational culture and they include personal culture, risk, role and power. As suggested by Scholtz (1987), stable, reactive, anticipating, exploring and creative are used to describe the typologies of organisational culture. To be able to point out the functions of organisational culture, it is necessary to know the determinants of organisational culture. In an article entitled (building organisational culture that stimulates creativity and innovation), Martins (2003) stated that the determinants of organisational culture are structure, support mechanisms, behaviour that encourages innovation and open communication. Kilmann, Saxton Serpa (1986) pointed out the following functions of organisational culture. Organisational culture help organisations stand out which distinguishes them from other organisations hence, their identity is portrayed. It also encourages stability in organisations. Employees and leaders in organisations could be changed but a relative stability is maintained over a period of time as organisational culture is passed on from generations to generations. An organisation with a strong culture could have competitive advantage in the marketplace if it keeps abiding on its culture (Brown 1998). Organisational culture has great implications on both the employees and the company as a whole. For example, Hewlett Packard advised HP employees to develop 3 personal and 3 organisational goals that they would like to achieve each year as a change of their culture. After two years into this new system of culture, HP reported that there was no loss in productivity even when some employees were working shorter hours and more employees were able to be retained. Question 1: Advantages and disadvantages of working as part of a team for the Individual. There is no definite definition of team but as Mckenna(2012) pointed out, a team could be described as a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, common performance, and a common approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. Advantages As suggested by Mckenna(2012), one of the advantages of working as part of a team for the individual is the motivation he/she gets from the members of the team to accomplish their tasks. Usually, members of the team are motivated when they work with the thought that other members of the team are depending on them for the objective of the team to be achieved. With such thought in their minds, the individual tend to be motivated unlike when he/she works alone, there is no one to motivate him/her (Cole, 2005). Cole (2005) is of the view that when individuals get together as a team different abilities and experience would be showcased by individuals towards achieving team objectives. These are some of the different abilities that would be seen in an individual: people with leadership spirit, good planners, thinkers, ideas person and humorists, those with technical or professional knowledge, those with good communication skills. This would help an individual to express his/her ability as a dormant ability would definitely quench if it is not put to work. Another advantage of a team for an individual working in team is the experience gotten from it. Working in a team help individuals to gain experience. Especially with the different abilities and approaches each members of the team used in tackling a problem. Although he/she might not be an expert in the application of such ability but they would have gained that experience and would be able to apply it when they encounter such tasks again in the future (McKenna, 2012). Disadvantages As pointed out by Koontz and Wiehrich (2008), one of the disadvantages of working as part of a team for the individual is the teams goals and objectives that must be achieved. An individual cannot work towards achieving personal goals because whatever task he/she has been allocated to in a group must be accomplished with the aim of meeting the groups objectives. In other words, he/she must give up personals goals and work towards group goals hence, organisational goals and objectives is the priority and not personal goals (Prakken, 2000). Barker and Angelopulo (2007) is of the view that working in a team consumes time. This is because every member must be given an opportunity to speak in a meeting which would take a while for the team to arrive at a conclusion. Also, since time is money, it may cost an individual to work as part of a team and such costs could involve transportation, lodging and other overhead costs(Mukherjee and Basu, 2005) Conflicts within a team are usually problems for an individual. This is because it demoralises an individual, reduce his/her motivation towards accomplishing the task allocated as well as reduce communications to other members of the team hence, the level of individual cooperation with the team would drop which may lead to unaccomplished mission for the individual as well as the team (Mukherjee and Basu, 2005). 5. An employees individual personality has no part to play in his/her day to day behaviour at work..Its not something employers need to worry about. Critically evaluate this statement. There are four main drivers that influence the behaviour of an individual personality hence, they have a great effect on the performance of an employee at work. This means employers need to take cognisance of this if they want to receive the best performance of their employees. The following are the four drivers, namely self motivation of employees, employees ability, employees role perceptions and situational factors (Miller, Vandome and John, 2010). According to Miller, Vandome and John (2010), Motivation refers to the internal forces that affect the direction, intensity and persistence of a persons voluntary choice of behaviour. McShane and Von Glinow(2003) were of the view that direction refers to the path on which employees channel their strengths towards achieving the organisational goals. Intensity refers to the degree of effort or the level of seriousness employees have applied towards achieving organisational goals. And persistence is refers to how long an employee is willing and able to put his/her time in order to achieve organisational goals (Miller, Vandome and John, 2010). Employers need to take note of employees that have direction, intensity and the ones that are persistent in what they want to achieve as they have great implications in the performance of each employee. According to McShane and Von Glinow (2003), ability refers to both the natural aptitudes and the learned capabilities required to successfully complete a task. Employers should look for such type of people to employ in their organisations. This is because they are people that have natural skills to learn things quickly; also they are people that have acquired experiences which makes them competent for any task allocated to them (miller, Vandome and John, 2010). As McShane and Von Glinow (2003) pointed out in (Organisational Behaviour), role perceptions has to do with the level to which an employee understands the role or tasks he/she suppose to perform in an organisation. This also involves the employee understanding the the importance of these tasks to the organisation and the behaviour he/she will use to accomplish such tasks (Taderera, 2010). Taderera (2010) is of the view that situational factors refers to conditions especially environmental factors from outside the organisation that affect an employee such as consumer preferences economic factors and environmental factors such as time, people, budget and work facilities. Usually, these environmental factors are beyond the control of an employee especially in the short run (McShane and Von Glinow, 2003). This means that employers need to tackle and arrange these factors in such a way that they wont interfere or interrupt the performance of their employees.
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Behavior Modification Project
I donââ¬â¢t remember exactly when I took to smoking or how the habit had developed in me. However I remember well that my pattern of smoking has been fairly consistent, at least for the last couple of years, smoking about six cigarettes a day. There are of course days when I have smoked a couple of cigarettes more or less too. Most of my friends donââ¬â¢t smoke and they donââ¬â¢t like smoking in their presence, although they wouldnââ¬â¢t object it on the face. I am aware of the risks of smoking, its association with cancer and strokes, and had long decided to abandon it.I had convinced myself that I need to give up smoking. However I didnââ¬â¢t have a plan or deadline for it; not that I was ignorant of this fact. I knew that to get rid of any habit, one should have a concrete plan and an anticipated schedule. In my mind, I believed I would soon be implementing one for myself. Unfortunately I did nothing in an effort to quit smoking, only compensating it with a feeling that I have a strong untested will power and can easily quit whenever I wanted. It never struck me that the quitting should start now.It so happened, that I had an opportunity last month to attend a seminar on ââ¬ËModern lifestyle trends and its impact on healthââ¬â¢. Here the speaker emphasized that habits like smoking, alcoholism, drugs, sexual attitudes can only be reversed when it is within a reversible range. He said it was his personal opinion that chronic addicts cannot come out of it, no matter what the de-addiction programs he or she goes through. He then went on to give scary facts that awaited the pursuers of these habits. This was when I got really scared, and decided to call it a day.I knew I was not a chronic smoker although I thanked God; he didnââ¬â¢t define a chronic smoker. I realized and accepted the fact that I had not made even the slightest attempt, to give up smoking. I took a resolution that quitting efforts would start right here and right now. I wa s careful enough not to fall back on Behavior Modification Project 3 my will power and put it through an acid test, by deciding to quit immediately. I began to plan a way of achieving a no smoking state in a gradual way. I was happy that although my efforts to quit smoking had been late, it was being done cautiously.Had I taken an unplanned and arbitrary decision, like stopping instantly; and if it had rebounded, there were chances that I would probably never get out of it. For the first week, I had decided that I would smoke no more than six cigarettes a day, so as to average about six or lesser number per day. For the second week, I had planned a reduction of two cigarettes a day, so as to average about four or less per day. Then the most important third week, where I further reduced the number of cigarettes to just two per day. Then the hopefully successful fourth week, where I would be a non-smoker.Although I was confident, I was apprehensive of the possibility of achieving thes e goals. I recollected the times when I didnââ¬â¢t have a cigarette and desperately needed one, and to the extent I went, to get one. As my goal to quit smoking is to be achieved only in stages, I thought it necessary to reward myself whenever I reach the goal, for the week. This would not only be an encouragement for me, but also an acknowledgement of meeting target for that week. I decided to treat myself to a half hour, either in a flight simulator or with friends.This was my roadmap to quit smoking, planned in detail. The first week wasnââ¬â¢t difficult as it was almost like any before; the only difference being that it should not exceed six any day. However, I considered this week as a crucial one because this was the first week I was ever under smoking conditions. I smoked only about five for most days of this week. The second week was more difficult, as I could smoke only four or less. Here too I tried to restrict to the least possible and I smoked less than the target. I smoked only about three per day for most days, touching four only twice that week.I allowed and enjoyed the treat I promised myself, after each week. Then came the ultimate third week Behavior Modification Project 4 where I had to be more resistive to temptations; just two cigarettes a day. It was indeed difficult but I was determined, and knew it was worth it. On the third day of the third week, I had a feeling that things might become extremely difficult, and even impossible in the fourth week. Third week looked achievable, but I feared the fourth ultimate week, where I had to be without cigarettes.I realized, I needed any possible help to keep me off cigarettes. I joined a meditation class by the mid of the third week. By the time fourth week started, I felt I could comfortably keep off cigarettes for the week. I didnââ¬â¢t feel the urge to smoke one that entire week. In fact, I would say, the fourth week was the most comfortable and a confident one as I felt that smoking w as no longer a problem with me. When I went for my treat that weekend, I sensed the feel of being a non-smoker, for the first time. Behavior Modification Project Working out is something I really enjoy doing, but I almost always find some excuse as to why I cannot exercise more than going to Zumba twice a week. Itââ¬â¢s not that I donââ¬â¢t care about losing weight or staying in shape; itââ¬â¢s just that the outcome of working out is too small to control my behavior. The contingency for working out is ineffective. Ineffective contingencies fail to control our behavior because the outcomes are either too small (though of cumulative significance) or too improbable.I have a given level of health, I work out twice a week for 60 minutes, and then I have an infinitesimally greater level of health. Although my level of health increasing is small and cumulative, I know neither my body image nor my weight will change by working out one time. I know getting my butt to the gym several times per week will reduce my body fat, but there are several competing contingencies that prevent me from doing so. For example, E. R. is one of my favorite T. V . shows that I love to watch if I have some spare time in my day, I would much rather watch Dr.Carter put in a chest tube to save a little girlââ¬â¢s life than sweat through two tank tops at the gym. If I go to the gym I will lose the opportunity to watch E. R. My performance objective is to workout at least five days a week for at least 40 minutes. The type of exercise does not matter; it can include cardio, aerobics classes, toning exercises, or any combination. I did not specify exact days I had to work out, just that I have to work out five of seven days a week. For my intervention I implemented an avoidance of loss contingency.An avoidance of loss contingency is the response contingent prevention of the removal of a reinforcer resulting in an increased frequency of the response. Each time that I missed any of the five days or working out for 40 minutes I have to pay my classmate and workout buddy Michelle $3. By working out for 40 minutes I would avoid the loss of a reinforc er (money). By setting up a performance contract I know exactly what is expected of me. I am completely aware of the behavioral contingency: the occasion for the response, the response, and the outcome for that response.Since Michelle and I go to the same gym, she holds me accountable and checks with me daily if she does not see me at the gym. I report to Michelle each day before boot camp at 3:00pm. My weeks run Monday-Sunday, and I pay out for each instance of a missed workout Monday before class. Having to give Michelle money that I would have otherwise spent at the vending machine during the class break is very aversive. I keep track of my performance of working out on a week at a glance graph, which I present to my boot camp classmates every Friday.The graph has different shapers of data points indicating the type of exercise I did. For example, I use circles for cardio, stars for weight training, and hearts if I did both cardio and toning. My benefits measure is my body fat pe rcentage. I did not choose to use weight loss as a benefit measure because as I do more toning exercises, muscle is gained so my weight may not fluctuate a whole lot. Body fat is what I really want to focus on because I could care less how much I weigh if my body looks tight and toned!So far the performance management intervention has been overall pretty successful. I am making time to workout many more times per week than I have in a long time. My performance manager Michelle really motivates me to stay on top of my game, and since we go the same gym, our workout buddy system works really well. I began the intervention on June 11, 2008 and I am currently still implementing. My body fat percentage decrease quite a bit at first, then increased slightly (due to poor eating habits).So far I have only paid out $6, which is much less than I ever thought I would have paid out at this point. I made a goal with my performance manager to hit my goal for the rest of boot camp. If I hit my goa l for the remaining 3 weeks at 100% Michelle and I are treating ourselves to pedicures! I have hit my goal of five days a week several times, and only had a few weeks when I did not reach five workouts per week. The first week of the intervention I started on Wednesday, so I missed a couple days to workout. Also, in week 5 I had a migraine so I excused myself from working out.I am currently in the middle of week 9 and so far have worked out three times. The only thing I would revise about this intervention is the diet aspect. I did increase my exercising; however, my results were not phenomenal. I think I need to put some performance management contingencies on healthy eating as well as exercise. I feel great working out more, but I am still eating Twinkies and Taco Bell! This really prevents me form losing optimum body fat! Through behavior analysis (the study of the principles of behavior)
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