S ELF -M ANAGEMENT Psychology 6710 Excellent Student Aug. 8 th, 2008

P ROBLEM I need to be flossing every day to make sure that I don’t get cavities from all the sugar I eat. The problem is that daily flossing only has a small but cumulative outcome. I can miss anyone day and there will be no serious outcome.

I NEFFECTIVE N ATURAL C ONTINGENCY Have infinitesimally better gum health Have a given level of gum health Floss teeth BEFOREAFTERBEHAVIOR

C OMPETING C ONTINGENCIES Not only does flossing on any given day only infinitesimally improve my gum health it hurts and causes my gums to bleed

N ATURAL C OMPETING C ONTINGENCY Gums are in pain Gums are not in pain Floss teeth BEFOREAFTERBEHAVIOR

T HE SM I NTERVENTION Target behavior: Floss teeth Contingencies: Flossing avoids the loss of IPod Deadline (S D ): Before the end of each day PM manager: Matt Start Date: June 9 th, 2008 End Date: Current MA TT

P ERFORMANCE -M ANAGEMENT C ONTINGENCY Will not lose IPod for a day at next class Will lose IPod for a day at next class Floss teeth BEFOREAFTERBEHAVIOR S D (Deadline): Before Bed every night

I NFERRED T HEORETICAL C ONTINGENCY No fear loss Of IPod for a day at the Next class Fear loss of IPod for a day at the next class Floss Teeth BEFOREAFTERBEHAVIOR

T ARGET B EHAVIOR G RAPH BaselineIntervention Weeks Number of times flossed Goal line

B ENEFIT M EASURE G RAPH Baseline Intervention Weeks # of Days that gums bleed Goal line

P ROBLEMS D URING I NTERVENTION Problem 1: After I moved out of my apartment I misplaced my floss I missed two days Problem 2: Also after the move I no longer walked to class Now I don’t use my IPod very often It lost some of it’s reinforcing value

R ECYCLE The bigger of the two problems seemed to be not having the floss that I need The solution: a contingency on buying new floss will be added Deadline: end of the same day that I run out or misplace my floss If I don’t buy a new container of floss by the deadline I will have to pay my performance manager $5

M Y R ESULTS The intervention was a success. I averaged close to 0 days per week during baseline The intervention average was 96%

M Y C OMMENTS The project was very beneficial I don’t think that I would have kept up with the flossing otherwise I plan to continue with the performance management contingency throughout the fall Hopefully it will be just as effective as it has been

THANK YOU!! Any Questions or Comments?