Finals

Dont know if anyone will continue to read this...but if you do...

Here is my contact info if you decide you need some company
benz.swang@gmail.com is my email
softiesteve is my aim.

no facebook. yet?

cya later classmates. its been a good run. :)

Last week!

1. So as a result of my program, my behavior has changed quiet a bit, but not dramatically. Maybe some of my classmates haven't noticed but i found myself not cussing that much anymore. Compared to my baseline level of cussing almost every other sentence, ive improved to cussing almost every other week.

I'm mighty proud of myself :)

2. I think my program worked quite well, I wanted to add that my girlfriend bought me gran turismo for PSP as my last reward for keeping up the good work throughout the program and sticking to the punishments. So it looks like my punishments did work out for the best since my money did come back to me, and i also improved my behavior. The problem i see with my program is that it wouldn't work on everyone, but my specific case alone.

3. I think the heightened awareness of the behavior definitely played a huge role in me not cussing; however, as the program went on for the past few weeks, i noticed i generally didn't cuss even without thinking about it.

4. I dont think i need any changes for my behavior to last long term. The whole money thing works well until im finally broke. Then i will have to consider improvising for another punishment.

5. The most challeneging aspect of this assignment was being able to access everyone's blogs. I still am not able to see a few people's blogs. Isnt going public the easiest way???? It's frustrating. But on a real note, the most challenging part was being able to stop my behavior entirely around friends because they constantly cuss and its hard to not pick up on it since its thrown around so casually during conversations.

6. The most valuable aspect was being able to manipulate behavior through my own psychological punishments/rewards. I liked the fact that i implemented and executed this through my own willingness with out being pushed to do so with some reason like getting an A.

7. It has helped me understand it better by actually forming a program and implementing it on myself weekly. It is one thing to read and understand it, but another to do it step by step.

I hope you all enjoy the upcoming holidays and be safe!
See you guys around... :)

Week 7 (Again) Progress week 3

First i want to thank everyone who came to the human trafficking conference to support me and your fellow classmates: diego, clarence, gimin, molly...am i forgetting anyone else? sorry im doing this at 6:48 AM. Forgive me.

this week consisted of little to no rewards because i was cooped up in my room/bed for the most part.

Wednesday
- Happy veterans day! Although many of you spent this day vacationing, i was inside in the whole day catching up on homework and practicing for the conference. I had even less of a social life that day. Zero room for error, I dont even think i spoke a word that day. No rewards or punishments. I decided this day didnt count because I exiled myself from society.

thursday
- went to school, chilled. Everything was very positive except for the human trafficking conference coming up. Also, I had a lack of words due to the lack of sleep! Reward was sleeping in my car in the school parking lot.

friday
- Practice, Practice, Practice. Reward was two hours of sleep.

saturday
-what a nerve wrecking day. you know the saying of having butterflies? i had rhinos stampeding through me. But everything went surprisingly well and i was very pleased with myself. I was so happy that i didnt feel any negative energy or a need to cuss at all. I rewarded myself by getting a nice air freshener that day. oh joy! :D

sunday
- I dont recall much of sunday. I was most likely sleeping the whole day.

monday
- Went to go see the meteor shower with my gf at Malibu state park but turns out we were too late. she somehow translated 21:40 into 11:40 PM, when it should be 9:40PM. I tried to study for psychology but failed miserably when the TV was turned on. I hibernated the most of the day and caught up on sleep. Reward was sleep, i didnt feel i deserved one since i was only at home.

tuesday
- Lots of cursing, what a bad day. I got a speeding ticket for doing triple digits on the 605 south at 1 AM. Its my fault, i messed up and im taking the punishment. the fine will be my punishment. 400+ dollars is harsh. Now im really broke.

Lesson learned: don't speed, don't curse. The cop was surprisingly polite. yay for manners.

2. The rewards and punishments are really taking their tole now. Especially with the 400 dollar hit thats coming up, i will be sulking in my tears soon. However on a positive note, homecoming 2010 is coming up! this is when all the s2000's in the world come together to honda corp in torrance CA. Only 200-250 are allowed to go and i made the list! I'm going to meet Shigeru Uehara, the father of the s2000! what an honor and reward. Tickets are gonna cost me 110, but worth every bit. This is ground breaking stuff right here people. Also...this is the greatest reward i could ever ask for, so hopefully I survive till sep 2010.

3. I dont think i need to change anything, maybe reward myself with a social life. My cat and dog are my homies. I just gave my dog a shower and hes so soft.

a. Well, this may not be directly related with my program. But with my recent ticket ive been doing research up and down with fighting tickets and if anyone needs advice, sign up on this forum and ask around. These guys are ticket gurus.

http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/

Lastly, finally catching up on all the comments, i realized they are all very meaningful haha. I dont want to sound corny but the comments are very heartfelt. I dont know if all are 100% real or if your just trying to look good, but ive never had so much positive feedback hit me week after week. Thanks guys. See you in class.

BTW: i still cant see a few of your blogs, I emailed the people i couldnt see : I think its deigo, danya, kirat, michelle

Week 7: Progress Week 2

Note to self: change all the clocks in the house.

I found myself cursing a few times this week in chain reaction spurts of cussing.
But only a few times. It was only when i caught myself that i started dropping cuss word after another.

On a lighter note, I bought myself some car wash stuff so i can make my car nice and clean again. Yay for not cussing.

However since i did cuss, i lost a total amount of 20 dollars this week.

Comments: Although my behavior was changing quite rapidly, the stress on my head is tearing me apart. So that's my excuse as to why im dropping a few F-bombs. But i paid for my actions. However, It's nice to keep this program going because it not only benefits me but also my girlfriend. Once christmas comes around my money will come back to me! :D

Effects of Reinforcement: I love the positive reinforcement. When we went over shopping in class it was pretty cool, because i honestly get that rush when i buy an expensive part for my car and i actually end up selling most of them haha. It was nice to be able to apply that to my spending habits. I also noticed that my gifts to myself are becoming cheaper and cheaper because im running out of money.

Effects of Punishment: The punishment is killer. I feel like cussing has become an artificial drug addiction. I tell myself i can quit anytime i want, but i seem to be coming back to base 1 each time. However, im sure once i have to start selling parts off my car, i will watch what i say =X.

Program Changes: If i proceed to cuss when stress is no longer a factor, I will increase the payment; but i dont think that will happen. I will be in debt if i continue to cuss (not really, but ill be sad).

Progress Week

1. First, hope everyone had a safe, fun Halloween. I did. :D
So i found another trigger and that is when I am with my girlfriend's family.
I know it sounds really bad but its...not? My girlfriend's family is extremely white-washed.
And their use of language consists the word sh*t a lot. So during the time i spent with them, I probably said sh*t as often as they did. That's a lot. I was pretty disappointed with myself because I didn't even catch myself saying it because it was thrown around so casually. My cursing was going really well up until that point, but afterward i noticed i was doing myself wrong the whole time. And I handed over money to my girlfriend (which she loved, because she doesn't have a job and needs money). I was really sad. There goes my tires. ****. bleeped out so it doesn't count. I handed over an estimated 50 dollars and another 10 because I didn't catch myself in time. I noticed its very hard for me to control my language when I feel too comfortable or if cussing is considered a norm.

2. The use of my punishment made me much more consciously aware of what i'm saying, each word goes through a PG detector before it comes out of my mouth. I sort of talk the sentence in my head, then if it clears, it comes out. Sounds like a lot of work huh?

3. I think i am really making a lot of progress. I came from dropping the F bomb every other sentence to not cursing at all, with some exceptions. But i think i should change the punishment to put money into my savings instead of giving it to my girlfriend, shes enjoying it too much. She tries to get me to cuss sometimes. Mean. But I'm surprised that I am progressing so fast. I was expecting this to be much more difficult, but i guess the difficult part is trying not to cuss when everyone else is instead of not cussing just for my own sake.

I dont really see a lot regarding quitting cussing since it has become a part of the norm, but when it comes to showing professionalism, cussing is....bad! haha....im at a loss for words. too much thinking.

1. Im going to use negative punishment because for me it seems the most logical and useful.
The negative punishment that I am going to use is to take away spending funds for my car.
As a car enthusiastic this is like taking away credit cards from a shopaholic, or beer from an alcoholic, except in their cases it might be better for them...anyhow, I want to modify my car and with out money, I cant do that. And that bugs me every day. Seriously. Being a full-time student = broke.

2. the immediate punishment would be to take away maybe 100 dollars and put it into savings instead. In the long run this will be a positive reinforcement to help me to remember to think before i speak.

3. Since I trust my girlfriend, I will give her the money to hold. She hates it that i spend more money on my car than myself. So doing this is something she will enjoy dearly. And hurt me.

4. Be prepared to revise the program as needed, and I will be. I might want to give the money to my parents instead of my girlfriend...she might take advantage of this opportunity.

1.) Being consciously aware about how I speak has actually improved my cussing habits by a large margin. I find myself no longer cussing when this blog lingers in the back of my mind, but I did drop the F bomb a few times when I was irritated. Mostly because I don't really know how else to express my anger in words... i have a very small vocabulary bank.

2.) Operant Conditioning could reduce my unwanted behavior by sending me positive reinforcement. When i find myself not cussing, I feel more mature. Seeing children cuss is very awkward and it seems to be okay that they are. Each generation has also started cussing earlier and earlier.

3.) I found several ways to stop cursing
found online at www.ehow.com

a.) think before you speak!
-seems easy enough...or is it?
b.) practice meditation
-i never looked into this...but i feel very peaceful inside already.
c.) keep your mouth shut
-this seems like your running away from the problem more than confronting it or trying to fix it.
d.) use a thesaurus
-the smartest dinosaur ever known has taught me a lot.
e.) put money in a jar
-the method that i am currently using, yay. im on the road to success.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2291476_stop-cursing.html

4.) Comment on your classmates' blogs. (just in case you forget.)