J. Gabriel L. de Leon
2006-07148
Psychology 101 TFW-2
Prof. Jose Antonio Clemente
Paper on Learning
“Early to Bed, Early to Rise” Through Operant Conditioning?
It is really hard, waking up early, which according to many, ranges from six to half-past eight in the morning. It might sound crazy, at the least, to others – being a college student just fresh out of high school and its daily seven o’clock schemes, one should have no trouble coping with the lighter schedule college life offers. Yet, up to this day my peers wonder in amazement whenever I arrive at our tambayan one hour before my first class, which starts a half-hour before twelve noon. Not only that, but even my parents laugh hysterically every time I ask of them to wake me up early the next morning, knowing that doing that would all be for naught.
They [my parents] often point out, “Eh pano ka magigising ng maaga kung hindi ka marunong matulog ng maaga?” I could provide many reasons for that – reasons that adolescents usually make so as to get away with an excuse, like homework, tomorrow’s test and the need for cramming, while the teenager is either on the verge of confessing to his love interest thru text, creating an entry about parents for his blog, or simply logging on to Yahoo! Messenger just to see if there are friends who are making the same excuses.
All of these were fun, which makes it real hard for me to just give up on those pastimes. However, compared to my friends who don’t have a problem rising up early for class, I find it difficult to please my parents by waking up early to make them cups of coffee. The good thing, however, is that at least my parents have the nerve to consider this as one of my major concerns, and unwarily gave me an idea how to make them teach me how to wake up early…
One Wednesday morning, my father screamed from the garage, “Gabriel! Kapag di ka pa bumangon dyan hindi ko ibibigay baon at pamasahe mo!” Those were the first words that I heard for that day, and funnily, it kind of scared me a bit, me having that very strong penchant for earning and saving some bucks. A few moments later, I felt like I had that “Eureka!” moment (Finally, a skill that I can learn! *hyena-like laughter*), the same one that old philosopher also had centuries ago. One might seriously doubt the nature of early rising as a skill per se, it being common to many people, but to a person who has been called a “latecomer” half his life, he might as well consider it as such.
Now my proposal is pretty simple; it involves one mode of learning, operant conditioning. This procedure will aim to teach me how to wake up early by reinforcing the said response with a very common reinforcer – money. My definition of “early” would be any time from six to eight-thirty in the morning; the teachers would be my parents, both of them early risers by habit. If I wake up just in time (about 8:30 AM) to see that my parents are about to leave, they would give me my daily allowance. However, if I don’t, no money would be given to me for that day (negative punishment); on the other hand, if I wake up at least 30 minutes earlier than the time they usually leave the house, I get an incentive (positive reinforcement) which hopefully would make me do things that would make me wake up earlier than usual (i.e. tire myself out in order to be able to sleep earlier). Then after two weeks, my parents will evaluate my progress, if there was any; and if the results were positive, the previous time goal will be set earlier by 30 minutes, and the same procedure would be implemented again. My personal goal is to be able to wake up as early as 7 or 7:30 AM, so within one or two months’ time I would realize that waking up early would have its perks, and that I would achieve nothing if I do otherwise. (“,)
2006-07148
Psychology 101 TFW-2
Prof. Jose Antonio Clemente
Paper on Learning
“Early to Bed, Early to Rise” Through Operant Conditioning?
It is really hard, waking up early, which according to many, ranges from six to half-past eight in the morning. It might sound crazy, at the least, to others – being a college student just fresh out of high school and its daily seven o’clock schemes, one should have no trouble coping with the lighter schedule college life offers. Yet, up to this day my peers wonder in amazement whenever I arrive at our tambayan one hour before my first class, which starts a half-hour before twelve noon. Not only that, but even my parents laugh hysterically every time I ask of them to wake me up early the next morning, knowing that doing that would all be for naught.
They [my parents] often point out, “Eh pano ka magigising ng maaga kung hindi ka marunong matulog ng maaga?” I could provide many reasons for that – reasons that adolescents usually make so as to get away with an excuse, like homework, tomorrow’s test and the need for cramming, while the teenager is either on the verge of confessing to his love interest thru text, creating an entry about parents for his blog, or simply logging on to Yahoo! Messenger just to see if there are friends who are making the same excuses.
All of these were fun, which makes it real hard for me to just give up on those pastimes. However, compared to my friends who don’t have a problem rising up early for class, I find it difficult to please my parents by waking up early to make them cups of coffee. The good thing, however, is that at least my parents have the nerve to consider this as one of my major concerns, and unwarily gave me an idea how to make them teach me how to wake up early…
One Wednesday morning, my father screamed from the garage, “Gabriel! Kapag di ka pa bumangon dyan hindi ko ibibigay baon at pamasahe mo!” Those were the first words that I heard for that day, and funnily, it kind of scared me a bit, me having that very strong penchant for earning and saving some bucks. A few moments later, I felt like I had that “Eureka!” moment (Finally, a skill that I can learn! *hyena-like laughter*), the same one that old philosopher also had centuries ago. One might seriously doubt the nature of early rising as a skill per se, it being common to many people, but to a person who has been called a “latecomer” half his life, he might as well consider it as such.
Now my proposal is pretty simple; it involves one mode of learning, operant conditioning. This procedure will aim to teach me how to wake up early by reinforcing the said response with a very common reinforcer – money. My definition of “early” would be any time from six to eight-thirty in the morning; the teachers would be my parents, both of them early risers by habit. If I wake up just in time (about 8:30 AM) to see that my parents are about to leave, they would give me my daily allowance. However, if I don’t, no money would be given to me for that day (negative punishment); on the other hand, if I wake up at least 30 minutes earlier than the time they usually leave the house, I get an incentive (positive reinforcement) which hopefully would make me do things that would make me wake up earlier than usual (i.e. tire myself out in order to be able to sleep earlier). Then after two weeks, my parents will evaluate my progress, if there was any; and if the results were positive, the previous time goal will be set earlier by 30 minutes, and the same procedure would be implemented again. My personal goal is to be able to wake up as early as 7 or 7:30 AM, so within one or two months’ time I would realize that waking up early would have its perks, and that I would achieve nothing if I do otherwise. (“,)
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