Do you have willpower? What is willpower?

Is it some talent you have or don't have?

Let's try to find the abilities that make up willpower.

We need to be able to think ahead to goals for our futures and to delay or even substitute some immediate satisfaction for some greater satisfaction in the future.

How can we regulate our behavior and our emotions so we can get to our goals?

We need a plan!

The following is an outline of a plan for increasing study time. Now I know that some of you are saying, "I'm already a good student. I don't need this!"

Yes, that is likely true. I certainly am aware that to get this far, you have had to develop some effective study habits. However, the main purpose of this behavior project is not really just to get you to study more, but the main purpose is for you to learn a system for behavior change. The plan has steps that can be used for a great variety of behavior change, self-improvement, or self-management plans.

In this plan I am making learning the steps easier by giving you the specific goal and the response measure. (Steps 1 and 2).

The next steps will be individualized by your data and experience. Write down your complete plan.

Plan Outline for Behavior Project #1

Step 1 Select a goal: The goal of this project is to increase study time in the Behavior Analysis class.

Step 2 Select a measurable response (behavioral definition): The response measure is the number of minutes spent studying.

Step 3 Construct a baseline graph. On this graph with weeks on the horizontal axis and minutes or hours on the vertical axis, place a point for the time in minutes or hours that you have spent studying for this class. As you continue to the next point, add your minutes or hours to your last point, so that you are developing a cumulative graph. Keep up this record for several time points or two weeks. This type of graph will not go down. If it doesn't go up, what does that mean?:

Step 4 Select a working goal for level of target behavior. Do this by computing your average time per day or week and find your highest number of minutes/hours. Select a number between your average and high time. Use your judgment on the time you set for your goal, but indicate your reasons for the time goal that you selected. Report all three measures:

Step 5 Identify environmental (controlling) conditions called antecedents for study and non-study behavior (For study conditions describe environmental conditions when you study. For non-study behavior focus on environmental factors - antecedents - that are present when you intended to study but did not. What distracted you?):

Step 6 Select reinforcers that you will give to yourself after your study sessions:

Step 7 Rearrange your study conditions (describe how you will change your study setting - antecedents - then your study session length followed by example of reinforcers you will use. This pattern is called a contingency.):

Step 8 Self-talk (what you say to yourself when you begin to study; state some short term goal sentences and some long term goal sentences. Practice them so they are ready for use, particularly when distractions threaten!):

Step 9 Conduct your intervention plan Steps 4-8; continue to keep a record during this intervention phase, graph the times during this intervention period and evaluate results:

William James said in his Principles, "Practice a virtue though you have it not and soon it will be yours."