Behavior Modification

We will send you copies of a manuscript Dwight Peterson and I are writing called the ABC's of Behavior Modification. These are in PDF form and will be emailed to you as we go along.

Course Objectives:
This is an introduction to applied behavior modification. The course will present basic behavioral principles and demonstrate how they can be used in an applied manner. Once you have completed this course you should be able to:

1) Understand basic behavioral principles.
2) Be familiar with basic experimental methods involve in behavioral research.
3) Produce graphs and interpret graphical representations of behavioral data.
4) Understand how behavior modification is used.
5) Design a behavioral modification program.
6) Critique existing behavior modification programs.
7) Understand the relevant critiques of behavioral programs.

Performance Assessment:

Exams: There will be a maximum of 5 exams. Exams may be part multiple choice, part essay, and part matching. Exams will be based on the full content of the book, lectures, videos. Exams will cover between 2 and 4 chapters each and will be announced about 2 weeks in advance. Exams are worth 100 points each.

Final: The final is cumulative and it is optional. The grade on the final exam can be used to replace your lowest exam score or a missed exam.

Grading:
Letter grades will be assigned using a "10% cut-off rule" (i.e., 90% for A, 80% for B, etc.). Although I reserve the right to give "+" and "-" if I see fit. You are strongly encouraged to keep track of your own class performance. Keep copies of everything you turn in.

Exam Make-up:
Exam dates will be announced at least two weeks in advance. If you have a scheduling conflict, I require advance notice of two working days after the date is announced (preferably by email). If you fail to provide me with advance notice, I am under no obligation to provide you with a make-up exam and you will receive a 0 for the exam. If you are unable to take an exam due to an emergency, you will receive a 0 which can be made up by taking the final. If it is a truly bad semester and you have two legitimate emergencies on test days, exceptions will be made for actual emergencies (a flat tire on your way to school, a sudden illness that prevents you from communicating with me), but you MUST document these to my satisfaction (and in a timely manner) for me to make such an exception. If an exception is made for the second emergency, arrangements to take the final must be made in a timely bases.

If you must take a make-up exam due to an emergency, it is your responsibility to contact me and arrange to make up the exam WITHIN 2 WORKING DAYS of the scheduled exam time. Failure to do so must be equally well documented. I am under no obligation to extend the period beyond 2 working days.

Academic Ethics Policies: The University policy on academic ethics as it relates to plagiarism and cheating is clearly spelled out on pages 62-63 (section 3.01) of the current UNI catalog and is also printed on the bottom of the syllabus. It is YOUR responsibility to be familiar with this policy and abide by it. Note especially that ignorance of this policy is NOT an acceptable defense - so if you have any questions about the policy contact me or your advisor. Should there be any indication of plagiarism or cheating, I will follow this policy and I will impose those consequences spelled out in this policy with NO exceptions. Anyone violating this policy will receive an “F” for the course and will be reported to the Provost's office.

Instructional Accommodations:
Students requesting instructional accommodations due to disabilities as described under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 should arrange for such accommodation by contacting the Office of Disability Services, 213 Student Services Center (ph. 273-2676).

Classroom Conduct: (or things that shouldn’t need to be said but apparently do) Please keep in mind that this is an educational experience and that your conduct has an impact on others. You are not required to attend classes; if you do attend, however, certain behaviors are unacceptable and discourteous to the instructor and your classmates. Below are some guidelines.

Paying attention to the teacher during lecture and to fellow classmates during discussion.

Sleeping, reading unrelated material, or talking to classmates at inappropriate times during the lecture or discussion. Please get a good nights sleep, keep up on your reading before class, and talk to your classmates after class.

Being late. Please come to class on time. If you are late, please enter quietly and wait until after class to ask a classmate about anything that you might have missed.

Leaving early. Please stay until the end of class. If you need to leave early, sit by the door so you won't disturb your fellow classmates.

Early packing. Please do not start putting your books away and packing up before the class has ended. Books and notebooks should be put away when the lecture is over - not 5 minutes before.

Using electronic gear. Please do not use headphones, pagers, palm pilots (PDAs), cell phones, laptop computers, or any other electronic equipment during class as they are not permitted.

Failure on your part to observe these guidelines may result in my asking you to leave the class for the remainder of the period.

A Note About Language. There may be occasions when media (websites, dvds, etc.) may be shown in class that contain mature language using the s-word, the b-word, the f-word, and on rare occasions the c-word. If any of these words offend you or if you are under 18 please contact me so we can make special arrangements for you.

3.01 Academic Ethics/Discipline

Students at the University of Northern Iowa are required to observe the commonly accepted standards of academic honesty and integrity. Except in those instances in which group work is specifically authorized by the instructor of the class, no work which is not solely the student's is to be submitted to a professor in the form of an examination paper, a term paper, class project, research project, or thesis project.

Cheating of any kind on examinations and/or plagiarism of papers or projects is strictly prohibited. Also unacceptable are the purchase of papers from commercial sources, using a single paper to meet the requirement of more than one class (except in instances authorized and considered appropriate by the professors of the two classes), and submission of a term paper or project completed by any individual other than the student submitting the work. Students are cautioned that plagiarism is defined as the process of stealing or passing off as one's own the ideas or words of another, or presenting as one's own an idea or product which is derived from an existing source.

It is not acceptable for the work or ideas of another scholar to be presented as a student's own or to be utilized in a paper or project without proper citation. To avoid any appearance of plagiarism or accidental plagiarism, it is important that all students become fully cognizant of the citation procedures utilized in their own discipline and in the classes which they take. The plea of ignorance regarding citation procedures or of carelessness in citation is not a compelling defense against allegations of plagiarism. A college student, by the fact that he or she holds that status, is expected to understand the distinction between proper scholarly use of others' work and plagiarism.

A student who is found to have improperly used others' work must expect to be penalized for such action--even if the argument is made that the action was taken with innocent intention-and the student's instructor will normally judge such work "unacceptable." But it should be noted that the assignment of a low or failing grade for unacceptable work is not in itself a disciplinary action--even if the assignment of such a grade results in the student's receiving a lower grade in the course--including "F"--than he or she would otherwise achieve. Such a response by an instructor is part of the normal grading process; if a student feels that he or she has grounds to protest a grade received through this process, the student has access to the academic grievance procedure which the University has developed to deal with all student academic grievances.

On the other hand, cheating and plagiarism are issues which can affect a student's status at the University in more serious ways. As an educational institution, the University maintains standards of ethical academic behavior, and recognizes its responsibility to enforce these standards. Therefore, the following procedures of academic discipline prevail at the University of Northern Iowa.

If a student is determined by an instructor to have committed a violation of academic ethics, the instructor may take additional disciplinary action including, but not limited to, grade reduction for the course in which the infraction occurs, even if the reduction is over and above the normal consequences resulting from the grade merited by the unacceptable work.

In cases where such disciplinary action is taken, the instructor is obliged to report the action in writing, to the student, to the instructor's department head, (and, if the student is from a different department, to the head of the student's department), and to the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will notify the student in writing that such action has been taken, and will maintain a file for each student so disciplined. (This file is confidential and is independent of the student's normal University records.)

A student wishing to appeal or dispute the disciplinary action taken may seek redress through the University academic grievance structure. In the case of a successful grievance, the evidence of the disciplinary action taken by the instructor will be expunged from the student's file by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

In cases of particularly flagrant violations of academic ethics relating to cheating or plagiarism, the instructor may feel obligated to recommend suspension from the University of Northern Iowa for a period ranging from the term in which the infraction occurs (with a loss of all credit earned during that term) to permanent suspension from the University.

Such recommendations are sent in writing to the department head and the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, the latter of whom informs the student in writing that the recommendation has been made. In such cases, the academic appeals procedure is automatically invoked by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Until the mandatory academic appeal in such cases has been completed, the recommended suspension is not in effect. In cases of a successful appeal to such action, the materials will be expunged from all University records.

Finally, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will regularly monitor all files relating to disciplinary action taken against specific students. If the monitoring reveals that there is a history of disciplinary actions taken against a particular student (excluding any actions which have been successfully grieved) such that there are three or more instances of such action subsequent to any academic grievances generated by such actions, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will, as a matter of course, institute proceedings for permanent suspension of that student. The procedures demand that the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs notify the student in writing that suspension procedures have been invoked, and there is an automatic appeal to the University academic grievance structure in all such cases. All parts of the academic grievance structure (including those stipulated in the immediately preceding paragraph) apply in such cases, except that the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, as the disciplinary officer, functions in the role of the instructor in an academic grievance relating to a specific class.