Kickin’ the Caffeine Buzz

Psychology 6710Mindy Newhouse

Dr. Malott8/13/10

I was averaging three caffeinated beverages a day.

All that iced tea and Dr. Pepper was giving me headaches.

Even though I knew it was bad for my health, I couldn’t stop guzzling that caffeine.

Problem

The good taste of my preferred caffeinated beverages kept me pouring those drinks into my mouth.

The good taste controlled my caffeine-consuming behavior better than the effects of that caffeine on my health did.

Competing Contingencies

Natural Competing Contingency

Good tasteNo good tasteDrink one caffeinatedbeverage

BEFORE AFTERBEHAVIOR

Target behavior: Drink no more than two

caffeinated beverages per week

Intervention: Pay $2 for each beverage over

my limit for the week◦ Contingencies: analog to punishment (loss of $2)

Deadline (SD): N/A

PM manager: Ashley – roommate/best

friend/brother’s girlfriend/almost-sister

Start Date: 6/20/10

End Date: still going!

The SM Intervention

Ineffective Natural Contingency

Inf. Worselevel ofhealth

Given levelof health

Drink one caffeinatedbeverage

BEFORE AFTERBEHAVIOR

Performance-Management Contingency

Will lose $2 at the

end of the week

Will not lose$2 at the end of the

week

Drink onecaffeinatedbeverage

BEFORE AFTERBEHAVIOR

Inferred Theoretical Contingency

Fear loss of$2 at the end of the

week

Do not fear loss of$2 at the

end of the week

Drink onecaffeinatedbeverage

BEFORE AFTERBEHAVIOR

Target Behavior Graph

6/16/10 - 6/19/10

6/20/10 - 6/26/10

6/27/10 - 7/3/10

7/4/10 - 7/10/10

7/11/10 - 7/17/10

7/18/10 - 7/24/10

7/25/10-7/31/10

8/1/10-8/7/100

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Year-at-a-Glance GraphNumber of Caffeinated Beverages Perk Week

Weeks

Cum

ula

tive B

ehavio

r (N

um

ber

of

Caff

ein

ate

d

Bevera

ges

Baseline Intervention Recycle

I no longer get headaches everyday from caffeine deprivation.

I no longer get bloated from too much Dr. Pepper.

I feel more energetic throughout the day, with none of the bursts of energy followed by a crash that I experienced during my caffeine-guzzling days.

Benefit Measure

I consistently met my goal of no more than two caffeinated beverages per week, but I thought it would be even cooler to have zero caffeinated beverages per week so...

Problems During Intervention

I changed my goal to zero

caffeinated beverages per

week!

Recycle

During my first intervention phase, I met my goal every week

After I changed my goal to zero, there was only one week for which I did not meet my goal

Overall, I considered this to be a very successful intervention

My Results

Before starting this class, I tried to kick my caffeine habit several times, but had no success without adding performance management.

Now, I feel healthier, and happier knowing that I have finally achieved this goal.

My Comments

THANK YOU!!

Any Questions or

Comments?