Tooth Brushing

Self-Change Preliminary Contract Presenting Problem A habit is an acquired behavior pattern that is regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary in nature (Dictionary.com, 2015). Typically, people view habits as being negative; however, not all are. For instance, as part of an overall good hygiene and healthy lifestyle I developed the habit of brushing my teeth before I go to bed. Brushing my teeth has become part of a ritual I typically perform in the evening before bed.

However, a recent visit to the dentist indicated that I had developed a cavity. The ensuing discussion I had with the dentist convinced me that I am not brushing my teeth long enough or often enough. If I continue my current habits I can expect to have more cavities. Therefore the focus of myself change project is to develop the habit of brushing my teeth more often and for a longer duration during each session.

Because I tend to be very self-conscious about my appearance and overall health this is an extremely important goal for me to achieve. The avoidance of further cavities in the future ranks a 10 on a scale of one to ten. Thus, I am highly motivated to achieve this goal and am in the contemplation stage at the beginning of this project as I had not yet developed a plan (Prochaska, Norcross, & DiClemente, 1994). II.

Target Problem This particular problem consists of two parts: The first piece is to increase the frequency with which I brush my teeth from once daily to three times daily. The second is to increase the duration of my tooth brushing per session to at least three minutes in accordance with my discussion with my dentist. III. Assessment Plan A six-day baseline assessment regarding my brushing behavior was conducted. During the baseline assessment I brush my teeth once a day before retiring in the evening on all six days.

The duration of my brushing sessions was quite variable and ranged from less than a minute to just a little over a minute and a half. It was obvious that while the habit of brushing my teeth before going to bed had been maintained, the effort and quality of brushing I had been performing was lacking. IV. Goal The final goal for this project is to establish a practice of brushing my teeth three times a day and brushing them for three minutes duration each time.

The brushing sessions would occur in the morning upon rising, at midday, and again before going to bed in the evening. The goal was to make brushing my teeth three times a day habitual so that it is entrenched in my daily routine so that both the increase in the rate and duration of tooth brushing becomes functionally autonomous (Allport, Vernon, & Lindzey, 1960). Implementation Each week I recorded my brushing habits as they occurred in a spiral notebook and presented them weekly to my coach.

In the first week my enthusiasm and the very act of recording my behavior and timing my brushing sessions went smoothly, most likely due to the fact that just observing and recording my behavior helped me change it (Allport et al., 1960; Skinner, 1960). In order to make sure that I remembered to brush my teeth in the morning it was easy to just place the toothbrush, toothpaste, and notebook on the sink where I would see it when I went to the bathroom in the morning.

However, near the end of the week I noticed that I was having difficulty with the noon session and the duration of my tooth brushing had dropped significantly. After discussing this with my coach he suggested that I set the alarm on my watch for 12 PM so that I would be reminded that with time to brush my teeth. He also suggested that I set it for 12:05 and 12:10 PM to make sure that I brush my teeth during the noon day session. The suggestion improved my noonday brushing habits substantially.

With regards to maintaining the three-minute duration of tooth brushing during each session, my coach and I discussed how I had been brushing my teeth for many years. For instance, for years I brushed hastily moving the toothbrush back and forth. After discussing this with the coach we both decided that I should also change my tooth brushing process and this would result in lengthier brushing sessions.

So every time I brushed my teeth I painstakingly worked on getting the backs and spaces of my teeth by slowing down and praising myself when I brushed right. The praise was a very important aspect of the behavioral change in that it kept me focused on what I was doing as opposed to simply trying to rush through the process.

With this help from my coach and personal reflection by the end of the six-week project I was consistently brushing my teeth three times a day and the duration of the session was close to or over three minutes. As this habit became firmly established I also began to notice feelings of being out of sync if for example I were to wait until 12:15 to brush my teeth in the afternoon.

Thus, the behavior was being established on both an unconscious and conscious level making it efficient and routine as well as focused (Schneider & Shiffrin, 1977). Assessment of My Experience The factors that improve the outcome of this particular project were my motivation, havening someone to confide in and discuss the challenges of the program, and my ability to self -- reinforce by using praise and reflecting on the sense of accomplishment every day as I moved through the program.

Also, actually writing down my results and behaviors as they occurred was important in maintaining the behavior. There were a couple of things that could have been done to make the program run more smoothly. For instance, positive reinforcement is very effective in increasing behavior (Skinner, 1960).

Instead of relying on intrinsic of reinforcement establishing an external positive form of reinforcing such as treating myself the films, a favorite food, or some other valued activity if I made my weekly goals could have helped keep the focus of the self -- improvement program more relevant. Charting my.