Centennial Honors College
Western Illinois University
Undergraduate Research Day 2012
Poster Presentation
Bite No More
Erin Moll
Faculty Mentor: Mary Jensen
Special Education
Biting your nails is a bad habit that should be stopped for your own health, and for a
better looking appearance. I did this project because I have been biting my nails for as
long as I can remember, and have been trying to kick the habit for years. To complete
my task I decided on the final outcome of growing white tips. This was a very hard
activity for me to do, since I was so use to biting. The steps it took to complete my
project was manly the simple fact of being self motivated to grow white tips. I had to be
intrinsically motivated, because all my other motivations that I would get from my friends
and family were negative reinforcements. I kept track everyday to see if I bit my nails; if
I made it a whole week with growing white tips (no biting) I would go out and buy a new
nail polish color. And then at the end of the complete project if I had white tips I would
go and get a manicure. The outcome was very interesting, because I changed my
problem behavior. The first couple of weeks were hard, but once I got the ball rolling
and started changing my problem behavior, it became extremely easy to stick with my
target behavior.