Jennica Hernandez
Psych 1010
Behavior Modification Reflection- Signature Assignment
The experiment that I chose to work on for the behavior modification was to get more
sleep at nights, to result in getting better grades on quizzes and assignments. So my
independent variable was to get more sleep at night. My dependent variable was to get more
satisfying grades.
My procedures for this experiment were to be in bed no later than 11:00 pm on school
nights, and that would enable me to get more sleep then I usually would receive. That would
give me about 8 hours of sleep on those nights. After getting to bed at 11 for 3 times during the
week since I have 3 days of school, I would reward myself by hanging out with friends or doing
something fun on the following weekends. That would motivate me during the week to get to
sleep.
The way that I’d measure my desired outcome is by checking the grades I receive on quizzes or
tests or assignments and compare them to previous scores to see if there is progress.
I am mostly measuring this experiment on tests or quizzes, and seeing if my scores
increase. So I compared the scores I got during the time of the experiment to the scores I’d
receive on them in the past.
I think that this experiment was successful. In psychology class, I got 8 and 9 out of 10
on the quizzes that I took; when previously I noticed that I wouldn’t always do as well. In
math when I took my test, I got every single question correct and got 100 percent! On previous
tests, I’d get close to 100 percent, but not quite there.
I realized that a reason why I did better on tests/quizzes, was because I ended up
putting a little more effort on them then I would before. On my math test, I actually had the
motivation to study before it; which definitely helped me to get 100 percent. On tests before, I
wouldn’t exactly study, which made me end-up not getting all of my answers correct.
In psychology, I’d actually look and try to find the answers in the book to be more sure
of choosing the right one. So I put more effort into the quizzes as well, because I didn’t feel as
lazy to look through the pages like I’d be before.
So I guess I learned that getting more sleep didn’t just make me magically get better test
scores; but that it gave me a little more effort and motivation, and that got me better test
scores.
I think a way to improve the experiment could be by possibly getting even more sleep,
maybe by going to bed at 10, or sometime earlier. I’m not saying that 11:00 solved all my
problems and now I’m great at school; I could’ve gotten even more sleep. Because I think that it
could only help, and provide even more energy with schoolwork.
Because of this experiment, I learned that I really do need to get enough sleep. I’ve
known this about myself before, but I didn’t know how much it really matters. Before, I thought
of doing better in school by just trying harder then I was, but sleep gives the energy to try
harder. And without the energy, then I’m not going to be able to try harder. This makes me
realize that I need to make sure that I get enough sleep before bigger tests especially, because
it should help a lot more. And also in the psych book, it says that one way to help you be
prepared for tests, and to keep the information that you’ve studied, is by sleeping. So that’s
why I chose sleep; because I need more of it and I thought that there was a good chance of it
helping me with school.