“Direct-Acting” Contingencies Only: How To Accomplish it.

After getting to Cookeville, you must then travel to Webster City, IA. But while in Cookeville, you read Malott’s book and now fully understand rule-governed behavior-Direct-Acting” Contingencies. Describe how this would change the way you travel to IA. Consult a map, and include/name at least three major highways and six cities you could pass through on your way. Post a minimum of 500 words. total for A and B.

Behavior control-Direct-Acting” Contingencies

Direct-acting contingencies fundamentally refer to a contingency for which the result of the response either reinforces or punishes that response. Direct contingencies play a significant role in controlling behavior by either punishing the behavior or rewarding the. The drive from Cookeville in Tennessee to Los Angeles is a 31-hour drive, which offers opportunities for several issues to arise. For instance, when driving from Cookeville to L.A, the behavior of not putting on a seatbelt just after taking a sharp break is rewarded by not jerking when the brakes are hit.

Sleepiness

The aversive stimulus of shaking without a belt leads the driver to respond by buckling the belt; is the response, and it rewards the driver by reducing the effects of the jacking. Similarly, the issue of sleepiness that can be associated with direct-acting contingency can also face the driver from Cookeville to Los Angeles due to its length. For example, the behavior of dozing off while driving results in a near-accident, the response to this would be to park and rest in a roadside motel, whose effect would be to eliminate the chances of an accident for the driver.

Further, when driving to Cookeville from L.A, the need to communicate might arise, which might lead the driver to concentrate on his phone. The distraction from driving is likely to lead to an increase in the risk of an accident that would elicit a response from the driver. The answer would involve an increased focus on the road. This response would significantly reduce the chances of the driver causing a road accident.

Second Leg

In the second leg of the journey, informed by studying the work of Malott’s on rule-governed behavior, the driver’s behavior is directed by the different rules. Fundamentally, rule-governed behavior refers to any practice that is rooted on verbal antecedent. According to Malott, any action modified by prior knowledge of an existing rule is referred to as rule-governed. The drive from Cookeville to Webster City, Iowa, is a 12 and a half-hour drive.

When driving, three significant highways are used including U.S Route 41, Interstate 70, and Maryland Route 119. The cities along the U.S route 41 include Rockville, Vincennes, Terre Haute, Hammond, Evansville, and Indianapolis. The rule-governed behavior experienced when driving from Cookeville to Webster City in Iowa consists of the driver controlling the speed limit to the states’ requirement.

Further, rule-governed behavior when driving involves moderating alcohol consumption to be in line with the states’ recommended blood alcohol level. These are rules that are established by the different countries and, therefore, need to be followed. The failure to modify behavior to go in hand with these rules results to either being arrested or causing a road accident.

Speed-Direct-Acting” Contingencies

However, the act of controlling the speed limit is controlled by the prior knowledge of the laws. Additionally, the rule-governed behavior of the driver can be determined by the driver’s deadline for reaching Webster city. In case the activity or event that prompted the travel is happening at a particular time, the driver has to regulate his behavior to meet this specific deadline. Consequently, this deadline also counts as a rule-governed behavior.