As I started the process of determining what my behavioral and social/cognitive approaches to forming habits meant to me, and how it relates, I looked to see where they stem from. First, how did my behavior start? When analyzing one of my habit how badly did it affect me? When did I develop this habit and what age? Had there have been any role models that I saw with is habit? If any, which peer or persons influenced me to adopt one of my habits. I took a hard look at myself to see what really cause me to pick up this behavior. Webster define habits as “the prevailing disposition or character of a person's thoughts and feelings”.
My bad habit is my love for potato chips. I think it all began when I was six years old. I believe that I am kind of obsessed with potato chips. Some people have a love for shopping, reading, travel, and ever drugs, but mine is chips. Well it all this started and developed when I was about six years old or seven years old. My mother decided to move from California to Texas shortly after my dad passed away. My mother enrolled me into a private school. And, of course since my mom worked at Jenny Craig’s at the time, she knew how important a balance meal was for her young daughter. My mom was a dietitian so she knew the right foods groups.
Since she was a single parent she would fix my lunch. I would see kids bring in their lunch and it looked so good. I couldn’t help myself in wanting some of their food. My mom always fixed me food that was health. I guess you could say that she follow the “food pyramid” which entailed fresh veggies, fruit, cheese or yogurt and a sandwich. I did not like the food that was placed in my lunch box. So when lunch time came I would always try and exchange my food for someone else’s food. I would see that the other kids would not have a balanced meal and they had always chips every day.
I would think that if my mom could put some potato chips in my lunch box that would be so awesome, but I never had junk food. There was not any role models that help me with this habit, I just think that it was my peers that influenced me. How I adopted this habit was kids my age. I think that throughout the years, the older I got my habit just got worst; this would be Schema theory. “The schema that is activated in a given situation is a major determinant of a person’s expectations, inferences, and actions in that situation (Abelson, 1981). ” I started eating chips when I was sad, happy, nervous, upset, mad, and anxious.
On one of my fondest memories, I had a driver to pick me up from school and take me to another location. The ride was only . 75c each day at the time. I would ask him if he could stop by the store so I could get me a bag of chips. Those hot Cheetos was so good, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I couldn’t stop eating those salty hot things. (This memory was part of the cognitive theory. ) Each day that he picked me we would stop by the store. By the end of the week I hadn’t paid him any money because I spent it on chips. My mom got wind of this and paid the drive his money, but I was in a lot of trouble.
I tried to stop eating chips but I could never shake the habit. Chips was like a drug to me! Was there ever a time that I had attempted to break out of my habit? Yes, I decide for Lint one year that I was going to give up chips. It didn’t work. Another time came when I was doing a diet and gave up chips, that didn’t work either. I have made attempts plenty of time to give up on chips but when I walk down the chip aisle I think its call my name. From the text where Pavlov states that with classic conditioning or extinction process could be a personality behavioral mechanism.
I believe that I might have classic conditioning I don’t know that maybe I might have been filling a void in my childhood because of my father passing away. In others words, maybe this was my comfort food. Maybe this is what I felt that kept me closer to my father. But this could have also been the habit hierarchy. These theories might have been why I held on to chips. “In the 1930s and 1940s, a number of experimental psychologists became dissatisfied with the notion that behavior is totally a function of the events in the environment” The components of my social environment and being around my peers are what enhanced my behavior.
Because I was around kids my age made me feel good and wanting to eat chips put me in a wonderful setting. Develop a plan that applies to the conditioning to change this habit; I don’t know if I want to develop a plan to change. I enjoy eating my chips. If I had to develop a plan that applies to the condition would be self-understanding, knowing how I can change my behavior and turn the habit into something better instead of eating potato chips for comfort. I would best describe my behavioral trait/habit optimism explanatory style because this approach was in my environment.
When you have a leant behavior the events in your life can be at time learned helplessness. So the best thing for me to do is cognitive intervention changing my thoughts to affect my behavior. Summary and conclusion In conclusion I have love potato chips 23 years of my life and the best thing to do is to incorporate and change my learnt behavior. When I am feeling helplessness and can fight my will I will need to change my thought process.
