Major Assignment Behaviorist Journal

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Behaviorist Journal
I wanted to talk to one stranger each day. I am shy and fear speaking to people I am not well acquainted with. For three days, I recorded the frequency at which I get naturally shy. The information showed that I get shy when I meet new people. In a day, I attend at least three people that I have not encountered before. The only advantage of being shy is that I get to avoid social events because I like being in my own company. However, it has denied me the opportunities to interact with people who might be helpful for both academic and professional life.
The discriminative stimulus, in this case, is that I tend to be shy when I am meeting a stranger alone. For example, when in the company of friends, I was comfortable interacting with strangers. Therefore, I established that speaking to a strange person while in the company of people I know would help me stop being shy (Overmier & Linwick 173). Consequently, I chose my friend, Maryanne to help me meet a stranger in a day and create conversations with him/her.
Initially, I was afraid. For example, for the first two days, I would let Maryanne approach the strangers and start a conversation before I could contribute. However, after realizing how easy it was to her, I decided to try starting the discussion on the third day. It went well. On the fifth and sixth days, I was comfortable starting the conversation. After five days of Maryanne accompanying me, I decided to approach the strangers myself.

My first time alone was not fruitful. I panicked because I was not sure that the person wanted to speak to me. I reflected on how Maryanne started conversations. The following day, I confidently approached a stranger, and when I saw him smiling back at me, I knew my level of shyness had reduced. I felt so proud of myself.
Work Cited
Overmier J, Linwick D. Conditional Choice-Unique Outcomes Establish Expectancies That Mediate Choice Behavior. Integrative Physiological & Behavioral Science [serial online]. July 2001;36(3):173. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed August 30, 2018.