Ms Amy O'Keefe:

I did it for myself. While I was under supervision I decided I was going to quit smoking and my supervisor helped me to structure a plan to do that. We used shaping, which is gradually moulding your behaviour to where you want it to be. Instead of just going cold turkey, that is, moving from smoking to not smoking, because it is impossible, I shaped up the behaviour. The next day I could smoke five cigarettes, two days later I could have four and another two days later I could have two. I love these little things called squishmallows, which are little squishy teddies. There is a ban on them in my house because I have so many of them. I decided if I could meet my goal for the full four days I had it implemented, I could get one of my little guys. I was reinforcing my behaviour. I was allowed access to something I like if I met the personal goal I set for myself. It took me two weeks to completely quit smoking and I have not smoked in nine months. You are setting a goal for yourself and you are shaping up. We call it shaping in behaviour analysis. You are not expecting to achieve the goal right away and instead you are gradually cutting down and gradually becoming less of a smoker. There is the reinforcement of having better health, which is an intrinsic one, but you can also choose arbitrary reinforcement for yourself. You could decide that when you totally quit smoking you will use the money to buy a new laptop or a fancy handbag.