Diane Papalia who has a bachelors in psychology, child development, and a PH.D in family relations, Sally Olds who has a bachelors in psychology and Ruth Feldman who has a bachelors in gifted children defined behaviorism as a learning theory that emphasizes the predictable role of the environment in causing observable behavior.
Behaviorism can be divided into two categories. These categories can help parents when it comes to disciplining their children. The first one is rewards which are known as positive and negative reinforcement and second punishment. In this post we'll discuss positive and negative reinforcement and next week we'll discuss punishment.
Rewards or positive reinforcement is the reaction of a child's behavior that increases the probability of it reoccurring. Positive reinforcement can be divided into primary reinforces or secondary reinforces. Primary reinforces satisfy a build in need or desire such as food, water, air etc and are essential to a person's well-being. These should never be taken away when a child has inappropriate or bad behavior because these are basic needs. Primary reinforcers such as physical affection, a smile, and cuddling all satisfy a built in need or desire. These reinforcers can be used when a parent has lost their temper with a child or a child has done something they know has upset the parent and the parent knows they fell bad such as a child broke a dish.
Secondary reinforcers are neutral incentives that through repeated identification with another reinforcer have become a reinforcer. For example, when a child gets good grades in school the repeated identification of a good grade becomes a reinforcer and is a neutral incentive because there is no reward for getting good grades. A neutral incentive is an incentive a person doesn't respond to in any noticeable way such as the ringing bell in a classroom to start class causes no response from children. Examples of secondary reinforcers are praise, tokens, money and the feeling of success. These kinds of reinforcers can be used to potty train a child, teach siblings to be kind to one another etc. Parents should be careful with these kinds of reinforcers so that children don't come to expect a reward for behaving appropriately.
Positive reinforcers are rewards that increase a person's behavior such as a smile or the feeling of satisfaction when a person accomplishes a hard task. Positive reinforcers are classifed in two categories: extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic reinforcers are rewards provided by the outside environment and are material reinforcers such as food, toys etc. Where this type of reinforcer is effective in changing behavior it can be counterproductive as it focuses the child's learning on achieving the reward not the involvement and methods required to learn whatever lesson the child may need to learn. Intrinsic reinforcements are internal good feelings that come from within. For example, if a child does a chore for a sibling and the parent notices and says, "thank you," this will cause a child to feel good inside. This type of reinforcer goes a long way when dealing with children because it helps children feel appreciated and builds their self-esteem.
Social reinforcers are gestures or signs such as smile and attention that a person gives another person. A parent's attention and approval are powerful and effective reinforcers. Activity reinforcers are opportunities to engage in a favorite activity after completing a less favorable one. Positive feedback works when it communicates to the child that they're doing well or making progress and is paticularly effective when it gives children guidance about what they've learned and how to improve behavior. For example, a parent can say, " I appreciate that you asked for a snack. Next time can use the word please too?" Token economies are programs where children who have behaved appropriately receive a token that can be traded for objects or privileges of a child's choice. For example, if a parent is using a chore chart and a child gets a star every day for doing the chores they were responsible for, the child can go to the dollar store and pick something out.
Negative reinforcement increases a response through the removal of a stimulus-usually an unpleasant one. Negative reinforcement occurs when something negative is taken away to improve a behavior. For example, when a parent says a child can't eat until the child puts their toys away. Negative reinforcement occurs when an individual learns to perform a specific behavior in order to cause something unpleasant to stop.
All of these reinforcers can be used to help teach children correct behavior and to discipline when children are acting inappropriately. Which one is used will depend on the child and the situation that is causing the child to misbehave and the parent to teach appropriate behavior. Remember the best way to teach children to behave appropriately and will cause reasons to discipline children be less to be a good example and behave the ways you want your children to behave.
