Sunday, October 29, 2017

Modeling Behavior

Albert Bandura is the theorist most associated with our understanding of modeling. According to Bandura modeling can teach new behaviors, increase the frequency of forbidden behaviors and increase the frequency of similar behaviors. For example, modeling  can teach a new behavior because if a child see a parent say thank you to the checkout clerk at a store every time they're out, the child will learn to say thank you to the checkout clerk every time they go to the store.

An example of increasing frequency of a forbidden behavior is when a parent yells at their spouse in front of the children so that a child yells at the parent as well whenever they talk to the parent. From a discipline perspective  modeling can teach and increase desired behaviors. Negative behaviors can increase through modeling as well. The exception to the rule is modeling. Modeling is both a cognitive and behavioral process of social learning because it's the process where a person observes the actions of others and copies them.

Modeling works when a child first observes the behavior of the model, and after the behavior of the model is reinforced, the child repeats the behavior. For example, a child may see a sibling set the table every day before their parents get home. One day, the sibling may not be home to do it, so the child who observed the sibling setting the table every day may set the table in the siblings absence.

The reinforcement of the models behavior is called vicarious reinforcement and is the behavioral part of modeling. The ability of the child to imitate the model's behavior and motivation to do so make up the cognitive part of modeling. Modeling both real and symbolic can effectively teach pro-social  behaviors.

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Three Reasons Why Time Out May Not Work

Whether or not to use time out when raising your children is a question that every parent faces. Ronald Mah who specializes in dealing with difficult behavior, wrote a book called Difficult  Behavior in Early Childhood: Positive Discipline for Pre-K-3. In this book he suggests three common reasons why parents use time out and explains why it usually doesn't work.

The first reason why parents use  time out is that the theory behind time out is the child is being forced to sit away from other children which is upsetting to a child and will motivate the child to regret the bad behavior. The time out may not work because some children respond and change their behavior when given time to sit away from the activity they were removed from however, others don't get upset when removed and instead find creative ways to entertain themselves.

Another reason parents may use time out is to give time to sit in the chair and think about what the child has done and what they can do instead next time. Time outs where the child needs to think about what they have done and what they will do differently next time are generally ineffective because young children aren't developmentally ready to reflect on their behavior and instead find creative ways to entertain themselves while in time out which counteracts the intent of punishment.  Children need to think about their action, but need scaffolding from adults in order to do so. For example, a child needs the parent to explain why they were removed and why their behavior was inappropriate.

The third reason why parents use time out is they hope children will learn empathy for others if asked while in time out, "how would you feel if..." and this will change a child's behavior. This approach might not work though because young children developmentally aren't ready to put themselves in another person's shoes and need adult direction not a lonely time out to understand something they don't yet have the mental capacity to understand.

Time out does have positive uses. Steps to help time out be positive include: using time out to help children understand they can't hurt themselves and that interacting poorly with others may cause others to not like them. A second step to help time out be positive is to teach children they can't be allowed to harm others and that removing them from the group helps them understand this. A third reason time out can be positive is children need to understand they can't be allowed to harm the process of their group. Working in groups helps children learn how to work together and get along with others.

Regardless of a parents view of time out scaffolding is required to get to the root of inappropriate behavior. Whether time out is a used is a private family decision to make and depends on how the parents feel about using time out when raising their children.

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Six Forms of Punishment Part 3

The last two of the six forms of punishment are verbal reprimands and time out. Verbal reprimands are more effective when they're immediate, brief and and accompanied by eye contact.  For example,  if a child hits a parent it's best for the parent to look the child in the eye, say, "No hitting mom, ouch!" and do it it immediately after the child hits them. Verbal reprimands are more effective when spoken quietly and close to the child not bringing attention to the child which can cause shame and guilt. For example, if a child and parent are in a store and a child says a curse word, it's best if the parent whispers in the child's ear, "We don't say that word. It's ugly," than if the parent brings attention to it by saying something out loud and reprimanding them publicly.

Verbal reprimands should provide encouraging statements indicating the parent knows the child can participate in appropriate behavior. For example, if a child is getting impatient  standing in line waiting to check out at a store a parent can say, "I know it's taking a long time to check out. We have two people in front of us and then it's our turn. I know you can wait until it's our turn." Then the parent can do something to distract them such as quietly sing a song or play a game such as finding letters on the cover of a magazine. It's also helpful for parents to carry toys with them that the child can play with when a situation like this occurs.

Time out is considered a punishment because the child is removed from a pleasurable and enjoyable activity due to their inappropriate behavior. Time out is different from time away in that time out is a general punishment for any kind of behavior problem, whereas as time away is removal of the child when the child's behavior results in the disruption of an activity. For example,  time out occurs when a child keeps interrupting parents while they're trying to talk. Time away happens when a child keeps grabbing all of the crayons and doesn't share with their siblings. With time away, the focus is on the child understanding the relationship between their behavior and the effect the disruption had on the activity. The focus is on putting the child in an environment that encourages and motivates a child to behave appropriately. In time out the child is removed to another room, corner etc. and screened off. A time out environment shouldn't be reinforcing such as a corridor, dark closet etc. Time out is short (minute per age). The key to time out is that when a child comes out of the environment is dependent on the child demonstrating appropriate behavior. Time out has been shown to be effective in reducing a variety of disruptive and inappropriate behavior. Time out doesn't give undue attention(reward) to the child.

Sunday, October 8, 2017

Six Forms of Punishment Part 2

The next two forms of punishment we'll talk about are unrelated consequences and response cost. An unrelated consequence is the punishment of a child's inappropriate behavior with something that's totally unrelated to the behavior. For example, if a child doesn't take their shoes off as soon a they walk in the door, they have to do the dishes by themselves. The consequence isn't logically related to the behavior which makes the approach ineffective. It can also misfire because it may not bother the child that they have to do the dishes by themselves.

The form of punishment called response cost involves taking away something the child previously earned. The response cost approach is most effective when used with positive reinforcement for appropriate behavior and when a child doesn't lose everything they earned by a small offense. When a child loses everything they earned they come to not bother to earn anything. For example, if a child gets a star on their chore chart every time they do their chores, but a parent decides to not give them the star even though they did the chores they were responsible for doing and the parent takes the star away because the child forgot to put their dirty clothes away after taking their bath this is a response cost punishment.

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Six Forms of Punishment

There are six forms of punishment. Today I'm going to only discuss two and then I'll discuss the others in the next two posts. The first two forms of punishment are natural consequences and logical consequences.

Natural consequences are a form of punishment that makes sense to children and teaches them that certain behaviors have consequences and sometimes they can be unpleasant. Natural consequences become part of a child's behavior without direct participation by an adult. For example, if a child bites another child and that child bites them in return this is a natural consequence that has happened without the adult giving the consequence. Natural consequences teach children the cause and effect of behaviors. Natural consequences don't work when a child is too young to make the connection between cause and effect. They also don't work when adults are overly protective and don't allow children to suffer the consequences of their actions or inaction. For example, if a parent is constantly fighting a child's battles for them, and controlling every part of the child's life, the child doesn't suffer the consequences of their actions.

Logical consequences are also a form of punishment that makes sense to children and teaches them behaviors have consequences, and that they can be  unpleasant. Logical consequences happen when a child needs to correct a situation or repair damage caused by their behavior. Logical consequences only work when children are able to make the connection between their behavior, the consequences of their behavior and what they're asked to do. A logical consequence should happen immediately after the offense takes place. For example, if a child gets caught cheating on a test, the parent's need to give the consequence the night they found out the child cheated, not wait until the following week. Where logical consequences require a child to fix a problem they're rarely something the child would choose to do and are often viewed by the child as a punishment. Logical consequences help children learn that if they want to participate in an activity or do what other children are doing, they need to participate in appropriate behavior.