Behaviorism: Contract, Consequences, And Reinforcement

Ever heard a certain song that triggers your brain to recall something from the past. Then, you should know that you been conditioned to respond in a certain way when you hear that favorite song you known about for a long time. Throughout human history behaviorism has played a big role in the evolution of psychology. The three main characters that contributed on to the creation of behaviorism were Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner all helping behaviorism evolution into an important idea in psychology . Overall, behaviorism is very common around the world and being everywhere daily in ads or life situations.

Behaviourist approach has may strengths to its findings, there has a been a vast amount of experiments from other theorists that support the theory. However, many weaknesses can be highlighted. One is how using rewards or other means to shape behaviour can be argued that the individual is only motivated for these rewards which can encourage a shallow and materialistic style. Another limitation that can be mentioned is that that behaviourist research was widely carried out on animals, for instance Skinner’s rats, Watson’s cats and Pavlov’s dogs. We cannot compare human behaviour to that of an animal. We cannot be 100% certain that humans would act the same way as the animals experimented on (McLeod,2017). As well as this, another criticism states how even though you can change someone’s behaviour in one environment, what happens when the individual goes to a different environment where positive behaviour isn’t reinforced. O’Brien gives an example of if a teacher changed a challenging child’s behaviour at school but then the child went home to the same environment as before, the child would find it increasingly hard to stick to the changed behaviour (O’Brien 2016). I feel that I can relate to this with a child I have in my class. I have managed through positive reinforcement to change his behaviour that he showed in previous classes, however when communicating with his carer it is noted that his previous behaviour is still present in his home environment.

Operant conditioning is the effects punishment and reinforcement have on behavior; “the law of effect, which states that behaviors associated with good consequences (satisfiers) are more likely to occur again in the future, whereas behaviors associated with bad consequences (annoyers) are less likely to occur again” (Durwin 162). This is a necessary component used by many psychologists and educators to provide the best positive outcome in a child’s behavior. When analyzing the “Billy Scenario,” it is obvious that the teacher, Ms. Allen, tried different techniques of punishment to decrease the students’ misbehavior, but was unsuccessful; leading to an increase in the frequency of response or more disruptive behavior.

The goal of this program is to 1. Change a student’s behavior, 2. Change the behavior of the teacher, 3. Or a combinations of both. The behavior modification approaches are directed toward helping a teacher manage the behaviors in the children in the classroom.

One of the ways through which behavior modification program can be designed by juveniles is to ensure that they are provided proper knowledge through an acquaintance of basic behavioral steps and strategies that they need to consider in their daily communication. These include a focus on intervention techniques such as Timeouts, Coupons, Goal Contracts, and Points.

Behavior therapy involves reinforcing desired behaviors through rewards and praise and decreasing problem behaviors by setting limits and consequences.(Chris A. Zeigler Dendy, 2006) For example, one intervention might be that a teacher rewards a child who has ADHD for taking small steps toward raising a hand before talking in class, even if the child still blurts out a comment.(Chris A. Zeigler Dendy, 2006) The theory is that rewarding the struggle toward change encourages new behavior. This may also involve creating a routine for the child, making goals for the child to achieve. This may help with some children but not all. In dealing with this kind of therapy, the child may not be getting the kind of help needed to control themselves at school or in other public situations. However therapy has been proven to work best if it is accompanied by a pharmaceutical treatment and they work

Mr. Higginbotham uses the idea of operant conditioning and continuous reinforcement throughout his classroom. Operant conditioning is the behavior in which voluntary behavior are strengthened or weakened by consequences, while continuous reinforcement deals with giving a reinforcer after every response. These reinforcers can be either positive or negative, strengthening or weakening the behavior that occurred. Positive reinforcements are there to increase the opportunity of a specific behavior reoccurring and negative reinforcement is strengthening behavior that results in a negative action. (Woolfolk, 2014, pgs. 277-278). An example in Mr. Higginbotham’s class of positive reinforcement would be during the point in time when he decides to announce that his progress checks can each be earned towards bonus points on their project and once ten complete progress checks have occurred the children can also receive a homework pass. Another positive reinforcement is the three highest scoring students will receive twenty-five dollars to their class trip fund for their senior year. A negative reinforcement is demonstrated in Mr. Higginbotham’s class when Susan shows disrespectful behavior and earns four detentions. These four detentions equal a day of indoor, in-school suspension. So even when students do not want to do their homework the progress report check will help the students work towards that one homework pass. Both positive and negative reinforcement as continuous

can be used to strengthen existing behaviors, as well as learn new ones. Principles of behaviorism can be

Despite this, token economy treatments were not always completely successful. Similarly, contingency contracts have been found to also be a widely useful tool to enforce rules and establish clear relationships between behaviors and consequences. For example, contingency contracts have been an effective way of communicating with children to aid in behavioral parenting training. Behavior therapy has made significantly effective contributions in treating maladaptive behaviors in children, as well as stopping child abuse as a result of frustrated and ill-educated parents.

Skinner believed that behaviour is shaped and maintained by a reinforcing stimulus and that schedules of reinforcement are important factors in the learning process. There are many situations in the classroom where a behaviourist approach is likely to work well. For example, when I teach, I have started to pick out students who are making the right choices throughout the lesson. I call attention to the student who is doing the right thing and use verbal praise, which is quite an effective way to let other students realise what the expected learning behaviour is. The Year 6 students in the class are aware of the school’s reward system; ten credits lead to one merit, which is recorded in their merit book. They are also aware that bad behaviour in the class or on the playground will be followed by negative consequences. To warn against unwanted behaviour, I have seen teachers use negative reinforcers such as verbal warnings, timeouts and losing privileges.

When using Applied Behavior Analysis, the role of the teacher is crucial. For ABA to be used correctly, a teacher must keep documentation on every student. This documentation should be taken frequently and with precision. Little details such as a shift in interest should be documented. This documentation will show the progress each child makes in the process of modifying their behaviors. In addition to keeping thorough documentation, teachers must examine each student individually. In observing their interests, teachers can form individual enforcers for each student. For example, if a student always chooses to do puzzles during free time, puzzle pieces could be a reinforcer. Every time the student does something that deals with the positive modification of behavior, they can earn a puzzle piece. When all of the pieces are earned, they will be able to put the puzzle together. This method is beneficial when correcting a student’s behavior.

The disadvantaged students were having difficulties completing the study workload to achieve good grades using the traditional teaching methods and assessments. Assistant professor Breslaw strived to assist her students in improving their grade through researched behavioural theories. Ms Breslaw applied B.F.Skinner’s behaviourist theory and designed an experiment to change student’s study habits in her history course. B.F.Skinner theories were cantered on the premise that rewarding students rather than punishing them could change their study habits. Students were more likely to succeed, learn and achieving high grades when the student enjoyed the process of learning, rather than misery.

Behaviorism has been credited with providing clear predictions that can be scientifically tested and yield explanations that can be supported by evidence. For instance, in the application of Applied Behavioral Analysis in improving clients’ behaviors, the functions of individuals problematic behaviors can be evaluated and modified using behavior change principles including reinforcement. Similarly, behaviorism emphasizes the objective measurement of behaviors through providing clear and conceptual definitions, and its therapy is applicable to real life situations as in the case of anxiety. Conversely, studies incorporated into behaviorism allow for appropriate comparisons between animals and humans as in the Case of Watson’s, Thorndike’s and Pavlov’s studies respectively.

For students in a self-contained classroom, cueing and behavior modification are frequently used components of behaviorism. Cueing is using a method other than a verbal reminder as a way to encourage appropriate behavior, or discourage inappropriate behavior (Standridge, 2002). Behavior modification, as outlined in Foundations of Workforce Education, is used “to elicit better classroom performance from reluctant students” (Brewer, Campbell, & Petty, 2000, p.17). Behavior modification involves several components, such as determining what is desired, creating specifics within the environment, identifying appropriate rewards, reinforcing behavior patterns,

A significant piece of several psychological theories in the late nineteenth century was introspection, which is “the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes” (Press, 2013). In retort to this theory behaviorism came about. Behaviorism is predominantly concerned with observable and measurable aspects of human behavior. In other words behaviorism does not look at the biological aspects but it suggests that all behaviors are learned habits and changes in response to the environment. It endeavors to explain how these particular habits are formed. Behaviorism claimed that the causes of behavior was not necessarily found in the complexities of the mind but could be observed in one’s immediate environment, from stimuli that produced, reinforced, and punished certain responses also known later on as conditioning. It wasn’t until the twentieth century that the scientist began to discover the actual systems to learning, thereby laying a foundation for behaviorism. A theorist by the name of Ivan Pavlov was a major contribution to the discovering of significant behavioral theories.