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Operant Conditioning: The Role Of Reinforcement In The Classroom

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Operant conditioning is an exceptionally powerful psychological explanation of how individuals act in various settings, such as how children behave in the educational or classroom setting. Reinforcement is a simple, yet demanding, way for teachers to modify children’s inappropriate behaviors in the classroom to make them increasingly appropriate for the setting. I am a strong proponent in the belief that reinforcement should be utilized in the classroom because reinforcers can increase positive behaviors while decreasing negative ones if used correctly and consistently. I also want to make it clear that while I believe in reinforcing suitable behaviors, I think it is a good idea to try as best as one can to not reinforce behaviors that unsuitable …show more content…

The Premack principle for activity reinforcers states that individuals will often accomplish one activity or task if doing so enables them to participate in another activity or task that they prefer. A teacher could use an activity reinforcer with a student who does not often complete their classwork as an incentive to finish said classwork. For example, the teacher could state that if the student finished their work by the time it was due, the student would be allotted time to play on the classroom iPad, to play cards, or to participate in any other activity or task that the student would find reinforcing. This type of reinforcement would likely teach the student to associate finishing classwork within the appropriate time period with the ability to engage in their own desired activity, making activity reinforcers a type of positive reinforcement. In making the association, the student would hopefully produce completed work at an increased …show more content…

Primary reinforcers are those that fulfill biological needs that are essential for physiological well-being, such as food, water, warmth, and oxygen. I believe that humans, especially children, should not be denied their basic needs to survive in order to increase any sort of behavior. I feel that if the behavior of students in a teacher’s classroom are not up to par, there are several other alternative forms of reinforcement they can choose from that will not keep something from children that they truly need. I feel that reinforcers should be something pleasant for the child (except in the case of negative reinforcement), not something they need for the purpose of

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