Question

A second grade teacher has a 7-year old boy who has difficulty staying at his desk, in school. The boy came from a nuclear family of a mother, father and a little sister. He plays soccer on the weekends, in a community group, with his friends. The little boy has average grades, in school. He often gets out of his seat during classroom time to play with the class pet hamster and he wants to go outside to play, for recess. The boy often states that he will do his schoolwork later.

You are the second-grade teacher and you will use a behavioral theory to keep this second-grade boy in his seat during class time. Please utilize one of the following behavioral theorists, such as B.F. Skinner, Pavlov, or Watson, to change this boy’s classroom behavior

Answer 1

The learning of voluntary behaviors by associating the consequences (effects) with a specific response is called operant conditioning. B.F. Skinner coined this type of learning for which it can be often called Skinnerian conditioning. The term "operant" refers to any behavior, that is influenced by the environment to produce effects or consequences.

The learning of voluntary behaviors by associating the consequences (effects) with a specific response is called operant conditioning. B.F. Skinner coined this type of learning for which it can be often called Skinnerian conditioning.

A reinforcer can be defined as an event or stimulus which increases the occurrence of the desired response. There are majorly two types of reinforcements—Positive and Negative Reinforcement.

Positive Punishment can be described as the presentation of aversive stimuli to decrease the occurrence of the behavior. Conversely, negative punishment involves removing the stimuli to decrease the frequency of the behavior.

So, in this case, 7- year old boy who didn’t complete homework on time can be given chocolate which depicts positive reinforcement. However, taking away a child's playtime (removal) to not complete homework on time can be an example of negative reinforcement.   

Moreover, parents can refuse the child to play with him if he doesn't complete his homework on time which can be an example of punishment.     

The shaping technique of behavior modification involves reinforcing the behavior that is close to the desired behavior that can help an individual learn a required response. Using shaping technique, teachers' response can help this boy to gain his interest in studies by reinforcing the child (praising as a reinforcer) whenever he/she speaks a question before the class.  

Token Economy is a system of operant conditioning that includes rewarding the desirable behaviors of individuals with tokens which can be exchanged with some privilege (free time or food) or punished for showing undesirable responses by taking away the tokens.

The 7-year old boy can be given tokens every day if he/she completes homework which can only be exchanged for pizza when the child has 20 tokens. These tokens can be taken away if the child doesn't complete his homework on time.

Thus, techniques of reinforcement, punishment, shaping, and token economy can be used to help the child to complete his homework on time.