In: Psychology
Behavior: Completion of homework on time
Plan: A combination of positive reinforcement and negative punishment can be used
Positive reinforcement can be used when the child completes his/her homework on time. Whereas negative punishment can be used when he/she doesn't complete the homework on time.
When the child completes the homework he/she may be rewarded by something he/she like eg: going on an outing with family or extra play time
When the child doesn't complete the homework on time, a stimulus that he/she likes can be taken away to reduce the behavior of non completion of homework, eg: reduction in play time or taking away TV time.
These techniques have to be practiced on a regular basis to condition the child that he/she has to complete his/her work on time. It is useful to use a combination of techniques to reduce the limitations of these techniques. Like, positive reinforcement is often argued to be bribing the child into behaving a certain way, but if the behavior of completing the homework and not completing the homework both are acknowledged limitations can be reduced.
For any kind of behavior modification of the child, it is important that both the parents agree upon ways of dealing with it. If one parent believes only in rewarding and the other only in punishment they may end up making the child scatterbrained. It is essential that both parents work as a team and follow the same rules for behavior modification of the child.