Class notes
Class notes PSYC 101: Discipline and Motivation in Children
- Course
- PSYC 101
- Institution
- Boise State University
A paper regarding the effects of discipline on children, and how operant conditioning can influence behavior.
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PSYCH 101 Boise State University Critical Thinking Question Response 7 Discipline and Motivation in ChildrenIn the past, I never understood why parents would choose to spank their children in order to discipline them. Even from a young age, I understood that physical discipline never seemed to work.
When my parents took me and my brother grocery shopping, we would, on more than one occasion, witness a toddler having a meltdown. The parent who was with the child, typically the mother, would hit or slap the child in order to get them to stop. However, this inevitably backfired because the child would either continue the unwanted behavior or they would even hit the mother back. My upbringing strongly influenced my opinion on spanking as well. My parents never spanked me or my brother when we were kids, so the idea of spanking always felt wrong to me.
After reviewing the studies discussed in class, I now realize that observational learning theory proves that spanking is indeed an ineffective parenting tool.
B.F. Skinner, a behaviorist, developed experiments with operant chambers that could train rodents to perform certain tasks. He showed that behavior followed by a reward increased its likelihood of being repeated, while behavior followed by a punishment decreased its likelihood of being repeated. This theory is known as operant conditioning, and thanks to Skinner it was widely accepted in the world of psychology. However, operant conditioning is not the only way in which humans learn.
The main drawback of operant conditioning theory is that it doesn’t account for observational learning, which can occur even without us being consciously aware of it. In a study developed by Albert Bandura, children witnessed an adult beating up an inflatable clown doll. Later, when the children were left with the clown doll, they displayed extremely similar aggressive behaviors as the adults who had previously hit the doll. This showed that children learn through observation and imitation; this theory is known as observational learning theory.
On the surface, it seems that spanking actually works. Due to operant conditioning, we can indeed decrease unwanted behaviors, such as whining, through punishment. However, parents who spank their children don’t realize that spanking can cause children to use aggression to deal with their emotions. Models are extremely important for learning at an early age, and children who have been modeled aggressive behavior by their parents are more likely to engage in violent behavior as they get older.
This new information has strengthened my belief that effective parenting strategies are very important to a child’s development. Learning is so complex, and in some ways more nuanced and layered than I previously thought. Instead of punishing bad behaviors (though punishment can be used where appropriate), I believe that the focus for parents should be to reward and model good behaviors.
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