Using Operant Conditioning In Raising Small Childr

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Using Operant Conditioning in Raising Small Children Raising children is a tough responsibility. A parent’s main goal is to keep their child healthy, safe and to make them productive members of society. To prepare your child for adulthood, they will have to learn how to behave as you feel is appropriate in today’s society. Each parent has their own way of trying to accomplish this goal. A majority of the time they attempt to reach their goal by using different methods of operant conditioning based on their own style. Operant conditioning relies on four main ways to modify behavior, positive reinforcement or punishment and negative reinforcement or punishment (White, 2009). I have personally tried all of these methods to try and find the most successful method for behavior modification with my own daughter. Positive Reinforcement in operant conditioning is the concept that you reward good behavior. If a child displays good behavior they are rewarded with either a verbal compliment or action. An example would be with babies, we clap over everything small accomplishment to encourage the behavior to continue. When my daughter stood up for the first time and tried to walk, we clapped and smiled and cheered her on each time she tried to take a step. It was easy to see at that age how the positive reinforcement method of operant conditioning is very successful in behavior modification. She couldn’t wait to try again and she tried her hardest over and over to walk. I recall that I was busy making in dinner and I was not paying attention and didn’t clap at one of her successful tries and she just stood there waiting for the clapping and cheering. It was so cute they way she looked at me; she was so bewildered that her attempt did not produce the response she expected. This same example also falls under the concept of shaping (White, 2009). There are many steps in a
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