Skinner was well known for his research on operant
conditioning. This includes two consequences; reinforcement and punishment.
They both have an effect on whether or not a behavior will be repeated in the
future. Reinforcement can be either positive of negative. Both types of
consequences are used throughout our life from infancy to old age.
This interests me because Skinners research is based primarily
on animals so I wanted to take a look into how his point of view has affected
humans over the years. This raises the question:
How relevant is Skinners theory in today’s society?
- 50 years ago the typical house hold consisted of stay at home parent. This is strong influence on a child’s upbringing. The parent was able to consistently reward or punishes behaviors to help mold the child’s behavior. With today’s society it is more common to see single parents or both parents working or going to school. I feel this makes it harder for children to have a straight set of rules. For example a daycare may have different standards then the parent does. In conclusion I feel that Skinners theory was more relevant 50 years ago then it is today.
With my son I use operant conditioning. I found that
rewarding good behavior is much easier than punishing bad behavior. For example
my son will pick up his toys so he can play the Wii. Over time he has learned
to pick up his toys without me asking, because he knows that in order to play
the Wii his toys must be picked up. This makes us both happy and there is no
conflict.
I would like to know more about how a child’s behavior is affected
by the busy life style people live today. Is a child’s behavior better when
they have a stay at home parent, or can a child’s behavior also be great having
different influences in their life’s on a daily bases?
Response: Reflection of B.F. Skinners view on behaviorism
ReplyDeleteBrandy,
I really enjoyed your blog regarding behaviorism and Skinner view point. I am glad that positive reinforcement has been working in regards to your son. It makes me wonder how old he is, because when I was raising my two children, I also found that positive reinforcement worked great up until about the age of ten. Once puberty started I had to also include negative reinforcement.
Since I am considered tail end of the baby boomers, I was part of the generation that did not have to go to daycare, I had a stay at home mom. I am very interested in further research comparing the two concepts involving today’s active lifestyles when it comes to parenting.