Example: A 3½-year-old child keeps begging to eat ice cream between meals. The parent has determined that the child’s nutrition is adequate and that she should not be hungry an hour after she has eaten. The child is persistent and increases the pressure until the parent gives in “just to keep her quiet.”
Comment: This is applying reinforcement to develop undesired behavior and bad eating habits. The child learns from the success of pressure and persistence that the parent will eventually give in to her demands. The behavior of whining and the habit of eating sweets between meals are unwittingly reinforced.
Example: Mom is tired and hurrying to get dinner on the table. Her five-year-old keeps trying to get her attention to show her the pictures he just drew. He tries to show her several times, but each time she ignores him or says, “I don’t have time to look at that right now.” She does not look at him or respond sufficiently for the boy’s liking. In his frustration, he hits his little sister as she walks by. Mom then gives the boy her full attention; she looks at him and addresses him directly.
Comment: Although the boy is being scolded, he has gotten his mom’s attention, which is what he wanted. Thus, he is learning that hitting gets mom’s attention. He is “reinforced” for hitting when his mother refuses to pay attention to him unless he hits. Although being scolded may not seem to be a “pleasurable” reward, some children consider any attention from their parent (even negative attention) better than no attention at all.
The mother was busy and needed to continue her dinner preparation. But it may have been wiser to look directly at her child and say, “Show me your picture while I work.” After a 20 second explanation from the boy of what he had drawn, the mother could then smile and say, “Wow. Thanks for showing me. I really like the way you colored that mountain. Could you show me your other pictures after dinner?” For the sacrifice of 30 seconds, the mother could have reinforced the behaviors of both artistic expression and kind conversation rather than reinforcing the need to hit.
Example: A little girl proudly holding a broom says, “Look, Dad! I swept the floor!” Dad looks over and sees a small scattering of crumbs still littering the kitchen floor. Dad says, “Thanks so much for sweeping. I didn’t even ask you to! You’re really growing up and becoming responsible.”
Comment: Dad wisely reinforced the desirable behavior of helping without being asked instead of focusing on the less important factor of how well the child was able to perform the task. If a child has done her best, let it be enough. Praise her for what she has done instead of scolding her for what she has left undone. There will be other opportunities for teaching her how to effectively use the dust pan. If you want her to continue to sweep the floor, praise her for doing it. Is she likely to sweep the floor again if her initial efforts to do so were rewarded with criticism? Reinforcement principle says no.
Please let me know what you think about these examples? How do you think you the reinforcement principle can help you in your home?
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