Chapter 3: Behaviorism and Social Learning Theory

Chapter 3: Behaviorism and Social Learning Theory

In reading through Chapter 3 on behaviorism, it is easy to see how certain things that can happen in one person life can cause a classical or operant conditioning. For myself I would have to say that the classical conditioning probably played more into my development than the operant. As a child, I was raised to be punished for the bad things and the good things were not really noticed. It was never that my parents didn't care that I did well, it just was not rewarded. The reward system in my house was self-appreciation. There were no trophies for trying your best or pats on the back, you just had to acknowledge your own success. I never really noticed that this was how I was raised until I was a parent myself. In today's world, the smallest accomplishments are celebrated, and that just is not how I was taught to behave. You have to be proud of yourself, not seek the approval of others.

As an educator, I hope to apply an operant conditioning to my classroom. I want to base hard work on a reward system. Not so high that they feel they will always be rewarded for small things, but enough that they will work towards a goal that reaches a reward they can be proud of. In case my student may not get praise at home, I hope that they will feel appreciated and like a “job well done” in my classroom. In my own classroom, I would definitely show appreciation for hard work and for success, but I don't believe in rewarding for everything. If you do then the scale of what is important and what can be done better with effort, it gets tipped in the wrong direction and the effort put forth into success is diminished. 

 
What I learned in this chapter is that everything you do with a child effects not only their self esteem in their work and behavior, but also the effort put forth into their achievements. If a child is rewarded for every small thing they do, they the expectation for success is lowered and the effort put forth is going to decline. You should reward a child in stages, let them know they are doing well, but do not over reward a child. Children need structure and discipline and they also need to be pushed to keep trying harder. Building relationships are important to the social and behavioral aspects of growing and learning how to become a person and these relationships start with the family.