behaviourist

• Behaviourist Contemporary Debate


  Using conditioning techniques to control the behaviour of children
• Using conditioning techniques is a highly contentious area because it involves the manipulation of someone else's behaviour – and not necessarily with their knowledge
• Advocates believe such techniques offer

  • Benefits to children
  • Benefits to parents
  • Benefits to teachers
  • Benefits to peers
  • Benefits to society on the whole
• Detractors believe they are creating

  • A generation of selfish automatons
• Conditioning techniques are appropriate at home

  • Supernanny Jo Frost used the 'naughty step' to correct inappropriate behaviour
  • Parental control over pocket money has long been used to increase positive behaviours, such as washing the car, tidying a child's bedroom
• Conditioning techniques are appropriate in school

  • Gold stars, merits and even house points are positive reinforcers, the aim of which is obviously to reward good behaviour and performance
  • Praise is also reinforcing
  • Classical conditioning can be used to improve student performance by maximising pleasant stimuli and minimising unpleasant stimuli
• Conditioning techniques are appropriate with peers

  • Children imitate the behaviours and actions of their peers to reduce negative sanctions and increase positive sanctions
• Conditioning techniques are appropriate with vulnerable groups of children

  • Lovaas developed applied behaviour analysis to increase the frequency and quality of social interactions for children with autistic spectrum disorder
  • Token economies can improve performance in reading and vocabulary related tasks of children with hyperactivity issues
  • The 'Funhaler' reinforces the use of inhalers in children with asthma
• Conditioning techniques are not appropriate at home

  • The 'naughty step' can have long-term emotional effects and parents may be inconsistent in applying the techniques
• Conditioning techniques are not appropriate in school

  • Rewards and punishments may interfere with a child's internal drives to learn and create 'learned helplessness'
  • Reward systems are not evident in schools from different cultures
• Conditioning techniques are not appropriate with peers

  • Peer group influences may not be desirable ones, such as children being more likely to try smoking if members of their peer group smoke
• Conditioning techniques are not appropriate with vulnerable groups of children

  • Lovaas's research had methodological flaws
  • The treatment is incredibly costly and may only treat symptoms rather than underlying issues
• The impact of conditioning techniques

  Have an important effect on society and thus economics
• Vulnerable children may especially benefit from conditioning techniques by making their behaviour more 'normal' and allowing them to participate more fully in society and rewarding employment
• The frequent use of rewards may lead to a society whereby some people are only motivated by extrinsic factors, meaning society may become less cohesive and more selfish
• Rewards or incentives in education to improve outcomes may not always offer the best return on investment, especially when budgets are diminishing
• Parents, schools, peers, and other agencies all have an obligation to ensure that children grow up able to function within the society in which they live
• The issue is whether such techniques are the most effective ways to manage behaviour, and there are important ethical considerations related to the manipulation of behaviour
• An approach that provides reinforcements to shape behaviour in the most desirable direction may create an 'ideal' society but whose ideal is it? And at what price to free will and individuality?