A Personal Study on B. F. Skinners Theory on Operant Conditioning

A Personal Study on B. F. Skinner's Theory on Operant Conditioning The theory that I chose to write about is B.F. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning because it intrigues me and is the one that I agree with the most. B.F. Skinner is an incredible American psychologist who developed one of the most influential theories there is. Skinner is a behaviorist and had developed his theory through conducting numerous amounts of research on shaping behavior. Operant conditioning is a behavior modification technique, which he developed in contrast with classical conditioning from Pavlov and Watson. His idea of the behavior modification technique was to put the subject on a program with steps. The steps included setting goals, which would help you determine how the subject would be changed by following the said steps. Operant conditioning is a type of learning where a person’s actions are reinforced or punished. The principle of Skinner’s theory reflects on how behavior that is positively reinforced will most likely reoccur again. In order for responses to be reinforced, information should be presented in small amounts. Another key principle states that reinforcements will also generalize across similar stimuli, which, in turn produces secondary conditioning. In summary, behavior is influenced by the consequences of actions, and reinforcement is crucial in changing or altering behavior. The term reinforcement in itself is any characteristic in the environment that increases the likelihood that a person will repeat a behavior in the future. On the contrary, punishment is any characteristic that decreases the probability that a person will repeat a behavior. According to B.F. Skinner, â€Å"children operate on their environments (hence the term operant conditioning), adjusting their b ehaviors to attract more reinforcements and to avoid punishments†. (12) This theory of Skinner’s proves that children adjust behavior to gain reinforcement and to avoid punishment as well. Operant conditioning and Skinner’s theory have been applied throughout various forms of research and clinical settings. Teachers use this method of operant conditioning to control children in their classroom and parents apply both positive and negative reinforcement to their children as well throughout their daily lives. When it came to more complex sorts of behaviors, the idea of shaping came into play. The procedure of shaping is selectively reinforcing certain behaviors while ignoring or punishing others. It is said that language development and how children come to produce speech have to do with shaping. â€Å"Learning theorists believe that the specific language training a child receives governs language development and that biological predispositions do not play an important role†. (264) When conducting research, Skinner and his students have had successful outcomes in getting simple animals to do extremely difficult things using shaping. We, as humans, are essentially shaped by our environment to enjoy or dislike certain things. This theory both compares and contrasts with my childhood and how I was growing up in a numerous amount of ways. In regards to shaping, I noticed that my parents would reinforce positive behavior as much as possible when I was learning math because it was something I struggled a bit more with as a kid. I would be placed in an environment where all I could do is learn and there would be no distractions. My parents would constantly tell me how crucial it was that I receive good grades. I would be praised for the good grades I received and it made me want to work harder to receive that praise continuously. I still experience a form of operant conditioning even during college. Credit cards give more student loan options to students who are performing well in a university which is another form of a reward that makes them work much harder. However, sometimes operant conditioning doesn’t work and if parents were to punish their child constantly for receiving bad grades, a child can grow to have a hatred towards school as they grow up. It is important to be understanding as well as notice that sometimes children struggle and reinforcement isn’t always going to provide the outcome you want. I believe strongly in discipline and not caving in to your children when you already told them no multiple times. For example, if a kid wants to buy candy or a toy in a store and starts crying, a parent should be stern and continue to refuse the candy bar. If the parent ends up giving in and buying the child the candy or toy, the child can start to put two and two together and apply this method of operant conditioning in a negative reinforcement way. Therefore, there needs to be a consistent pattern displayed through this method. Certain ethical or cultural issues that may connect with the operant conditioning theory from Skinner would be any time that there is physical or mental abuse being placed upon a person. Punishment being placed upon a person should never do any physical harm and reinforcement should be healthy and not anything that could be considered addictive. There needs to be a lot of care and attention that goes into both correcting and teaching behavior. B.F. Skinner is said to have also â€Å"grossly underplayed the role of biology in forging and regulating human behavior dismissing the burgeoning fields of behavioral genetics, evolutionary psychology, and cognitive science. Skinner argued that humans dont really think — that they merely respond to environmental cues†. Therefore, this theory can’t apply across all cultures because there are certain cultural factors that one person may experience opposed to someone else. Parents may use stricter forms of operant conditioning in different countries because that is how they were raised and a child may not have th e same positive effect like Skinner would hope his theory proves. My interactions with children are now influenced by this theory because I have grown more cautious in understanding that essentially you can try to train a child through delivery and reinforcement but ultimately it all comes down to how the kid is. Operant conditioning doesn’t necessarily always provide the outcome you want if the kid refuses to go along with it. I will try to apply the method of operant conditioning when babysitting or when I have my own kids someday to alter behaviors as best as I can if a child is acting up unnecessarily. Some parenting advice that I would give parents would be to stray away from the authoritarian approach as best as possible and realize that there is a difference between discipline and damaging discipline. Using the operant conditioning method to keep children â€Å"in line† and exactly how you want them to act can be harming for them down the line. If a child is always harmfully punished for his wrong actions, there will be a lot of mental damage done and it can hurt the child instead of allow him to grow and understand his wrongdoings. The best advice to understand and incorporate into parenting is that there is a fine line between discipline and compassion/understanding. If a child does something incorrectly, talk to them patiently and calmly without the reinforcement. Sometimes a child can grasp and have a better understanding through the kindness a parent shows because they see the concern come from the heart. It is also important to be consistent if applying B.F. Skinne r’s method of operant conditioning because a child can get confused on what is right and what is wrong. If a child gets punished for doing something but also receives positive reinforcement, they may perform their behavior once more in hopes of receiving that positive reward once again. All in all, B.F. Skinner’s method of operant conditioning does work but it is important to use it to an extent in parenting and understand that it may work for some but not for others. It is all dependent on outside factors such as cultural values, parenting styles, and our lives in general.

Predestination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Predestination - Essay Example As such, he places the human beings where he wants them to be for fulfillment of his purpose because God made every human being with his own intentions and therefore, no one has the right to abuse it. On the other hand, determinism is based on the notion that everything that happens has a reason and is influenced by something else. The decisions made by people on how they want their lives to turn out, or the results they expect from their behaviors are based on something which happened earlier and influenced their lives. As such, determinism is not influenced by religious affiliations and beliefs, but rather by choices and consequences. This means that life is free and has no preset conditions which influence the fate of humans. The choices made determine the kind of life’s outcome to expect. Eliot’s Silas Marner is a book that starts with predestination and ends with determinism. The book is set in two different places - Lantern Yard and Raveloe. Lantern Yard is highly religious and salvation is highly predestined there. Cleanliness in faith is not a guarantee that you are predestined to serve God. This is because there are already those who are predestined to serve God there even when they are very unclean. For instance, William, who demonstrates the opposite of the faith he claims to exercise is predestined to serve God while Silas is predestined not to exercise salvation despite being very innocent and pure. In Raveloe, people’s lives are controlled by determinism as morals as opposed religion are upheld. As such, people suffer the consequences of their own actions. Predestination is witnessed through the analysis of the character of Silas Marner. He seems to be born with a predestined personality and no matter what he does, he has no control to change the course his life is taking. Religion in Lantern Yard is very strict and salvation seems to the based on predestination. Silas is a very staunch believer of faith but he loses

Discussion on developmental Democracy Research Paper

Discussion on developmental Democracy - Research Paper Example To better comprehend the strands of republican impression it is crucial to understand its origin in early liberal thought (Held, 2006). The concept of ‘social democratic’ politics has emerged from the beliefs and theories of developmental democracy but it actually fructified in the real politics and policies of the popular Keynesian and interventionist state only after the 2nd World War. The fast economic development after the 2nd World War helped finance a program of make-believe sort of greater welfare but the worldwide economic recession of the 1970s reduced the appeal of the welfare program for not serving the cause of common welfare by both the left and the right. Various stakeholders of the concept of greater social welfare such as politicians, trade unionists and industrialists could not hold the torch together any more but the concept of equality and justice for all cleared the path of a comprehensive program of state intervention in civil society. But no decisiv e limitations were stipulated for the state intervention, thus promoting paternalism, bureaucracy and hierarchy throughout the state politics, which had their own outcomes on the dynamics of democracy (Held, 2006). Developmental democracy is one of the classical models of democracy. It holds that people can bring about change for the better in society through participation in government and community matters for the common welfare of all. Developmental is a part of democracy that states the process used by people to inculcate human prowess to help in creating consciousness of their actions aimed at people themselves to take care of their overall welfare. Citizens play an active role in government and local administrative matters via voting and sharing their opinion with the elected representatives, and also with the government spokespersons. Democracy becomes a medium of educating people and increasing their self-welfare potential. Politics offers a platform to them to use their pow er of taking crucial decisions in other fields. The developmental model employs indirect representation just for the reason that direct involvement is not practically possible like participatory democracy. Developmental democracy offers the possibility of political and social equality. In general, the development model takes it for granted that people can gain civic traits and improve upon their human virtues by actively playing their part in democracy (Library, Think Quest). The purpose of electoral democracy is to promote social and political awareness but this notion inclines to provide greater attention to the ‘professionalization of public policy’ by laying increased focus on political parties and civil society ignoring the fact that democracy is not only of the people and by the people but for the people. Worldwide, a new inclination is being observed towards consumer democracy taking the place of citizen democracy with citizens playing various roles such as consu mers, customers, users, and observing of government offerings as products available in the reach of those only who have the resources to buy (Edigheji, 2005). Thus, negative trends can be observed in the form of sectarian disputes, parties divided on the distribution of private wealth, and disinterest of