How would you use Skinner’s idea of reinforcement to work with a child who was showing a lot of aggression in a third-grade class?
What will be an ideal response?
Ans: Skinner described several concepts related to operant conditioning that help us understand how the process works. The first is the process of shaping behavior. You cannot reinforce a behavior unless that behavior occurs. For example, you cannot reinforce positive peer interaction with a child who does not interact with his peers. However, Skinner developed the idea that behavior can slowly be “shaped” through reinforcement of behaviors that progressively get more and more like the behaviors desired. To shape the behavior of a child who does not interact with peers, you could use a series of rewards that begin when the child is simply near another child. The next step might be that the child is reinforced only when he looks at the other child, and finally the reinforcement might be provided only when he speaks while looking at the child. Eventually, the reward would be contingent only on true interaction with a peer.
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