Foundational Psychology Assignment (Distinction Paper) PDF

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Foundational psych paper about various teaching methods like operant conditioning, classical conditioning and the other factors that contribute....

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Developmental Theories for the Soul: Operant Conditioning in the Classroom 10th October 2020 Word Count: 3062 PTDIP2005_CC44/PSY9 Foundational Psychology

2 Developmental Theories for the Soul: Operant Conditioning in the Classroom

Mr. Tan is a secondary school teacher that is struggling to engage his class of secondary 2 students. The students do not participate in class discussions and do not complete their assignments and homework. Mr. Tan is looking for a way to change their behaviour and get them more interested in class. Exploring multiple theories, firstly, to look at the behaviours Mr. Tan’s students could be displaying at that age, secondly, to apply the theory of operant conditioning and devise a plan to help Mr. Tan with his class and finally to consider the strengths and weaknesses of operant conditioning and how it compares to the other theories. Developmental Theories Let us begin by exploring the ecological systems theory by Bronfenbrenner, the psychosocial development theory by Erikson, Elkind’s theory of the imaginary audience, expanding into the social-cognitive learning theory by Bandura and finally focusing on the use of the operant conditioning theory and its interventions by B.F Skinner, a further understanding of the behaviours of the class of this age group will be achieved. Before getting into the strategies of how Mr. Tan can improve the behaviour of his students. Let us look at where the behaviours of the secondary two students could stem from. Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory states that the environment of a child comprises different ecological systems which will directly impact a child’s development (Bronfenbrenner, 2009) Using that theory, Mr. Tan can then infer and assume that every student would be impacted differently from each other based on their environment growing up. Using that knowledge, he could choose to learn more about the environment where his students grew up in and how that could have a big impact on their current behaviour.

3 Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Theory Our second theory delves into the psychosocial development theory by Erik Erikson. The theory looks into how social influence can affect a person’s development. As teenagers, the conflict of identity vs role confusion starts to really affect their development. They are at a stage where teenagers start to develop their own sets of beliefs and how the balance of their personal identity will weigh against their role in society. Using this theory, the students could be affected by various different social influences in their lives. The students could possibly have grown up with an inferiority complex or perhaps be struggling with their personal identity on what makes them who they really are. The students could also be unsure of how they fit into society and because of all these uncertainties in their life, they’re struggling to cope with anything else. (Erikson, 1963) With this theory, Mr Tan could learn to try to instil confidence in his students, to let them find their own sense of self and to try to understand their struggles at this age. Imaginary Audience Thirdly, David Elkind, a child psychologist came up with the term imaginary audience, a theory on adolescent egocentrism, a theory drawn from Piaget’s theory on cognitive development. Elkind’s theory has two parts to it, the personal fable and the imaginary audience. But for this essay, the focus will be on the imaginary audience portion. The imaginary audience and how the teenager in question believes that the world revolves around them and that in turn makes them self-conscious about every minor detail. Using Elkind’s theory, Mr Tan, can apply it to the lack of participation in class and how maybe the students in his class are afraid to be wrong and that they feel that there is constantly someone watching their every move. (Elkind, 1967) Albert Bandura’s Social-Cognitive Learning Theory

4 Lastly, all of the mentioned theories have mostly applied to Mr. Tan’s students, showing how it affects their behaviour. Another theory that can be looked into is the socialcognitive learning theory which reflects that Mr. Tan could be a factor in the behaviour of the students. Albert Bandura states in his observational learning process study that people could model the behaviour of someone close to them or someone they look up to. Of course, to be a successful model, Bandura believes that there are necessary elements to it, the focus in this essay would be on attention and motivation. Attention comes from how the learner would observe the model and whether the model’s behaviour captivates the learner. And finally, motivation, which Bandura states is the stimulus for the learner to continue and sustain the behaviour. With all these in mind, Mr Tan could use the information from Bandura’s theory to apply it to his own behaviour and improve on being a good role model. (Bandura, 1986) What is Operant Conditioning? Edward Thorndike’s theory known as the ‘Law of Effect’ led to the theory of operant conditioning. (Thorndike, 1905) Operant conditioning is a theory that B.F Skinner fathered, which uses reinforcers and punishments as a means to strengthen or weaken behaviours. Operant conditioning will be the focus of use in Mr. Tan’s classroom as a method to help Mr. Tan better manage the behaviours of his secondary two class. Reinforcement Positive Reinforcement Using reinforcers, Mr. Tan could help motivate the students by rewarding them with an immediate satisfaction, which would be a primary reinforcer. For example, he could reward his students with a small prize that can be purchased from school like food or stationery. Likewise, Mr Tan could introduce a long-term reward system that gives delayed satisfaction of a greater magnitude for the students. He could do a tiered reward system, with a grand prize, of maybe a voucher of interest to his students, lesser rewards of journals,

5 books, water bottles, stationery etc. This would provide a secondary reinforcer for his students to have a long-term goal to work towards, this would be a secondary reinforcer. These are examples of positive reinforcers. Now, if Mr. Tan so chooses, he could introduce what would be called negative reinforcers, which would entail the removal of a negative aspect that his students would deem undesirable. Mr Tan could tell his students that if he sees the students making an effort to be more participative in class, to start finishing their assignments and homework on time, he would spare them a call to their parents. So, if the students in his class do not want to get nagged and scolded by their parents, they would start to put in more effort into class. Reinforcers sound great in theory but there are pros and cons to it. (Skinner, 1938) Pros and Cons of Reinforcement The pros of using positive reinforcement could actually help motivate the students in Mr Tan’s class to make more of an effort as they know that they get rewarded for it and in turn could help the students maintain the ‘good’ behaviour. The cons of positive reinforcement especially with the use of a reward system is that the students could start to expect rewards and praise, without it they might start to lose interest with maintaining their ‘good’ behaviour. The pros of negative reinforcement in this situation is that it can create an immediate change of behaviour in the students if they don’t want Mr. Tan to call their parents. The cons of negative reinforcement in this situation could be that some students might not care if Mr. Tan calls their parents. Punishments Punishments could also be an area to assist with Mr Tan’s obstacles with his students. There are two known forms of punishments, what you would call positive punishment which means that something unwanted happens to the students if their behaviour is undesirable. An extreme example would be, Mr Tan could choose to call out the students who repeatedly

6 refuse to do their assignments and homework. He could get them to stand in front of the class and scold them in front of the class, therefore possibly humiliating the student. Or, Mr Tan could just choose to punish the student by giving a call to their parents. On to negative punishment, it refers to having something ‘wanted’ taken away from the student. For example, Mr Tan could let his class know that anyone who doesn’t complete their assignments and homework would have to stay back after school to complete it. Therefore, taking away ‘wanted’ time from his students. Pros and Cons of Punishment Of course, there too are pros and cons of punishments, the pros of positive punishment if used in this setting could prove effective in getting the students aware that there are now consequences for not doing their homework and assignments and that in turn could lead to an immediate change in their behaviour. In this situation the cons of positive punishment could impact the development of his students, as B.F Skinner said, punished behaviours will return as the behaviour is not forgotten, just temporarily repressed. Punishments could cause an increase in aggression and/or fear. (Skinner, 1953) Sustaining the use of Operant Conditioning Having listed the examples of how operant conditioning could be applied, let us look at some ways Mr Tan can apply the sustainability of operant conditioning on his students. For operant conditioning to last, Edward Thorndike came up with various strategies, for this essay, the focus will be on shaping and extinction. Using these strategies, Mr. Tan can possibly build a lasting effect on his students. Beginning with shaping, which in this case would be the process of getting his students to learn new behaviours by rewarding and reinforcing simple behaviours like encouraging them for any little progress the students make with their participation in class or in regards to their homework and assignment. The students are then further encouraged when

7 Mr Tan incentivizes them further for every new and/or improved steps they take with their behaviour in class. The last focus would be on extinction, which in this setting with the students would be to stop them from repeating their non-participative behaviour in class and their habit of not completing their homework and assignments. Conclusion In conclusion, the methods of operant conditioning do not factor in the other theories presented in the essay. While the methods of reinforcement and punishment could work, it does not seem like a permanent solution for the students who are struggling with their environment, identity or the fear of an imaginary audience watching their every move and can even have a negative effect on the student’s development. Mr. Tan could also be a poor role model to the students and that could also factor in to the lack of interest the students have in Mr. Tan’s class. Before introducing reinforcers and punishment, Mr. Tan could explore the use of the other theories with the behaviours his class is displaying. However, if Mr. Tan is just interested in temporarily changing the behaviours of his students, operant conditioning seems to be the best way to go about it. (Kohn, 1999) Personal Reflection Reflections on the Theories Opinion on Erikson’s and Bandura’s Theories Erikson’s theories on identity vs role confusion and also Bandura’s theories on being a good role model, I personally believe that teenagers at that age group tend to struggle with their identity and the norms of what society dictates they should be doing. I know that when I was their age, I never really cared about school, to me it was the least important thing in my life, I was figuring out who I was but with that being said I was definitely more attentive to the teachers that I actually liked. I believe teaching is a calling, and a teacher’s job is not just to teach the material given, it’s also to be a good role model of the children. I feel this is

8 especially true from preschool to secondary school. That’s where most children would be at their developmental stages. Opinion on Bronfenbrenner’s Theory Let’s talk about Bronfenbrenner’s theory about how children are affected by their environment. He talks about how a child’s interactions with their family, teachers, friends affect how they develop, from personal experience, teachers and family members get frustrated with the child and say or do things without realising the impact it could have on them. I work at a preschool, teaching speech and drama. The scenario I saw was of a mother of two, a boy and a girl. The way she favours her son by giving him a hug when she sees him helping him wear his shoes even though the son is older and when her daughter wants a hug too, she tells her daughter to not waste time and to start wearing her shoes by herself. Also, in the preschool there’s a door that opens with a tap of a card. The mother tells her daughter that she should let her brother tap his card because he’s her brother. Now, I don’t think she realises that her daughter will start noticing the bias as she grows up, she probably already does. I believe that new parents should go through some kind of parenting course that at least would educate them on the effects a child’s environment could have on them. Opinion on Piaget’s Theory Pivoting away from Bronfenbrenner’s theories to Piaget’s theories about the cognitive stages a child goes through growing up. Too often, I hear from parents that why can’t my child do this when another child at their age can do the same. If more teachers and parents know of the theory, they could further understand the growth a child has at one particular stage and not set unrealistic expectations on that child. Opinion on Kohlberg’s Theory Lastly, on Kohlberg’s point of the imaginary audience, personally I think it doesn’t go away even as adults, we all still think that everyone is looking at how we dress, the way we act and

9 how our persona appears to others. I think that’s just human, to want to fit in, to want to be the best version of yourself in public. I know I definitely feel that way sometimes or maybe all the time and I just don’t realise it. Opinion on Stress Of course, it is of my opinion that we don’t stop growing and learning but after a certain age, people tend to be able to make their own decisions, they tend to know what they want and aren’t as influenced by external factors. But most children growing up are brought up with their role models being their parents and their teachers. As a teenager, especially in Singapore, they are constantly told that you have to study hard, get a good job and earn money if not you have failed. I believe that there is so much constant stress in a teenager’s life to not let their parents and teachers down. The pressures of being a teenager has caused a rise in suicide around the world, even in Singapore, all you have to do is type in google search, rise in teenage suicide and the amount of information available is heart-breaking. Opinion on Mental Health Issues or Disorders As important as these theories are to learn, they have their limitations in situations with children who are affected by mental health issues or disorders. Using a personal example, there is a six-year-old child, let’s call him A, he has been diagnosed with selective mutism where he doesn’t speak at all in school and only speaks at home. Being a speech and drama teacher, I would give the children in the class a form of positive reinforcement by the way of a high five every time they say their tongue twisters of the week. With A, I wouldn’t be able to apply that to him. I would adapt by reading the tongue twister to him multiple times and telling him that if he understands it, to nod his head. When he nods his head, I would reach my hand out and give him a high five. Therefore, it’s of my personal opinion, especially with children affected by mental health issues, to use the theories as a guideline

10 and understand that they are affected from an external issue not present or accounted for in the theories present in the essay. Opinion on Social Thinking Schools and parents should look to avoid letting society and its culture affect them in terms of how they should educate and guide the children, how can we assume to know the thoughts of our children without some basic form of education into the possible behaviours and mindsets a child of a certain age behaves. I believe that some kind of foundational psychology should be present in a school setting for students, teachers and parents to also be more self-aware of the role psychology plays in their life. It is incredibly important for parents and teachers to understand that their parenting and teaching methods would improve greatly if they took a look at the theories present in this essay. More often than not, the mindset of society dictates that if a child is ‘misbehaving’ they should be punished. Parents and teachers use the method of punishment too often without thinking and considering all factors involve and instead choosing to default to societal norms. Opinion on Attribution Theory Attribution theory talks about how ‘normal’ people explain the causes of behaviour and events, I believe that nothing is ever just what it seems on the surface. An example I have seen, let’s call this child J. J is four years old; she’s been told to respect the floor mat that the children are sitting on, however, J decides to pull out a part of the mat. The teacher who is conducting the class, sees it and scolds J and puts her in a time-out. As an assistant teacher at that time, I was not involved with the teaching, so I could go over and talk to J. I asked her why she did it and she told me that a piece of the mat was sticking out and she wanted to help pull it out. As a four-year-old child, she has learned in class that it’s kind to be helpful. From this experience, it showed me that children even at a young age was more complex than just being ‘good’ or ‘bad’, that there was always a reason for the things that they did. With this I

11 conclude my personal reflection about the theories and how I believe we could use it for the betterment of society.

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References Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Bronfenbrenner, U. (2009). Ecology of Human Development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-22457-4 Elkind, David. (1967). "Egocentrism in Adolescence". Child Development. 38 (4): 1025–1034. Doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624. 1967.tb04378.x Erikson, E. H. (1963). Youth: Change and Challenge. New York: Basic Books Kohn, A. (1999.) Punished by Rewards, 2nd Ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Skinner, B, F. (1953). Science and Human Behavior. New York: McMillan. Skinner, B. F. (1938). The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis. New York: AppletonCentury. Thorndike, E. L. (1905). The Elements of Psychology. New York: A.G. Seiler....