Operant Conditioning Assignment

I was more patient at punishing Matt for bad behavior at age 3 than at age 10 . At age three and four Matt would get into a lot of fights with her little sister Milk and it would get out of hand at times. One time at age 3, Matt threw a toy across the room and it hit Milk on the forehead leaving a huge cut. I talked to Matt about the dangers of misbehaving like that and she could have seriously hurt Milk. At age 10 Matt would have fewer fights with Milk, but it was more intensified. For instance once I found them pushing and yelling at each other. I then tried to find who was at fault and punished that individual. At age 3 and 4 I was more interactive with Matt. I would read to her at night and help her construct things such as a train set

When she was younger I also often set up playdates for her because I saw how it was difficult for her to make friends. Now I feel that she able to socialize without my help.She even surprised me by doing a talent show act with her friends. When she reached age 8 and above I allow her to choose her own extracurricular activities such as sports. Operant conditioning, part of the social learning theory, is one of the main method I used to raise my child. Operant conditioning can be used to increase or decrease a behavior through reward or punishment. I chose to use positive reinforcement which is rewarding a good behavior. For example, everyday Matt struggles with getting ready to go to school. Everytime she gets ready without any nagging from me, I give her a small reward such as candy. Inductive disciplines, part of the psychoanalytic theory, allows the child to understanding the effects of his or her misbehavior on others. I use induction throughout Matt lifetime and I notice as she gets older she gets into less trouble at home and at school. I mentioned before of an example that involved induction. When Matt threw the toy and it hit his sister, I pointed out that her sister could of been seriously hurt. From the use of inductive discipline I can see Matt’s morals change as well, for example, Matt does not cheat in board games