Positive Reinforcement Improves Kid's Behavior
How Praise and Rewards Will Improve Your Child's Behavior Faster
"Johnny, don't throw the toys!"
"Johnny, put your dirty socks in the laundry."
Sigh... I can't stand any more of this bad behavior!
Does this sound like you?
All parents struggle and get stressed out because of their children's behavior at times. They give time outs and punish, they give stern lectures and yell... and the behavior doesn't always get better.
In the great behavioral studies done in years past, two distinct methods of changing behavior were used: negative reinforcement and positive reinforcement. Negative reinforcement means that, when an unwanted behavior occurred, something bad would happen. The rabbit that nibbles the apple gets an electric shock. The child steals a toy from his sister is sent to his room.
Positive reinforcement means that when a desired behavior occurs, something good happens. The rabbit that chooses the carrot gets two carrots instead. The child who shares a toy with his sister gets praise and appreciation.
In studies, and in personal experience, positive reinforcement works much better at changing behaviors in children than negative reinforcement. With negative reinforcement, a child simply learns not to do that specific action again. He does not learn what to do, or how to act.
There is a common phrase in parenting websites and magazines: "Catch your child being good." If you see your child exhibiting a behavior that you would like them to do again: share with a sibling, use good manners at the table, do their homework without whining, praise them, and offer a rewards system.
A rewards system can consist of a behavior chart, or token box. Each time a child exhibits good behavior, they will earn a sticker on the chart or a token in the box. Come up with a system by which so many stickers or tokens equal a small prize or special privilege.
Perhaps the most important reason to use positive reinforcement is to reduce overall stress in the family. A parent who is focused on seeing the good in a child, and praising them for it, will have a happier frame of mind, and will not have to resort to yelling, threats, or punishments. The child, in turn, will not be fearful of a parental outburst.
The child's self-esteem is also bolstered with positive reinforcement. If they are constantly told not to do something, say something, or act in a certain way, they may begin to realize that they cannot please their parent, or that they themselves, instead of the actions, are bad. Speaking enthusiastically about your child's positive behavior choices will make them feel good about themselves and you. Positive reinforcement makes them more eager to repeat the good behavior so they can f
Published by Melanie L. Marten
Melanie Marten is self-taught and self-employed. Besides freelance writing, she dabbles in website design and owns dozens of websites and blogs. Work is squeezed in between parenting two boys, homeschoolin... View profile
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- Negative reinforcement means that, when an unwanted behavior occurred, something bad would happen.
- Positive reinforcement means that when a desired behavior occurs, something good happens.
- An important reason to use positive reinforcement is to reduce overall stress in the home.
9 Comments
Post a CommentIt seems that you have confused negative reinforcement with punishment.
Thanks for this because i am doing a presention in GCSE English and this was my choosen topic and with this information i am diffentily going to pass :) See with the likes of Super Nanny and other t.v. shows, they have the noddy cornor etc. So useally there first step is negativity but why ? i believe the child gets scared with at the start and when the postivity comes in hes more stunned than thankful and keeps behaving good cause hes frightened.
...thank you for the information about the reinforcement to the cild or kid. because I have an experiment and one of your article I used to prove my study that positive reinforcement can help the childs negative behavior to over come...
im confused
And here's a link from this very site, describing what I've just said...
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/20051/positive_negative_reinforcement.html
The term negative should not be used to describe the aversive or "bad" stimuli. It actually refers to the "removal of". The thing that can be removed can be pleasant or unpleasant, depending on the goal. Negative Reinforcement is: The removal of unpleasant stimuli in order to bring about an increase in a behavior. Your use of the word "escape" is fine. The confusion here lies in what you are trying to accomplish: Are you trying to INCREASE a behavior? If so, you would use reinforcement, either positive or negative. (positive reinforcement is the applying of something pleasant in order to increase a behavior). If your goal, however, is to DECREASE a behavior, you would use punishment. Punishment can also be positive (applying something unpleasant), or negative (removing something pleasant). In behavioral science, the use of the terms positive and negative mean to apply and to remove, respectively. It's understandable that it's confusing. Even textbooks get this wrong so
I think you are a little confused Jennifer, taking away something "good" or adding something "bad" are both negative reinforcement. Taking away something "bad" or adding something "good" would mean that there is positive reinforcement.
I think you are a little confused Jennifer, taking away something "good" or adding something "bad" are both negative reinforcement. Taking away something "bad" or adding something "good" would mean that there is positive reinforcement.
you have the wrong definition of negative reinforcement, it does NOT indicate something bad has happenend. That is punishment. Negative reinforcement occurs when the negative (aversive) stimuli is prevented from occuring by performance of the instrumental response, if the response is not performed, then the aversive stimuli is presented. Two types of negative reinforcement are escape and avoidance. Example of escape: you ESCAPE the annoying noise of static on the radio by turning off the radio. Example of avoidance: you AVOID bad grades in your anatomy class by studying for the exam in advance. I hope this helps, just wanted to clear it up because it a very common misunderstanding! The "negative" in negative reinforcement gives people the idea that something bad happens, but it is actually just thee opposite!