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Benefits of praise to a child
Behavior modification theories
Behavior modification theories
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The Inverse Power of Praise: Should We Praise Our Children?
Giving praise to our children comes naturally; most of us have done it hundreds of times without even thinking about it. The phrases: “you’re so smart” or, “wow you did a great job” just roll off our tongue. After all who doesn’t like to receive recognition for a job well done? But by praising children, are we setting them up for failure? Telling our kids they are smart does not keep them from underperforming, but instead might be causing it. B.F. Skinner’s work in operant conditioning showed us the process in which behavior can be manipulated (Wood, et al, 2008, p. 155), but Skinner didn’t take into account the long term effects of such manipulation. Are we conditioning children to seek dopamine in the form of praise, just as Pavlov taught a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell (Wood, et al, 2008, p. 146)?
We all have known someone who was too smart for their own good. This is the person whom as a child, received good grades, took honors courses in high school, and maybe even got a full ride scholarship to a college of their choice. They seemed to have it all going for them but did nothing with it. I had a friend in high school, (we’ll call her Samantha), who was just like this. Samantha was in honors classes, maintained a 4.0 grade point average despite never studying, played varsity sports and received a full ride scholarship to ASU. However, less than a year after graduating high school, she had a baby, dropped out of college and got a job cleaning houses with her boyfriend’s sister. So what happened to Samantha? How does someone who’s innately smart and seems destined for great things settle for so little? Is it bad decision making, poor impulse control or may...
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Henderlong, Jennifer, and Mark R. Lepper. "The Effects of Praise on Children's Intrinsic Motivation: A Review and Synthesis." Psychological Bulletin 128.5 (2002): 774-95. Web. 28 Feb. 2011.
Salamone, J D., and M Correa. "Motivational Views of Reinforcement: Implications for Understanding the Behavioral Functions of Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine." Behavioral Brain Research 137 (2002): 3-25. Pubmed. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. .
Wood, Samuel E., Ellen Green, and Denise Boyd. Mastering the World of Psy- chology. 3rd ed. N.p.: Allyn & Bacon, 2008. 12-18. Print.
Psychologist, Carol S. Dweck in her well researched essay, “Brainology” analyzes how praise impacts mindset and how a growth mindset leads to greater success. She supports this claim by comparing the two different mindsets and how praise can affect them. She then proceeds to show praise leads to a fixed mindset harming a person by changing their views on effort. Finally, she argues that praise changes how and what people value, which can
Meaning that when children grow up with praise such as “oh you must have been so smart to get an A on that test”, instead of “you must have worked really hard on that lesson”, children could take the praise to their intelligence the wrong way and think that since they are “smart” instead of their effort on a task which will cause them problems in the future and they might want to give up and quit. I have seen this first hand and this has actually happened to me before, so I know from experience that this could have a negative effect impact on a student not just students in elementary school but also adults who are going to college or young adults who are looking for a job. In contrast, some students love to get that kind of compliment but they would always end up expecting that so when I work with children I will be complimenting them on the effort they put into everything that they do. From now on, I will be praising children on their effort and not on their
Every parent desires to have a child who will be successful in life. In “Brainology” author, Carol Dweck explains that there are consequences for praising children for their work. Dweck also explains that there are different types of mindsets that enable an individual’s development. She claims that there are two types of mindsets that people have. In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work ( Dweck 1). Furthermore growth mindset individuals love learning and are resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. (Dweck 1). One more theory, Dweck mentioned was fixed mindset. The author states “In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence
According to Skinner’s theories, “Reinforcement does not strengthen the response instance that produces the reinforcer.” Rather, reinforcement can increase the likelihood that a comparable response may occur within the future. For one bottom-line, “behavior is not caused by something that has not yet happened.” Similar to operant conditioning, “the emission of a response reflects past conditioning, so the response occurs because similar responses were reinforced earlier, not because it will be reinforced later.” Skinner agreed that the “initial high response rate seen in extinction sessions exemplified this important aspect of operant conditioning” (Iversen, 1992, pp. 1325-1327). Theoretically, Skinner identified two aspects of reinforcement, one is the “pleasing effect of reinforcing stimuli, the other is their strengthening action.” Furthermore, Skinner emphasized that “feeling pleased by an event does not necessarily make a person want to repeat the respons...
The article “Stop Saying ‘Good Job!” by Alfie Kohn talks about the negative effects of praise on children and what we need to do instead. Such as, introducing our evaluations, breaking the cycle, steering away from rewards, teaching decision-making skills, and unconditional support. I agree with the author, too much praise can deter a child from their personal creativity and cause them to focus more on the need to meet the approval and acceptance of others.
The reason why many drugs feel so good is due to the dopamine reward system. Whenever one experiences an intense feeling of elation due to something good such as a good grade on a test, a delicious dessert, or hearing your favorite song, she is experiencing the brain’s chemicals acting as a reward (1). In 1954, James Olds and Peter Milner discovered that rats would learn to press a lever if rewarded with a brief burst of electric stimulation. This discovery was significant because it suggested the existence of a pleasure center in the brain. The electrical self-stimulation was most effective when applied to the medial forebrain bundle, which goes from the midbrain to the hypothalamus and then triggers the activity of other cells that extend from the ventral tegmental area in the midbrain to the nucleus accumbens in the forebrain. This pathway relies on the neurotransmitter dopamine and possibly no...
Joranby, L., Pineda, K., & Gold, M. S. (2005). Addiction to Food and Brain Reward
What is the effect of positive reinforcement on your mental health? Positive reinforcement is considered to be one of the best ways to teach kids something, or emphasize a point. According to google, positive reinforcement is defined as the addition of any reward following a desired behavior. School systems today are using positive reinforcement instead of negative reinforcement, because kids like the reward that is given after the desired behavior thus resulting in improved learning and better mental health. Positive reinforcement affects Adults and children’s overall health.
In this paper I will be discussing the information I have learned from the article “From Positive Reinforcement to Positive Behaviors”, by Ellen A. Sigler and Shirley Aamidor. The authors stress the importance of positive reinforcement. The belief is that teachers and adults should be rewarding appropriate behaviors and ignoring the inappropriate ones. The authors’ beliefs are expressed by answering the following questions: Why use positive reinforcement?, Are we judging children’s behaviors?, Why do children behave in a certain way?, Do we teach children what to feel?, Does positive reinforcement really work?, and How does positive reinforcement work?. The following work is a summary of "Positive Reinforcement to Positive Behaviors" with my thoughts and reflection of the work in the end.
First of all, I was highly interested in the concept and various factors that together make up positive reinforcement. I had a premise that I could do some experimental work on the three children for whom I baby-sit during the week after school. They leave school full of energy and it is my job to get them to complete a series of tasks before the end of the evening. I imagined that some positive reinforcement might get them on their way to handling their responsibilities in a timelier manner. My first step was to come up with a specific instrumental response that would produce reinforcement. This took no time at all because by far the most painfully difficult thing for me to do is get the children to sit down and do their homework. I then spoke specifically to each child and asked them what they would rather choose as an after school activity. They named video games, television, and going to play with other neighborhood children. I had expected these types of answers from the children and made them into the positive reinforcers that would be contingent on the children’s performance of the instrumental response; namely completing their homework. I explained to the children that if they behaved and finished their homework, then directly following they could spend an hour doing an activity of their choice.
3. Immediately, researchers noticed a rush of neural activity in the caudate nucleus. This is the part of the brain known to process rewards.”(Van Edwards, Vanessa Science of People).
Wise, Roy A. “Role of dopamine in food reward and reinforcement”. National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 15 June 2006. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. .
The reward system is a beneficial behavioral modification teaching method, which promotes more positive behaviors in the classroom (Charles & Barr, 2014). Many teachers generally use the reward method of praise within their classrooms for a variety of reasons. The first advantage of using praise within the classroom is because it encourages students do repeat positive behaviors in the classroom. Many children are simply looking for attention and enjoy it, which makes it a great technique to use in the classroom (Charles & Barr, 2014). Another advantage for this reward type is that due to the encouragement, the students are able to perform at a better rate; students excel academically. A final advantage to using praise is that it is easily implemented into the classroom and requires little to no preparation. This makes the reward method a great addition for teachers as well as students because students get instant feedback without
Theorists believe that motivation within the classroom has its benefits when able to produce work from students. Some students have the ability to work without much motivation. This is known as intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is where students are able to motivate themselves and produce work at high standard. The students have to be determined to strive and have the self-ability to do the work that is needed (Brewer, Dun, Olszewski, 1988). Students who need more praise and encouragement to produce work come under the category of extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is about rewarding the students for their work. If a student is able to get done what they have been asked, they will be rewarded with for example a sticker or a lucky dip. Extrinsic motivation for some students means the reward is...