Reinforcement Affecting Children's Behavior

Parents have used punishment to teach children how to behave since the beginning of America. Behaviorist B. F. Skinner believed reinforcement is more effective than punishment for shaping a child’s behavior. Two different types of reinforcement are token economy and timeout. Both of these are used to get children to behave. The token economy and timeout are different ways to teach children correct behavior. A token economy is a reward system because a child gets a token after they complete a good behavior. After a certain number of tokens are collected, the child gets rewarded for their good behavior by exchanging the tokens in for an object or an event. A benefit to the token economy is the child will continue to repeat this behavior because they are getting rewarded. Because of the use of tangible rewards, a token economy is a positive reinforcement. A timeout is …show more content…
A timeout is a form of punishment and a token economy is a positive reinforcement. Timeout many times makes a child very angry. Parents do not often see a their child walking to timeout without tears. The child is usually very emotional when in timeout. The child is most likely mad or sad about what they have done, and they get even madder when put in timeout. This is because a timeout is a punishment. In recent studies, neuroscientists have found that all punishments are ineffective, including a timeout in an article published by PBS. “Token economy’s are one of the most effective ways to reduce behavior problems and to motivate kids to follow the rules.” Amy Morin states in her article Create a Token Economy System to Improve Your Child's Behaviors. I would agree token economies are more effective because it is a modification in a positive way. The child is then more likely to repeat the positive behavior because they are getting rewarded. Token economies also do not make a child angry and emotional. I think reinforcements are better than