The basic idea of Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) is that the adults identify the contingencies and circumstances which can affect behaviours, and use them to strengthen, weaken or maintain behaviours (Schwieso & Hastings, 1986, p. 83; Lovitt, 2012, p. 253). The accent on behaviour modification is based on the assumption that as soon as the children are shown to be used to a new behaviour, usually welcomed by adults, they have ‘learnt’ something (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013, p. 220). This paper will examine three major principles and a number of possible strategies for teachers to apply behaviour modification in a secondary school classroom.
An important principle of behaviour modification is that the ultimate goal should be increasing students’ …show more content…
However, presentation punishment, especially physical punishment, has appeared to be less encouraged in the recent years. The problem is while it may lead to physical and mental suffering, as well as a deteriorating relationship between the adult and the children, it does not necessarily create positive behaviour, so it is suggested to be kept as the last resort if the misbehaviour is dangerous or the other strategies are proved useless for the student in concern (Landrum and Kauffman, 2006, p. 52, p. 64). A relatively mild presentation punishment is a private reprimand, but its effectiveness also depends on whether the teacher reinforces another desirable behaviour at the same time (Landrum and Kauffman, 2006, p. 52) and whether the encouraging atmosphere in the classroom has provided enough contrast to the negative feedback (Kaplan, 1991, as cited in Woolfolk and Margetts, 2003, p. …show more content…
Thus, repeated reinforcement is useful, but there is no guarantee that students will keep the good behaviour if no further reinforcement is available, for example, when attending another teacher’s lesson. Generalization is another solution, requiring the teacher to extend the application of rules in various settings and gradually reduce the reward at the same time (Schwieso & Hastings, 1986, p. 83; Landrum and Kauffman, 2006, pp. 59-60). This aims at removing the students’ reliance on reinforcement to work hard and show satisfactory discipline in the long
An important principle of behaviour modification is that the ultimate goal should be increasing students’ …show more content…
However, presentation punishment, especially physical punishment, has appeared to be less encouraged in the recent years. The problem is while it may lead to physical and mental suffering, as well as a deteriorating relationship between the adult and the children, it does not necessarily create positive behaviour, so it is suggested to be kept as the last resort if the misbehaviour is dangerous or the other strategies are proved useless for the student in concern (Landrum and Kauffman, 2006, p. 52, p. 64). A relatively mild presentation punishment is a private reprimand, but its effectiveness also depends on whether the teacher reinforces another desirable behaviour at the same time (Landrum and Kauffman, 2006, p. 52) and whether the encouraging atmosphere in the classroom has provided enough contrast to the negative feedback (Kaplan, 1991, as cited in Woolfolk and Margetts, 2003, p. …show more content…
Thus, repeated reinforcement is useful, but there is no guarantee that students will keep the good behaviour if no further reinforcement is available, for example, when attending another teacher’s lesson. Generalization is another solution, requiring the teacher to extend the application of rules in various settings and gradually reduce the reward at the same time (Schwieso & Hastings, 1986, p. 83; Landrum and Kauffman, 2006, pp. 59-60). This aims at removing the students’ reliance on reinforcement to work hard and show satisfactory discipline in the long