Behavioral And Social Theories Of Pavlov And B. F. Skinner

This chapter discusses behavioral and social theories of Ivan Pavlov and B. F. Skinner. The theory of classical conditioning by Pavlov explains that we develop a new behavior based on the association we make with the things we interact with, for example; when a child has a painful experience at the dentist he is going to exhibit certain behavior when he comes back for a second visit. In other words, the child responds to a stimulus by exhibiting certain behaviors such as aggressiveness, cry, fear, stress, and anxiety. On the other hand, Skinner argues that operant conditioning deals with the role that pleasant and unpleasant consequences play in our behavior. He believes that behavior is controlled by the environment we live in. Taking these …show more content…
Educators cannot teach effectively when the students are misbehaving or getting distracted on a daily basis. Therefore, we need set rules, expectations, and model the behavior we want our student to follow. It is a mistake to assume that children know what we are expecting from them if we have not discussed our expectations, procedures, and guidelines with them. Moreover, when children are not given clear directions and they feel lost they start misbehaving. When I begin my first year teaching I am going to display a behavior clip chart in my classroom. I feel that they need a visual to really see where they are at when it comes to behavior so they can improve. Furthermore, explaining rules and procedures to my students will let them know what my classroom expectations are. However, I am aware that some children might have a difficult time complying with classroom guidelines and as the teacher, I will have remind …show more content…
Therefore, I will have to find different stimuli to reach out my diverse group of students. Although I have a grasp knowledge of how the theories function in a classroom setting I still wonder what classroom management strategies could work better with children with disabilities such as ADHD and autism. Being in a classroom with a student with ADHD has given me a better into the challenges the teacher faces when it comes to dealing with behavior-related issues. Overall, I agree with the postures shown in the chapter with the exception of punishment. I believe that there are two ways children respond to punishment, either they correct the behavior and have a positive image of the school or the punishment discourage learning and motivation. I feel that when children are frequently punished they lose interest in learning and the trust on other people. As teachers, we want to use punishment as our last resource and rely on positive reinforcement to engage our