Understanding Behaviorism

By Melissa Rohr
College of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
November, 2010

Today in class we began our discussion about the behavioral perspective of psychology applied to learning. We begins to discuss conditioning and punishment within in the classroom. At first I found it slightly difficult to grasp the concept of negative reinforcement however after establishing the difference between negative reinforcement and punishment I now can understand. I myself am the perfect example of negative reinforcement would be me going to class no matter what to avoid getting in trouble from my coach. In the classroom, I think it is a little bit of both praise and punishment that make a student learn best. However, too much or too little of each could become an issue. For example, praising a student's efforts once in a while provides a boost of confidence for an individual.

However continually praising a student may turn off other students from learning. For example if I was the teacher and I continually praised the efforts of a student, other students may say well he/she is Ms. Rohr's favorite, why should I try? That's why I feel like some sort of punishment is also necessary in the classroom. Consequences help to change a behavior, therefore they're necessary. For instance in an elementary school classroom, you may tell students if they talk while you talk then try have to sit in the time out corner for five minutes or something to that effect. At that age consequences are highly important to the child because they are always trying to please and impress the teacher at their stage of development.

I feel like it is easier within an elementary school environment than it is in say a high school environment. Little kids are earlier on in their cognitive development therefore they try to be good and avoid punishment within school. When it comes to high school students which I want to teach, it is harder to keep them motivated to learn and practice good behavior. the only real punishment within high school it detention and in severe cases suspension. By this stage in life, students are capable of higher level thinking and can analyze situations, so it in a way becomes harder to enforce punishment. Punishment definitely has a place within the classroom and it is necessary to keep order in the classroom.