Application of Skinner’s behaviourist approach to Care Settings
Principles of
conditioning
operant
Description of
principle
Provision for needs to
be met in early years
settings
In the past, most settings chose
to control the behaviour of their
children by using positive and
negative punishment
(misbehaving or disregarding
school rules resulted in
punishments). Today, many
school systems and other
childhood authorities are inclined
to provide positive and negative
reinforcement to encourage
good behaviour, reserving
punishment techniques only as a
last resort. While the results are
not usually as immediate, they
are typically seen as healthier,
providing children with
appropriate behavioural
guidelines while allowing them
their dignity – a nice intro to an
application answer
Positive reinforcement
This is where you ‘add’
something pleasant to
strengthen a behaviour
If behaviour is rewarded then it
will probably be repeated.
Therefore, in childcare settings,
only good behaviour should be
rewarded e.g. Praising children
using house points or stickers
(adding something pleasant)
when they have been good
(behaviour strengthened)
Provision for needs to
be met in
Day care settings
Provision for needs to
be met in
Residential and
nursing homes
Personal
support,
supervision,
advice,
chiropody,
aids
and
adaptations, meals.
Prosocial behaviours develop
because they are rewarded
e.g. residents who help with
daily duties in a day care
centre will receive praise and
likeability. This will make them
feel good and they will want to
help with the daily duties next
time they come.
Positive behaviour like acting
independently is rewarded
greatly in residential homes.
Prosocial behaviours develop
because they are rewarded
e.g. residents who help with
living duties i.e. washing
clothes in a residential setting
Children need an appropriate
reward for good behaviour e.g.
for tidying the toys away. Every
time a child behaves in an
appropriate way then they
should be rewarded. This will
establish
an
appropriate
behaviour pattern. It should
then be rewarded occasionally to
ensure it is repeated.
Calm
and
cooperative
behaviour is rewarded in daycare settings with positive
responses from the care
workers such as praise and
thanks.
Occasionally bad behaviour will
be rewarded and this should be
avoided in a childcare setting
i.e.giving
them
constant
attention (adding something
pleasant)
when
they
are
behaving badly i.e. screaming.
E.g. if a child has a temper
tantrum to get what they want
and the adult gives in, then this
will
reinforce
the
child’s
behaviour.
Some people reward antisocial
behaviour e.g. an old man who
makes comments of a sexual
nature towards a service
provider may get laughs from
his friends. The laughs that he
gets will reinforce this form of
anti-social behaviour. For this
to stop he would have to mix
with people who did not find
this impressive – he would
then not receive the attention
required
to
repeat
this
behaviour.
Positive reinforcement should be
used to encourage the child to
change their behaviour e.g.
praise, smiles, house points or
merit stickers. This is to
encourage them to behave. Bad
behaviour should be ignored as
Skinner says that behaviour that
is not rewarded is unlikely to be
repeated.
Ideas for positive reinforcement
in a setting:
Prompt feedback on work acts
as a positive reinforcer e.g.
‘good girl’ for colouring a picture
will make the child want to sit
down and colour another picture
Older people can be reinforced
with activities which they enjoy
e.g. bingo or playing cards.
This perspective helps carers
to
understand
antisocial
behaviour and helps them to
be able to manage it i.e.
rewarding pleasant behaviours
and ignoring or punishing
unpleasant
ones
If
the
cooperative
behaviour
is
rewarded, then the antisocial
behaviour is unlikely to return.
will receive praise and
likeability. This will make
them feel good and they will
want to help with the living
duties on a weekly basis.
Calm
and
cooperative
behaviour is rewarded in daycare settings with positive
responses from the care
workers such as praise and
thanks.
The residents are rewarded
with days out when they are
being
cooperative
which
reinforces this behaviour.
Older
people
can
be
reinforced
with
activities
which they enjoy e.g. bingo
or playing cards.
Some
people
reward
antisocial behaviour e.g. an
old
man
who
makes
comments of a sexual nature
towards a service provider
may get laughs from his
friends. The laughs that he
gets will reinforce this form of
anti-social behaviour. For this
to stop he would have to mix
with people who did not find
this impressive – he would
then not receive the attention
required to repeat this
behaviour.
This perspective helps carers
to
understand
antisocial
behaviour and helps them to
be able to manage it i.e.
rewarding
pleasant
behaviours and ignoring or
straight away.
punishing unpleasant ones If
the cooperative behaviour is
rewarded, then the antisocial
behaviour is unlikely to
return.
Plenaries (a discussion at the
end of a set activity) are a good
way to share ideas, provide
praise and listen to each other –
all of these are positive
reinforcers
Question and answer sessions
would
be
encouraged
by
skinner. They are an opportunity
to quickly give reinforcement to
children
Evaluative point:
Note: for positive reinforcement
to work, it must be consistent –
this is hard to remember when
EYW’s are pre-occupied with
other duties/children/activities to
prepare
Negative reinforcement
This is where you ‘take
away’ something
unpleasant to
strengthen a
behaviour.
From these examples you can
see that positive reinforcement
can be used to strengthen good
and bad behaviour and should
be discussed like this when you
are asked to evaluate
There is one child who is always
fidgeting on the carpet. The
EYW may use negative
reinforcement as a technique for
combating this e.g.’ if you sit still
(behaviour you want to
strengthen) you do not have to
do your tidying up duties today’
(taking away something
unpleasant for the child). The
result will be that the child will
sit still – negative reinforcement
has worked.
Negative reinforcement is used
in settings to prevent behaviour
Negative reinforcement is less
likely to be used at a day care
setting , but here is an
example of how it could be
implemented:
Negative reinforcement is less
likely to be used at a
residential setting , but here
is an example of how it could
be implemented:
Ethel loves gardening and the
gardening needs to be done at
the day-care setting by service
users (as one of the activities
offered at the setting). They
key worker says to Ethel “you
don’t have to do the washing
up (taking away something
unpleasant) if you help Miriam
with the gardening today”
Ethel loves gardening and the
gardening needs to be done
at the by service users (as
one of the activities offered
at the setting). They key
worker says to Ethel “you
don’t have to do the washing
up (taking away something
unpleasant) if you help
Miriam with the gardening
Positive punishment
This is where you ‘add’
something unpleasant
to weaken a behaviour.
being repeated e.g. a child is
naughty – you do not respond
with your usual punishment –
naughty step (taking away usual
punishment which is something
unpleasant) and instead you
ignore the behaviour, which in
theory will make it go away (this
is the result you want).
Punishment should only be used
when necessary and should be
outweighed by reinforcement i.e.
a child should be reinforced far
more than it is punished
(Skinner).
An example of when positive
punishment is necessary would
be in the case of physical
aggression e.g. if a child is
hitting and kicking another child
you cannot ignore this. You
would have to show your
disappoint in this child and also
tell their parents (both of these
actions are adding something to
the
situation).
This
may
reinforce the child not to be
aggressive again i.e. they will
fear that you will tell their mum.
Negative punishment
This is where you ‘take
After this punishment you would
need to watch the child for
prosocial
behaviours
like
hugging the boy he beat up 2
days previous – you would then
reward him for this with praise
and maybe even a sticker! The
rewards for prosocial behaviour
would need to be consistent to
‘stamp out’ the aggressive
behaviour.
Punishment should only be used
(something that you
doing and Ethel likes)
want
today” (something that you
want doing and Ethel likes)
Positive punishment is even
more unlikely to be used. The
only
form
of
positive
punishment
would
be
disappointment from a service
provider to a service user if
they
have
acted
inappropriately e.g. having a
food fight. Any other form of
positive punishment in a day
care setting would be regarded
as abuse.
Positive punishment is even
more unlikely to be used. The
only
form
of
positive
punishment
would
be
disappointment
from
a
service provider to a service
user if they have acted
inappropriately e.g. having a
food fight. Any other form of
positive punishment in a
residential setting would be
regarded as abuse.
See column to the left –
positive punishment will only
be effective if it is outweighed
with reinforcement i.e. next
time the service user is eating
properly they get praised for it.
This praise will need to be
consistent to stop the food
fight from happening again.
See column to the left –
positive punishment will only
be
effective
if
it
is
outweighed
with
reinforcement i.e. next time
the service user is eating
properly they get praised for
it. This praise will need to be
consistent to stop the food
fight from happening again.
E.g. Did not help clean away
e.g. Taking away their leisure
away’ something
pleasant to weaken a
behaviour
when necessary and should be
outweighed by reinforcement i.e.
a child should be reinforced far
more than it is punished.
An example of when negative
punishment is necessary would
be in the case of a child
swearing e.g. if a child is using
obscene language in the setting
it can not be ignored. You could
provide negative punishment for
this e.g. putting him on the ‘time
out’ spot (this is taking away his
time). This may reinforce the
child not to swear again i.e. they
will fear that you will put them in
the ‘time out’ spot
Behaviour shaping
Basically, you start with
a very low criteria and
gradually increase your
criteria until you reach
your target behavior.
For example, you could
first teach a horse to
approach a trailer, and
then teach it to put 2
feet in the trailer, then
4 feet, and then walk
to the front of the
trailer. By breaking the
behavior down into
small steps, you can
After this punishment you would
need to watch the child for
prosocial vocab like using other
words to show frustration e.g.
‘naughty teddy’ – you would
then reward him for this with
praise and maybe even a sticker!
The rewards for prosocial vocab
would need to be consistent to
‘stamp out’ the swearing.
Skinner said that parents reward
infant babbling by giving the
infant attention and shaping.
This increases vocalization.
Parents shape the child’s
language behaviour e.g. a smile
from EYW when baby makes a
sound, a cuddle and a smile
when they say their first word,
praise when they string a
sentence together and so on….
Behaviour shaping of language is
a natural process and is not
intentional by the parents.
the dinner plates so they had
to wash up.
activity
because
they
attacked the practitioner.
Because they are adults the
negative punishment cannot
be applied often. If they were
to apply it frequently they
would be bordering on abuse.
(The practitioner can only take
away their time and if it is
appropriate to the behaviour
being punished)
Because they are adults the
negative punishment cannot
be applied often. If they were
to apply it frequently they
would be bordering on abuse.
(The practitioner can only
take away their time and if it
is
appropriate
to
the
behaviour being punished)
The behaviour of service users
can be changed by behaviour
modification techniques.
Token Economy
Behaviour is rewarded with
tokens. These can be
exchanged for something the
individual wants. Used mostly
in institutional settings e.g.
the psychiatric section in a
residential home e.g. taking a
shower is rewarded with 5
tokens and washing up is
rewarded with 5 tokens. The
service user can now watch a
video which costs 10 tokens.
This is very effective for
managing patients and
The key to successful
reinforcement behaviour
modification techniques is
consistency. It is necessary for
the teacher to follow through
on the established
reinforcement schedule
without exception.
Behaviour modification
techniques could be used with
create a new behavior
without anything ever
becoming too difficult
or scary for the horse.
Criticism
 Some parents pay little
attention to their
children but language
still develops
 In the second year of
life – language
development is rapid
and shaping is such a
lengthy process. The
two don’t go together!
 Parents rarely reinforce
correct grammar in a
child’s speech – this
makes it less likely that
shaping enables children
to learn grammar
(Brown and Hanlon,
1970)
teaching a service user to knit.
The person who is the leader
(the service provider), must
define clearly what it is the
service user needs to learn
and how the individual is to
show that the learning has
taken place.
The stages that take place in
this type of learning are:



Behaviour shaping has helped
improve the communication
skills of autistic children in a
childcare setting. This is the
process:





The therapist first
identifies an activity that
the child enjoys e.g.
playing with a special
toy.
Every time the child
looks at the therapist,
she gives him the toy
Eventually the child will
look at the therapist in
anticipation of the toy,
but she withholds it until
the child reaches for the
toy.
Now, when he reaches
for the toy he is given it
and at the same time
the therapist says
Setting the goal i.e.
making a scarf
Establishing the
student’s operant level
(what do they need to
learn and what do
they already know)
Using reinforcement to
strengthen or
condition behaviour
i.e. always reinforce
‘new steps’ in the
knitting process
Withhold
reinforcement until
new things are learnt
in the knitting process
or extinguish other
individual behaviour
i.e. do not reinforce
mistakes in the scarf
by providing attention
to them.
improving their self-care and
social skills.
Evaluation
 Requires close
monitoring of patient
behaviour for it to
work – sometimes
this is not possible.
 The patients tend to
become very
dependant on the
system, making it
difficult for them
once they leave the
institution


‘please’
When reaching has
become established, the
toy is withheld until the
child himself makes a
sound when he reaches.
Then he is given the toy.
This process continues,
reinforcing the
behaviour until it is
established and then
withholding
reinforcement until a
more specific behaviour
becomes established.
IF THE TECHNIQUE IS
SUCCESSFUL, THE CHILD MAY
EVENTUALLY SPEAK
SPONTANEOUSLY.
This has been found to be an
effective technique, but
reinforcement usually needs to
be maintained in order for the
child to continue the behaviour.
Generalisation
In generalization, a
behavior
may
be
performed in more
than one situation. For
example, the rat who
receives
food
by
pressing one lever,
may press a second
lever in the cage in
hopes that it will
receive food.
The child saying please when
they want something due to
them being rewarded for saying
it before e.g. being rewarded in
a nursery for saying please when
they ask for a drink, means that
they will generalise this to other
situations where please will be
necessary.
When the service user cuddles
another service user and gets
a welcoming response – they
may then try and cuddle all
service users (the problem
with this is that some people
do not like to be tactile.
When the service user cleans
and organises all the lounges
as they were rewarded with
some flowers for cleaning and
tidying the lounge they
usually sit in.
Discrimination
Learning
behavior
rewarded
EYPs will provide praise only for
activities they want children to
show. E.g. in the playground
Service users will seek financial
help at a day acre setting and
will receive the help they
Care workers could praise
service users for sticking to
routines and going to sleep at
that
will
in
a
be
one
Extinction
situation,
but
not
another e.g. children
will be rewarded when
greeting friends and
family
but
not
strangers
children may be praised for
saying hello to friends parents
but they will not be praised for
saying hi to every adult at the
playground.
require, this will reinforce them
to seek advice again. The
problem is that day care
centres do not provide advice
on all life matters and service
users need to learn this.
bedtime although they should
not be praised for sleeping in
the day.
The elimination of the
behavior by stopping
reinforcement of the
behavior. For example,
a rat who received food
when pressing a bar,
receives
food
no
longer, will gradually
decrease the amount
of lever presses until
the rat eventually stops
lever
pressing.
Children who are not reinforced
consistently
will
end
up
extinguishing their behaviours
e.g. Tim is interested in a
musical instrument. He gets lots
of praise and passes exams in
the first year of playing it (both
act as reinforcers). In the
second year he only passes one
exam and people are not
praising his playing of the
instrument anymore. Tim gives
up playing the instrument.
Service users who are not
reinforced consistently will end
up
extinguishing
their
behaviours e.g. Ethel is scared
of having her feet done but
has been praised for visiting
the chiropodist in the last two
weeks every day at the day
care centre. The following
week she receives no praise or
encouragement and decides to
stop going.
Residents who are not
reinforced consistently will
end up extinguishing their
behaviours e.g. Jack is scared
of having a bath (due to a
recent hip operation) but has
been praised for having a
bath twice a week every day
in the home. The following
week he receives no praise or
encouragement and decides
to stop having a bath – his
fear of damaging his hip
returns.
From this we learn that
behaviours
we
want
to
encourage in early years settings
must always be reinforced.
From this we learn that
behaviours
we
want
to
encourage in day care settings
must always be reinforced.
From this we learn that
behaviours we want to
encourage in residential care
settings must always be
reinforced.