Psychology: Behaviourist Theory in Child Learning and Development Essay 2022

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY
BEHAVIOURIST THEORY IN CHILD LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
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Introduction
Behaviorism or the behaviourist approach is a systematic theoretical understanding of
the behaviour of humans and other animals. The primary assumption behind behaviourist
theory is that all animal behaviours are based upon either of the following two factors:
1. A response to a particular external stimulus
2. A behaviour that is a result of the consequence of that individual’s history combining
elements of both reinforcement and punishment clubbed with the individual’s current
state of mind, motivational factors and existing stimuli (Murtonen, Gruber, &
Lehtinen, 2017)
Historically, the early derivatives of behaviourist theory can be extracted from the late
nineteenth century with Edward Thorndike’s pioneering of ‘The law of effect’ which
emphasised on reinforcement and punishment as chief influencers in the strengthening and
weakening of a behavioural trait. It was followed in the early twentieth century by John B.
Watson’s devising of ‘methodological behaviourism’ which prioritised the measurement of
observable behaviour in order to understand human behaviour. Following Watson, there were
two significant proponents to the behaviourist approach namely B.F Skinner and Ivan Pavlov.
Skinner suggested that internal factors and individual’s private events including their
thoughts and feelings should also be considered should also be considered as the variables
that control behaviour. The technique called ‘operant conditioning’ is devised based on his
ideas. Pavlov, on the other hand provided us with his famed experiment with the dog’s
learned behaviour to explain how external stimuli plays an effect on an animal’s ability to
learn and modifies their behaviour (Malim, 2017).
Children’s development and behavioural growth and changes follow certain
regulations and patterns. The human brain follows strict rules when it comes to learning

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something and repeating a learned behaviour. The effect is more prominent in children
because of the fact that the child brain is still in the process of a neuro-cognitive development
and is an easy target for most stimuli to generate a particular response. This essay attempts to
discuss the developmental aspect of behaviourist theory and critically analyse the theory to
bring out a thorough understanding of child learning and development. It will take an in depth
look into the various theoretical underpinnings of behaviourism and attempt to explain how
child learning and development follows a behaviourist pipeline (Tighe & Leaton, 2016).
Discussion
Prior to discussing and connecting child development and learning to the behaviourist
approach, it becomes important to critically evaluate behaviourism to its core. This section
will be evaluating two central concepts of behavioural psychology namely operant and
classical conditioning. Even though the end result of both conditioning is learning, the
differences in the processes help us better understand the deeper intricacies in human
behavioural analysis.
The process of classical conditioning was first described by the famous Russian
Physiologist Ivan Pavlov in his famous experiment with the dog. He paired a neutral stimulus
with an unconditioned stimulus in order to gain an unconditioned response, in an attempt to
connect the two types of stimuli. A neutral stimulus is described as one which does not elicit
a response and an unconditioned stimulus is one where a response is subconsciously
generated. In his experiment with the dog, the dog salivating was the unconditioned response
when triggered by the unconditioned stimulus (the smell/taste of the food). The ringing of a
bell was the neutral stimulus that was clubbed with the unconditioned stimulus and later
when just the ringing of the bell generated salivation in the dog, the ringing became the
conditioned stimulus and the salivation, the conditioned response. This is the way classical
conditioning works. It establishes a connection between the environmental factors which are

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mostly neutral as stimuli and the active stimuli that generates a particular response
(Gormezano, Prokasy, & Thompson, 2014).
Operant conditioning works by establishing either reinforcement or punishment as the
controlling factors for a particular behaviour. The base establishment of operant conditioning
is the fact that every behaviour is associated with a particular consequence. The most famous
experiment that describes operant or instrumental conditioning is the one involving the lab
rats where if the rats pressed one particular button instead of the other, it received a mild
electric shock instead of a food pellet. As a result the rat learned not to press that particular
button (Ruan & Wu, 2013).
BF Skinner coined the term Operant Conditioning and used the word ‘operant’ to
signify any kind of active behaviour that works upon the environment in order to create
certain consequences (Skinner, 2014).. His theory has been instrumental in explaining how
we acquire the learned behaviours that we display on a daily basis. Skinner identified two
types each of reinforcement and punishment (Richelle, 2016):
Positive and negative reinforcement: Positive reinforcers refer to the set of favourable
events or outcomes that are presented to the individual after the behaviour only if the
behaviour is accepted or expected from the individual. Negative reinforcers entail the
removal of unwanted or adverse outcomes after the display of a behaviour. The response in
these situations is strengthened by the removal of something that is considered unpleasant.
While in positive reinforcement, a reward follows a suitable behaviour (like a treat after a
child has completed her homework), in negative reinforcement, an unpleasant behavioural
outcome (like the screaming of a child) is removed by providing a temporary solution (like a
treat), thereby negatively reinforcing the behaviour (Payne & Dozier, 2013).
Positive and negative punishment: Positive punishment (or punishment by
application) emphasises the presentation of an unfavourable event after an unacceptable

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behaviour is encountered. It establishes the feeling that an unacceptable behaviour will be
responded by an unfavourable repercussion (e.g. spanking for misbehaving with adults)
which weakens the responsive behaviour. Alternately, negative punishment entails that a
certain favourable event or outcome is removed as a consequence of an unacceptable
behaviour (e.g. if a child misbehaves with an adult, take away his toys). It establishes the fact
that an unacceptable behaviour will result in the loss of something valuable and close to the
individual (Slocum & Vollmer, 2015).
Most of child learning and development entails both these theories of behaviourism.
Early childhood is the phase that is characterised by heavy trialling of situations and
behaviours in children (Hoffnung & Seiffert, 1997). They may want something from a store,
for instance, and can either ask politely of propose aggressively. The repercussions of their
behaviour tells them which would be acceptable by the wish granting authority and which
would consequently bring about harsh outcomes. Socio – cultural factors also play a
significant role in determining which pattern of behaviour will be followed and developed in
a child. For instance, if a child grows up in a family where domestic violence is a routine, the
child may get desensitised to the act of violence and may grow up to display aggressive
behaviour during his interactions (Straus, Gelles & Steinmetz, 2017). In that sense, positive
punishment would be a redundant approach to modifying his behaviour. Instead, positive
reinforcement might be a better and more suitable alternative as it would tell the child that
there are alternate ways of getting attention or obtaining what they want than absolute display
of aggression (Tasimi & Young, 2016).
Most children learn behavioural traits through the process of reinforcement and
punishment. In homes as well as in schools, parents and educators are concerned about the
way a particular child behaves. Therefore, their actions are directed towards evaluating the
child’s current behaviour and providing either positive or negative reinforcement, or positive

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or negative punishment. Feedback or consequences form a large aspect of behaviourism.
Positive feedback tells the student that their behaviour is acceptable and they should maintain
that whereas the type of consequences entailed in a behaviour tells the student that there are
certain behavioural modifications that they need to take care of, failing which would result in
a harsh outcome that would not be suitable for the child.
While the aspects of operant conditioning is more viewed in child learning and
development, there are moderate underpinnings of classical conditioning as well which is
more pronounced in the infancy development stage. An infant is responsive to audio-visual
cues than names, but in her mind, she is able to connect a particular aural cue to a particular
response. For instance, if the child is made to respond by making a clicking sound while
preceding the clicking sound with a name, let’s say ‘Anna’ (Anna – click click), the name
soon becomes a conditioned stimulus for the baby and she would start responding to the
name instead of the clicking sound.
Conclusion
A lot of child learning and development happens through interactions with the
environment. A child’s behaviour is heavily influenced by the type of feedback s/he receives
from an authority s/he views as his/her superior. Therefore, the type of behavioural
modifications that is expected to be seen in a child is determined by the type of response that
entails the child’s behaviour. Behaviourist approach perfectly sums up the whole learning and
development stage of a child and tells the child in retrospect that there are certain
repercussions to their actions. This in turn is internalised by the child and based on that
reflection, the child behaviour is amended or preserved. Thus, in conclusion, the behaviourist
approach determines how child development progresses in a particular manner that is suited
for the society and the individual demands and needs.

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References
Gormezano, I., Prokasy, W. F., & Thompson, R. F. (2014). Classical conditioning.
Psychology Press.
Hoffnung, R. J., & Seifert, K. L. (1997). Child and adolescent development. Boston, MA:
Houghton Mifflin.
Malim, T. (2017). Introductory psychology. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Murtonen, M., Gruber, H., & Lehtinen, E. (2017). The return of behaviourist epistemology: A
review of learning outcomes studies. Educational Research Review, 22, 114-128.
Payne, S. W., & Dozier, C. L. (2013). Positive reinforcement as treatment for problem
behavior maintained by negative reinforcement. Journal of Applied Behavior
Analysis, 46(3), 699-703.
Richelle, M. N. (2016). BF Skinner-a Reappraisal. Routledge.
Ruan, X., & Wu, X. (2013). The skinner automaton: A psychological model formalizing the
theory of operant conditioning. Science China Technological Sciences, 56(11), 2745-
2761.
Skinner, B. F. (2014). Contingencies of reinforcement: A theoretical analysis (Vol. 3). BF
Skinner Foundation.
Slocum, S. K., & Vollmer, T. R. (2015). A comparison of positive and negative
reinforcement for compliance to treat problem behavior maintained by escape.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 48(3), 563-574.
Straus, M. A., Gelles, R. J., & Steinmetz, S. K. (2017). Behind closed doors: Violence in the
American family. Routledge.
Tasimi, A., & Young, L. (2016). Memories of good deeds past: The reinforcing power of
prosocial behavior in children. Journal of experimental child psychology, 147, 159-
166.

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Tighe, T. J., & Leaton, R. N. (2016). Habituation: Perspectives from child development,
animal behavior, and neurophysiology. Routledge.