CHAPTER 9
Strategies for encouraging productive behavior and discouraging undesirable ones
Although some unpleasant consequences can definitely reduce undesirable behaviors, most contemporary behaviorists suggest that we emphasize the positive, looking for and reinforcing what's right with students' behaviors. For instance, as teachers, we must be sure that productive student behaviors (e.g., completing assignments on time and working cooperatively with peers) typically lead to either intrinsic or extrinsic reinforcement. Meanwhile, we should be careful not to reinforce counterproductive behaviors. If we repeatedly allow Carol to turn in assignments late because she says she "forgot" her homework and if we often let Caleb get his way by bullying his peers, then we're reinforcing and thus potentially increasing Carol's irresponsibility and Caleb's aggressiven In the next few pages, we'll translate behaviorist principles into a variety of strategies for encouraging productive classroom behaviors and—often indirectly—also reducing counterproductive ones.
Positive behavioral interventations and support:
An approach known as positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) takes the process a step further: After identifying the purposes that inappropriate behaviors might serve, a teacher—or, more often, a team of teachers and other professionals— develops and carries out a plan to encourage appropriate behaviors. In particular, PBIS involves strategies such as these Teach behaviors that can serve the same purpose as (and can therefore replace) inappropriate behaviors. Modify the school environment to minimize conditions that might trigger inappropriate behaviors. Establish a predictable daily routine as a way of minimizing anxiety and making the student feel more comfortable and secure. Give the student opportunities to make choices; in this way, the student can often gain desired outcomes without having to resort to inappropriate behavior. Make adaptations in the curriculum, instruction, or both to maximize the likelihood of academic success (e.g., build on the student's interests, present material at a slower pace, intersperse challenging tasks among easier and more enjoyable ones). Monitor the frequency of various behaviors to determine whether the intervention is working or, instead, requires modification. (Crone & Horner, 2003; Ruef, Higgins, Glaeser, & Patnode, 1998; Scheuermann & Hall, 2016; Wheeler & Richey, 2014)
APPLIED behavior analysis
Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a group of procedures that systematically apply behaviorist principles in a concerted, preplanned effort to change one or more individuals' behavior. (You might also see such terms as behavior modification, behavior therapy, and contingency management.) Applied behavior analysis is based on the assumptions that (a) behavior problems result from past and present environmental conditions and (b) modifying a learner's present environment will promote more productive behaviors. Consistent with behaviorist traditions, teachers and therapists who use ABA focus on specific, concrete responses, which they call target behaviors. Sometimes, interventions are aimed at increasing certain (presumably desirable) target behaviors. At other times interventions are designed to decrease certain (presumably undesirable) target behaviors. When teachers and therapists use ABA to help a student acquire more appropriate classroom behavior, they typically use strategies such as these Describe target behaviors in objectively measurable terms. Identify one or more effective reinforcers. Develop a specific intervention or treatment plan that may involve reinforcement of desired behaviors, shaping, extinction, reinforcement of incompatible behaviors, punishment, or some combination of these strategies. Give explicit instruction related to desired behaviors. Measure the frequency of target behaviors both before the intervention (i.e., at baseline level) and during the intervention in order to monitor the intervention's effectiveness; modify the program if necessary. Take steps to promote generalization of new behaviors (e.g., through practice in various realistic situations). Gradually phase out the treatment (e.g., through intermittent reinforcement) after desired behaviors are occurring regularly The systematic use of behaviorist strategies such as these can lead to significant improvements in academic performance and classroom behavior. For example, when we systematically reinforce students for academic accomplishments, we're apt to see noticeable progress in such areas as reading, spelling, creative writing, and math. And when we regularly reinforce appropriate classroom behaviors—perhaps paying attention to lessons, cooperating with classmates, or responding constructively to someone else's aggressive actions—misbehaviors decrease (S. N. Elliott & Busse, 1991; Evertson & Weinstein, 2006; Greer et al., 2013; Piersel, 1987). One likely reason that ABA often works so well is that it gives students clear and consistent messages about which behaviors are acceptable and which are not. Another likely reason is that through the gradual process of shaping, students begin to practice new behaviors only when they're truly ready to acquire those behaviors; thus, the probability of achieving success and getting reinforcement is quite high
Addressing counterprductive emotional responses
As teachers, how can we weaken conditioned responses that interfere with students' learning and performance? One effective way to extinguish a negative emotional reaction to a particular conditioned stimulus is to introduce the stimulus slowly and gradually while a student is happy, relaxed, or in some other way feeling good (M. C. Jones, 1924; Ricciardi, Luiselli, & Camare, 2006; Wolpe & Plaud, 1997). For example, if Becca is afraid of deep water because of a near-drowning incident at some point in her past, we might begin swimming lessons someplace where she feels at ease—perhaps on dry land or in a wading pool—and move to a deeper pool only as she begins to feel more comfortable. And if Bobby gets overly anxious every time he encounters a math problem, we might revert to very easy problems—those he can readily solve—and gradually increase the difficulty of his assignments only as he demonstrates greater competence and self-confidence. There's nothing like success to help students feel good about being at school. One way to promote student success is to structure the classroom environment so that appropriate behaviors lead to desirable consequences and inappropriate behaviors do not, as we'll see in the next section
Addressing especially difficult classroom behaviors
Behaviorist principles can be extremely helpful in tackling difficult and chronic behavior problems. In this section, we consider four related approaches for addressing especially challenging behaviors. Often these approaches are planned and carried out by one or more teachers in consultation with a school psychologist or other specialist
Contrasting classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning
Classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning both involve stimuli and responses. But instrumental conditioning is different from classical conditioning in two important ways: The response is voluntary rather than involuntary. In classical conditioning, the learned response is typically out of the learner's control: It's an automatic, involuntary reaction to a conditioned stimulus. In instrumental conditioning, however, the learner has considerable decision-making power regarding the response to be made. For example, in the opening case study, James can choose whether or not to make inappropriate comments, toss paper airplanes, or tease classmates; nothing in his classroom environment is forcing him to do these things. The voluntary nature of responses in instrumental conditioning is an important one for teachers to keep in mind. In order for such conditioning to occur, learners must first make a response. Many educational applications of behaviorist principles, then, involve getting students physically and actively engaged in working with academic subject matter.
Classical conditioning of involuntar emotional responses
Classical conditioning can help us understand how people learn a variety of involuntary responses, especially responses associated with physiological processes, emotions, and other relatively "thoughtless" aspects of human functioning (e.g., Mineka & Zinbarg, 2006; J. B. Watson & Rayner, 1920). Following are two examples of how unpleasant emotional responses might be learned through classical conditioning. Notice that in each case, two stimuli are presented together: One stimulus already elicits a response, and the second stimulus begins to elicit a similar response as a result of the pairing. Bobby misses a month of school because of illness. When he returns to school, he doesn't know how to do the long division problems his teacher is now assigning. After a number of frustrating experiences with the assignments, he begins to feel anxious whenever he encounters a division task Beth's teacher catches her writing a note to a friend during class. The teacher reads the note to the entire class, revealing some very personal, private information that embarrasses her. Beth now feels extremely uncomfortable whenever she goes into that teacher's classroom As teachers, we should create a classroom environment in which stimuli—including our own behaviors—are likely to elicit such pleasant responses as enjoyment or excitement, not fear or anxiety. When students associate school with pleasurable circumstances, they soon learn that school is a place they want to be. But when they encounter unpleasant stimuli in school—perhaps public humiliation or constant frustration and failure—they may eventually learn to fear or dislike a particular activity, subject area, teacher, or school in general.
The various forms that punishment can take
Historically, the use of punishment in schools has been controversial, and in fact, some forms of punishment do a great deal of harm. But under certain conditions, punishing consequences can be both effective and appropriate, especially when students seem to have little motivation to change their behavior for the better. All punishing consequences fall into one of two categories. Presentation punishment involves presenting a new stimulus, presumably something that a learner finds unpleasant and doesn't want. Scoldings and teacher scowls—if they lead to a reduction in the behavior they follow—are instances of presentation punishment. Removal punishment involves removing an existing stimulus or state of affairs, presumably one that a learner finds desirable and doesn't want to lose. Loss of a privilege, a fine or penalty (involving the loss of money or previously earned points), and grounding (i.e., restriction from certain pleasurable outside activities) are all examples of removal punishment. We authors have often seen or heard people use the term negative reinforcement when they're really talking about punishment. Remember, negative reinforcement is reinforcement, which increases a response, whereas punishment has the opposite effect. Table 9.3 can help you understand the distinction Consequences That Serve as Effective Punishment As a general rule, we should use only mild forms of punishment in the classroom. Following are several mild consequences that can be effective in reducing undesirable classroom behaviors: • A verbal reprimand, or scolding, is a brief statement communicating the message that a particular behavior is unacceptable and must stop. Although some students like the attention that a scolding can bring them (as James does in the opening case study), most students find verbal reprimands to be unpleasant and punishing. In general, reprimands are most effective when they're immediate, brief, unemotional, and, ideally, given quietly and in private. • A logical consequence is something that follows naturally or logically from a student's misbehavior; in other words, it's punishment that fits the crime. For example, if a student destroys a classmate's possession, a reasonable consequence is for the student to replace it or pay for a new one • A time-out is a specified period of time in which a student has no opportunity to receive the kinds of reinforcement to which classmates have access. For example, it might involve asking students to sit away from other students, where they must quietly watch an enjoyable activity in which classmates are participating. For more significant infractions, it might involve placing a student for a short time in a separate place that's dull and boring—perhaps a remote corner of the classroom or playground. • In-school suspension involves placing a student in a separate room with close adult supervision for one or more school days. The student spends each day working on regular class assignments but has little or no opportunity for interaction with peers—an aspect of school that's reinforcing for most students .An additional consequence worth noting is response cost—the loss either of a previously earned reinforcer or of an opportunity to obtain reinforcement. Response cost is especially effective when used in combination with reinforcement of appropriate behavior and when learners who make a few missteps within an overall pattern of desirable behavior lose only a little bit of what they've earned (J. M. Donaldson, DeLeon, Fisher, & Kahng, 2014; Hirst, Dozier, & Payne, 2016; Landrum & Kauffman, 2006).
Basic assumptions of behaviorism
In contrast to cognitive and contextual learning theorists—who often speculate about internal mental processes that cannot be directly observed—behaviorists focus on two things that can be easily seen and objectively measured. More specifically, behaviorists focus on (1) local conditions and events—that is, environmental stimuli (plural of stimulus; sometimes abbreviated as S)—and (2) learners' behaviors, or responses (sometimes abbreviated as R). Accordingly, behaviorism is sometimes called S-R psychology. Researchers and practitioners have found behaviorist concepts and principles to be quite useful in helping people of all ages acquire productive behaviors in classrooms and other settings. Underlying the behaviorist perspective are several key assumptions
Encouraging desired behaviors through antecedent stimuli and responses
In our discussion of reinforcement so far, we've focused on the consequences of behaviors. But stimuli and responses that precede a desired behavior—antecedent stimuli and antecedent responses—can have effects as well. Here we'll look at several phenomena that involve antecedent stimuli, as well as one phenomenon (behavioral momentum) that involves antecedent responses
Schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports
In recent years, some schools have successfully instituted schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) programs that encourage productive behaviors in all students (e.g., Freeman, Simonsen, McCoach, Sugai, Lombardi, & Horner, 2016; Muscott, Mann, & LeBrun, 2008). These programs typically include most or all of the following • Explicitly defining and teaching appropriate behaviors, including productive ways of getting desired outcomes • Designing a curriculum and implementing instructional practices tailored to students' current needs and ability levels • Giving students opportunities to make choices • Regularly reinforcing students for behaving appropriately, almost always with praise but often also with token reinforcers that can be traded for special prizes and privileges • Providing considerable guidance and support (sometimes including individualized interventions) for students who need them • Continually monitoring the program's effectiveness by examining the frequencies of office referrals, disciplinary actions, and other relevant data
In general terms, classical conditioning is a three-step process, as shown in Figure 9.1:
It begins with a stimulus-response association that already exists—in other words, an unconditioned S-R association. Pavlov's dog salivates automatically whenever it smells meat, and Alan becomes upset and backs away whenever he encounters an object that causes him pain. When a stimulus already leads to a particular response in the situation at hand, we say that an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) elicits an unconditioned response (UCR). 1 The unconditioned response is typically an automatic, involuntary one over which the learner has little or no control. Conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus—one that doesn't elicit any noteworthy response—is presented immediately before the unconditioned stimulus. In the case of Pavlov's dog, a light is presented immediately before the meat. In the case of Alan, a baseball is pitched immediately before the painful impact. Conditioning is especially likely to occur when both stimuli are presented together on several occasions and when the neutral stimulus occurs only when the unconditioned stimulus is about to follow (R. R. Miller & Barnet, 1993; Rachlin, 1991). Sometimes one pairing is enough, especially if the unconditioned stimulus is a very painful or frightening one Before long, the new stimulus also elicits a response—usually one that's very similar to the unconditioned response. At this point, the neutral stimulus has become a conditioned stimulus (CS), and the response to it has become a conditioned response (CR). For example, Pavlov's dog acquires a conditioned response of salivation to a new, conditioned stimulus—the light. Likewise, Alan acquires conditioned responses of increased heart rate and withdrawal—both of which reflect anxiety—to a rapidly approaching baseball. Like the unconditioned response, the conditioned response is an involuntary one: It occurs automatically every time the conditioned stimulus is presented
Cueing innappropiate behaviors
Just as we can use cueing to remind students about what they should be doing, we can also cue them about what they should not be doing. For example, we might use body language—perhaps making eye contact and raising an eyebrow—or physical proximity— moving closer to the student and standing there until the problem behavior stops. When subtlety doesn't work, a brief verbal cue may be in order—perhaps stating a student's name or (if necessary) pointing out an inappropriate behavior (e.g., "Lucy, put away your cell phone").
learning from consequences: instrumental condiditoning
Mark is a student in Ms. Ferguson's geography class. Let's look at what happens to him during the first week in October: Monday: Ms. Ferguson asks students where Colombia is. Mark knows that Colombia is at the northern tip of South America. He sits smiling, with his hands in his lap, hoping to be called on. Instead, Ms. Ferguson calls on another student. • Tuesday: Ms. Ferguson asks the class where Colombia got its name. Mark reasonably guesses that it was named after Christopher Columbus, so he raises his hand a few inches. Ms. Ferguson calls on another student. • Wednesday: Ms. Ferguson asks the class why Colombia's official language is Spanish rather than, say, English or French. Mark knows that Colombians speak Spanish because many of the country's early European settlers came from Spain. He raises his hand high in the air. Ms. Ferguson calls on another student. • Thursday: Ms. Ferguson asks the class why Colombia grows coffee but Canada doesn't. Mark knows that coffee can grow only in certain climates. He raises his hand high and waves it wildly back and forth. Ms. Ferguson calls on him. • Friday: Whenever Ms. Ferguson asks a question Mark can answer, he raises his hand high and waves it wildly about.
Reinforcing incompatable behaviors
Often we can reduce the frequency of an unproductive behavior simply by reinforcing an alternative behavior. Ideally, the two behaviors are incompatible behaviors, in that they cannot both be performed at the same time. For example, try the following exercise Obviously, there are many possible right answers. For instance, sitting is incompatible with standing. Eating crackers is incompatible with singing—or at least with singing well. Checking your cell phone for new messages is incompatible with paying attention to a class lecture. In each case, it's impossible to perform both activities at exactly the same time. When our attempts at extinction or cueing are unsuccessful, reinforcement of one or more behaviors that are incompatible with a problem behavior can often be quite effective (K. Lane, Falk, & Wehby, 2006; S. W. Payne & Dozier, 2013; Pipkin, Vollmer, & Sloman, 2010). This is the approach we're taking when we reinforce a hyperactive student for sitting quietly: Sitting is incompatible with getting-out-of-seat and roaming-around-theroom behaviors. It's also an approach we might use to deal with forgetfulness (we reinforce students when they remember to do what they're supposed to do), being off-task (we reinforce on-task behavior), and verbal abusiveness (we reinforce prosocial statements). And consider how we might deal with a chronic litterbug (Krumboltz & Krumboltz, 1972): Walt often leaves banana peels, sunflower seed shells, and other garbage in and outside the school building. When the school faculty establishes an Anti-Litter Committee, it puts Walt on the committee, and the committee eventually elects him as its chair. Under Walt's leadership, the committee institutes an anti-litter campaign, complete with posters and lunchroom monitors, and Walt receives considerable recognition for the campaign's success. Subsequently, school personnel no longer find Walt's garbage littering the building and school grounds.
Building on existing stimulus-response
One possible explanation of Alan's behavior is classical conditioning, a theory that explains how we sometimes learn new responses as a result of two stimuli being presented at approximately the same time. Alan experienced two stimuli—an oncoming baseball and its painful impact—almost simultaneously. The ways in which Alan now responds to a pitched ball—his physiological reaction and withdrawal behavior—are ones he didn't exhibit before his painful experience with the baseball. Thus, learning has occurred. Classical conditioning was first described by Ivan Pavlov (e.g., 1927), a Russian physiologist who was conducting research about salivation. Pavlov often used dogs in his research projects and presented meat to get them to salivate. He noticed that the dogs frequently began to salivate as soon as they heard a lab assistant coming down the hall, even though they couldn't yet smell the meat that the assistant was bringing. Curious about this phenomenon, Pavlov conducted an experiment to examine more systematically how a dog might learn to salivate in response to a new stimulus. His experiment went something like this Pavlov first flashes a light and sees that the dog doesn't salivate, as depicted in the following diagram: Pavlov flashes the light a second time and presents meat immediately afterward. He repeats this procedure several more times, and the dog always salivates. The dog is demonstrating something it already knows how to do—salivate to meat— and hasn't yet learned anything new. We can symbolize Pavlov's second observation like so: After a sequence of such light-and-meat pairings, Pavlov flashes only the light, with no meat within range of sight or smell. The dog salivates once again—in other words, it has learned a new response to the light stimulus. We can symbolize Pavlov's third observation this way
Creating conditions of extinciton
One way to reduce the frequency of an inappropriate response is simply to make sure it's never reinforced. For example, a class clown whose antics are ignored might stop distracting his classmates, and a child who never gets what she wants by insulting others might begin to speak to them more respectfully. There are several points to keep in mind about extinction, however. First, once reinforcement stops, a previously reinforced response may initially increase for a short time (Lerman & Iwata, 1995; McGill, 1999). For example, imagine you have a television set that works only when you bang on it once or twice. At some point, something changes inside your TV that makes the banging ineffective; because you don't realize this at first, you bang it many times and very hard before you finally give up. In much the same way, students whose inappropriate behaviors have previously been reinforced may begin to behave even less appropriately once their original behaviors are no longer working for them. Fortunately, such increases in misbehavior are usually temporary, but they can certainly try our patience and perhaps tempt us into paying attention to—and thereby inadvertently reinforcing—the more extreme responses. Second, if we ignore a student's misbehavior in an effort to extinguish it, we must be sure that we don't ignore the student altogether. Instead, we should give a misbehaving student attention for doing things well, and perhaps also at random intervals throughout the school day (Austin & Soeda, 2008; Richman, Barnard-Brak, Grubb, Bosch, & Abby, 2015). Third, we may sometimes have situations in which removing a reinforcer has no noticeable effect on a student's counterproductive behavior. Perhaps the behavior has previously been reinforced only intermittently, thus making it fairly resistant to extinction (recall the earlier Molly-and-Maria example). Or perhaps the behavior is being reinforced in other ways—say, by classmates' attention or the release of pent-up energy. In such cases, one or more of the strategies that follow are probably in order
The various form reinforncement can take
Reinforcers come in all shapes and sizes, and different ones are effective for different individuals. We explore a few possibilities in the following exercise. There are no right or wrong answers to the preceding exercise; different people would agree to tutor classmates for different reasons. But you were probably able to identify at least one consequence in each situation that would entice you to give up your free time to help others
Using punishment when necessary
Some misbehaviors require an immediate remedy—for instance, they might interfere significantly with classroom learning or reflect total disregard for other people's rights and welfare. Consider this example: Bonnie doesn't handle frustration well. Whenever she encounters an obstacle she can't immediately overcome, she hits, punches, kicks, or breaks something. Once, during a class Valentine's Day party, she accidentally drops her cupcake. When she discovers that it's no longer edible, she throws her milk carton across the room, hitting another child on the head Bonnie's troublesome behaviors are hard to extinguish because they aren't being reinforced to begin with—at least not extrinsically. Also, there are no obvious incompatible responses that might be reinforced instead. And presumably, Bonnie's teacher has often cued her about her inappropriate behaviors. When other strategies are inapplicable or ineffective, punishment is a potentially viable alternative. A frequent criticism of punishment is that it's inhumane, or somehow cruel and barbaric. Indeed, certain forms of punishment, such as physical abuse and public humiliation, do constitute inhumane treatment. We must be extremely careful when we use punishment in the classroom. If administered judiciously, however, some forms of mild punishment can lead to rapid reductions in misbehavior without causing physical or psychological harm. And when we can decrease counterproductive classroom behaviors quickly and effectively—especially when those behaviors are harmful to self or others—punishment may, in fact, be one of the most humane approaches we can take (Lerman & Vorndran, 2002). Following are several guidelines for using punishment effectively and humanely:
Using reinforment effectively
Specify desired behaviors at the outset. Before beginning a lesson or behavioral intervention, behaviorists urge us to identify the desired end results in specific, concrete, observable terms. In doing so, we give both ourselves and our students targets to shoot for, and we can better determine whether everyone is making progress toward them. For example, rather than talk about the need for students to "Study world history," we might instead talk about them being able to "Describe the antecedents and outcomes of World War II." Rather than say that students should "Learn responsibility," we might instead talk about their need to "Follow instructions, bring the necessary books and supplies to class each day, and turn in assignments by their due dates." Keep in mind, however, that reinforcement only for accomplishing a certain task, perhaps at a minimally acceptable level, may focus students' attention and effort more on completing the activity than on learning from it. For this reason, we may often need to specify the quality of the desired behaviors. Especially if we want students to engage in complex cognitive processes—for example, to think critically and creatively about a topic—then extrinsic reinforcement simply for task accomplishment can be counterproductive (E. M. Anderman & Anderman, 2014; Deci & Ryan, 1985; McCaslin & Good, 1996). Educators are increasingly recognizing the importance of spelling out in advance the most important things that students should learn and achieve. You're apt to see a variety of terms for this idea—perhaps instructional goals, objectives, outcomes, competencies, benchmarks, and standards.
accomadating student with special needs
The structured, systematic use of behaviorist principles—such as those manifested in positive behavioral interventions and supports—can be especially effective with students who have cognitive, social, or behavioral disabilities. Table 9.4 offers specific recommendations for working with students who have various special needs. Behaviorist strategies are often important components of students' individual education programs (IEPs)
Functional analysis
Traditional ABA focuses largely on changing response-reinforcement contingencies to bring about more appropriate behavior. Some behaviorists suggest that we also consider the purposes, or functions, that certain inappropriate behaviors may serve for people—an approach known as functional analysis. (You might also see the terms functional assessment and functional behavioral assessment.) Functional analysis involves collecting data regarding the specific conditions (i.e., antecedent stimuli) in which students tend to misbehave and also the consequences (i.e., reinforcers, punishments, or both) that typically follow the misbehaviors. Thus, we would collect data related to the three parts of a stimulus-response-stimulus sequence, as depicted in the following diagram: For example, we've speculated that in the opening case study, James misbehaves in order to get the attention he apparently cannot get in more productive ways and possibly also to escape certain classroom tasks. Functional analyses have shown that students with chronic classroom behavior problems often misbehave when (a) they're asked to do difficult or unpleasant tasks (this is the antecedent) and (b) their misbehavior either allows them to escape these tasks or gains them the attention of others (these are possible consequences) (e.g., Austin, Groves, Reynish, & Francis, 2015; M. M. Mueller et al., 2011).
common phenomena in classical conditioning
Two common phenomena in classical conditioning are generalization and extinction. As you'll discover later in the chapter, variations of these phenomena occur in instrumental conditioning as well. Generalization When people acquire a conditioned response to a new stimulus, they may respond in the same way to similar stimuli—a phenomenon that behaviorists call generalization. For example, a boy who learns to feel anxious about long division problems may generalize the anxiety response to other kinds of math problems. And a girl who experiences humiliation in one classroom may generalize her feelings of embarrassment to other classrooms as well. Thus, we see a second reason that students should associate pleasant feelings with school subject matter: Students' reactions to a particular topic, activity, or context may generalize—that is, they may transfer—to other topics, activities, or contexts. Extinction Pavlov discovered that conditioned responses don't necessarily last forever. By pairing a light with meat, he conditioned a dog to salivate to the light alone. But later, when he repeatedly flashed the light without following it with meat, the dog salivated less and less. Eventually, the dog no longer salivated to the light flash. When a conditioned stimulus occurs repeatedly in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus—for example, when math is never again associated with failure or when a teacher is never again associated with humiliation—the conditioned response may decrease and eventually disappear. In other words, extinction can occur. Many conditioned responses do fade over time. Unfortunately, many others do not. For instance, children's classically conditioned fear of dogs or deep water—perhaps the result of a painful dog bite or near-drowning experience—can persist for years. One reason that fears and anxieties persist is that learners tend to avoid situations that elicit negative emotional reactions. But if they stay away from a stimulus that makes them fearful, they never have a chance to experience the stimulus in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus with which it was originally paired. As a result, they have no opportunity to learn to be unafraid—no opportunity for the response to undergo extinction.
Reflecting on the consequences you either intentionally or unintentionally impose
We have occasionally alluded to the idea that the consequences we impose won't always have the desired effects. Now we make this point more explicitly: We must frequently examine and critically reflect on the effects that our own actions might actually be having on our students' behaviors. For example, we should regularly ask ourselves and then answer questions such as these: • Am I reinforcing students for easy achievements when they're quite capable of accomplishing more challenging tasks, perhaps with a little bit of guidance and support? • Are my reprimands and other supposedly "punishing" consequences actually reinforcing some students because these students are eager to get my attention in any form? • Do some supposedly "punishing" consequences enable students to escape or avoid tasks they would rather not do—thus actually negatively reinforcing students for misbehaviors by removing them from an unpleasant situation? We must always keep in mind our ultimate goal: to create a classroom environment in which all students make significant progress both in their academic knowledge and skills and in the behaviors that will serve them well in their future in-school and outof-school lives.
Shaping new behaviors
What if a desired behavior has a baseline level of zero? How can we encourage a behavior that a student never exhibits at all, at least not in its ideal form? In such cases, behaviorists suggest gradually shaping the behavior: reinforcing a series of responses— known as successive approximations—that increasingly resemble the desired behavior. Shaping involves these steps 1. Reinforce any response that in some way resembles the desired behavior. 2. Reinforce a response that more closely approximates the desired behavior (while no longer reinforcing the previously reinforced response) 3. Reinforce a response that resembles the desired behavior even more closely. 4. Continue reinforcing closer and closer approximations to the desired behavior. 5. Reinforce only the desired behavior. Each response in the sequence is continuously reinforced until it occurs regularly. Only at that point do we begin reinforcing a behavior that more closely approaches the desired end result. As an example, imagine that we have a second grader who can't seem to sit still long enough to get much of anything done. We may actually want her to sit still for 20-minute periods, but we might first have to reinforce her for staying in her seat for just 2 minutes, gradually increasing the required sitting time as she makes progress. We can often use shaping to help students acquire complex physical and psychomotor skills. For example, in the early elementary grades, teachers gradually shape students' handwriting skills—for instance, expecting increasingly small and well-shaped letters (see Figure 9.2). And in secondary schools, physical education teachers and coaches may teach and expect increasingly proficient athletic skills (Harrison & Pyles, 2013; Stokes, Luiselli, & Reed, 2010). In much the same way, we can use shaping—and teachers often do so—to teach students to work independently on assignments. We begin by giving first-graders structured tasks that may take only 5 to 10 minutes to complete. As students move through the elementary school years, we expect them to work independently for longer periods and begin to give them short assignments to do at home. By the time students reach high school, they have extended study halls and complete lengthy assignments on their own after school hours. In the college years, student assignments require a great deal of independence and self-direction
Diversity in students behaviors and reactions to consequences
When we take a behaviorist perspective, we realize that every student brings a unique history of environments and experiences to the classroom, and such diversity is a key reason for the different behavior patterns we see. Some students may have associated particular stimuli with anxiety-arousing events (classical conditioning), and various students have undoubtedly been reinforced and punished—by parents, previous teachers, peers, and other community members—for different kinds of behaviors (instrumental conditioning). For example, some students may have been reinforced for completing tasks carefully and thoroughly, whereas others may have been reinforced for completing them quickly and with little regard for quality. Likewise, some students may have been reinforced for initiating interactions with age-mates, whereas others may have been punished (e.g., by peer ridicule or rejection) for similar outgoing behaviors. In some instances, diversity in students' behaviors is the result of the different behaviors that various cultural groups encourage (i.e., reinforce) and discourage (i.e., punish) in children Differences also exist in the consequences students find reinforcing, to some degree as a result of the cultures in which they've grown up. For instance, although many students from mainstream Western culture are apt to appreciate praise for their personal accomplishments, many students from Asian cultures are unaccustomed to public praise, preferring instead to have simple compliments given in private along with feedback that helps them improve on their weaknesses. And many Native American students may feel uncomfortable when praised for their work as individuals yet feel quite proud when they receive praise for group success—a preference that's consistent with the cooperative spirit of most Native American groups (Fuller, 2001; Hattie & Gan, 2011; Jiang, 2010; Kitayama, Duffy, & Uchida, 2007). In some cultural groups, reprimands may be used to communicate concern and affection. For example, on one occasion a teacher in Haiti was reprimanding students for proceeding across a parking lot without her:
