Applications of Theories Parents May Find Helpful

This blog is to provide parents at home a perspective on the history of behaviorism and how behaviorism can relate to a child's education, in specific the theories of Burrhus Frederick Skinner. Behaviorism generally became popular in the early twentieth century, with psychologists such as E.C. Tolman, Pavlov, and E.R. Guthrie doing experiments and writing about behaviorism. The most widely known example of behaviorist research is Pavlov's experiments with conditioning dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell, by feeding them every time he rang a bell. This is not the kind of behaviorism we would recommend for parents trying to help their students outside the classroom. Skinner believed that a person's surroundings effect how they act. So if a child has a supportive and education rich home then it follows in Skinners version of behaviorism that a child will be more successful in his or her education. Also Skinner's Theories on Reinforcement tells us that a student can learn anything if he or she is exposed to the subject enough. So parents, if your child is having trouble with learning to read, write, do mathematics or any subject, just be patient with them. Not every student will progress at the same rate as the class or in the same sequence. Focus on what they already know and use gentle repetition to help them learn, this does not have to be a chore! Make games that you and your child can do together. For example, to help them learn the alphabet give your child a sheet with one or two letters on them and while driving have them identify and say out loud the letters from their sheet that they see on licence plates. For mathematics make cut out numbers or flash cards and jumble them up on a table, then select two or more ramdom numbers and have your child add, subtract, multipy or divide them. Get creative, there are also many game ideas online! www.funbrain.com is a great site to start.