Friday, October 18, 2013

WHY PUNISHMENT MAY NOT ALWAYS WORK (THE EXAMPLE CASE OF 5 YEAR OLD BEN)


     For several years, researchers have been trying to determine whether certain consequences of behavior will have a positive or negative effect on overall learning. One particular case where this may be questioned concerns a 5 year old boy named Ben who was spanked after he was caught stealing from a store. After reviewing the details of this case, I do not agree that the consequence of spanking will teach this child that the behavior is wrong. This is because there are several other negative issues that can occur when using this method to shape behavior. Many of these may also have devastating effects on the quality of Ben’s overall psychological well-being. Therefore, the overall purpose of this paper will be to further discuss this issue by addressing the following two questions:
1. What could Ben learn from this punishment and why is it incompatible for the behavior?
2. What learning model and/or theory best provides supportive evidence for my position?
What could Ben learn from this punishment and why is it incompatible for the behavior?
     According to (Chance. 2009) “observational learning may be defined as a change in behavior due to the experience of observing a model” (p. 276). Many believe that this type of learning can occur within several different areas of our lives even without a model. When conducting observational learning, there are also two basic procedures that may be used during the process. The first process is called vicarious reinforcement and this is when an observer will see a model’s behavior produce reinforcement. While, the second process is called vicarious punishment and this is when an observer will see a model’s behavior get punished. 
Although, both of these procedures may acquire different results, they can still be responsible for shaping an observers behavior. Since, this is the case many may also question how an observer’s behavior can be shaped when using the procedures of observational learning. For instance, in Ben’s case, it was suggested that the model (his trusted caretaker) should use vicarious punishment to acquire the desired behavior of learning that stealing is wrong. However, I believe that vicarious punishment is an incompatible procedure to use in this case. One reason for this is because the punishment may be so psychologically and/or physically traumatizing that Ben will remember that, over the behavior that his caretaker was trying to shape. If this is the case, then there is a smaller chance that the desired behavior will be repeated in the future. A second reason that I do not think that spanking should be used is because that particular punishment may cause Ben to develop several psychological issues. Some of these may include low self-esteem, low self-worth, anxiety, depression, a desire for isolation, mistrust in others and/or, one specific social model learning behavior known as “Transmission of Aggression Through Imitation of Aggressive Models(Chance. 2009).
What learning model and/or theory best provides supportive evidence for my position?
     Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models can occur when an observer learns and imitates an aggressive behavior that was initially taught via a respected model. One specific theory that supports this idea is Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory. In one particular experiment, he placed a group of young children in different scenarios with an adult and a doll. In the first part of the experiment, the children observed an adult spanking, yelling at and tossing the doll. In the second part of the experiment, a different group of children observed the adult playing with the doll in a non-violent manner. However, in the last part of the experiment, a third group of children observed no abuse or positive play among the adult and doll. The outcome of this overall experiment showed that only those children who observed aggressive behavior toward the doll became aggressive toward it themselves. Therefore, the results indicated that aggressive behaviors can be learned by direct observation through a model. In this case, the children also learned that the adult never received punishment for exhibiting aggressive behavior, so this may have encouraged them to exhibit the same undesirable behavior (Chance. 2009).
When considering this particular theory, Bandura also believed that observational learning may only occur when four specific factors are included. These are as follows:
1. The observer must give attention to the behavior - In Ben’s case there is a good chance that he will give full attention to the behavior because spanking is a painful physical punishment. Furthermore, he may be more attentive to this behavior because it could also cause major psychological distress during the overall process. 
2. The observer can retain the behavior that the model exhibited - If Ben can remember how the model completed the behavior of spanking, than it will be easier for him to imitate this at a later time. When considering spanking as a punishment, it may also be very easy to remember because the behavior is simple compared to other punishments that may be more complex.
3. The observer must have the motor skills required to carry out the models behavior - This is very important because it can greatly determine who might imitate certain behavior and who will not. In this case, if Ben has the cognitive ability to understand and process the behavior of spanking, then he will be able to carry out this punishment in the future.
4. The observer must possess the motivation needed to exhibit the models behavior - In this case, if Ben’s caretaker spanks him and he observes no negative consequence for her behavior, then he may begin to view it as acceptable and/or desired behavior. This skewed cognitive thinking may lead him to believe that punishment like spanking is acceptable reinforcement to use with his own children. If this occurs, he may then become motivated to try and shape their behavior by using spanking as a punishment. In this case, he will also initiate the next cycle of generational abuse and his children may experience similar psychological and/or physical issues.
Conclusion
     For many years, researchers have been studying how using punishment as reinforcement can have both positive and negative effects when used to shape behavior. After reviewing the case involving a five-year-old boy named Ben, I stated that I do not agree that spanking may be the best punishment technique to use in this case. One main reason for this belief is because when using this punishment, it may not shape Ben’s behavior to learn that stealing is wrong and could cause several different psychological issues during the overall process. These could include low self-esteem, low self-worth, anxiety, depression, a desire for isolation, mistrust in others.
A second thing that Ben could learn through this reinforcement procedure is aggression. Since, this is the case I also discussed one specific social model learning behavior known as “Transmission of Aggression Through Imitation of Aggressive Models. This theory explains and supports the idea that Ben could end up learning the aggressive behavior of spanking through direct observation of his respected model. I also provided supportive evidence of this by discussing a specific experiment that was conducted by Bandura. He analyzed a group of children and confirmed that they will repeat or imitate aggressive behaviors after direct observation of a model. Therefore, if this happens to Ben and these issues are not addressed accordingly they may greatly reduce the quality of Ben’s overall level of psychological well-being. He may also repeat this course of punishment to shape behavior within his own family environment in the future.   

Reference:

Chance, P. (2009). Learning and behavior. (6 ed.). Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.

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