Читать книгу Lifespan Development - Tara L. Kuther - Страница 390

Social learning theory views all behavior, including moral behavior, as acquired through reinforcement and modeling (Bandura, 1977; Grusec, 1992). Bandura and McDonald (1963) demonstrated that the moral judgments of young children could be modified through a training procedure involving social reinforcement and modeling. Parents and others naturally dole out reinforcement and punishment that shapes the child’s behavior. Modeling also plays a role in children’s moral development. Adults and other children serve as models for the child, demonstrating appropriate (and sometimes not!) actions and verbalizations. When children observe a model touching a forbidden toy, they are more likely to touch the toy. Some research suggests that children who observe a model resisting temptation are less likely to do so themselves (Rosenkoetter, 1973). However, models are more effective at encouraging rather than inhibiting behavior that violates a rule or expectation. Children are more likely to follow a model’s transgressions rather than his or her appropriate behavior.

Children are more likely to imitate behavior when the model is competent and powerful (Bandura, 1977). They are also more likely to imitate a model that is perceived as warm and responsive rather than cold and distant (Yarrow, Scott, & Waxler, 1973). Over the course of early childhood, children develop internalized standards of conduct based on reinforcements, punishments, and observations of models (Bandura, 1986; Mussen & Eisenberg-Berg, 1977). Those adopted standards and moral values are then internalized and used by children as guides for behavior (Grusec & Goodnow, 1994). In this way, children’s behavior is shaped to conform with the rules of society.