Читать книгу Lifespan Development - Tara L. Kuther - Страница 65

Perhaps it is human nature to notice that the consequences of our behavior influence our future behavior. A teenager who arrives home after curfew and is greeted with a severe scolding may be less likely to return home late in the future. An employer who brings coffee and muffins to her staff on Monday morning and then notices that her employees are in good spirits and productive may be more likely to bring them snacks in the future. These two examples illustrate the basic tenet of B. F. Skinner’s (1905–1990) theory of operant conditioning, which holds that behavior becomes more or less probable depending on its consequences. According to Skinner, a behavior followed by a rewarding or pleasant outcome, called reinforcement, will be more likely to recur, but one followed by an aversive or unpleasant outcome, called punishment, will be less likely to recur.

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Figure 1.4 Classical Conditioning in a Newborn

Classical conditioning has been observed in newborns, who naturally make sucking movements (unconditioned response) in response to sugar water (unconditioned stimulus). When stroking the forehead (neutral stimulus) is paired with sugar water, infants come to make sucking movements (conditioned response) in response to forehead strokes (conditioned stimulus).

Operant conditioning explains much about human behavior, including how we learn skills and habits. Behaviorist ideas about operant conditioning and the nature of human behavior are woven into the fabric of North American culture and are often applied to understand parenting and parent–child interactions (Troutman, 2015). Developmental scientists, however, tend to disagree with operant conditioning’s emphasis on external events (reinforcing and punishing consequences) over internal events (thoughts and emotions) as influences on behavior (Crain, 2016). That is, controlling a child’s environment can influence his or her development, but change can also occur through a child’s own thoughts and actions. A child can devise new ideas and learn independently, consistent with the lifespan concept that individuals are active contributors to their development.