Skinner's Theory Influence Current Practice

In Lauren Slater’s book, “Opening Skinner’s Box,” we discover in the first three chapters the mysteries behind a few psychological experiments and the discoveries that three profound psychologists have made. Each chapter is about a different psychologist, the first is B.F. Skinner; a behaviorist who designed a process of learning in which behavior is controlled, he called this operant conditioning. Lauren Slater wanted people to know about his experiment, she read his books, talked to friends and family members to unearth the features behind this man. She found that he was a loving father, who could train animals to do unordinary things, like play the piano for an example, through the processes of operant conditioning,

Opening Skinner’s Box by Lauren Slater tells of experiments conducted by a physiologist named B.F. Skinner and controversies that surrounded them. Since some people did not agree with Skinner and his experiments, legends were created regarding him. One of these legends being that, “He built a baby box in which he kept his daughter Deborah for two full years in order to train her, tracking her progress on a grid.” (Slater 7) Skinner strived to shape the behavior of people, so while he did build his daughter, Deborah, a baby box to test out theories and experiments, she did not spend a full 2 years of her life in this “baby box” as the legend says. However, since there was some controversies surrounding Skinner’s experiments legends such as these

Cognitive development is the process that leads to the emergence of the ability to think and understand (Siegler, DeLoache, Eisenberg, & Saffran, 2014). This process involves the “development of thinking and reasoning” (Siegler et al., 2014, p.15) throughout childhood, including the growth of capabilities such as “perception, attention, language, problem solving, reasoning, memory, conceptual understanding, and intelligence” (Siegler et al., 2014, p. 131). Children contribute to their development through self-initiated activity even before they are born, by practicing breathing and digestive processes and exercising

Jean Piaget was a Twentieth century Swiss psychologist and was the first psychologist to systematically study the cognitive development of children. Thomas (2005) wrote that early in Piaget’s career he worked with children and his observations and interactions with the students led him to the theory that a young person's cognitive processes are inherently different from those of adults (pp. 188-9). According to Ahmad, et al. (2005), Piaget showed that when compared to adults, young children think in differently and he then came to the conclusion that cognitive development was an ongoing process which occurred due to maturation and interaction with the environment (p. 72).

Development is a gradual and continuous process. The development of children is greatly influenced through interactions with the family, friends and culture. Children learn from seeing how they are treated, overhearing the interactions of the people around them and observing the things we do all throughout the day. Fully understanding how children grown and change over the course of childhood requires us to look into various child development theories such as psychosocial, cognitive, behaviourist and ecological theories, to name a few. The various development theories could greatly help us in guiding and caring for children. As every child is unique and does have different experiences, there is no single theory that can effectively explain

Studies confirm that high-quality education early in a child’s life leads to continued success in school, at work, and results in a healthier well-rounded student who is emotionally and socially strong. In most early childhood programs and schools, technology will be part of the learning background of the future. To make sure this new technology is used effectively, we must confirm that teachers are fully trained and supported. In this paper, theoretical perspectives of child development are discussed with the basic elements of learning program.

This assignment is in two parts. The first part of this assignment would attempt to use the theories of human development to explain the child behaviour observed during child observation at the preschool while the second part of this assignment would propose an intervention on a scenario at my practice placement. I would demonstrate my critical understanding of the theories and evaluate their relevance for evidence-informed and value-based practice.

Development refers to the pattern of continuity and change in human capabalities that occurs throughout the course of life (King, 2008). Children development is is a part of human development that refers to a biological, emotional, and psychological changes that take a place in human beings between birth to adult.

Both behaviorism and psychoanalysis do not believe in the concept of free will in humans and they are both deterministic. Behavioral approach assets that the environment and the consequences of behavior control people while psychoanalysis believe that people are controlled by their unconscious drives. Through his observations, Freud believed that childhood experiences could lead to emotional problems in adulthood. Skinner in his experiment proved that behavior that produces pleasurable consequences is likely to be repeated whilst that which produces negative consequences is stamped out.

Many theorists discuss ways in which children are developing. Physically, emotionally, socially and language progressions. Within the early childhood sector, the study of children's development is vividly important as teachers learn to observe the children's individual learning patterns and habits. The practical knowledge of how to develop a child further will assist in utilising the children's skills and holistic development to their fullest potential, however, knowing how to practically aid children in the separate developmental domains is also key as individual kids need more help in some areas than others.

Developmental psychology relates to the changes in behaviour and abilities that transpire over time as development advances. (Harwood & Miller, 2008). Infancy and childhood is a time of rapid development of social, sensory and cognitive abilities. Infants acquire perceptual and motor skills which allow them to comprehend the world they live in. Cognitive development is “the growth of cognitive abilities and capacities from birth to old age” (Colman, 2008). In this essay I will address Piagetian Theory, the cognitive performance of children from age seven to eleven, (the concrete operational period), and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development.

As most people know scaffolding is a temporary structure which aids in construction work for workers to build or repair buildings. The scaffolding will be removed once the building is able to support itself. In a learning context, the metaphor of scaffolding was first introduced by Wood, Bruner, and Ross in 1976. The same as the builders, teachers provide temporary support to help learners to develop new concepts, new skills, and new knowledge. Once the learners acquire the skills, the teachers will remove the support. Through this activity, the teachers assure that the learners are able to participate fully in the curriculum. As the supports given by the teacher the learners allow them to transfer their skills and knowledge to

The first theorist introduced is Piaget and his theory was based on “the understanding of how children and adolescents think and learn” (198). The second theorist introduced is Vygotsky and his theory was influenced by Karl Marx’s proposal “that historical changes in society have significant impact on how people think and behave” (215). Piaget used a clinical method, in order to seek his theory of cognitive development. This allowed Piaget to understand how children and adolescents learn. On the other hand, Vygotsky used tangible items like stories, paper, and writing utensils to determine how the society would move forward. An educational difference from Vygotsky is that parents, teachers, and other adults has having an impact on how children learn and grow. However, Piaget found that

Having the right knowledge, skills and experience in understanding how children or young people develop are very important tools for early years practitioners. We must put to mind that each child born to this world is unique; they are born with different characters and their personalities and behaviours are formed and influenced by variety of factors. These factors may affect their ways of interacting to the environment and community or setting in which they live in.

Learning is the continuum of two poles, which Piaget (18) and other child experts have pointed out, is often related to a transition from concrete to abstract thinking and proceeds through trial - and - error method, rather than through a child instantly knowing what is ‘right’. The child, who developmentally, has not learned how to look at a problem from various viewpoints, is unlikely to have ready useful referents internalised in his mental schema to make him ready for instant ‘right’ comprehension; a comprehension based very often on teacher expectations,