Describe the scenario and the behavior you would like to change. Use the language of behavioral theory and operant conditioning to describe your scenario.

Alex, a 12-year-old boy, has a bad habit of throwing his backpack and clothes all around the lounge after coming back home. His parents do not like this behavior and are determined to change it.

Alex’s parents started his training through operant conditioning to teach him to hang his clothes and backpack upon his return.

During training, Alex receives chocolate and praise from his parents every time he hangs his clothes and backpack.

As the desired behavior becomes stable in Alex, his parents sometimes give him the chocolate, and other times, they only praise his actions. They are intentionally using the principles of behavioral theory.

Targeted Response: What is the behavior you want to see occur?

The behavior you want to see occur is the habit of hanging clothes and backpacks after returning home.

Alex’s parents want to up bring their child with good manners and develop a habit of cleanliness. 

Primary Reinforcer

Chocolate is used as a primary reinforcer to positively reinforce the behavior of hanging clothes and backpacks.

Chocolate is an effective primary reinforcer for children, as they are often motivated by sweets (Jessel et al., 2020; Szabo, 2019).

Secondary Reinforcer

Praising the child for hanging the clothes and backpack is used as a secondary reinforcement. 

Children feel happy and motivated when they receive admiration for their good behavior, making praise an effective tool to encourage repeated acts (Leijten et al., 2019).

Schedules of Reinforcement

Alex’s parents will use a combination of variable-ratio and variable-interval schedules. 

Variable ratio, Alex will receive chocolate after a variable number of times he hangs his clothes and backpack.

 Cariable-interval, he will receive chocolate after a variable time period of consistently hanging his uppers and backpack daily.

This combination will help to make the habit of hanging clothes and backpacks more permanent with a reduced likelihood of extinction (Johnson et al., 2022).

Shaping

Initially, Alex’s parents will provide chocolate every time he hangs his clothes and backpack to establish the behavior.

Once he becomes accustomed to this, they will switch to variable reinforcement (variable ratio and variable interval) to maintain his motivation and consistent performance (Hargreaves et al., 2020).

Optional follow-up: In this area, add any additional comments you would like to make about the operant conditioning exercise (not required).

It is essential for parents to teach their children basic manners and responsibilities during their teenage years. 

Operant conditioning and reinforcement are effective strategies to achieve this goal. The habits and behaviors children learn during their formative years tend to stay with them into adulthood (Simanjuntak et al., 2022).