Understanding Children(TM)s Behaviour

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Managing Behaviour and Inclusive Learning

Understanding Children’s Behaviour

Behaviour is everything that we do or say, in our actions and our reactions.  From a very early age children learn from their relationships with the people around them, both adults and children close to them.  This circle of influence gradually widens, through nursery and then onto school.

Children who grow up in an environment that allows and encourages them to develop a positive view of themselves are more likely to grow into independent and capable adults, which will better equip them for life.

“If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn,

If children live with hostility, they learn to fight,

If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves….”

‘Children Learn What They Live’, (Nolte and Harris, 1998).

There has been a considerable amount of research into behaviour, examining types of behaviour and ways in which these can be managed.  Psychologists often look at elements that can influence children before birth and those that influence them after birth.  The majority of behaviour is learned; however there are also behaviours that seem to be innate.  The nature verses nurture debate is one that has been ongoing and continues to be controversial.  This debate concerns the importance of nature or heredity opposed to environmental influences such as a person’s education, quality of parenting and other social and cultural influences, and the impact that these have on one’s behaviour and abilities. There are various theorists who have different views of the ways in which behaviour develops and why certain behaviours are exhibited by different people and at different stages of life.  However, there seems to be a general consensus that nature and nurture are both contributors to behaviour.

Another area that psychologists agree on is that theories are mapped in relation to age, or stages of development.  It appears that social theories are most common in children from the ages of birth to four years; cognitive theories are most common to children aged five to ten years, closely followed by social theories; and there is an even spread of these theories between the ages of eleven to sixteen, with very few addressing behavioural or development theories.  Another common theme running through the various theories is that a child learns through experience.  The more variety of experiences that are available to them the more they absorb, helping them to become more rounded as human beings.

Perspectives on Behaviour

Behaviour can be classified into various perspectives.

According to ‘Perspectives on Behaviour’ (2001, page xiii)….

  • biological – focusing on biological and biochemical processes in accounting for behaviour;

  • behavioural (or behaviourist) – focusing on overt, observable and measurable behaviours and their reinforcement in accounting for behaviour;

  • cognitive (or cognitive-behavioural) – focusing on cognitive processes (beliefs, attitudes, expectations and attributions) in accounting for behaviour; combines both the cognitive and the behavioural perspective;

  • social learning – focusing on observational learning, perceived self-efficacy and expectancies in accounting for behaviour;

  • psychodynamic – focusing on unconscious conflicts in early childhood as accounting for current behaviour;

  • humanistic – focusing on low self-esteem and problems in coping with and exploring feelings in accounting for behaviour;

  • ecosystemic – focusing on positive and negative interactions between teachers and students within the school and those that externally affect the school; these interactions are seen as accounting for behaviour.”

All of the above perspectives have theoretical foundations, methods of assessment, assessment procedures, formulations, interventions, and methods of evaluation.

The behavioural perspective

The behavioural perspective is formulated on the Classical and Operant conditioning theory.  This model of behaviour omits any reference to cognitive or unconscious processes.  According to ‘Perspectives on Behaviour’ (2001, page 7)….

“This approach is based on the theory that an individual’s overt and observable behaviour unless genetically influenced is the result of that individual’s learning”.

Theorists believe that learning occurs by way of Classical and Operant conditioning, as a result of environmental effects and influences.  Therefore, a person’s behaviour is the consequence of that person’s experiences, both past and present.

“Many things in life cannot be transmitted well by words, concepts, or books.  Colours that we see cannot be described by a man born blind.  Only a swimmer knows how swimming feels; the non-swimmer can get only the faintest idea of it with all the words and books in the world.  The psychopath will never know happiness or love.  The youngster must wait until he is a parent in order to know parenthood fully and to say “I didn’t realise”.  My toothache feels different than your toothache.  And so it goes.  Perhaps it is better to say that all life must first be known experimentally.  There is no substitute for experience, none at all.”

Maslow  (1966).

Classical conditioning

Pavlov adopted an empirical approach when investigating classical conditioning.  His approach focused on impartiality in respect to assessment, formulation, intervention and evaluation.

Through his experiments with dogs Pavlov saw behaviours as a series of conditioned associations.  Classical conditioning transpires when conditioned associations happen between stimuli and responses.

Conditioned stimulus         Unconditioned response (bell summons dog’s attention)

Unconditioned stimulus                 Conditioned response        (food is presented every

time after the bell is rung which results in the dogs salivating)

Conditioned stimulus         Conditioned Response        (eventually the bell results in the dogs salivating without food being present).

In this experiment the dogs have been conditioned to salivate when a bell is rung as well as when the food is presented.  However, if food was to never to accompany the sound of the bell, the dogs would stop salivating at the sound of the bell alone.

As a conclusion to his research Pavlov believed that numerous emotional and behavioural responses were the consequence of conditioning.

Operant conditioning

When behaviours are moulded by environmental stimuli Operant conditioning occurs.  According to ‘Perspectives on behaviour’ (2001, page 8)….

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“-operant conditioning occurs when an operant response is followed by reinforcing stimulus that by itself increases the probability of the response  happening again”.

B. F. Skinner was a behaviourist psychologist who believed in operant conditioning.  He believed that desired behaviour should be positively reinforced, and undesired behaviour should be negatively reinforced.  However, according to ‘Child Care & Education’ (2004, page 49)…

“-the behaviour thus shaped is limited to a specific situation.  It does not help the learner to transfer what is learnt to different situations.”

For this type of learning to be successful a child must learn ...

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