PROJECT.

1. BEHAVIOURAL PRINCIPALS.
Behaviorism is a theory of learning based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired
through conditioning, and conditioning occurs through interaction with the
environment. Behaviorists believe that our actions are shaped by environmental
stimuli. Behavioral theory also says that only observable behavior should be studied,
as cognition, emotions, and mood are far too subjective. Strict
behaviorists believe that any person—regardless of genetic background, personality
traits, and internal thoughts— can be trained to perform any task, within the limits of
their physical capabilities. It only requires the right conditioning. Hence, comes the
famous thought “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own
specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and
train him to become any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist,
merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents,
penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors”.
Behavioral principles are not static. They develop systematically across the years.
Perhaps more than any other approach to psychology, behavioral psychology is self-
consciously committed to being a progressive science in which worthwhile earlier
work is sustained even while new frontiers are explored. Built upon a century of
research in behavioral psychology, in the last decades a coherent and progressive
approach to the topic of human language and cognition has emerged from within
behavior analysis. Behavioral psychology emerges from a pragmatic and
contextualistic philosophy of science that treats psychological events as the integrated
action of a whole organism interacting in and with a context considered both
historically and situationally (Hayes, Hayes, & Reese, 1988). These situated actions
include all forms of psychological activity: moving, speaking, thinking, feeling,
reasoning, problem-solving, and so on. It does not matter whether the action is
publicly observable or observable only to the person engaging in it. (Skinner, 1945).
Then, certain variables can be manipulated via reinforcement and punishments to
change problem behaviorism. The goal is to eliminate or reduce maladaptive
behavior. Behavior modification is a type of behavior therapy. B. F. Skinner
demonstrated that behavior could be shaped through reinforcement and/or
punishment. Skinner noted that a reinforcement is a consequence that increases the
likelihood of behavior to recur, while punishment is a consequence that decreases the
chance. Positive and negative are used in mathematical terms. Positive indicates that
something is added, and negative indicates something is subtracted or taken away.
Psychologists like Ivar Lovaas, later used this application in his work with children
on the autism spectrum.
Classical conditioning is a technique frequently used in behavioral training in which
a neutral stimulus is paired with a naturally occurring stimulus. Eventually, the
neutral stimulus comes to evoke the same response as the naturally occurring
stimulus, even without the naturally occurring stimulus presenting itself. the
associated stimulus becomes known as the conditioned stimulus and the learned
behavior is known as the conditioned response. The first part of the classical
conditioning process, known as acquisition, a response is established and
strengthened. Factors such as the prominence of the stimuli and the timing of the
presentation can play an important role in how quickly an association is formed When
an association disappears, this is known as extinction. It causes the behavior to
weaken gradually or vanish.
Operant conditioning, sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning, is a method
of learning that occurs through reinforcement and punishment. Through operant
conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that
behavior. This behavioral approach says that when a desirable result follows an
action, the behavior becomes more likely to happen again in the future. Conversely,
responses followed by adverse outcomes become less likely to reoccur.
A. The Concept of Reinforcement and Punishment.
i. Behaviorist B.F. Skinner described operant conditioning as the process in which
learning can occur through reinforcement and punishment. More specifically: By
forming an association between a certain behavior and the consequences of that
behavior, you learn. Skinner ran experiments on rats to see what consequences
led the animals to change their behaviors.
ii. Operant conditioning centers around the concept of behavior reinforcement and
punishment. By reinforcing desired behaviors (either through negative or
positive reinforcement), these behaviors become more likely to reoccur, and by
punishing undesired behaviors, those behaviors start to decrease in an effort to
avoid the punishment.
iii. Reinforcement is any consequence that increases the likelihood of a behavior
being repeated. Reinforcement is largely unique to each individual. However,
some things, such as a sweet treat or increased freedom, are reinforcing for
most people.
iv. There is a long-standing debate in psychology about the role of punishment in
behavior. On one side, there are those who believe punishment is an effective
way to change behavior. On the other side, some think punishment is ineffective

2
 and has harmful effects. Punishment may have short-term benefits, such as
increased obedience, but it can also have longer-term negative consequences,
such as increasing aggression or turning individuals against those who are
supposed to help them.

2. POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT WITH EXAMPLES; -

Positive reinforcement is a type of operant conditioning, a type of learning that uses
rewards and punishments to influence behavior. The basic idea behind operant
conditioning is that we’re more likely to repeat behaviors that are rewarded and less
likely to repeat the ones that are punished. When used appropriately, positive
reinforcement can be a great tool for strengthening and motivating behavior – whether
it’s your own behavior or a child or pets that you’re trying to influence.
4 different types of positive reinforcement are;- a) natural, b) social, c) tangible and d)
token.
Some examples that I would like to shed light on are;-
A) I would like to start with mine, I still remember in college days I was in my colleges
cultural group and we used to help set up some of D.U.’s cultural fests, in one such
fest there was a NGO performing and I was coordinating. They did exceptionally
great and won 1st prize. The judge and jury praised them a lot, one of the ngo
members was kind enough to invite me on stage and she said, “ I would like to thank
gargi ma’am for recognizing our talent and giving us this opportunity”. That was my
reward, and ever since then I am in touch with them and work for the upliftment of
NGO’s besides my job.
B) Another interesting example of positive reinforcement is what was happening with
us throughout our school and college but We were clueless of it, our parents asked
us to do good in exams and in return promised us something precious like a trip to
some place, passport, helping us learn driving, etc.
C) Another example that I see of my nephew is, my sister-in-law makes him do small
household chores Like helping her with the dishes or cleaning the bedroom, setting
the bedsheet or asks him to bring something from one room to another and in
return she tells him that if you will do this I will reward you with something mall
tangible things or even sometimes asks everyone to clap for him and these small
rewards makes him the happiest.
D) Another very important example of positive reinforcement that I have noticed
recently is my nephew, shaurya has recently started going to his new school in first
class and because he has joined from mid semester his new friends have been very
kind towards him and helped him with the notebooks or assisting him what has
been covered previously except for the teachers and the school faculty of course.
This has brought a lot of positive change in him, initially he didn’t wanted to change
his school because of the fear of loosing his friends but now, he continuously keeps

3
 saying that my classmates are very nice and helpful and tries to reciprocate by
taking small small gifts for them whenever he buys chocolate or toffee for himself he
makes sure that he takes two or three of them for his best friends too.

3. NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT WITH EXAMPLES;-

It is a behavior management strategy that parents and teachers can use with
children. it involves taking away something unpleasant in response to a
stimulus. with time, children learn that when they engage in “good”
behaviors, then this unpleasant thing or exp erience goes away. In negative
reinforcement, the word “negative” is referring more to the act of taking
something away, like a minus sign in a mathematical equation. Usually the
thing that’s removed in response to the behavior is something the person
finds unpleasant or uncomfortable. The removal often results in a
favorable outcome for the person. For negative reinforcement, an
unpleasant thing is subtracted in response to the desired behavior.
Some examples that I would like to share are; -.

A)beginning from my own experience, i still remember whenever we used

to throw tantrums about dinner and not eat dinner saying this is not what i
like mumma, why have you cooked this and that she’s simply without even
saying a word used to pick up our plates and take them back to the kitchen.
initially we used to think that yes we won now we won’t have to eat this
but gradually we realized that this is not the option, and that we cannot
throw tantrums every now and then and that we have to eat, what everyone
is eating. hence this inculcated this sense of eating food everyone was
eating.

B) Another example that I can recollect is, I recently visited my friend’s

house and her daughter, who is a 7 year old her room was all spick and
span, and to my surprise I asked her, “have you just cleaned this room
because you know I was coming or does naira keeps her room this
clean all the time”?. She is a child psychologist and this was her answer
was that I’ve told my daughter to keep her room, her belongings, her
bed clean and I do not want to and have to repeat this every day. She
knows and I mark all the days that she keeps her room clean at the end
of the week, she will get something for this and if not at the end of the

4
week we will take away something from h er. it can be her leisure time
or it can be her TV time or we can add things like adding money to her
Piggy Bank, taking her on a trip so this really made an impact on my
thinking and I thought that even I would try to do the same with my
kids in future.

C) One of my husband’s habit of being on time or leaving early to be on

time because he thinks that he will get stuck in the traffic or something
or the other will happen and he won't be able to reach on time, even
before the other person shows up. Initially used to irritate me a lot,
post our marriage but now when I look back and when I am doing my
psychology course and I’m reading about negative reinforcement ,
positive reinforcement, negative punishment, positive punishment. I
do understand that in order to avoid traffic leaving early is and should
not be a problem because it’s a good thing and thanks to the CI team
and our lecturers that I got to know about this and understand that
this habit is not a form of OCD but it is a good habit when you see and
read in dread.

Regards.