Case Study - Request for Reinforcement

Introduction

The case study approach of this module has been designed to create an awareness of the general classroom behavioral problems that may be encountered on a day to day basis. The examples here are generalised and may be applied to situations other than the ones given here.

Description of the problem

Owen is a bright, but unmotivated, third-grade student. He does as little as possible to get by. His teacher has just given him an arithmetic assignment to do. Owen responds by asking 'What will you give me if I do all of the problems without making any mistakes?' Anytime the teacher gives Owen as assignment or a task to perform, Owen asks if there's something in it for him.

Causes

This behavior lies in a history of reinforcement that has focused more on the reinforcement than on the behavior that led to the reinforcement. Evidently, those responsible for reinforcing the student turned the student's focus onto the privilege rather than onto the behavior that earned the privilege. The individual, therefore, has not learned to take pride in his or her behavior and accomplishments. The student has heard things like 'Look what you've earned!' rather than 'What a nice job you did on your assignment!'

A second cause for this behavior is that the child has been reinforced for asking for reinforcement. This happened each time the student asked 'What am I gonna get if I . . . ?' and the adult responded by saying 'Well, I guess I could give you a . . . .' This response served to reinforce the child for asking, rather that for performing the desired behavior Some children find this situation tremendously reinforcing because they can control an adult, and get paid off for doing it.

Goal

The student will stop asking for reinforcement as a precondition to performing and will perform to earn reinforcement that has already been established for the classroom as a whole.

The Plan

Step 1:
At a neutral time, discuss the problem of students asking for reinforcement with your whole class. Plan ahead. Don't discuss this problem right after it occurs, and treat the situation as a class problem without specifying offenders. Keep your discussion low-keyed; don't make a big issue of it. Inform students that there are times when they may work for privileges and there are times when they will be working for themselves. Help students understand that they sometimes get to work for special privileges when they have a particularly difficult task to perform. If a special privilege is not offered, it's because you think that students can be successful without needing extra encouragement. Tell students that, from now on, all requests for special treatment will be ignored. Let them know that even reinforcements that have already been planned will not be provided if someone asks for them. The discussion might go something like this:

• 'I'm concerned because some people in the class have been asking questions like 'What will you give me if I finish my arithmetic?' or 'What can I get if all my work is neat?' I'm concerned about this behavior because these questions are impolite and indicate a certain amount of immaturity on the part of the questioner.'
• 'All of you know that there are times when we do work for special privileges free time and other things. We get to work for these things when I think you might need extra encouragement. If a special privilege is not provided, it's because I think you are able to do the task without it. That means you are doing something without any extra help.'
• 'From now on, if anyone asks, 'What do I get if . . . ?' I'll just ignore that person. I'll ignore the question because I think that that type of question is very immature. In addition, if I had planned a special privilege as a reward for completing a particular assignment and someone asks me what they'll get for doing it, no one in the class will get to work for the special privilege. Does anyone have questions?'

Step 2:
Anytime anyone asks for reinforcement, ignore him or her. Don't respond at all Demonstrate that such questions are inappropriate by refusing to respond. Some teachers may prefer to develop a set response to this type of question rather than to ignore it. For example. some teachers might choose to respond by asking 'Why do you think you should get anything?' other teachers might respond by asking 'What kind of a question is that?' These strategies are fine. However, keep in mind that you don't want the student to get a lot of attention for asking an inappropriate question. If you would prefer to develop a response to the question rather than ignore it, adjust the discussion that you have with your class so that they understand what will happen.

If a student says something like 'Well, if you aren't going to give me anything, I'm not going to do it.' ignore the student. Do not respond to the student. If the student does not complete the assigned task, follow your usual procedures for students who do not complete their work.