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Introduction
Human behavior is
primarily the adjustment of the individual to his environment,
thereby fitting him for a successful life and for happiness
with themselves and with others. It is simple logic to conclude
that an understanding by counselors, teachers and parents of
the science of human behavior is an essential element in education.
“I can’t
get no! Satisfaction.” A popular Rolling Stone’s
lyric that typified a generation of baby boomers. These lyrics
verbalized an unrequited feeling that seemed to shock a nation.
The words tell the human story of the search for pleasure or
reward. It is a statement asking a question: “How is
satisfaction achieved?” The inner need objective is the
quest of the individual and the chant of a nation on the move
like a swarming colony of ants. The human drama has mystified
the desire – until recently.
The shackles of this
human mystery were loosened by the advent of the behavior perspective.
This work began with the discovery of the conditioned reflex
by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1894-1936) around the
turn of the century. This gradually gave way to the perspective
that “only the study of directly observable behavior
and the stimuli and reinforcing conditions that control it
could serve as a basis for formulating scientific principles
of human behavior” (Carson, Butcher, & Mineka, 1996).
The mysteries of the human spirit started to take form. Satisfaction
became tactile. How would the behavioral perspective affect
learning in human behavior? The application of these principles
to raising kids would wait another 40 years for B.F. Skinner’s
learning theory, called Operant Conditioning.
Operant Conditioning
is the behavioral process to weaken harmful stimuli in order
to achieve satisfaction. It is based on the assumption that
all behavior is a response to environmental stimuli and serves
as cues for behavioral response. In his book, Beyond Freedom & Dignity,
B. F. Skinner describes the role of learning in human behavior
as a quest for satisfaction: “When a bit of behavior
is followed by a certain kind of consequence, it is more likely
to occur again, and a consequence having this effect is called
a reinforcer” (p25). Skinner’s model is based on
the scenario of antecedent behavior, response, and consequence.
A reinforcing consequence will tend to increase behavior, and
a punishment consequence will decrease behavior. Skinner started
writing in the 1950’s on how to apply these ideas to
raising kids. He advised that child management and educational
objectives should be developed in accordance with the Behavioral
Principles of Learning (Shunk, 1996). Operant Conditioning
was transforming child raising into a science. No longer could
teachers, parents and children relinquish empowerment to their
subjective needs of: “I can’t get no! Satisfaction.”
This is the genesis
of EasyChild. It is a software-based learning and behavior
modification conditioning system that creates positive effects
for:
Parents: To reduce parenting anxiety, decrease arguing with their children,
to have more positive interactions with their children, which will create a
peaceful, time-saving home environment.
Educators: To manage cause & effect, to track results, and to ensure
that goals are met.
Children: To help them grow up with a set of expectations that they have learned
so they are empowered to create their own sense of satisfactions.
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