In order to teach a child something or get a certain behavior from him, parents must somehow show him what is good (what behavior they approve of) and what is bad (what actions they condemn).
This can be done in two ways. Or to punish the child for misconduct, the mistakes that he makes — i.e. use “negative reinforcement” (frown, slap, deprivation of some good, inattention to the child, reprimand). The second option is to encourage his achievements, to reward him for success (with praise, affection, a gift), i.e. use positive reinforcement.
What does negative reinforcement lead to? Firstly, to the deterioration of the relationship between parents and children, and, secondly, the child, even if he learns how NOT to act, he will not learn anything about the correct behavior with this method of learning (if you can’t do this, then how can you? ).
In addition, the expectation of punishment can suppress the child’s manifestation of initiative and activity. The child will be afraid to make decisions on his own, to take on a new business, as he will be dominated by the motivation of “avoiding failures”, rather than achieving success. All this can significantly complicate the life of the baby in the future.
Psychologists have experimentally proven that positive reinforcement is much more effective, since it immediately forms the necessary behavior. All attention in this type of training is focused on the success achieved.
Education from the end stage
Parents need to keep in mind that positive reinforcement for a child can be not only your attention and material reward, but also the positive emotions that your baby receives when he reaches his goal, when he sees that he is doing something.
Therefore, training must be built in such a way that the child masters the material in small portions. Then he will have the opportunity to receive regular reinforcements. In order to form the necessary behavior, it is necessary to increase the criteria in such steps that the child can easily get a constant improvement in results.
For this purpose, the so-called «learning from the final stage» can be recommended. Let’s say, in order to teach a child to cook (and to make this process pleasant for him), first teach him how to set the table, serving the finished dish. Then teach how to arrange the dish on plates and set the table, then — stir during the cooking process, arrange on plates and set the table, then — fill the dishes with ingredients, stir, lay out, set … In all cases, the point is that the child performs the final stage process, as if receiving confirmation that he “succeeded”, seeing the results of his work.
It is important to know that reinforcements should not be both late and given quickly. Thus, praising a student who is in the process of completing a task can lead to relaxation of the latter; belated reinforcement will not have the effect that can be achieved by reinforcing at the right time.
Another condition for successful learning: in a specific period of time, practice one thing, do not try to shape behavior according to two criteria at the same time. If the task can be broken down into separate components, which are then formed separately, learning will go much faster.
And the last. When teaching a child, do not end the lesson without positive reinforcement. It is best to stop working on the success achieved.