Introduction to Abnormal Child and Adolescent Psychology. Robert Weis
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off Netflix and clean his room. The son might ignore his mother because he prefers to watch his favorite program. The mother might withdraw her request and clean her son’s room herself. If the mother’s behavior (i.e., withdrawal of her request) increases the likelihood that her son will ignore her requests in the future, we say that her actions are negatively reinforcing his disobedience. She is teaching him to ignore her requests.
In contrast to reinforcement, punishment always decreases the probability of future behavior. There are two types of punishment: positive and negative. Positive punishment involves a stimulus presentation that decreases the likelihood of behavior. For example, a mother might spank her son for his disobedience. If spanking results in a decrease in her child’s defiance, then it is a form of positive punishment. Negative punishment involves avoidance or removal of a stimulus that decreases the likelihood of behavior. For example, a teacher might remove a child from a desirable classroom activity following his disruptive behavior in class. If the teacher’s actions result in a decrease in the student’s disruptive behavior, then the teacher’s behavior was a form of negative punishment (Table 2.2).
Clinicians prefer to use reinforcement, instead of punishment, to correct behavior problems. In some cases, however, punishment can be used therapeutically. For example, a therapist might teach a parent to use positive punishment to correct her son’s bed-wetting. Each time the boy wets the bed, the parent might require the boy to perform a series of actions designed to correct the problem behavior. These actions might include stripping the bed, taking the bedding to the washing machine, helping to start the wash, putting on new sheets, and sitting on the toilet. Similarly, a therapist might teach a parent to use time-out as a form of negative punishment for her disruptive preschooler. Time-out involves removing the child from all potentially reinforcing stimuli for a period of time, in an attempt to decrease the child’s defiance. The child might be required to sit in a special chair for 3 minutes with no access to toys, television, or other stimuli.
Table 2.2
Note: Reinforcement increases future behavior; punishment decreases it.
Social Learning
Behaviors can also be acquired by observing others. Albert Bandura and colleagues (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1961) demonstrated that children who watched adults behaving aggressively toward a Bobo doll often imitated the adults’ aggressive actions. Bandura’s social learning theory proposed that learning through imitation or modeling was a primary mechanism of behavioral acquisition. Social learning was especially likely when models were similar to children in age and gender and when models were reinforced for their actions.
Modeling is also used to explain and to treat child behavior problems. For example, parents who model anxiety to their children can increase their children’s likelihood of developing an anxiety disorder. A mother who is afraid of social situations might model this fear to her daughter. Specifically, she might avoid attending social gatherings and worry about appearing foolish in public. She might also tell her daughter that other people are critical and judgmental, thereby increasing her daughter’s fear of social situations. As a result, her daughter might develop anxiety and a tendency toward social withdrawal (Knappe, Beesdo-Baum, Fehm, Lieb, & Wittchen, 2012).
A therapist might also use modeling as a means to reduce the daughter’s social anxiety. Specifically, the therapist might ask the child’s teacher to pair the girl with a “classroom buddy”—a female classmate who shows well-developed social skills and is willing to model appropriate social behavior. By watching her “buddy,” the girl might discover that social situations are often pleasant and are rarely catastrophic. Consequently, her social anxiety may decrease (Scaini, Belotti, Ogliari, & Battaglia, 2016).
Review
Classical conditioning occurs when children associate two stimuli together in time. Behaviors acquired through classical conditioning can be extinguished using exposure techniques.
Operant conditioning occurs when children associate a behavior with an environmental consequence. Reinforcement always increases the likelihood of future behavior; punishment always decreases the likelihood of future behavior. Reinforcement and punishment can be positive or negative.
Social learning occurs when children acquire a behavior through imitation or modeling.
How Is Cognitive Development Important to Understanding Childhood Disorders?
Cognitive Development
Cognitive development refers to changes in a child’s capacity for perception, thought, language, and problem-solving. Jean Piaget’s stage theory provides a framework for thinking about cognitive development in children and adolescents. According to this theory, development progresses through a series of four broad stages in an invariant sequence. Each stage is characterized by greater sophistication in children’s cognitive abilities (Barrouillet, 2015; Carey, Zaitchik, & Bascandziev, 2015).
Infants in the sensorimotor stage (0–2 years) develop an understanding of themselves and their surroundings largely through happenstance or trial and error. This stage is marked by the emergence of object permanence, the notion that objects exist even when the child cannot see them; pretend play, acting “as if” one object (e.g., a doll) is another (e.g., a real baby); and increased use of language. Deficits in motor skills, pretend play, and language during this stage can indicate a range of neurodevelopmental problems.
Preschoolers in the preoperational stage (2–6 years) engage in increasingly more sophisticated use of language and representational thought. They can form a more complex understanding of their world and can begin to plan their actions before engaging in them. Children in this stage develop theory of mind, that is, the notion that other people have mental states (i.e., “minds”) that can be different from their own. As a result, children can begin to take the perspective of others, understand others’ motives and feelings, and respond with empathy. Conditions such as autism spectrum disorder and social communication disorder are characterized by delays in theory of mind and empathic understanding.
School-age children (6–12 years) fall in the stage of concrete operations. Throughout elementary school, these children develop greater capacity for conservation, that is, understanding that objects may change in appearance, but their amount or quantity remains constant. Conservation is tied to the physical world rather than to abstract ideas. Consequently, children in this stage can learn about subjects connected to the physical world (e.g., arithmetic, reading) but are typically not ready for more abstract subjects (e.g., algebra, literary analysis).
Finally, adolescents (≥12 years) achieve the stage of formal operations, characterized by logical-deductive reasoning. At this stage, adolescents can begin to use general principles to determine specific truths, enabling them to engage in more abstract thought. Formal operations allow adolescents and young adults to comprehend algebra and geometry, psychology and sociology, or philosophy and political science—subjects that young children cannot understand.
Social Cognition
Social cognition is an important aspect of cognitive development that concerns our capacity to think about social situations. Social cognition is based on social information processing theory, a general model for how humans perceive, judge, store, and retrieve social information. Central to the notion of social cognition is the idea that we form schemas, or mental models about ourselves and others. These schemas are based on prior interpersonal experiences, and they guide and direct future social behavior. For example, a child with well-developed social skills and many friends might expect a new classmate to be friendly. He might approach the new classmate and ask him to play during recess. In contrast, a child who is socially awkward and rejected by her peers might anticipate that a new classmate would also reject her. Consequently, she might avoid