Child Development 1

Unit 2
Assignment: You Be the Expert - Behavior
Student Name:

In this assignment, you will decide how to guide a child’s behavior using positive and negative
reinforcements. Two scenarios where children are not behaving as expected can be found on the course
assignment page. Choose one of the two scenarios. Then, write a suggestion for using a positive
reinforcement and a plan for using negative reinforcement to achieve the desired behavior. Use
Skinner's theories on reinforcement to explain why your plans will work.

Respond to the prompts below to complete the assignment. Be sure to proofread and save this file as a
PDF to submit to your teacher.

1. Which scenario did you choose?

2. Explain the desired behavior the parents/adults want the child to do.

3. Give an example of how the parents/adults could use positive reinforcement to encourage the
desired behavior.

4. Using Skinner’s Theory of Positive Reinforcement, explain how a positive reinforcement will
encourage the desired behavior.

5. Give an example of how the parents/adults could use negative reinforcement to encourage the
desired behavior.

6. Using Skinner’s Theory of Negative Reinforcement, explain how a negative reinforcement will
encourage the desired behavior.