Case Study:

In my case study there is a group of seniors who are cutting up in class. They are disruptive, disrespectful, and even roughhousing in class; after they do that, they do not comply when they are asked to follow the rules that were established at the beginning of the year.

---Behaviorist Intervention:

There are some behaviorist techniques that can definitely be used to address this case study. The first thing to do would be to identify some effective reinforcers that could be used to encourage productive behavior or to discourage undesirable behavior. These reinforcers could be both negative or positive to evoke a desirable response from the students.

An example of a positive reinforcement that I could try to implement would be giving positive praise to the group of seniors when they participate and do their work like the others. A poor instance of positive reinforcement would be if I scolded them after they cut up but they  only continued to disrupt and be noncompliant. An example of negative reinforcement could be if I take away some class busywork to lighten the stress level of my students; this could allow these seniors to relax and not have to act out. A poor version of negative reinforcement could be taking away the students participation grades for that day and telling them that their grades would suffer because of that; this would only serve as a bigger stressor on the students and almost ensure more acting out by the seniors.

Behaviorists also would argue that punishments can be used to remedy this situation. Punishments  are used when the desired outcome is to decrease a behavior. An example of a presentation punishment would be if I looked over to the area with the students acting up to try and signal them of their behavior. An example of removal punishment would be if I required the students to stay five minutes after class before lunch; by taking away free time, I would be hoping to make them realize that their actions were disrespectful to the group.

In Eggen and Kauchak's 9th edition of Windows on Classrooms- Educational Psychology, they explain that punishment is effective in decreasing undesirable behavior but not so much when trying to affect desirable behavior. The argument is that reinforcement  systems are superior because of their duality. (301)

Regardless of the behaviorist process that is used self-efficacy and self-regulation can come into play with the students. Ormrad describes self-efficacy as a belief that one is capable of executing certain behaviors or achieving specific goals. The students could believe that they already have a full understanding of your class subject and are just bored and looking ahead to graduation. A student may even have a work-avoidance goal that they are trying-and succeeding in achieving. Conversely, some students will have a desire to self-regulate their own behavior or achievements. These students could be acting out because they want to control the attention they are receiving.