For two hours, I observed parents and
children in a “natural” setting – a child themed restaurant including pizza,
games, toys and play area. I set out to observe families to see how they
offered reinforcement and/or punishment to their children and what brought caused
the parents to offer the reinforcement or punishment. I chose Chuck E. Cheese
because I thought it would be a great place to observe children and their
parents. The one chose was a large building with lots of space, games and play
areas.
Place of Observation:
Chuck E. Cheese
6637 Ritchie Highway
Glen Burnie, Maryland 21060
Date and Time:
Saturday, October 8, 2011
4:00 – 6:00 pm
Number of Families Studied:
4
(8 adults, 7 children)
Family #1
Family #1 consisted of two parents
and two children. This family was African – American. The parents appeared to
be in their mid 30’s. The two children were both girls and appeared to be
between 8 and 10 years of age. This family appeared to be close. The parents
were observed actively playing with the children. I learned that this trip to
Chuck E. Cheese was a reward for the girls behaving at the dentist office the
day before. This is an example of positive reinforcement. The desired
behavior {girls behaving at dentist} was met with a reward {trip to Chuck E.
Cheese}.
Family #2
Family #2 consisted of two parents
and one child. The family was Asian – American. The parents appeared to be in
their early 30’s. The one child, a boy, appeared to be around 6 years old. The
parents seemed more involved in their own conversation than in their son’s
behavior. The boy ran around for several minutes hitting other children in the
establishment before the parents took action. The father grabbed the boy by the
arm, yelled at him sternly to behave and then sat the boy in the booth for 6
minutes before allowing him to play again. The little boy appeared to have
learned his lesson for the moment as he behaved the rest of the time they were
there. This is an example of negative punishment. There was a removal
of something pleasant {playing} as a result of undesired behavior {hitting
children}.
Family #3
Family #3 consisted of two parents
and three children. The family was Caucasian. The parents appeared to be in
their early – mid 30’s. There were two boys, appearing to be around 4 and 10.
The third child was a girl, around age 6. This family also appeared close. They
were talking during dinner and laughing and smiling. After eating, the kids
were given their tokens to go play games. The youngest boy snatched some tokens
out of his sister’s cup. The father immediately popped the boy’s hand, firmly
but not hard. He explained to the boy that taking the tokens from someone was
wrong. He instructed the boy to give the tokens back to his sister as well as a
couple from his own cup as punishment.
I think this situation resembled both
positive punishment and negative punishment. I think it is
positive punishment as an unpleasant stimulus {having hand popped} was added
due to an undesired behavior {taking tokens}. I think it is negative punishment
because there was a removal of something pleasant {the boy’s tokens} due to an
undesired behavior {taking tokens}.
Family #4
Family #4 consisted of two parents
and one child. The family was bi – racial. The parents appeared to be in their
mid 20’s. The little girl appeared to be around 3 - 4 years old. The little
girl was well – behaved until the Chuck E. Cheese character made an appearance.
The little girl got scared of it and hit it out of fear. The father became
angry and popped the little girl’s butt. The family then left the
establishment.
I also think these actions resembled positive punishment and negative punishment. The undesired
behavior {hitting the mouse mascot} was met with an unpleasant stimulus
{spanked}. Also, the undesired behavior {hitting the mouse} was met with the
removal of something pleasant {leaving the establishment}.
Comments
I’m assuming (based on observation)
that this technique is used frequently with Family #1. The girls seem well –
behaved and respect their parents. I think that Family #2 should have been
paying more attention to their son and punished him sooner. To me, Family #3’s
techniques did not seem too drastic. I was most surprised by Family #4’s
actions. The little girl was terrified of the mouse and I feel she hit it out
of fear and instinct. I hope that the parents explain to her how to handle fear
more appropriately.
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