Like chews on your @#$%! shoes, when they have lots of toys available.
However, I was referring to one of Colonel DuBois' "History and Moral Philosophy" lessons in "Starship Troopers," when I brought up the puppy thing.
Praise is key, you're correct on that. Mom works at a housing project, and she uses part of the social activities budget to give treats to the kids who pull B's or better on their report card. A B is NOT hard to get in a ghetto school; it implies largely showing up and making token effort. But Mom realizes that with a lot of these kids, their moms just don't CARE- if someone else cares about and positively reinforces their good grades and efforts, she hopes that they'll at least take a little pride and interest in their schooling.
And, of course, when you potty train a toddler, you praise them for doing the right thing.
And when we've trained up puppies, we praise them when they learn to let us know when they need to go out (aside from normal walking routine), and they do their business outside.
Be it puppy, toddler, or student, you do need negative reinforcement of a fashion. |
