The broad based application of social learning theory to treat aggression in a preschool child

Abstract

PROBLEMRecently, there has been increased interest in the application of learning principles to modify undesirable behavior patterns in children. When behavioral modification is achieved in this way, a person's reaponse to stimuli is changed through ap ropriate environmental manipulation(9* ). Patterson and Brodsky's (5* p . m, elorts to "reprogramme the social environment" through concomitant environmental manipulation for both parent and child, indicate the value of a multiple method approach in handling complex behavior problems. This consideration is particularly significant in relation to the hyperaggressive child, since the parents' influence has been found to be a contributing factor in the development of the maladaptive behavior", '- CABE REPORTThis paper reports an attempt to modify the aggressive behaviors of a sixyear-old Head Start boy through the application of techniques from social learning theory. Procedures extrapolated from the work of Bandura and Waiters(') and Ratter@) were used in the elicitation and differential reinforcement of prosocial peer model and S responses in the classroom. Through sociological intervention in the home, the mother's response to her child was poeifively altered by encouragement of greater "freedom of movement" in her dealings with the environment

The Preschool: Setting for Applied Behavior Analysis Research

“…A very different, indirect approach to dealing with aggressivedisruptive behavior was used by McNamara (1970). In this study an aggressive Head Start boy was placed in a "re-learning group" with three peers who were selected on the basis of prosocial verbalizations, good behavioral repertoires, and frequent previous interactions with the subject.…”