European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 16, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 20 the stars and stripes May 1977 changing childrens positively by Mike Spear Statt writer Oes your son throw his coat on the floor when he comes Home no matter How Many times youve scolded him about it does your daughter have books and dirty clothes lying around on the floor of her room and youve cajoled and even spanked her to get her to do something about All to to Avail if youre thinking of quitting in defeat with that overpowering feeling of that maybe your children arc and youre just beaten Down by the dont reverse your Field and take do it the easy handle the problem in a Way that ends the nag spankings and the endless do it in a Way that makes everyone Happy and gets that is the message of Theo school psychologist assigned to the Nurnberg Ameri can elementary school number he has been conveying it for several Yean now to teachers and anyone else who is Hes the apostle Paul of he uses a method of positive reinforcement and he guarantees its not a new concept but its an effective he and during the last several years he has addressed parents and teachers on the subject in half a Hundred and he has been invited to conduct seminars on it at the annual european pts convention for the past three it is a method that works and it will work on any body your teacher or Lashley were not talking about major personality were just talking about a persons behave the kinds of for that children do that Are not necessarily right for the lash Ley he says if you want a Reli Able Way of doing something that going to change undesirable then the recipe he a will do the method is based on the premises of self that an individual has control Over him self and can change and manipulate himself that adults Are models for childrens behaviour and that what is reinforced in a persons behaviour is what is there Are two kinds of reinforcement for learning negative and positive and Lashley opts for the positive although he admits most is the Nega Tive most of the discipline that people talk about is that Means punishment he everything goes along until someone makes a and then someone jumps on them to keep them from making the mistake so people have an aversion to making they sort of run you can either train a person to be that Way in life or you can train them to look Forward to positive feelings about doing something its just As easy and a lot More fun if you watch for the positive things the kids Are doing and reinforce they feel better about you feel better about it and the learning is better because the kids Are not walking around scared half the time that they Are going to make a mistake and gel Lashley says anyone wishing to use the positive reinforcement method should first make a list of All the conditions that annoy them and How they want to change they should gather detailed information on each of the decide which reinforcers work Best for the individual then draw up a plan of what youre trying to avoid is the situation Tor you say i dont know Bow Many times Ive told if you do that one More time in going it ends up with hard feelings and everyone is upset until the next incident when the whole procedure is repeated the secret is to set up the situation so that you win and the child when youve made up your list of the things your dont want your child to you pick the easiest one then with each Success you move on the More Complex take the Case of the child who wont hang up his coat when he comes Home from ask yourself the Basic questions of where and Why does it happen find out what kind of reinforcements he re sponds then set up your plan of the whole object is to get the thing done the Way you want it done at the Lime you want it done so you can reinforce it after its done Lashley were talking about switching behaviour tracks from a habitual behaviour track that is not productive to one that productive so that you can begin to rein Force the behaviour that you if the kid comes throws Down his then goes Back to his room and you Donl see that then half an hour later you scold its going to take a Long Lime before you get any find the reinforcer that works for the that the then go into set of the nagging is not reinforcement psychologist Theo conditions so that you get him to do it right once to break the old pattern and set up a new habit when he comes Home from school be Walling at the he comes walking you meet him and the coat he hangs to up and then you give him a big hug or Praise or whatever youve Fig ured out is the right then you might have his favorite snack waiting for the next Day you might do something similar until the child knows that As soon As he comes through the door he thinks in going to take off my put it on a Hanger and hang it and somewhere in there is something or some body who says that thais keep up the Good work so that youve reestablished the Pat one of the keys to making it work is realizing that youve got to change your behaviour at least for the training Lashley says and adds once youve got the a kids Pride takes then All you have to do is say i noticed that you did some people nag and nagging is not rein he its not even its sort of he adds that the difficulty in positive Rel forment is finding a reinforcer that you know you can that you know is import kids relate better when you like them and they like he and also its the Normal Way parents to be with their they dont want to punish their kids All the they want to be gentle and Friendly with so by using positive parents and teachers can be positive and gel the Job done just by reorganizing these if you can be consistent about reinforcing the positive behaviour thai you see when you see you will gel he its a very easy formula and it takes a Little tinkering with sometimes but once you get into it gets the Job once you have initial then move on to the next item on your list that you want he and like he once you become familiar with How it works you can use it on Hes seen teachers use it on teachers use it on a Princi wives use it on husbands and even children use it on i guarantee it will he by Erma Jombock were about a three and a at wits end if president Carter Ever considers spending the night at our maybe i should give him the top theres a plaque in our spare bedroom that if we get to drinking sunday afternoon and Start insisting that you stay Over until please remember we dont mean that As close to being the nations innkeeper As we friends of our children who have slept Over will Tell you on a scale of Motel i read an article once that told you How you make your guests More com they had a checklist that consisted of Luggage writing sachets in extra Light hangers shoe spot Needle and dental nasal non pm Cristion Cotton tipped Eye foot Terry magnifying hair dryer and Throat half of those things Ive never seen possibly the Only plus we have to offer is thai you Are treated Tike a member of the thai is Why we advise Donl lock your door Al youll just have to gel up our of bed and unlock it Early the next morning when the child whose room you Are occupying rummages through the drawers and closets after his dont ask for extra after the us have used one for their one for their one for left one for the right one to stand and one to throw Over their that there Are no More Check for will be posted a on the refrigerator b on the Back of the milk c on the envelope of yesterdays d etched in the Kitty report for meals the bom Beck Hilton is strictly family Bera have not been trained to hold Back and have been known to Cross Forks and draw blood Over the last although the television is in the family Reading in the guest room is permitted and Reading material is please refrain from smart remarks about the selection of books As they were All writ ten by me please do not ask us to accept we Don t have enough traps for the ones we for laundry and makeup food and maid trans other dial cd