Application of Skinner's theory

I will now focus my discussion on the practical application of Skinner's Theory.
In my first blog on this topic,I posed the following questions:
a) Why do we keeps on eating?
b) Why do we love some food and totally dislike others?
c) Why do we like to be praised and dislike being constantly criticized?
d) Why do we like a certain subjects and dislike the others?
e) Why do we have special hobbies?
f) why do we keep going out with certain group of friends and avoid the others?
g) How will the saying "once bitten twice shy" relate to Skinner's Theory?
Answers to these questions could be similar or totally different between individuals depending on each one's circumstances. For example, in the first and second question one could say, we keep on eating because we need food for our body or others would say because we feel hungry. We can also say that we keep on eating because there is available food to eat but we stop eating when there is no food to eat.One or two people would probably share the same answer but would not exactly be the same. Another fact to consider is that our need for food, the amount of food we take and our choice of food will also vary depending on our diety requirements and personal preferences. If we would analyze the answer to each of the other questions we would arrive at more or less the same conclusion. That is, human beings are so unique and diverse that each one would behave differently to a given stimulus. This brings to mind Skinner's 'stimulus-response' theory popularly known as 'operant conditioning'. This theory forms the basis for what we call in the learning process as 'MOTIVATION'. Motivation is a very positive stimulus that generates a very positive response. Motivation can be 'intrinsic' (internal) which comes from within the individual learner. This is a higher form of motivation and would yield lasting results. Learners with this kind of motivation can learn on their own with less supervision and guidance from the teacher. Individuals who are intrinsically motivated are usually successful in whatever they do. The second type of motivation is what we call as the 'extrinsic'(external). In this type, individuals are motivated to do something based on external reward/s or punishment/s. This motivation normally would not have a lasting effect because once the external reward is removed, the motivation also declines. Learners who are extrinsically motivated tends to be dependent on the external source of motivation and would therefore need constant supervision to finish a task. Younger learners responds easily to external motivation than adults.That is why, teachers in the lower years tend to use more external motivations than those in the higher years. While extrinsic motivation has its own merits, modern teachers are challenged to concentrate more on the development and use of intrinsic motivation throughout the whole learning process. Motivation comes in many different forms, from stamping a red star on a drawing paper of a kindergarten pupil to giving praises and encouragements to higher learners. Sometimes, just the enthusiastic presence and happy facial expression of a teacher can strongly motivate the students. Educators place a great deal of importance to motivation as it is a key to any learning process. Once a teacher fails to properly motivate the students at the start of every lesson, learning would be very difficult to achieve. This is true in any given scenario. A boss for example, who fails to properly motivate his staff will have a hard time in getting a quality performance from his team. It is also worthy to note that motivation is not only at the beginning of every lesson. It should be given throughout the whole learning process whether or not a teacher is using a contructivist model in the proper presentation of the lesson. Effective teachers has the ability to make any learning model/approach so motivating(enjoyable) from start to finish. This is a challenge that some teachers fail to achieve. MOTIVATION is one form of 'CONDITIONING' that is needed in order to achieve a specific learning objective.Teachers should always remember that the more motivated the students are the more eager they are to learn. Another relevant topic worthy of discussion is the use of 'rewards and punishment' in the classroom. I strongly suggest further reading on this topic. In my next blog I will discuss 'PRACTICE/DRILL' as the second form of conditioning which is equally important in the whole learning process.