Time Out
Operant conditioning begins early in childhood in one form or another. Parents choose to discipline their children in a multitude of ways, the most popular being "time out." I first began using time out when my twins were two years old. As a new mom, I was unsure that it was possible for it to influence their behavior, especially at such a young age. Then I realized that being consistent with it was the only way that they would learn. They needed to know that every time they behaved badly they would get one warning, usually something like, "I'm going to count and if I get to three...," and any negative behavior after that would warrant a time out. Time out meant that they would sit by themselves for one minute for every year that they were. So my two year olds were sitting for two minutes. The more consistent I was, the more there bad behavior waned. Now, at three years old, when they are doing something that they shouldn't be, which is still often, ...