The importance of motivation(reinforcers) in learning and therapy.

How do we make our children do more of what we want them to do? Motivation.

Motivation encourages a behaviour ( Deci EL, Ryan RM)

Be it therapy or learning, motivation can be challenging among tiny tots. seldom do they see the need to learn or change the way they behave, this makes child therapy tricky. As adults, we know that if we cannot speak properly, we may not be able to function effectively for work, family or our social life. the impact is detrimental.

Motivation is essential in therapy as we want them to achieve a certain behaviour.

In older children, this can be relatively easy. Explicit explanations of the problem can be sufficient. We have them listen to their own voice, they acknowledge it and provide feedback. Plus, with increasing responsibilities, e.g. being a team leader in school means more self-awareness, this encourages them to change their undesired behaviours.

In younger children, this is where things get tricky. Explicit explanations would only leave them confused. They do not acknowledge the impacts of the situation. In this case, reinforcers are used. As mentioned in previous blogs,

Reinforcers is a way to increase the occurrence of wanted behaviours or response.

There are 2 types: positive and negative reinforcers. a combination of these methods is crucial.

Positive reinforcers include:

1. Reward system

Setting up a token system or rewarding them with something they enjoy would be beneficial. this can be for instance a 5-minute game break with their favourite toy after 7 minutes of work. It all depends on How big the wanted behaviour or task is. This can be especially effective for ambitious and determined kids who enjoy winning. A chart filled with stickers or a scoreboard drives them to perform well.

A token system can be done with stickers or stamps. He does a chore, a sticker is given.

2. Social reinforcers

This may be the most commonly used. Simple praise, pat in the back or a high five are common examples.

3. Informative reinforcers

This may be more useful to older kids but this essentially is any verbal or nonverbal information about their progress that results in motivation. (Peña-Brooks & Hegde, 2015) Verbal information: you used to get 5 out of 10 points and now you got 8! What a big improvement!

Nonverbal information: a table with boxes filled with ticks indicating each time your child packs away her toys voluntarily.

4. Self reinforcement

Kids become motivated after seeing their progress/effect of the behaviour THEMSELVES.

Example: The child eagerly does her homework after seeing a sticker on each of her worksheets. A child notices her change in voice and hence becomes more motivated in therapy sessions.

Negative Reinforcer

Children do the desired behaviour to stop something negative from happening. This can be really useful as well especially for autistic children where explicit reasons are needed. Examples are: telling the kids to brush their teeth otherwise worms will grow in their mouths./ If you hit someone, no one will like you and play with you.

*It is important to note that overpraising (exaggerating their performance) can have an opposite effect on children with low self-confidence, but a positive effect on those with high self-confidence, according to research. In the former case, kids feel that they are expected to deliver high standard work every time, they feel less motivated to attempt challenges as they fear incompetence.

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Hopefully, by now you've got a brief idea of ways to motivate your child doing what you want them to do. There is never one size fits all. Each child responds differently, one may find it useful with a princess themed sticker board. It is all about incorporating your child's interests and personality.

Stay tuned for our reinforcer guide sheet for a list of simple and useful reinforcers you can use with your child in the free downloads section!

Have a great day and don't forget to smile!

Joyce Lau