Learning Theory and Conditioning
Whether there are ethical objections to using learning theory to shape the behavior of oneself or others is a very interesting ethical question, which has no clear-cut answer. Learning theory is critical to teaching people, and, particularly with children, is a universal part of the behavior conditioning process. Moreover, many adults choose to use learning theory to help retrain themselves, eradicating bad habits and reinforcing good habits. The real ethical dilemma arises when one adult person is consciously using learning theory in a goal-directed manner to change the behavior of another adult person without that other person's permission.
Few people could argue that there are objections to using learning theory to shape behavior in children. Whether a person is an advocate of rewards-based behavior modification in children, whereby children are given rewards for participating in particular behaviors, or an advocate of punishment for children, whereby children are punished for engaging in particular behaviors, it is clear that both approaches rely upon learning theory to...
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