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Social Influences on Behavior

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SOCIAL INFLUENCES ON BEHAVIOR
Abstract
Reading this paper it will give you an insight as to how society influences behavior. Pavlov wasknown for his study of learned behavior with his dog and salvation experiment. This paper willidentify situations when parents raise their kids and try to discipline them and not allow their personalities to conform to fearfulness or defiance. Also, you will get a understanding of classical and operant conditioning. This paper will discuss the effects of society and drinking andthe effects it will have on a person. What would have the greatest effect on a person¶s life, todiscipline or not to discipline or to describe alcohol as something bad and never give reasoningor to introduce it without warrant?

As we grow through life we learn how behavior changes based on our social situations. Itis known that social psychology is the scientific study of how people¶s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others (Kowalski,2009). We begin as a tabula rasa on which various experiences throughout development write behavior and, ultimately, the person him/her self. We will take a look at the relationships whichdetermine behavior of parents and children when it comes to discipline as well as the relationship between persons who are sober and person who are drunk and their different behaviors.
Children and Parents
When examining parent and children relationship and discipline. We can conclude that parents are more likely to discipline according to how they were disciplined. Because behavior isformed by consequents and punishments and rewards will ultimately influence behavior,discipline is a key component in raising a child. Learning can occur without a changein behavior. Behaviorists say that learning has to be characterized by an undeviating modificationin behavior, in dissimilarity social learning theorists say because we can learn through watchingalone, their learning may not essentially be shown in their presentation. Learning may or may notresult in a behavior change (Ormord, 1999). I will take my daughter for example. She is seven(7) years old and heading to second grade. Disciplining her has been a challenge for me. I havetried the Hitler approach which was what I saw growing up. Either do as I say or get a beating. Iknew that time has shown that different discipline methods yield different results. So my delimawas do I teach her the rules of good behavior and bad behavior, do I take away privileges, usecorporal punishment, yell and/or scold, or do I allow the behavior to go unnoticed? In the beginning I used to spank her without conversation, but with her I have learned that I can¶t be a strict strict disciplinarian because it forces her to become fearful of situations and persons of authority.This is not the adaptation that I want for her. If it is true that operant conditioning equalsstrengthening patterns of learned behavior reinforcement (Psych 101 Study Guides Chapter 5,2010) we want to condition children to be respectful of authority and not fearful. The incidentthat made me realize my daughter was not respectful of me but fearful of me was when we werehome and she was just being rowdy the whole day and I was at that point of no return (whichwas my fault for letting my frustration build up) I yelled at her and the fear in her eyes made mestep back and remember my childhood and discipline. I was fearful of my mom because of how Iknew I would be punished. How much of this has become considered classical conditioning. Dowe condition our children as Pavlov condition his dogs to respond to the bell and food(Kowalski, 2009)? If I expect her to respect authority figures (i.e. police officer, fireman, andmilitary personnel) then I must exhibit an environment that would allow her to respect disciplineas opposed to fearing it.
Drinking
Behavior as associated with drugs and alcohol differ than that of children and parentdisciplining. With all kinds of fads on the rise in society with one of the latest being ³planking´which is when a person lies down flat in a public place to appear dead and the economycontinuing to decline it is no wonder the consumption of alcohol is on the rise. Because behavior is learned we know that if children see too much of this behavior displayed they would want toreenact that behavior as well as if it is seen as a bad thing and never discussed (Stacy, 1994). Ican remember growing up and my mom was a social drinker, but my father was the owner of aclub, so I saw alcohol around all the time. While my brother and sister decided they wanted to trydrinking I never did. I would see how my parents would act when they were drinking and when they were sober and I knew the difference and determined that it was the drinking that causedthem to have the rude behavior and slurring of words. I always wondered why my mother pickedup drinking. She was raised in a Christian household with her mother and father and drinkingand smoking was never permitted. I asked her and she said because she was not able toexperience it in the home it was enticing to her when she left. There was a older man who I willname John. He would drink all the time and always want a drink. Well he ended up having liver poising due to the high consumption of alcohol and died right in front of me. So you couldunderstand my reasoning for not wanting to drink. This was a behavior I learned ³to not drink´due to the infliction caused by a person to himself. Through classical conditioning I realized thatthe alcohol caused people to behave different and do different and crazy things. When behavior is altered by a drug or alcohol it is no telling what can happen because it is no longer the personacting on their own recognizance but the drug assisting them (Ven, 2009). Social settings andalcohol can cause people to react to situations differently than if they were sober and make themtry things as if they were in their right state of mind.
Conclusion
There are numerous aspects and persuasions which conclude, outline, and pattern thecharacter and actions of persons. While many progressions and innovative perception has beenshown throughout theories that have been given concerning individuality and actions, there arestill a few areas of psychology that need to be revealed and investigated about the behavior of humans and their personalities. SOCIAL INFLUENCES ON BEHAVIOR 6
Works Cited
Kowalski, R. &. (2009). In Psychology (5th ed.).
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.Ormord, J. (1999). Social Learning Theory. In Human Learning (3rd ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Psych 101 Study Guides Chapter 5.
(2010). Retrieved from Canyons:http://www.canyons.edu/faculty/labriem/Psych101/StudyGuides/Chapter5.pdf Stacy, A. W. (1994). Attitudes and health behavior in diverse populatins: Drunk driving, alcohol use, binge eating, marijuana use, and cigarette use.
Retrieved from EBSCOhost.Ven, T. V. (2009).
Getting Drunk and Hooking Up:An Exploratory Study of The Relationship Between Alcohol Intoxication and Casual Coupling In A University Sample.
Retrieved fromEBSCOhost.

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