Answer the following questions by identifying the correct schedule of reinforcement.

1. Mrs. Blass is tired of her students not being prepared for class each day. She knows that they are hard-working seniors who value getting an A in the class, and she wants to set up a schedule of work so they study hard and consistently. She schedules pop quizzes. Only she knows when those quizzes will be given. Assuming the students find the grade of A or B to be reinforcing, what schedule of reinforcement is at work here?
2. Sally is trying to break up with her boyfriend. She refuses to text him back 90% of the time when he texts her. Sometimes, this means she will not text back after 10 or 20 texts. Finally, she gets frustrated (and lonely) and will text back but only to say ‘hi’ or ‘good luck at your football game’ or other seemingly meaningless comments. This process continues for months, where he texts her a few times every day, and eventually she will break down and answer. The reason the boyfriend is still texting so long after the breakup is due to which schedule of reinforcement?
3. A mom and dad are teaching 2-year-old Johnny how to use the toilet. Every time he urinates even a little amount in the toilet they jump up and down and he gets a bite of his favorite cookie. This is an example of which schedule of reinforcement that is often used when first teaching a skill?
4. Manuel is thinking about opening a new coffee shop in town. He is wanting to compete with the big companies in town, but he is not sure how to draw in the crowds. To start, he offers reward points. When customers come in, they get a star for every $5 they spend. Once they have spent $50, they receive a free medium drip coffee. Manuel is hoping to lure in repeat business through which schedule of reinforcement?
5. Dr Lee notices his patients are not coming in for their routine visits on time. They often push them back, which causes backups at some time in the year (before school starts) and low numbers at other times of year (summer). He is wanting more consistent clientele and work and offers a 10% discount on his current rates if patients stick to their defined 3 appointments a year (every 3.3 months). Those patients who are motivated by this discount are adhering to which schedule of reinforcement?

Resources for this week’s answer, Please use

Gleason, J. B., & Ratner, N. B. (2017). The development of language (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

• Chapter 5, “Putting Words Together:      Comprehension and Production of Morphology and Syntax in the Preschool      Years” (pp. 104–136)

Baby Sign Language. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.babysignlanguage.com/

Center for Speech and Language Pathology. (n.d.). Early morphological development. Retrieved January 31, 2016, from http://www.speechtherapyct.com/whats_new/Early%20Morphological%20Development.pdf

Nelson, L. H., White, K. R., & Grewe, J. (2012). Evidence for website claims about the benefits of teaching sign language to infants and toddlers with normal hearing. Infant and Child Development, 21(5), 474–502. doi:10.1002/icd.1748

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Stratton-Kehl Publications. (2017). Baby sign language. Retrieved from https://www.drjosephgarcia.com/

Pizer, G., Walters, K., & Meier, R. P. (2007). Bringing up baby with baby signs: Language ideologies and socialization in hearing families. Sign Language Studies, 7(4), 387–430. doi:10.1353/sls.2007.0026

Speech language pathologists, special educators, and related providers working with children with language delays, hearing impairments, or other variables that affect typical language development use empirically supported strategies to increase language skills and teach sign languages. These strategies may have implications for typically developing children as well. Research suggests that before a baby’s first word, his or her receptive (listening and comprehension) language skills are more developed compared to productive (speech) skills. Tomasello (2003) writes that infants use gestures before they can speak, sometimes even using a combination of word and gesture before they can express multiple-word utterances. Although infants’ cognitive development limits language production at this point, and there are also physical limitations related to vocal cord development, what if the understanding and gesturing ability they do have could be harnessed and augmented through instruction?

Some researchers who work with signed languages have explored their use with hearing infants in this in-between stage to increase infants’ ability to communicate with caregivers. There are several commercially available products of adapted sign language that parents can use to teach their infants. From a practical perspective, this application has the potential to decrease guessing what infants need or want (e.g., if a child can sign that her diaper is wet). Researchers are also interested in learning whether there are cognitive or language development benefits to children that first learn to sign.

For this Discussion, you consider the potential benefits and limitations of using sign language with hearing infants.

To prepare:

· Review the two websites on baby sign language in this week’s Learning Resources. Both are commercial products for parents and other caregivers to use when implementing signing with hearing infants.

· Perform research in the Walden Library and other reputable academic sources to research the effectiveness of baby signing as well as its effects on verbal language and cognitive development.

With these thoughts in mind:

 

Post an argument either for or against the use of “baby signs” with infants. Justify your argument by providing evidence from the literature about the effects of baby sign language on verbal language development and cognitive development. Does it help or hinder a child’s language development? Has research demonstrated that it positively or negatively effects a child’s cognitive development?