Chapter 5: Behavioral Theories of Learning Cases to Consider

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Kindergarten Is Big Business

Sam, a boy with a talkative and bubbly personality, has just entered Mrs. Roberts's kindergarten class at Elliott Elementary School. Sam has had a complicated medical history since birth, culminating a year ago in back surgery to correct spinal scoliosis, followed by many months in a full-body cast. Last year, after the surgery, Sam was in Diana's preschool class at Elliott, where, after a rough start, he made good academic and social progress. Now, however, after two weeks of school, Mrs. Roberts is afraid that Sam doesn't have the maturity to be in kindergarten yet. She meets with Diana and Sam's mother, Janet, to discuss her concerns.

Mrs. Roberts: Thank you both for taking the time to meet with me this afternoon. I'm concerned because Sam is starting to exhibit some of the same behaviors he showed at the beginning of his preschool year with you, Diana.

Diana: Sam certainly demonstrated separation anxiety when he began preschool. I remember the tantrums he would throw when Janet dropped him off for school. Then he would complain that he felt sick, begin to cry, and even make himself throw up so he could go home.

Janet: Sam became overly dependent on me when he had his back surgery and was in the body cast. But Diana and I worked out a plan that seemed to help Sam get over his problems last year.

Mrs. Roberts: Well, it appears that Sam is having what psychologists call an extinction burst of that behavior now that he's started kindergarten. I was at my wits' end yesterday, Janet, when I had to call you for the second time this week to pick Sam up because he had had a thirty-minute tantrum and made himself sick. Diana, tell me again how you helped Sam last year.

Diana: Sure. Janet and I talked about Sam's overdependence on adults and how that could negatively affect his academic progress. We also talked about his need to develop better social skills with his classmates so that he didn't always need to be the center of attention.

Janet: I told Diana how I thought my dad was reinforcing Sam's dependence. Whenever I picked Sam up from preschool because he was "sick," I'd have to take him to work with me. I work for my dad, who has a small business in town. Sam would sit in the reception area while I worked, and Dad's customers would give him their undivided attention, because Sam would just turn on the charm.

Diana: Janet and I decided that whenever Sam left school "sick," Janet would ask her father and the customers not to give Sam any attention. Instead, she would tell Sam to rest in a side room until she could take him home and put him to bed.

Janet: Sam got "sick" several more times, but once he realized that Dad, the customers-and me, too-weren't going to give him any attention at the store, he didn't play sick anymore.

Diana: Meanwhile, at school, I had made Sam and one of his classmates the "Attendance Helpers" who took the absence report to the school secretary every day. I rotated Sam's partner often so that he could form one-on-one relationships with several classmates. And Mrs. Thompson's third-grade class developed a buddy system to help Sam interact with teachers and children in more appropriate ways.

Janet: By winter, Sam had made friends with several children in his class.

Diana: And everyone enjoyed being with him since he didn't demand center stage anymore.

Mrs. Roberts: It's been a big help to hear about all you did for Sam last year. It seems like you did all the right things to help him get over his separation anxiety and to get along better with his peers. I guess I'll just have to try the same techniques again to help him adjust to kindergarten. Janet, I hope you'll support me in this.

Janet: Oh, yes, Mrs. Roberts. I really want Sam to have a good year in kindergarten.

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