Abstract
Patterns of stimuli for behavior can represent social influence on child or parent on the occasion of presentation. Through the mechanisms of operant learning, that influence may carry over to subsequent occasions. Social-stimulus effects on behavior and, in particular, those that can be organized under the operant-learning paradigm and derivative paradigms, including pervasive imitation (identification) and attachment, are examined in this chapter as salient mechanisms of social influence. In early socialization settings, these operant mechanisms can influence readily not only the behavior of the child, but the behavior of parents and other environmental agencies as well. Operant processes denoting mutual influence can operate in the concurrent (often simultaneous) conditioning of the behavior of the child and of its caregiving environment. This chapter presents a survey of the diverse ways social influence on offspring behavior can be implemented via operant-learning and derivative processes that are effected through patterns of environmental conditions provided by the behavior of parents/caregivers. In addition, the survey considers the ways in which influence on parent/caregiver behavior can be effected by stimulation patterns provided by child behavior. Prior to presentation of the survey, however, the concepts of operant learning and of environment will be examined in the next two sections.
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Gewirtz, J.L. (1991). Social Influence on Child and Parent via Stimulation and Operant-Learning Mechanisms. In: Lewis, M., Feinman, S. (eds) Social Influences and Socialization in Infancy. Genesis of Behavior, vol 6. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2620-3_7
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