Behaviorism

My favorite of the Behavioral Models is Behavior Modeling. It has been my experience that Behavior Modeling techniques, when followed through correctly, made learning a "soft" skill less painful and in many instances even increased the confidence of the student. When teaching social skills, practice and feedback are key. Learning interpersonal skills is difficult enough Throw into the mix that for every single social skill you learn, there are multiple situations and conditions under which the skill can be used. Similar in that you need to use the skill, different in that the people, places, atmosphere, are all different. Take greeting someone. If I learn to shake hands when first introduced to someone, how about after I already know you? Do I shake hands with you the next time I meet you as well? Do I just "nod" at you? Do I just say "Hey"? Do I say "Hey" to an authority figure or just friends? Does someone have to introduce us for me to shake your hand, or can you introduce yourself to me? Skillstreaming is a curriculum that many special education teachers have utilized with success when teaching their students how to interact in various social situations. I like this curriculum because it tends to explain things that I may overlook when teaching social skills. This curriculum even goes so far as to explain that when shaking someone's hand, your hands are to meet "web to web". Although behaviorial theories tend to not promote critical thinking skills, there are situations where they are very useful.