Charlie, a twelve-year-old boy in the sixth grade, has experienced a sudden change in his behavior at
home and at school. Despite living in a caring and stable environment, Charlie has been acting out and
disregarding his mother's house rules and school assignments. To understand Charlie's recent behavior,
it is important to consider the effects of both his past and current environment on his mental health. By
examining the psychological domains of emotions, cognition, and behavior. A psychologist could use
many ways to explain the behavior of the boy. Behaviorism is something we pick up from our
surroundings and can have an impact on someone's behavior. “A child's environment is the factor that
shapes behaviors over their genetic makeup or natural temperament” (Watson). In this case, the 12-
year-old boy had a negative effect on his environment with his mother setting boundaries with negative
reinforcement that he wishes not to follow, instead, he is retaliating which is how he had grown up and
had been displayed by his parents.
Cognitive psychology is studying the human mind and how they process these thoughts. “Every
function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the
indicial level” (Vygotsky). This is demonstrated by the way the child's traits and habits changed and
emerged as he grew older. The biological approach is to believe that certain behaviors are natural to
certain changes in our environment. “The psychoanalytic perspective might view aggression as the result
of childhood experiences and unconscious urges” (cherry). The aggression in the child can be genetic
factors when going back to the biological roots that have been passed down from his parents.
Out of the three, behaviorism is the one that I can relate to the most because it is a part of most
people's upbringing, including mine. As a person develops, they tend to pick up on the patterns and
behaviors of others, which affects their decision-making and their development as an individual.
“Behaviorism has also led to research on environmental influences on human behavior” (behavioral
psy). The 12-year-old boy's responses to being punished can be used to demonstrate the effects of a
stimulus on someone. The actions after receiving punishment could have been picked up or influenced
by his parents when younger, since that's when our brains develop the most, mincing what they see.
Behaviorism accommodates this theory of how learning and our behaviors are connected, which can be
shown in the model situation, through our own observation.
