Megan Robb

Psychology 1010

02/27/17

12:30

For my Naturalistic Observation Assignment, I observed at the Arctic Circle by my house

on 13162 South Rosecrest Road in Herriman on Sunday, February 26, at 12:00pm. This Arctic

Circle location included a play place. The restaurant wasnt super busy, but there were a couple

of families when I arrived and a few came and went as I was there. I did my observation with my

cousin, Abbie, who offered to be there as my second pair of eyes.

The first observation was an example of negative punishment. There were two caucasian

little girls, who looked about 5 years old or a year or two younger, they were obviously sisters

because they both addressed the same caucasian woman, in her late twenties, as mom. The older

girl had a doll with her and when she left it on the table to go play on the play place, the younger

sister started playing with the doll at the table. The older girl saw and immediately ran over and

yanked the doll from her sisters had yelling, Thats mine! The younger girl was instantly upset

and the mother told the older girl to give the doll back and she said no. The mother then took the

doll from the girl and gave it to the younger girl while telling the older girl that she needs to

share. This is an example of negative punishment because the mother took away the doll when

the older sister wasnt sharing with her younger sister. I do not think this was an effective

punishment because the mother showed no patience. She should have made the older sister

apologize and give the doll back by hand herself.

 My second observation was an example of positive reinforcement. As I was standing in

line to order my food, I heard a caucasian female about mid-thirties, go up to another caucasian

female about 16 or 17, and tell her that she was aware that she wasnt feeling good and if she

completed a couple of small tasks she could go home early. The younger girl thanked the older

girl and said that that would be great. This is an example of positive reinforcement because the

girl was reward with her hard work. I feel like this was an effective reinforcement because

everybody involved benefit from it.

My third observation was an example of positive punishment. A young caucasian boy

about 4 years old was running around the play area carelessly pushing his way passed other kids.

He knocked down a younger hispanic boy about 2 or 3. A caucasian woman who seemed to be

his mother in her early twenties, scolded him for being reckless and told him to be careful around

the other little kids and to apologize to the kid who he knocked down. The boy went over to the

younger boy said he was sorry and then ran to continue to play. This is an example of positive

punishment because the boy was punished for his behavior, but did not get anything taken away

from him. This was effective because the mother was able to get the boy to apologize to the other

younger boy.

My observations taught me what methods of punishment and reinforcement might or

might not work when raising children or just going about my everyday life. I think the most

effective method was the positive punishment. The mother was able to get her son to apologize

without causing too much of a scene. I think Naturalistic Observation can be a very good

research method at times because you are seeing the natural ways people are reacting or

responding to something and it is always genuine. As long as the people observed do not know
they are being observed. However, you are only seeing this behavior once and arent aware of

how often it happens or if it will happen again.

I think my observation shows how different some parents can be. For example, in my

first observation the mother who took away the doll was much more assertive than the mother

who did not take anything from her kid in my third observation. I wasnt surprised with any of

the reactions I saw in my observations because I feel like I have seen each reaction multiple

times in my life both from observation and experience.