Read the passage and answer the following questions:
Mrs. Sharma is a mother of two children aged 7 and 9 years. Both of them are very notorious and do not listen to her instructions. With every passing day, it is becoming difficult for her to regulate their behaviour. She is not able to discipline them, which she considers an important part of a successful life. One day, she comes across an article in which it is mentioned that if a mother observes behavioural issues in her child, she can apply a technique to modify the undesirable behavior of the child. According to this technique, Mrs. Sharma can give coupons to her children whenever they exhibit desirable behaviours. The coupons could later be exchanged by them for some tangible things such as candy, toys etc. Surprisingly, this technique worked very effectively with her children. In another article she came to know about another technique to modify behavior in which undesirable behavior can be reduced, and desirable behavior can be increased simultaneously.
The techniques used by Mrs. Sharma may be effective with children who are having issues related to:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Behavioural problems
Mrs. Sharma gives coupons for desirable behaviour, to be exchanged later for candy or toys. This is token economy, a technique of behaviour therapy: persons with behavioural problems are given a token every time a wanted behaviour occurs, and the tokens are exchanged for a reward. Her children’s trouble is behavioural too: they do not listen and she cannot discipline them.
Option (1) Self-esteem — Incorrect. Self-esteem is the value judgement a person makes about herself or himself. Low self-esteem is a problem of how one sees oneself; rewarding particular behaviours is not aimed at it.
Option (2) Decision-making — Incorrect. Difficulty in choosing between alternatives is a matter of thinking and judgement. Tokens reward an action after it occurs; they do not train a child to weigh choices.
Option (3) Conflict-management — Incorrect. This means handling disagreements between people or groups, through talks or negotiation. The passage is about two children’s undesirable behaviour, not about a dispute.
Option (4) Behavioural problems — Correct. Both techniques in the passage, token economy and the method that reduces undesirable and increases desirable behaviour together, are behaviour modification techniques, meant for children and adults who show faulty or undesirable behaviour.
NCERT (2025-26): “Behavioural Techniques … If an adaptive behaviour occurs rarely, positive reinforcement is given to increase the deficit. For example, if a child does not do homework regularly, positive reinforcement may be used by the child’s mother by preparing the child’s favourite dish whenever s/he does homework at the appointed time. The positive reinforcement of food will increase the behaviour of doing homework at the appointed time. Persons with behavioural problems can be given a token as a reward every time a wanted behaviour occurs. The tokens are collected and exchanged for a reward such as an outing for the patient or a treat for the child. This is known as token economy.” |