shaping behavior- Danielle Chapman

My brother never used to hold the door for people behind him or open doors for women. I think that this is really rude and get mad at him every single time. Even though he's only 12, I think he should know to do it by now. We ended up being out together a few times this weekend, and every time that we were, I would tell him that he needed to hold the door. When he would, I would thank him giving him positive reinforcement. The environment was the stores that we were in. They were all similar, and all contained strangers for him to practice with. After me pointing it out a few times, he began to do it on his own. The consequence was simply me, or someone that he didn't know, noticing his politeness and giving him praise for it.  I also told him that polite guys opened the door for girls, which I think almost pressured him into thinking that he should do the same. I'll have to pay more attention next time we're out together to see if it actually changed his mind set.