In the third talk James talks about the two functions of consciousness that are: it leads to knowledge, and it leads to action. He discusses how the teacher should train the student how to behave.
In this talk the passage that stood out was, “You should regard your professional task as if it consisted chiefly and essentially in training the pupil to behavior; taking behavior, not in the narrow sense of his manners, but in the very widest possible sense, as including ever possible sort of fit reaction on the circumstances into which he may find himself brought by the vicissitudes of life.” (p. 13) I believe that anyone that is around children or have children are teachers. We are teaching children how to behave in school, at home, in public, with friends, with family, etc. My parents, family, friends, teachers, etc. were not only apart of helping gain knowledge but teaching me how to behave in our society.
I agree that we should shape their behavior but I don’t necessarily agree that it should be done in a negative way. I believe we can also shape their behavior in a positive way by praising them. Some children respond better to positive and others to negative. So, how do we get the right mix of negative and positive reinforcement to get the behavior we desire?
You'll see (in Ch. 15) that William James also does not think we should use negative approaches to behavior modification when positive approaches will do.
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