“If you have to go potty, STOP and go right away. Flush and wash and be on your way” a catchy tune courtesy of Daniel Tiger (Hamburg, et al., 2012). Daniel Tiger is somewhat of a celebrity in households across the United States, including mine. Daniel is a cartoon, preschool-aged tiger and the main character of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood on the Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) (2015).
Episodes of the popular show teach children life lessons about sharing, conflict resolution and even toilet etiquette using familiar characters from Mister Rogers Neighborhood (PBS). The purpose of this post will be to describe how the show uses the applied social psychological principles of vicarious learning and social cognitive theory to instill valuable lessons of toilet hygiene and restroom etiquette in its preschool audience using my own experience in potty training my oldest son.
If you have ever tried to potty train a toddler (especially a boy), you can understand why you would take all the help you could get in teaching them proper potty hygiene, manners and most importantly, to stop and use the restroom right away when the urge strikes even if it means interrupting something enjoyable. Daniel Tiger was an unexpected, but essential player in potty training my now four year old son. Episode 111 of the latest season features Prince Wednesday and Daniel Tiger learning lessons about toilet training including one of our favorite songs that reminds my son that as fun as it is to play, it is important to stop and use the bathroom when needed (Hamburg, et al., 2012). In each episode, Daniel and Prince Wednesday are both encouraged and rewarded for using the bathroom to avoid accidents and following proper restroom hygiene by adults around them.
Throughout our potty training adventure my son would imitate the bathroom etiquette he learned while watching Daniel Tiger and sing his potty song reminder. In fact, I occasionally still hear him singing it when he has to leave playtime to use the bathroom over a year later. According to Ewoldson and Roskos (2012) my son is experiencing vicarious learning which involves imitating a behavior because one has seen that behavior receive rewards. Bandura utilized the concept of vicarious learning in the development of the social cognitive theory of mass communications which in our text was applied to the imitation of violence (Ewoldson & Roskos). However, here I place the concept and theory in a more positive light as it helped to make potty training less of challenge.
Bandura’s social cognitive theory has four facets that are required for vicarious learning: attention, representational process, behavioral production process and motivational process (Ewoldson & Roskos, 2012). The subsequent paragraphs will define each facet and how they have been established by Daniel Tiger’s life lessons.
Attention involves whether or not the viewer notices and shows interest in a behavior (Ewoldson & Roskos, 2012). In the case of toilet etiquette, attention was garnered by Daniel using a catchy song and my son’s curiosity with the all things potty. The second facet of social cognitive theory, representational process involves the ability to remember an observed behavior (Ewoldson & Roskos). Ewoldson and Roskos point out that this step is often characterized by rehearsing the desired behavior. For example, my son would often sing the potty song to himself although he was not reliably potty trained and often needed reminders and prompts to avoid accidents. Next, social cognitive theory defines the behavioral production process. Behavioral production allows generalization of a given behavior to different contexts (Ewoldson & Roskos). Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood set the stage for this process by first teaching toilet etiquette in the familiar setting of a school in one episode then following up in the next episode with Daniel applying what he had learned in the preschool setting to the music shop while out running errands with his dad (Hamburg, et al., 2012). The final dimension is motivational process which involves establishing the factors that motivate individuals’ behaviors (Ewoldson & Roskos). The motivational process involves imitation of desirable behaviors with consideration given to factors that influence motivation like rewards, justification, realism, and identifying with the behavior modeler (Ewoldson & Roskos). For example, my son was able to identify with Daniel Tiger and Prince Wednesday as preschoolers who were learning to use the bathroom, just like him. Additionally, we learned that a reward as small as a sticker was enough to coax my son to try the toilet.
Our younger son just turned two in January so I will again be looking to my friend Daniel to help me along the way in our next adventure in potty training. New awareness established through the principles of applied social psychology including Bandura’s social cognitive theory and vicarious learning will make things even easier. This time around I will also enlist the help of his big brother since the little guy learns vicariously through him every day, for better or for worse!
-Windy Alonso
References
Ewoldson, D. & Roskos, B. (2012). Applying social psychology to the media, in Applied Social Psychology Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.) Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts (Eds.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Hamburg, J., Santomero, A. & Friedman, B. (Writers). (2012, September). Episode 111: Prince Wednesday goes to the potty. Daniel goes to the potty [Television series episode]. In A. Santomero, K. Morrison & V. Commisso (Producers), Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. New York, NY: The Fred Rogers Company.
Public Broadcasting Station. (2015). Daniel Tigers Neighborhood. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/parents/daniel/
Tags: Daniel Tiger, social cognitive theory, Vicarious learning