Throughout the course of a week I was able to spend some time with my sister and her family, two sons and a daughter. I spent a lot of this week with them because I decided to try my experiment on my little niece Grace. I chose to use Grace as part of my project because she is at the age where she is young enough to be controlled, but also smart enough to know what she wants. This was important to me because I needed to be able to keep her focused on what was important, learning how to use the restroom without a diaper. Using Pavlovian conditioning, I am going to teach Grace, who is a two-year-old girl, to use the bathroom. Every hour I will say the words, "Grace it is time to go to the restroom." I will sit her on her toilet seat and give her a piece of candy. We will wait to see if she goes and if so, we will give her another piece. My goal is to have Grace recognize the relationship between the candy and using the restroom. .
On the first day, we had to make sure that Grace understood what the toilet was and what it was used for. First, we set the candy in plain view, and when Grace wanted a piece, she would have to show us the toilet. This showed us that Grace understood where she was supposed to go. Grace saw the candy and wanted a piece and we explained to her that she needed to show us where the toilet was. She was reluctant, and so we did not give her candy. Once Grace realized that showing us where the restroom was meant that she could have her candy, she was more apt to take us there. For the next few hours, Grace took us to the bathroom and then received candy. The next morning, Grace showed that she still had the same reactions as the previous night. Time to move on.
Now that Grace understands what and where the toilet is, it is time for her to understand that she needs to use the toilet. When Grace asks for the candy, we would have her show us and then have her sit on the toilet.