The behaviourist approach Flashcards
BF Skinner (1975) Verbal Behaviour
argued that children learn through imitation and introduced concepts of operant conditioning (from research of rats and pigeons)
Operant conditioning
the idea that either a positive or negative response given by a caregiver can influence the way in which a child talks on future occasions
Positive reinforcement
the positive feedback given to a child which is thought to encourage similar performance again
Negative reinforcement
the lack of feedback, correction or negative feedback that might prevent a child from making the same error repeatedly
Evaluation weakness:
Children learn language at roughly the same speed and some children are not really spoken to directly until they are able to reply coherently. Skinner’s hypothesis suggests that children would learn at different speeds.
Evaluation weakness:
how do children make logical mistakes (virtuous errors) when no adult would have said that to them.
Evaluation weakness:
Lennenburg (1962) found that a child with neuromuscular difficulties still had a normal comprehension of language even though he was unable to speak.
Evaluation strength:
Genie, had no language due to being isolated and punished if made a sound. However, there is research suggesting a critical period for children to learn language.
Evaluation weakness:
‘fis’ phenomenon suggests that children can hear and understand the correct pronunciation but simply cannot produce it themselves.
Evaluation weakness:
Research conducted on animals and not humans.
