AP PSYCHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -B.F. Skinner (1904–90) was a leading American psychologist, Harvard professor and proponent of the behaviourist theory of learning in which learning is a process of ‘conditioning’ in an environment of stimulus, reward and punishment.

Detailed explanation-2: -Skinner’s Theory of Learning: Operant Conditioning. According to B. F. Skinner’s theory of learning, our behaviors are developed or conditioned through reinforcements. He referred to this process as operant conditioning, with operant referring to any behavior that acts on the environment and leads to consequences.

Detailed explanation-3: -Respondent behaviour – things which happen automatically and reflexively, e.g. pulling your hand away from a hot stove. These are not learned behaviours, they simply occur automatically and involuntarily. Operant behaviours – things which require our conscious control.

Detailed explanation-4: -Skinner (operant conditioning). Reinforcement theory says that behavior is driven by its consequences. As such, positive behaviors should be rewarded positively. Negative behaviors should not be rewarded or should be punished.