AP PSYCHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Reinforcement theory is a psychological principle suggesting that behaviors are shaped by their consequences, and that individual behaviors can be changed through reinforcement, punishment and extinction. Behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner was instrumental in developing modern ideas about reinforcement theory.

Detailed explanation-2: -Skinner believed that behavior is motivated by the consequences we receive for the behavior: reinforcements and punishments. His idea that learning is the result of consequences is based on the law of effect, which was first proposed by psychologist Edward Thorndike.

Detailed explanation-3: -Skinner’s idea of operant conditioning influenced thoughts about child development, or that a child’s behavior could be impacted through positive and negative reinforcements. It also contributed to the behavioral theory of personality, explaining that we respond in certain ways based on our learned experiences.

Detailed explanation-4: -History. The term reinforcement was introduced by Pavlov in 1903 to describe the strengthening of the association between an unconditioned and a conditioned stimulus that results when the two are presented together.