CHILD DEVELOPMENT PEDAGOGY

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 says that a person is first exposed to a stimulus, which elicits a response, and the response is then reinforced (stimulus, response, reinforcement). This, ultimately, is what conditions our behaviors. To make this process easier to remember, the ABCs of behaviorism were developed.

Detailed explanation-3: -Skinner observed two kinds of behaviors, respondent behavior i.e., elicited by a known stimulus, and an apparent behavior i.e., not elicited by a known stimulus, but emitted by the organism himself. Respondent behaviors are unconditioned responses, because they are elicited by un-conditioned stimuli.

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.

Detailed explanation-5: -The theory of B.F. Skinner is based upon the idea that learning is a function of change in overt behavior. Changes in behavior are the result of an individual’s response to events (stimuli) that occur in the environment.