Behaviourism
CPD for Primary: Children's Language Development (by Tom Hollins), topic 1.2.1
Behaviourism
The theory of behaviourism is often accredited to B. F. Skinner. Skinner says that a child learns language based on positive and negative reinforcement of ideas.
Examples
- For example, when a child correctly calls a dog, a dog, the caregiver may say something positive like ‘yes, that’s the dog’ to reinforce the idea.
- Similarly, when an incorrect utterance is produced, like the child calling a dog a cat, the caregiver may say something negative, like ‘no, that’s not a cat, it’s a dog’. Tone of voice and paralinguistic features will often assist with this.
Test yourself on Behaviourism
Who is accredited with the theory of behaviourism?