Argues that children
acquire language by
imitating the speech of
others
When a child produces a
word successfully they receive
a reward and are encouraged
Getting something you asked for
Parental Approval
Parental attention
When a child gets a word wrong
they are discourages which
motivates them to avoid errors
Not getting what you want
Parental criticism or failure to understand
If something has a pleasant
consequence it is likely that
we will do it again
If something has a negative
consequence we are unlikley to
do it again
Punishment
Punishment is defined as the
opposite of reinforcement as it is
designed to weaken or eliminate a
response rather than increase it
Punishment can work by applying a
negative simulus eg. sitting a child on
the naughty step or it could be taking
away a positive stimulus eg. taking
away pocket money
Skinner's research and child language
A behaviourist approach assumes
that children's minds are a blank slate
when they are born
Children imitate their
caregivers
If they get it right, they are
rewarded: through praise, or
positive reaction, or by being
understood
If they get it wrong, they are
punished: by being
corrected, or by not being
understood
ARGUMENTS FOR SKINNER
Children develop regional
accents so they can imitate
the sounds around them
Children copy words that their parents say
although it is unclear whether they
understand the meanings of these words
ARGUMENTS AGAINST SKINNER
All children go through the same developmental
stages regardless of the amount of parental
reinforcement they recieve
Children CANNOT acquire
grammar by imitation
Children are often
impervious to correction
Children can produce original words and sentences
that they haven't heard from adults
Children may copy words but they work
out meanings and meaning relationships
for themselves
Parents rarely punish (in a way) a
child's linguistic errors. Children who
are frequently corrected acquire
language much slower