Skinner & Piaget
B. F. Skinner Steven A. Vance Post University
B.F. Skinner
Burrhus Frederic Skinner was a behavioral theorist who impacted greatly on the developmental field. He is not considered a developmental psychologist, but many of his theories are still embraced by developmental theorists today (Diessner 2008). One of his more important contributions to the field was his theory of verbal behavior.
Skinner defines verbal behavior as “behavior reinforced through the mediation of other people.” (Skinner 1957). Language is developed through process of thought and through social interactions within the environment. Children and intellectually disabled individuals learn language through listening to other individuals in the environment and develop and assign a meaning or definition to a word or object which is stored in memory. Others in the environment can reinforce that verbal behavior by further defining and reinforcing what that child or intellectually disabled individual has already constructed a meaning for and stored.
Skinner believed that all behavior, including verbal behavior was influenced by positive and negative reinforcement. Through these types of reinforcement, you can mold and shape a person’s behavior and elicit a desired response. Positive reinforcement is used in operant conditioning as a stimulus after a response that would provide an increased probability that the response would reoccur in the future (Skinner
1957). Negative reinforcement is the removal of an unpleasant stimulus when a desired behavior occurs (Skinner 1957).
In what I do for my agency as a behavior clinician, I utilize positive reinforcement on a regular basis with my consumers. We are
B.F. Skinner
Burrhus Frederic Skinner was a behavioral theorist who impacted greatly on the developmental field. He is not considered a developmental psychologist, but many of his theories are still embraced by developmental theorists today (Diessner 2008). One of his more important contributions to the field was his theory of verbal behavior.
Skinner defines verbal behavior as “behavior reinforced through the mediation of other people.” (Skinner 1957). Language is developed through process of thought and through social interactions within the environment. Children and intellectually disabled individuals learn language through listening to other individuals in the environment and develop and assign a meaning or definition to a word or object which is stored in memory. Others in the environment can reinforce that verbal behavior by further defining and reinforcing what that child or intellectually disabled individual has already constructed a meaning for and stored.
Skinner believed that all behavior, including verbal behavior was influenced by positive and negative reinforcement. Through these types of reinforcement, you can mold and shape a person’s behavior and elicit a desired response. Positive reinforcement is used in operant conditioning as a stimulus after a response that would provide an increased probability that the response would reoccur in the future (Skinner
1957). Negative reinforcement is the removal of an unpleasant stimulus when a desired behavior occurs (Skinner 1957).
In what I do for my agency as a behavior clinician, I utilize positive reinforcement on a regular basis with my consumers. We are
References: Diessner, R. (2008). Classic edition sources human development. Dubuque, IA. mcgraw hill contemporary learning series. Moledina, M. (2013). Skinner versus Piaget: Summarize the differences between. Blog archive. http://skinnervspiaget2.blogspot.com/2012/02/summaize-differences-b...