Theorists:
Skinner:
Promoted the behaviourist theory, in which he proposed the idea of conditioning as a way of
learning.
Thought that the idea of choice and free will was incorrect and that we make decisions through past
conditioning and the outcome of that.
Children learn through operant conditioning and imitation.
This is then linked to positive and negative reinforcement.
If a child is positively reinforced then they are more likely to repeat the behaviour, whereas if they
are told not to do something then they are less likely to repeat the behaviour.
One example of negative reinforcement is a parent correcting a child.
Chomsky:
Proposed the idea of a LAD (Language Acquisition Device) which contrasts the previous thought that
children were born as a blank slate (tabula rasa).
Had an opposing view to Skinner.
The LAD is a proposed device that all humans have to learn language, especially grammar.
Universal grammar was used as a term to describe the global capacity to learn languages at similar
rates.
The similarities between languages suggest that this is innate.
Virtuous errors occur in children's speech because they overapply a rule and so they create an
incorrect grammar form of the lexis.
The child is unlikely to have heard this from a caregiver or an adult and so this cannot be imitated
and so the child has made this up off their own back.
One of the main reasons that the LAD has been rejected is because it doesn’t place enough emphasis
on the role of the caregiver.
Children that lack sufficient exposure to language will rarely catch up with language acquisition.
Piaget:
There are stages in which a child's language progresses and matures.
He focused on cognitive development and suggested that the development of understanding is
something the child starts.
Also suggested that children cannot develop until particular stages of cognitive development have
been achieved.
These stages are sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational stage and formal operational
stage.
Skinner:
Promoted the behaviourist theory, in which he proposed the idea of conditioning as a way of
learning.
Thought that the idea of choice and free will was incorrect and that we make decisions through past
conditioning and the outcome of that.
Children learn through operant conditioning and imitation.
This is then linked to positive and negative reinforcement.
If a child is positively reinforced then they are more likely to repeat the behaviour, whereas if they
are told not to do something then they are less likely to repeat the behaviour.
One example of negative reinforcement is a parent correcting a child.
Chomsky:
Proposed the idea of a LAD (Language Acquisition Device) which contrasts the previous thought that
children were born as a blank slate (tabula rasa).
Had an opposing view to Skinner.
The LAD is a proposed device that all humans have to learn language, especially grammar.
Universal grammar was used as a term to describe the global capacity to learn languages at similar
rates.
The similarities between languages suggest that this is innate.
Virtuous errors occur in children's speech because they overapply a rule and so they create an
incorrect grammar form of the lexis.
The child is unlikely to have heard this from a caregiver or an adult and so this cannot be imitated
and so the child has made this up off their own back.
One of the main reasons that the LAD has been rejected is because it doesn’t place enough emphasis
on the role of the caregiver.
Children that lack sufficient exposure to language will rarely catch up with language acquisition.
Piaget:
There are stages in which a child's language progresses and matures.
He focused on cognitive development and suggested that the development of understanding is
something the child starts.
Also suggested that children cannot develop until particular stages of cognitive development have
been achieved.
These stages are sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational stage and formal operational
stage.
