Question

'Programmed instruction' is an educational implication of:

• A. Classical conditioning
• B. Operant conditioning
• C. Insight learning
• D. Cognitive learning

Answer 1

Answer:

B. Operant conditioning

Operant conditioning is a learning method that uses rewards and punishments to modify behavior. It's based on the idea that the consequences of a behavior will either encourage or discourage that behavior from being repeated. 

Here are some key concepts of operant conditioning: 

• Reinforcement

  A stimulus or event that follows a behavior and increases the likelihood of that behavior recurring. Positive reinforcement involves giving rewards, praise, or privileges to reinforce desired behaviors. Negative reinforcement involves removing an aversive stimulus or ending an unpleasant situation to reinforce desired behaviors. 

• Punishment

  A consequence that decreases the likelihood of a behavioral response. 

• Generalization

  A behavior learned in one situation may be performed in a similar situation. 

• Behavior modification

  A set of techniques that use operant conditioning to target behavioral problems in settings such as the home, school, and mental institutions. 

B.F. Skinner is credited with coining the term "operant conditioning" in 1937. Skinner's theory was based on two assumptions:

• The cause of human behavior is something in a person's environment.

• The consequences of a behavior determine the possibility of it being repeated.