Which theory posits language learning occurs through responding to environmental stimuli and reinforcement?

• A. Cognitivist
• B. Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory
• C. Sensorimotor
• D. Skinner's Behaviorist Theory

Answer: (D)

Language learning through responding to environmental stimuli and reinforcement is Skinner's Behaviorist Theory. Skinner argued that behavior is shaped by consequences: when a child produces a sound or word and receives positive feedback or a contingent response, that utterance is strengthened and more likely to be repeated. Through reinforcement, modeling, and shaping—rewarding closer and closer approximations to accurate speech—the child’s language becomes more complex over time. The focus here is on observable behavior and the environment's role in shaping it, rather than on internal thought processes. By contrast, Cognitivist ideas emphasize mental representation and processing; Piaget's theory centers on stages of cognitive development; and the sensorimotor perspective describes learning through direct sensory and motor interaction in infancy, not primarily through reinforcement shaping language.