Operant Learning Theory- Skinner

Question 1

Are social learning theories nature or nurture

Answer 1

Nurture as criminality is learnt

Question 2

What does he believe and what was his experiment based on

Answer 2

Behaviour is conditioned/ shaped through rewards and punishment

Based on pigeons and rats

Question 3

Positive reinforcement

Answer 3

Behaviour is encouraged by a reward

Reward must be desirable

Question 4

Negative reinforcement

Answer 4

Behaviour is encouraged by removing an undesirable outcome

Question 5

Punishment

Answer 5

Behaviour is discouraged by an undesirable outcome

Question 6

How did Jeffery applied skinner theory

Answer 6

He applied skinners theory differential reinforcement theory- criminal behaviour is learned through reinforcement. If the rewards of crime outweigh the potential risks, then criminal behaviour is more likely. Rewards maybe:
Material- financial rewards
Emotional- the friendship or respect of peers

Question 7

Jeffery and skinner

Answer 7

Skinner is a psychologist however Jeffery is a criminologist who applied skinners theory to criminology

Question 8

Strength 1

Answer 8

P- skinners studies of learning animals show that they lean from experience through reinforcement

E- for example when skinner studied rats he showed that a lever pressing behaviour could be enforced within the rat, if the rat was positively reinforced with food

E- this can be applied to human as some human learning is also of this kinda; meaning this can be adapted to be applied in to criminal behaviour

Question 9

Strength 2

Answer 9

P- another strength of operant leaning theory is that it can be applied to offending

E- Jeffery states that if crime leads to more rewarding than punishing outcomes for an individual they will more likely to offend

E- this is useful as it does show that foundations of operant leaning theory are relevant and can be applied to real life criminal scenarios

Question 10

Weakness

Answer 10

P- the research is based on learning in animals

E- for example experiments into leaning and conditioning have largely been carried out on rats and dogs

E- this is a weakness human thought processes are a lot more complicated then animals. Particularly when it comes to making choices such as whether to participant in criminal acts.