After returning from a shopping trip with his mother, little Tommy reported, “I
ID: 3460285 • Letter: A
Question
After returning from a shopping trip with his mother, little Tommy reported, “I goed to the store and eated candy.” Why might a behaviorist such as B. F. Skinner have had some difficulty explaining Tommy's incorrect grammatical construction? What does his error suggest about the process of language acquisition?
Although Jan appears to be underweight, she is afraid of becoming fat and consistently restricts her food intake. Although Gene appears to be overweight, he enjoys eating and always eats as much as he wants. Explain how their different reactions to food might result from (a) differences in their inner bodily states and(b) differences in their reactions to external incentives.
Explanation / Answer
B. F. Skinner, proposed the behaviorist theory concerning language development in all humans. The theory suggests that language is learnt and developed through operant conditioning. Through this, the person learns language by imitating those around him. Following this theory would suggest that little Tommy has difficulty with making proper grammatical construction probably because the parents also have the same problem. Another reason is that the boy is being raised in a society that uses the same deficient grammatical construction. The reasoning is that little Tommy has learnt language through the reinforcement and imitation of his society. This makes it difficult for behaviorists to explain his condition because the proposed reasons are not entirely true. The error shows evidence that language is acquired through osmosis, but also that there's more to it than simple memorisation, and that the brain is actively conjugating even at a very young age. The theory that tends to explain the errors in little Tommys language is the Nativist theory. This theory explains that all humans have a language acquisition device that enables them to learn and develop language. This device enables children to construct grammatical sentences on learning the vocabularies pertaining to the language. The possible causes of Tommy’s grammatical construction could arise from the possibility that the parents also speak in the same form or most of his friends. This means that Tommy usually learns language by taking in what he hears from around him. The other possible reason would be he does not necessarily learn language by taking in what he hears from around him but taking in the vocabulary and grammatical rules but neglecting or not being aware that there are exceptions. Jan is clearly showing early symptoms of anorexia nervosa. Anorexianervosa is an eating disorder in which a normal – weight person dietsand becomes significantly underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continuesto starve. Though Jan isn’t starving, she still below the normal weight.Cultures practically tells women“Fat is bad,” and that motivates women to always diet. Jan probablyhas a poor body image and feels that there is no such thing as too thin. Jan’s idea of an attractive body shape probably also results from whatshe thinks others find attractive. The pressure from the fashionindustry pushes Jan’s low self esteem and results in her eating habits. Gene could be bulimic but the prompt doesn’t mention that he purgesin secret. Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized byepisodes of overeating, usually of high-calorie foods, followed byvomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise.For Gene, food is probably something that heals the soul. Gene feelsthat it isn’t necessary to stop his eating because of an eagerness to bethin. Food is very much part of every culture. One’s taste preference isbiologically and culturally influenced. Body chemistry always stressesone’s desire for high fat and starchy foods. Carbohydrates boost ourlevel of neurotransmitters.