Use Skinner’s radical behaviorism to explain Joe’s computer competence. How does Skinner’s explanation compare with Bandura’s explanation?
What will be an ideal response?
Joe could have learned to use computers through successive approximation or shaping. He learned by observing what happened when he pressed various keys or clicked the mouse. The computer response was the reward. Similarly, when he tried to make something happen but clicked on something incorrectly, the lack of response was punishing, or at least not rewarding.
Both Skinner’s and Bandura’s explanations of Joe’s learning to use the computer involve the use of reinforcements and punishments, however, Bandura’s explanation is more cognitive than Skinner’s. Relatedly, Skinner would describe Joe’s computer use as externally motivated, whereas Bandura would describe it as more internally motivated.
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