👏 Praise
An adult says "Well done, clever girl!" after the child says a word.
Learning Theory of Language Development » Positive and Negative Reinforcement of Language
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Cambridge spec: 6.3.1
- How positive reinforcement helps children say more words and say them more correctly
- How negative reinforcement works, using the example of a child saying "drink"
- The difference between positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and punishment
- How to apply all three ideas to a language scenario in the exam
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The last lesson showed that children copy the speech of the people around them. The learning theory of language development has a second part. Children are more likely to repeat the words and sounds that get a good result. This is called reinforcement. There are two types, and both are on the syllabus.
You have already met positive reinforcement and shaping in the motivation topic. Here we apply the same idea to language.
Key terms:
- Reinforcement: anything that makes a behaviour more likely to happen again.
- Positive reinforcement: adding something pleasant after a behaviour, which increases the chance of the behaviour happening again.
- Negative reinforcement: removing an unpleasant stimulus after a behaviour, which increases the chance of the behaviour happening again.
- Punishment: something that makes a behaviour less likely to happen again.
Positive reinforcement of language
With positive reinforcement, something pleasant is added after the child speaks. The child enjoys it, so the child is more likely to say the same thing again.
😊 Smiles
A parent beams and claps when the baby babbles "ba-ba".
👀 Attention
A carer stops what they are doing, looks at the child and answers.
🍪 Getting what was asked for
A child says "biscuit" and is given a biscuit.
Shaping speech towards adult language
Parents do not wait for perfect speech before they reward it. They reward a correct word or a word that is closer to the adult word. Over time they expect a little more each time. This slowly moves the child's speech towards adult language. It is called shaping.
Worked example
Kofi is 18 months old and wants his teddy. He says "bee". His dad is delighted and hands over the teddy. A few weeks later Kofi says "bear", and again Dad praises him and passes it over. Later Dad waits for "teddy bear" before the big hug. Step by step: a rough sound ("bee") gets a reward, then a closer word ("bear"), then the full adult words. Each reward is positive reinforcement. Moving through the steps is shaping.
Negative reinforcement of language
This one is often confused. Negative does not mean bad, and it does not mean punishment. It means something is taken away. In negative reinforcement, an unpleasant stimulus is removed after the behaviour. Because that feels better, the behaviour is more likely to happen again.
A typical example is a child who says "drink".
- The child is thirsty. This is the unpleasant stimulus.
- The child says "drink". This is the behaviour.
- An adult gives the child a drink, and the thirst goes away. The unpleasant stimulus is removed.
- The child is more likely to say "drink" next time.
Another example: a toddler feels cold and says "blanket". A carer wraps the toddler up and the cold feeling goes. Saying "blanket" has worked, so the child will use the word again.
Reinforcement versus punishment
Students often mix these up. Use this test. First ask: did the behaviour become more likely or less likely? Then ask: was something added or taken away?
➕ Positive reinforcement
Something pleasant is added. The behaviour becomes more likely.
Example: praise after a new word.
➖ Negative reinforcement
Something unpleasant is removed. The behaviour becomes more likely.
Example: thirst removed after saying "drink".
🚫 Punishment
Something unpleasant is added (or something pleasant removed). The behaviour becomes less likely.
Example: a child is told off for talking, so talks less.
Both types of reinforcement make speech more likely. Only punishment makes it less likely.
Common mistakes
- Thinking negative reinforcement means punishment. It does not. Both types of reinforcement increase the behaviour.
- Forgetting the word removed in negative reinforcement. Say what unpleasant thing is taken away.
- Calling a smile or praise "negative" because it is not a tangible reward. Anything pleasant that is added is positive reinforcement.
- Writing about copying and models. That was the last lesson. Keep this answer on rewards and removal of unpleasant stimuli.
Exam-style question
Zainab is 2. She is hungry and says "nana" to her father. He smiles and says "Yes, banana! Clever girl!" and gives her a banana. Her hunger goes away.
(a) Identify one example of positive reinforcement in this scenario. [1 mark]
(b) Explain how negative reinforcement is shown in this scenario. [3 marks]
(c) Describe one difference between negative reinforcement and punishment. [2 marks]
Model answer
(a) Her father praised her ("Clever girl!") or smiled at her. (1)
(b) Zainab was hungry, which is an unpleasant stimulus (1). She said "nana" and was given a banana, so the hunger was removed (1). This makes her more likely to say "nana" or "banana" again when she is hungry (1).
(c) Negative reinforcement increases the chance of the behaviour happening again (1), whereas punishment decreases the chance of the behaviour happening again (1).
Exam tip
For negative reinforcement, always name three things: the unpleasant stimulus (hunger), the behaviour (saying "nana") and that the stimulus was removed.