Snakes and ladders on Behaviorist Theory

Snakes and ladders on Behaviorist Theory

Q & A

Roll the dice!

Instructions

Box 55

Ladders

SNAKES

INSTRUCTIONS

Players start with a token - which represents each of them - in the initial square and take turns rolling the die. The tokens move according to the numbering on the board, in ascending order. If, at the end of a move, a player lands on a square where a ladder begins, they need to answer the question correctly in order to move up to the square where it ends. If, the answer is incorrect you lose a turn. If, on the other hand, they land on a square where a snake's tail begins. If, you answer correctly you don't have to move down to the square where its head ends. You will stay put on the square. If a player rolls three consecutive 6's, they must return to the initial square and cannot move their token until they roll a 6 again. The player who reaches the final square is the winner. There is a variation where, if a player is six or fewer squares away from the end, they must roll precisely the number needed to reach it. If the number rolled exceeds the number of remaining squares, the player cannot move.

If the player falls on the bottom of a ladder, they move up to the top square where the ladder ends.

Ladders

If the player lands on a square where the tail of a snake starts, they go down to a lower square where the headis located.

SNAKES

Questions & Answers

• B.F. Skinner developed which type of conditioning?

Operant Conditioning

• Who is known for the “Law of Effect,” which states that behaviors when there is a satisfying consequence are more likely to be repeated?

Thorndike

• Watson believed psychology should focus only on observable behavior, not mental processes.

True

• Thorndike believed that children naturally form habits and that..

Appropriate habits should be reinforced early, so undesirable ones don’t need to be unlearned later

• Which of this best describes positive reinforcement in the classroom?

Adding a reward to increase a behavior

• Thorndike’s research influenced which type of practice used in classrooms today?

Drill-and-practice

• Behaviorist theorists believe children’s development is shaped mainly by heredity and maturation, not by the environment.

False

• Which is an example of negative reinforcement in a classroom?

Removing extra work

• Behaviorist ideas can help with classroom management by…

Providing consistent consequences and rewards

• Which of the following best describes Skinner’s contribution to education?

He created teaching machines and programmed textbooks to reinforce learning behaviors

• According to Skinner, learning happens through shaping and reinforcing small steps toward a desired behavior?

True

• What key principle did Ivan Pavlov discover through his research with dogs?

Classical conditioning