What are the weaknesses of Behaviorism?

There’s no doubt that behaviorist and Skinnerian learning theory have had a lasting impact on our understanding of the process of human learning. There’s much in the theory that is true and valuable. However, the theory has a few shortcomings which we now turn to in the following section.
Skinner’s theory attracted a number of critics among them was Chomsky. Chomsky (1959) in an extensive discussion of Skinner's (1957) verbal behavior delivers the first attack on behaviorism arguing that the theory does not adequately account for the capacity to acquire language. Let us consider some of these arguments.

Complexity of Human Behaviour
The shortcomings of the behaviorist theory caused researchers to ask more ultimate questions seeking answers to some areas which were not adequately addressed by the behaviorist approach .One such researcher was Chomsky (1965). Chomsky is of the opinion that human behaviour is certainly more complex than animal behavior. The two are not comparable in any way. He argues that behaviorism advocates for the explanation of language behaviour based only on external factors. To behaviorists utterances are 'responses' to certain 'stimuli' in the environment. But to Chomsky, a mentalist, language learning is far too complex a form of behaviour to be accounted for in terms of features external to the individual. Chomsky notes that it is only human beings who use language, not animals. Since all normal human beings learn language they must possess some internal facility that aids in the acquisition of language. This facility is not possessed by animals and it is what makes humans different from animals.
According to Chomsky acquisition is innately determined. He suggests that we are born with a built-in- device which he calls a language acquisition device that makes it possible for us humans to acquire language. He argues, all children are born with this Language Acquisition Device (LAD) in their brain. When the individual is first exposed to language, as a child, this language acquisition device acts as a trigger for the learning to begin. Supposedly it is this device that set humans apart from the other animals enabling them to use language. Chomsky similarly argues that the existence of the innate properties of language explain the child’s mastery of his native language within such a short time. The behaviorist approach cannot explain this phenomenon.
The LAD has the following characteristics, as outlined by Chomsky (1959, 1965)
- Is species - specific i.e. distinguishes man from other primates
- Is specific for language learning as opposed to the acquisition of other forms of behaviour or knowledge
- Pre - structures the properties of grammar to a large extent (consequently, many structural, properties of grammar are innate and need not be learned).
The LAD is said to operate in the following way:
When a child is born he is already endowed with this language acquisition device, and after exposure to language the device in the child helps the child formulate hypotheses about the structure of language. The hypotheses are tried in the child's own language production and are regularly checked against further data that he is exposed to. Whenever the child finds that a hypothesis has been flouted by the language data, he modifies the hypothesis and checks it again. The set of hypotheses in any child's LAD go through various phases, ranging from very simple to more complex hypotheses until it becomes the complete grammar of the adult. So a child will immediately produce such forms as the ones provided in column A before producing the ones presented in column B.
A B
1 drinked water 1 drank water
Wanjiru breaked the glass Wanjiru broke the glass
I aksed her 1 asked her

Thus, a major weakness is seen when one attempts to explain language learning by using external factors alone, for the whole process of acquiring a language is indeed very complicated, as demonstrated by Chomsky and other scholars.

Errors
The concept of errors in the behaviorist theory has been put to question by later researchers. In behaviorist theory errors were viewed negatively. They were seen as an impediment to learning and as a demonstration that learning had not taken place. Errors were therefore supposed to be corrected immediately to stop them from developing into habits. This was the view held to the late 1960s. However, later researchers and teachers realized that errors were indeed good for learning as they turned out to be tools that aided in the learning of a language (D H. Brown 1993)

Imitation
Basic strategies of language learning within the scope of behaviourist theory are imitation reinforcement and rewarding. However researches made on the acquisition of learning have demonstrated that children’s imitation of structures show evidence of almost no innovation moreover children vary considerably in the amount that they imitate.
(w.w.w.efdergi.hacettepe.edu.tr/1983 MEHMET%20DEMEREZEN) Skinner’s concept of imitation was also called into question by some scholars. In particular Chomsky questioned the validity of the behaviorist view on imitation as regards language learning. To behaviorists, children quite regularly imitate words and structures which aid in their environment use. But what is disturbing about the idea of imitation is the fact that, very often we find children's utterances deviating from adult language. Furthermore these deviations are sometimes remarkably systematic, example many children may pluralize nouns incorrectly. Thus:
Mouse - mouses food - foods
Man - mans goose -gooses
Woman - womans child – Childs
In the above case, the child's language is full of overgeneralization errors (i.e. extending the domain of a linguistic rule). Such cases can in no way be traced back to imitation, but are indications that language learning is a rule-governed behavior.
In his rejection of Skinnerism, Chomsky (1959), therefore, concludes that language learning is controlled by internal factors, not external ones. And that every child is endowed with a LAD and this device aids in the acquisition of language.
Some critics have also found a problem with the notion of conditioning, rewarding and generalization. Demirezen (1988) for example posits; in behaviourist theory the process of learning relies more on generalization, rewarding, conditioning, three of which support the analogical learning in children. But it can be argued that a process of learning or teaching that encourages the learner to construct phrases, clauses and sentences modelled on previously settled set of rules and drills is thought to obstruct the instinctive production of language.

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francis1897 answered the question on March 8, 2023 at 11:21