Burrhus Frederic Skinner was an American psychologist who belonged to the behaviorist school of thought.Behaviorists believe that languages are learned through reinforcement and imitation. Children imitate the language and the way people around them speak and receive reinforcement when they correctly say a word. According to behaviorist theories, this leads to the memorization of new words.
Thenativist theories claim the opposite. According to nativists, such as Noam Chomsky, who developed the concept of the language acquisition device (LAD), children have an inherent predisposition for language acquisition. LAD is an explanation of how children learn languages so fast and with such ease, especially compared to adults. Nativists do not believe that language is learned because of reinforcement.
