What statement best describes the poverty of the stimulus argument against Skinner’s view that language is acquired by operant conditioning?

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To evaluate the options, start by recalling the core idea of the poverty of the stimulus argument in the context of Skinnerian language theory. It contends that the linguistic input children receive is too limited or impoverished for them to reliably acquire the full structure of language solely through operant conditioning (reinforcement and imitation).
Option A: 'Children learn language through punishment and not through reinforcement' This misstates the argument. The poverty of the stimulus critique isn’t claiming that punishment dominates learning; rather, it emphasizes that the available positive reinforcement and examples are insufficient for children to infer complex grammar. So this is not an accurate representation of the poverty of the stimulus claim.
Option B: 'Children learn language through semantics' This shifts the focus to semantic content, but the poverty of the stimulus argument is about the sufficiency of linguistic input itself (structure, grammar, feedback), not specifically about semantics. Therefore this option does not capture the key point.
Option C: 'Children learn language through general learning mechanisms' While a related discussion point in the broader debate, this option doesn’t articulate the specific critique that input is too impoverished for general learning processes to yield full language. It misses the central claim about insufficient data to drive grammar learning from reinforcement alone.
Option D: 'Children are not exposed to enough language to learn language through reinforcement alone' This is the precise articulation of the poverty of the stimulus claim: the ambient language input is inadequate for Skinnerian reinforcement-based learning to account for the rapid and robust acquisition of grammar. It highlights the mismatch between input and the complexity of knowledge children end up with, which Skinner’s account cannot easily explain.
In summary, A and B mischaracterize the mechanism or focus, C broadens to general learning without addressing input sufficiency, and D directly states the critical insufficiency of input that undercuts the operant conditioning view of language acquisition.

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What statement best describes the poverty of the stimulus argument against Skinner’s view that language is acquired by operant conditioning?

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