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Question

The operant conditioning or learning approach to behaviour is based on __________.

This question was previously asked in
UGC NET 2015 Paper 1 Question Paper (27-Dec-2015)
The correct answer is

Law of effect

Operant (also called instrumental) conditioning is the learning approach in which behaviour is shaped by its consequences, and the question asks for the foundational principle on which it was built.

Its base is the Law of Effect, first stated by Edward Thorndike. The law says that responses which are followed by satisfying or rewarding consequences become more likely to be repeated, while responses followed by unpleasant consequences become less likely. B.F. Skinner later developed operant conditioning directly on this idea, adding the systematic use of reinforcement and punishment to strengthen or weaken behaviour.

Examining the distractors: the 'law of reinforcement' names the mechanism Skinner emphasised, but it is itself an outgrowth and application of the law of effect rather than the original foundation. A 'law of reproduction' is not a recognised learning principle in this context. The 'law of expectations' belongs to cognitive expectancy theories of motivation, where behaviour depends on anticipated outcomes, not to operant conditioning.

So the principle underlying the operant/learning approach is the law of effect.

Hence the answer is the Law of Effect.

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