law of effect
- noun
- Specialized
:
ley del efecto
- The law of effect suggests that behaviors followed by positive outcomes are reinforced over time.
Examples
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So this could be summarized as the law of effect, which is a tendency to perform an actions increased if rewarded, weakened if it's not.
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This was the law of effect.
Academic text (1995) -
If you law of effect says if something good happens, you're going to do what you were doing just beforehand.
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He realized that practice alone was not enough if there was no strengthening of the bond by reinforcement; in which case, the law of effect must be in operation.
Academic text (2006) -
The law of effect explains why students tend to repeat actions that result in good grades.
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According to the law of effect, if a child's behavior is rewarded, it is likely to be repeated.
How Likely
Surface Forms
Morphology
The structure 'law of X' is compositional and a B1 learner who knows 'law' and 'effect' can infer it denotes a general principle concerning effects, so part of the meaning is predictable. However, the precise psychological content (that behaviors followed by satisfying outcomes are more likely to be repeated) is domain-specific and not derivable from the constituents alone, so full understanding requires prior exposure or background knowledge.
Etymology
Law of effect comes from simple learning experiments where a hungry animal learned that doing one thing brought a good result, for example a cat that pressed a lever and got food kept pressing it again. So the law of effect says the law is that the effect or result of an action makes that action 'more likely to be repeated' if the result is good and 'less likely' if the result is bad.