Esmeralda is a well-known social media influencer and has millions of followers.  She is not vaccinated and three days ago, Esmeralda tested positive for COVID-19 and was briefly hospitalized.  Esmeralda refuses to quarantine and during the period of time when medical professionals would consider her to be contagious, she continued to film YouTube videos in public without wearing a mask or practicing social distancing. 

Two developmental psychologists are on cable news discussing Esmeralda and the factors that are important in explaining her recent behavior.  One is a proponent of operant conditioning and the other supports a social learning approach. The journalist who is interviewing these psychologists notes that there are some similarities between their ideas along with some differences in their explanations of Esmeralda's behavior. 

In your essay, explain one way these two psychologists may agree and one way they may disagree in their explanation of Esmeralda's behavior.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Operant conditioning and social learning theory are two prominent psychological perspectives that can shed light on Esmeraldas behavior as described i... View the full answer