Final answer:
Operant conditioning suggests that behaviors are influenced by their consequences. Children tend to repeat behaviors with favorable outcomes and avoid those with unfavorable outcomes, as per the law of effect.
Step-by-step explanation:
Operant conditioning is a learning process pioneered by psychologist B. F. Skinner, which posits that behaviors are influenced by the consequences that follow them. Specifically, it is built on the idea that children are likely to repeat behaviors that lead to favorable outcomes and cease behaviors that result in unfavorable outcomes. Positive reinforcements or negative reinforcements are used to either strengthen or discourage a behavior. An example of this is a child receiving a bedtime story as a reward for putting away toys. In contrast to classical conditioning, which involves associations with involuntary responses, operant conditioning considers voluntary behaviors and the reinforcements or punishments that follow.
A major aspect of operant conditioning, particularly relevant to the student's question, is the law of effect. Edward Thorndike proposed this law, essentially stating that behaviors are more likely to recur if they have pleasant consequences and less likely to recur if they have unpleasant consequences. In real-life scenarios, such as employment, we see that we engage in work primarily to receive the positive reinforcement of a paycheck.
Therefore, when discussing operant conditioning and its reliance on expectations in children, the correct answer is: a) tend to repeat behaviors that lead to favorable outcomes and stop behaviors that result in unfavorable outcomes.