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B. F. Skinner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._F._Skinner
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]

Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian
novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber
o 3.2 Cumulative recorder
o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.
Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,

behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are
"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light

is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement
Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement

Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]
Operant conditioning chamber[edit]
Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder

was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]

The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has
been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;

failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.
Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.

B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.


Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper
corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things
he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health
1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Johns Hopkins University


Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

References[edit]
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76. Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
77. Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist, May
1964, No. 392, pp. 484
78. Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic Monthly,
eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social Philosophy
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Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
80. Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
81. Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
82. Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
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85. Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The Simpsons:
The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN

Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.


30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life
Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social

philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom


1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian
novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber
o 3.2 Cumulative recorder
o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees

12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.
Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,
behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are
"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.

As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light
is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement
Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.

Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement
Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]
Operant conditioning chamber[edit]
Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]

The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder
was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:

A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]
The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has
been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory

version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science

underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;
failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.
Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on

spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his


book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper
corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than

adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things
he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]

Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity


towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health
1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]

Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
154.
Jump up^ ECON 252, Lecture 8 by Professor Robert Schiller at Yale University
155.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
156.
Jump up^ Classics in the History of Psychology Skinner (1948)
157.
Jump up^ Timberlake & Lucas, (1985) "JEAB"
158.
Jump up^ "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat - 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-1107.
159.
^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
160.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
161.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
162.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
163.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.

164.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
165.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
166.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
167.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
168.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
169.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
170.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life
Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb

Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian
novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber

o 3.2 Cumulative recorder


o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.

Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,
behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are

"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light
is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement

Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement
Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]

Operant conditioning chamber[edit]


Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder
was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]
The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has

been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
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help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)


Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;
failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.

Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper

corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things

he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health


1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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^ Jump up to:a b Snopes.com "One Man and a Baby Box", accessed on 12-29-07.
211.
Jump up^ "Burrhus Fredrick Skinner". Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904 - 1990).
Gale, Credo Reference. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
212.
Jump up^ Slater, L. (2004) Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychological
Experiments of the Twentieth Century, London, Bloomsbury
213.
Jump up^ Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The
Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
214.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1961). "Why we need teaching machines". Harvard
Educational Review31: 377398.
215.
Jump up^ "Programmed Instruction and Task Analysis". College of Education,
University of Houston.
216.
Jump up^ Skinner,B.F. 1961. "Teaching machines." Scientific American, 205,
90-112. doi:10.2307/1926170, p. 381
217.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. and Holland, J. "The Analysis of Behavior: A Program
for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
218.
Jump up^ Philip McRae, Ph.D.
219.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1960). Pigeons in a pelican. American Psychologist,
15, 2837. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. . (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
220.
Jump up^ Described throughout Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a
behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
221.
Jump up^ "Nose Cone, Pigeon-Guided Missile". National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
Retrieved2008-06-10.
222.
Jump up^ "Skinner's Utopia: Panacea, or Path to Hell?". TIME. September 20,
1971.
223.
Jump up^ Richard Dawkins. "Design for a Faith-Based Missile". Free Inquiry
magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.
224.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
225.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A., B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise and fall
of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
226.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1957) Verbal Behavior. The account in the appendix is
that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
227.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederick(1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Gale.
Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
228.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1957) "A Review of BF Skinner's Verbal Behavior." in
the preface, 2nd paragraph
229.
Jump up^ Richelle, M. (1993). B. F. Skinner: A reappraisal. Hillsdale: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates
230.
Jump up^ Michael, J. (1984). "Verbal behavior". Journal of the Experimental
Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
231.
Jump up^ The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (Journal)
232.
Jump up^ Holland, J. (1992). B.F Skinner. Pittsburgh: American Psychologist
233.
Jump up^ "B.F. Skinner Sep. 20,
1971."http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710920,00.html. Web.
234.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1968). "The Design of Experimental
Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.

235.
Jump up^ Ramsey, Richard David, Morning Star: The Values-Communication of
Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI. Attempts to
analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
236.
Jump up^ see Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1974 for example
237.
Jump up^ Asimov, Nanette (1996-01-30). "Spanking Debate Hits
Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
238.
Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
239.
Jump up^ ECON 252, Lecture 8 by Professor Robert Schiller at Yale University
240.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
241.
Jump up^ Classics in the History of Psychology Skinner (1948)
242.
Jump up^ Timberlake & Lucas, (1985) "JEAB"
243.
Jump up^ "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat - 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-1107.
244.
^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
245.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
246.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
247.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
248.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
249.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
250.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
251.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
252.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
253.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
254.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
255.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life

Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.


Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian

novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber
o 3.2 Cumulative recorder
o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.
Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,

behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are
"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light

is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement
Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement

Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]
Operant conditioning chamber[edit]
Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder

was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]

The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has
been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;

failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.
Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.

B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.


Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper
corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things
he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health
1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Johns Hopkins University


Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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Group. ISBN 1-58390-021-7
269.
Jump up^ Lafayette.edu, accessed on 5-20-07.
270.
Jump up^ BFSkinner.org, Smith Morris Bibliography
271.
Jump up^ Haggbloom, Steven J.; Warnick, Jason E.; Jones, Vinessa K.;
Yarbrough, Gary L.; Russell, Tenea M.; Borecky, Chris M.; McGahhey, Reagan et al.
(2002). "The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century". Review of General
Psychology 6 (2): 139152. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139.
272.
Jump up^ "Within a year I had gone to Miss Graves to tell her that I no longer
believed in God. 'I know,' she said, 'I have been through that myself.' But her strategy
misfired: I never went through it." B.F. Skinner, pp. 387-413, E.G. Boring and G.
Lindzey's A History of Psychology in Autobiography (Vol. 5), New York: Appleton
Century-Crofts, 1967.
273.
^ Jump up to:a b c B.F. Skinner: A Life [Paperback]. by Daniel W. Bjork, ISBN
9781557984166: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2013.
274.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner: a Life.
275.
Jump up^ "Humanist Manifesto II". American Humanist Association.
Retrieved October 9, 2012.
276.
Jump up^ Skinner, Deborah. "About". Horses by Skinner. Retrieved 4
September 2014.
277.
Jump up^ Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The
Guardian. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
278.
Jump up^ http://www.humanistsofutah.org/humanists/bfskinner.html
279.
Jump up^ Bjork, D.W. (1993). B.F. Skinner, A Life. New York: Basic Books.
280.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Topic
Pages. Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
281.
Jump up^ About Behaviorism Ch. 1 Causes of Behaviour 3 Radical
Behaviorism B. F. Skinner 1974 ISBN 0-394-71618-3

282.
Jump up^ ibid. pp. 1820 of the paperback edition which had the redacted typo
s/it/is/.
283.
Jump up^ Skinner, B.F. (1938). Behavior of Organisms. New York: AppletonCentury-Crofts.
284.
Jump up^ Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditioned Reflexes. Oxford: Oxford Univ.
Press.
285.
Jump up^ Thorndike, E. L. (1911). Animal Intelligence: Experimental Studies.
New York: Macmillan.
286.
^ Jump up to:a b c Jenkins, H.M. "Animal Learning and Behavior", Ch. 5, in Hearst,
E. "The First Century of Experimental Psychology" (1979) Erlbaum: Hillsdale, N. J.
287.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F.(1966) Contingencies of Reinforcement, New York;
Appleton-Century-Crofts. reprinted 2013, B. F. Skinner Foundation.
288.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. Science and Human Behavior (1953) New York:
Macmillan
289.
Jump up^ Skinner, B.F (31 July 1981). "Selection by
Consequences" (PDF). Science 213 (4507): 501
504. Bibcode:1981Sci...213..501S. doi:10.1126/science.7244649.PMID 7244649. Archiv
ed (PDF) from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 14 August2010.
290.
^ Jump up to:a b Ferster, C. B. and Skinner, B. F. Schedules of Reinforcement.
New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957
291.
Jump up^ "Different Types of Reinforcement
Scedules" (PDF).http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/Reinforce
ment-Table1.pdf. National Professional Development Center for Autism Spectrum
Disorders. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
292.
^ Jump up to:a b Psychology 2nd Edition
293.
Jump up^ Daniel L. Schacter, Daniel T. Gilbert, Daniel M.
Wegner.(2011).Schedules of Reinforcement. Psychology second edition.
294.
Jump up^ Air-crib photograph in "What Man Can Make of Man", by James
Bennet. The Atlantic,June 2012.
295.
^ Jump up to:a b Snopes.com "One Man and a Baby Box", accessed on 12-29-07.
296.
Jump up^ "Burrhus Fredrick Skinner". Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904 - 1990).
Gale, Credo Reference. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
297.
Jump up^ Slater, L. (2004) Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychological
Experiments of the Twentieth Century, London, Bloomsbury
298.
Jump up^ Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The
Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
299.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1961). "Why we need teaching machines". Harvard
Educational Review31: 377398.
300.
Jump up^ "Programmed Instruction and Task Analysis". College of Education,
University of Houston.
301.
Jump up^ Skinner,B.F. 1961. "Teaching machines." Scientific American, 205,
90-112. doi:10.2307/1926170, p. 381
302.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. and Holland, J. "The Analysis of Behavior: A Program
for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
303.
Jump up^ Philip McRae, Ph.D.
304.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1960). Pigeons in a pelican. American Psychologist,
15, 2837. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. . (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
305.
Jump up^ Described throughout Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a
behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
306.
Jump up^ "Nose Cone, Pigeon-Guided Missile". National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
Retrieved2008-06-10.
307.
Jump up^ "Skinner's Utopia: Panacea, or Path to Hell?". TIME. September 20,
1971.
308.
Jump up^ Richard Dawkins. "Design for a Faith-Based Missile". Free Inquiry
magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.

309.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
310.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A., B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise and fall
of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
311.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1957) Verbal Behavior. The account in the appendix is
that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
312.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederick(1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Gale.
Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
313.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1957) "A Review of BF Skinner's Verbal Behavior." in
the preface, 2nd paragraph
314.
Jump up^ Richelle, M. (1993). B. F. Skinner: A reappraisal. Hillsdale: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates
315.
Jump up^ Michael, J. (1984). "Verbal behavior". Journal of the Experimental
Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
316.
Jump up^ The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (Journal)
317.
Jump up^ Holland, J. (1992). B.F Skinner. Pittsburgh: American Psychologist
318.
Jump up^ "B.F. Skinner Sep. 20,
1971."http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710920,00.html. Web.
319.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1968). "The Design of Experimental
Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.
320.
Jump up^ Ramsey, Richard David, Morning Star: The Values-Communication of
Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI. Attempts to
analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
321.
Jump up^ see Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1974 for example
322.
Jump up^ Asimov, Nanette (1996-01-30). "Spanking Debate Hits
Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
323.
Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
324.
Jump up^ ECON 252, Lecture 8 by Professor Robert Schiller at Yale University
325.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
326.
Jump up^ Classics in the History of Psychology Skinner (1948)
327.
Jump up^ Timberlake & Lucas, (1985) "JEAB"
328.
Jump up^ "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat - 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-1107.
329.
^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
330.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
331.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
332.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
333.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
334.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
335.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
336.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
337.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
338.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

339.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
340.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life
Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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Reprint of "the Minotaur of the Behaviorist Maze: Surviving Stanford's Learning
House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb

Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian
novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber

o 3.2 Cumulative recorder


o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.

Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,
behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are

"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light
is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement

Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement
Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]

Operant conditioning chamber[edit]


Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder
was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]
The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has

been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
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Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;
failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.

Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper

corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things

he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health


1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

References[edit]
341.
Jump up^ Smith, L. D.; Woodward, W. R. (1996). B. F. Skinner and behaviorism
in American culture. Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press. ISBN 0-934223-40-8.
342.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1948). Walden Two. The science of human
behavior is used to eliminate poverty, sexual expression, government as we know it,
create a lifestyle without that such as war.
343.
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Books. ISBN 0-553-14372-7. OCLC 34263003.
344.
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up^https://behavioranalysishistory.pbworks.com/w/page/2039033/Skinner%2C%20Burrh
us%20Frederic
345.
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346.
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New York, 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2013.

347.
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348.
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349.
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350.
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351.
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352.
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353.
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Group. ISBN 1-58390-021-7
354.
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355.
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356.
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Yarbrough, Gary L.; Russell, Tenea M.; Borecky, Chris M.; McGahhey, Reagan et al.
(2002). "The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century". Review of General
Psychology 6 (2): 139152. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139.
357.
Jump up^ "Within a year I had gone to Miss Graves to tell her that I no longer
believed in God. 'I know,' she said, 'I have been through that myself.' But her strategy
misfired: I never went through it." B.F. Skinner, pp. 387-413, E.G. Boring and G.
Lindzey's A History of Psychology in Autobiography (Vol. 5), New York: Appleton
Century-Crofts, 1967.
358.
^ Jump up to:a b c B.F. Skinner: A Life [Paperback]. by Daniel W. Bjork, ISBN
9781557984166: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2013.
359.
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360.
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Retrieved October 9, 2012.
361.
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September 2014.
362.
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Guardian. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
363.
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364.
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365.
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Pages. Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
366.
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Behaviorism B. F. Skinner 1974 ISBN 0-394-71618-3
367.
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s/it/is/.
368.
Jump up^ Skinner, B.F. (1938). Behavior of Organisms. New York: AppletonCentury-Crofts.
369.
Jump up^ Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditioned Reflexes. Oxford: Oxford Univ.
Press.
370.
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New York: Macmillan.
371.
^ Jump up to:a b c Jenkins, H.M. "Animal Learning and Behavior", Ch. 5, in Hearst,
E. "The First Century of Experimental Psychology" (1979) Erlbaum: Hillsdale, N. J.
372.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F.(1966) Contingencies of Reinforcement, New York;
Appleton-Century-Crofts. reprinted 2013, B. F. Skinner Foundation.
373.
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Macmillan
374.
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Consequences" (PDF). Science 213 (4507): 501
504. Bibcode:1981Sci...213..501S. doi:10.1126/science.7244649.PMID 7244649. Archiv
ed (PDF) from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 14 August2010.
375.
^ Jump up to:a b Ferster, C. B. and Skinner, B. F. Schedules of Reinforcement.
New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957
376.
Jump up^ "Different Types of Reinforcement
Scedules" (PDF).http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/Reinforce
ment-Table1.pdf. National Professional Development Center for Autism Spectrum
Disorders. Retrieved 14 February 2015.

377.
^ Jump up to:a b Psychology 2nd Edition
378.
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Wegner.(2011).Schedules of Reinforcement. Psychology second edition.
379.
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Bennet. The Atlantic,June 2012.
380.
^ Jump up to:a b Snopes.com "One Man and a Baby Box", accessed on 12-29-07.
381.
Jump up^ "Burrhus Fredrick Skinner". Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904 - 1990).
Gale, Credo Reference. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
382.
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Experiments of the Twentieth Century, London, Bloomsbury
383.
Jump up^ Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The
Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
384.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1961). "Why we need teaching machines". Harvard
Educational Review31: 377398.
385.
Jump up^ "Programmed Instruction and Task Analysis". College of Education,
University of Houston.
386.
Jump up^ Skinner,B.F. 1961. "Teaching machines." Scientific American, 205,
90-112. doi:10.2307/1926170, p. 381
387.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. and Holland, J. "The Analysis of Behavior: A Program
for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
388.
Jump up^ Philip McRae, Ph.D.
389.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1960). Pigeons in a pelican. American Psychologist,
15, 2837. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. . (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
390.
Jump up^ Described throughout Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a
behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
391.
Jump up^ "Nose Cone, Pigeon-Guided Missile". National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
Retrieved2008-06-10.
392.
Jump up^ "Skinner's Utopia: Panacea, or Path to Hell?". TIME. September 20,
1971.
393.
Jump up^ Richard Dawkins. "Design for a Faith-Based Missile". Free Inquiry
magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.
394.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
395.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A., B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise and fall
of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
396.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1957) Verbal Behavior. The account in the appendix is
that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
397.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederick(1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Gale.
Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
398.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1957) "A Review of BF Skinner's Verbal Behavior." in
the preface, 2nd paragraph
399.
Jump up^ Richelle, M. (1993). B. F. Skinner: A reappraisal. Hillsdale: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates
400.
Jump up^ Michael, J. (1984). "Verbal behavior". Journal of the Experimental
Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
401.
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402.
Jump up^ Holland, J. (1992). B.F Skinner. Pittsburgh: American Psychologist
403.
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1971."http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710920,00.html. Web.
404.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1968). "The Design of Experimental
Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.

405.
Jump up^ Ramsey, Richard David, Morning Star: The Values-Communication of
Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI. Attempts to
analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
406.
Jump up^ see Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1974 for example
407.
Jump up^ Asimov, Nanette (1996-01-30). "Spanking Debate Hits
Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
408.
Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
409.
Jump up^ ECON 252, Lecture 8 by Professor Robert Schiller at Yale University
410.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
411.
Jump up^ Classics in the History of Psychology Skinner (1948)
412.
Jump up^ Timberlake & Lucas, (1985) "JEAB"
413.
Jump up^ "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat - 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-1107.
414.
^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
415.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
416.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
417.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
418.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
419.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
420.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
421.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
422.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
423.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
424.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
425.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life

Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.


Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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I was not a lab rat, response by Skinner's daughter about the "baby box"
Audio Recordings Society for Experimental Analysis of Behavior
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Superstition in the Pigeon by B.F. Skinner (Full Text)
Reprint of "the Minotaur of the Behaviorist Maze: Surviving Stanford's Learning
House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
2011. 266272.
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian

novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber
o 3.2 Cumulative recorder
o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.
Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,

behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are
"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light

is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement
Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement

Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]
Operant conditioning chamber[edit]
Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder

was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]

The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has
been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;

failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.
Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.

B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.


Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper
corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things
he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health
1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Johns Hopkins University


Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

References[edit]
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469.
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470.
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471.
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472.
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473.
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474.
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475.
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476.
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477.
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1971.
478.
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revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.

479.
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510.
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Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life
Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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I was not a lab rat, response by Skinner's daughter about the "baby box"
Audio Recordings Society for Experimental Analysis of Behavior
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Superstition in the Pigeon by B.F. Skinner (Full Text)
Reprint of "the Minotaur of the Behaviorist Maze: Surviving Stanford's Learning
House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb

Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian
novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber

o 3.2 Cumulative recorder


o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.

Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,
behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are

"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light
is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement

Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement
Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]

Operant conditioning chamber[edit]


Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder
was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]
The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has

been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)


Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;
failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.

Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper

corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things

he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health


1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life

Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.


Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

External links[edit]
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Works by or about B. F. Skinner at Internet Archive

Works by B. F. Skinner at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)


I was not a lab rat, response by Skinner's daughter about the "baby box"
Audio Recordings Society for Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Youtube Video Skinner and Teaching Machine
Superstition in the Pigeon by B.F. Skinner (Full Text)
Reprint of "the Minotaur of the Behaviorist Maze: Surviving Stanford's Learning
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian

novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber
o 3.2 Cumulative recorder
o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.
Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,

behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are
"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light

is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement
Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement

Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]
Operant conditioning chamber[edit]
Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder

was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]

The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has
been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;

failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.
Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.

B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.


Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper
corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things
he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health
1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Johns Hopkins University


Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
674.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
675.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
676.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
677.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
678.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

679.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
680.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life
Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb

Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian
novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber

o 3.2 Cumulative recorder


o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.

Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,
behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are

"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light
is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement

Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement
Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]

Operant conditioning chamber[edit]


Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder
was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]
The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has

been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
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help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)


Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;
failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.

Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper

corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things

he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health


1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
730.
Jump up^ Described throughout Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a
behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
731.
Jump up^ "Nose Cone, Pigeon-Guided Missile". National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
Retrieved2008-06-10.
732.
Jump up^ "Skinner's Utopia: Panacea, or Path to Hell?". TIME. September 20,
1971.
733.
Jump up^ Richard Dawkins. "Design for a Faith-Based Missile". Free Inquiry
magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.
734.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
735.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A., B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise and fall
of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
736.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1957) Verbal Behavior. The account in the appendix is
that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
737.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederick(1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Gale.
Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
738.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1957) "A Review of BF Skinner's Verbal Behavior." in
the preface, 2nd paragraph
739.
Jump up^ Richelle, M. (1993). B. F. Skinner: A reappraisal. Hillsdale: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates
740.
Jump up^ Michael, J. (1984). "Verbal behavior". Journal of the Experimental
Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
741.
Jump up^ The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (Journal)
742.
Jump up^ Holland, J. (1992). B.F Skinner. Pittsburgh: American Psychologist
743.
Jump up^ "B.F. Skinner Sep. 20,
1971."http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710920,00.html. Web.
744.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1968). "The Design of Experimental
Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.

745.
Jump up^ Ramsey, Richard David, Morning Star: The Values-Communication of
Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI. Attempts to
analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
746.
Jump up^ see Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1974 for example
747.
Jump up^ Asimov, Nanette (1996-01-30). "Spanking Debate Hits
Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
748.
Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
749.
Jump up^ ECON 252, Lecture 8 by Professor Robert Schiller at Yale University
750.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
751.
Jump up^ Classics in the History of Psychology Skinner (1948)
752.
Jump up^ Timberlake & Lucas, (1985) "JEAB"
753.
Jump up^ "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat - 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-1107.
754.
^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
755.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
756.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
757.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
758.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
759.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
760.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
761.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
762.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
763.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
764.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
765.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life

Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.


Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian

novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber
o 3.2 Cumulative recorder
o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.
Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,

behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are
"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light

is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement
Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement

Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]
Operant conditioning chamber[edit]
Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder

was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]

The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has
been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;

failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.
Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.

B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.


Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper
corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things
he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health
1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Johns Hopkins University


Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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Jump up^ "Humanist Manifesto II". American Humanist Association.
Retrieved October 9, 2012.
786.
Jump up^ Skinner, Deborah. "About". Horses by Skinner. Retrieved 4
September 2014.
787.
Jump up^ Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The
Guardian. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
788.
Jump up^ http://www.humanistsofutah.org/humanists/bfskinner.html
789.
Jump up^ Bjork, D.W. (1993). B.F. Skinner, A Life. New York: Basic Books.
790.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Topic
Pages. Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
791.
Jump up^ About Behaviorism Ch. 1 Causes of Behaviour 3 Radical
Behaviorism B. F. Skinner 1974 ISBN 0-394-71618-3

792.
Jump up^ ibid. pp. 1820 of the paperback edition which had the redacted typo
s/it/is/.
793.
Jump up^ Skinner, B.F. (1938). Behavior of Organisms. New York: AppletonCentury-Crofts.
794.
Jump up^ Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditioned Reflexes. Oxford: Oxford Univ.
Press.
795.
Jump up^ Thorndike, E. L. (1911). Animal Intelligence: Experimental Studies.
New York: Macmillan.
796.
^ Jump up to:a b c Jenkins, H.M. "Animal Learning and Behavior", Ch. 5, in Hearst,
E. "The First Century of Experimental Psychology" (1979) Erlbaum: Hillsdale, N. J.
797.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F.(1966) Contingencies of Reinforcement, New York;
Appleton-Century-Crofts. reprinted 2013, B. F. Skinner Foundation.
798.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. Science and Human Behavior (1953) New York:
Macmillan
799.
Jump up^ Skinner, B.F (31 July 1981). "Selection by
Consequences" (PDF). Science 213 (4507): 501
504. Bibcode:1981Sci...213..501S. doi:10.1126/science.7244649.PMID 7244649. Archiv
ed (PDF) from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 14 August2010.
800.
^ Jump up to:a b Ferster, C. B. and Skinner, B. F. Schedules of Reinforcement.
New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957
801.
Jump up^ "Different Types of Reinforcement
Scedules" (PDF).http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/Reinforce
ment-Table1.pdf. National Professional Development Center for Autism Spectrum
Disorders. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
802.
^ Jump up to:a b Psychology 2nd Edition
803.
Jump up^ Daniel L. Schacter, Daniel T. Gilbert, Daniel M.
Wegner.(2011).Schedules of Reinforcement. Psychology second edition.
804.
Jump up^ Air-crib photograph in "What Man Can Make of Man", by James
Bennet. The Atlantic,June 2012.
805.
^ Jump up to:a b Snopes.com "One Man and a Baby Box", accessed on 12-29-07.
806.
Jump up^ "Burrhus Fredrick Skinner". Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904 - 1990).
Gale, Credo Reference. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
807.
Jump up^ Slater, L. (2004) Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychological
Experiments of the Twentieth Century, London, Bloomsbury
808.
Jump up^ Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The
Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
809.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1961). "Why we need teaching machines". Harvard
Educational Review31: 377398.
810.
Jump up^ "Programmed Instruction and Task Analysis". College of Education,
University of Houston.
811.
Jump up^ Skinner,B.F. 1961. "Teaching machines." Scientific American, 205,
90-112. doi:10.2307/1926170, p. 381
812.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. and Holland, J. "The Analysis of Behavior: A Program
for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
813.
Jump up^ Philip McRae, Ph.D.
814.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1960). Pigeons in a pelican. American Psychologist,
15, 2837. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. . (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
815.
Jump up^ Described throughout Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a
behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
816.
Jump up^ "Nose Cone, Pigeon-Guided Missile". National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
Retrieved2008-06-10.
817.
Jump up^ "Skinner's Utopia: Panacea, or Path to Hell?". TIME. September 20,
1971.
818.
Jump up^ Richard Dawkins. "Design for a Faith-Based Missile". Free Inquiry
magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.

819.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
820.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A., B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise and fall
of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
821.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1957) Verbal Behavior. The account in the appendix is
that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
822.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederick(1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Gale.
Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
823.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1957) "A Review of BF Skinner's Verbal Behavior." in
the preface, 2nd paragraph
824.
Jump up^ Richelle, M. (1993). B. F. Skinner: A reappraisal. Hillsdale: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates
825.
Jump up^ Michael, J. (1984). "Verbal behavior". Journal of the Experimental
Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
826.
Jump up^ The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (Journal)
827.
Jump up^ Holland, J. (1992). B.F Skinner. Pittsburgh: American Psychologist
828.
Jump up^ "B.F. Skinner Sep. 20,
1971."http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710920,00.html. Web.
829.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1968). "The Design of Experimental
Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.
830.
Jump up^ Ramsey, Richard David, Morning Star: The Values-Communication of
Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI. Attempts to
analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
831.
Jump up^ see Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1974 for example
832.
Jump up^ Asimov, Nanette (1996-01-30). "Spanking Debate Hits
Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
833.
Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
834.
Jump up^ ECON 252, Lecture 8 by Professor Robert Schiller at Yale University
835.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
836.
Jump up^ Classics in the History of Psychology Skinner (1948)
837.
Jump up^ Timberlake & Lucas, (1985) "JEAB"
838.
Jump up^ "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat - 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-1107.
839.
^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
840.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
841.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
842.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
843.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
844.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
845.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
846.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
847.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
848.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

849.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
850.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life
Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
2011. 266272.
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb

Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian
novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber

o 3.2 Cumulative recorder


o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.

Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,
behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are

"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light
is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement

Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement
Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]

Operant conditioning chamber[edit]


Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder
was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]
The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has

been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
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Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;
failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.

Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper

corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things

he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health


1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

References[edit]
851.
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in American culture. Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press. ISBN 0-934223-40-8.
852.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1948). Walden Two. The science of human
behavior is used to eliminate poverty, sexual expression, government as we know it,
create a lifestyle without that such as war.
853.
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Books. ISBN 0-553-14372-7. OCLC 34263003.
854.
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up^https://behavioranalysishistory.pbworks.com/w/page/2039033/Skinner%2C%20Burrh
us%20Frederic
855.
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857.
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858.
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859.
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860.
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861.
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862.
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863.
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864.
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865.
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866.
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Yarbrough, Gary L.; Russell, Tenea M.; Borecky, Chris M.; McGahhey, Reagan et al.
(2002). "The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century". Review of General
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867.
Jump up^ "Within a year I had gone to Miss Graves to tell her that I no longer
believed in God. 'I know,' she said, 'I have been through that myself.' But her strategy
misfired: I never went through it." B.F. Skinner, pp. 387-413, E.G. Boring and G.
Lindzey's A History of Psychology in Autobiography (Vol. 5), New York: Appleton
Century-Crofts, 1967.
868.
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871.
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872.
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Guardian. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
873.
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874.
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875.
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876.
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Behaviorism B. F. Skinner 1974 ISBN 0-394-71618-3
877.
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s/it/is/.
878.
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879.
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Press.
880.
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New York: Macmillan.
881.
^ Jump up to:a b c Jenkins, H.M. "Animal Learning and Behavior", Ch. 5, in Hearst,
E. "The First Century of Experimental Psychology" (1979) Erlbaum: Hillsdale, N. J.
882.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F.(1966) Contingencies of Reinforcement, New York;
Appleton-Century-Crofts. reprinted 2013, B. F. Skinner Foundation.
883.
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Macmillan
884.
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Consequences" (PDF). Science 213 (4507): 501
504. Bibcode:1981Sci...213..501S. doi:10.1126/science.7244649.PMID 7244649. Archiv
ed (PDF) from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 14 August2010.
885.
^ Jump up to:a b Ferster, C. B. and Skinner, B. F. Schedules of Reinforcement.
New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957
886.
Jump up^ "Different Types of Reinforcement
Scedules" (PDF).http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/Reinforce
ment-Table1.pdf. National Professional Development Center for Autism Spectrum
Disorders. Retrieved 14 February 2015.

887.
^ Jump up to:a b Psychology 2nd Edition
888.
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Wegner.(2011).Schedules of Reinforcement. Psychology second edition.
889.
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Bennet. The Atlantic,June 2012.
890.
^ Jump up to:a b Snopes.com "One Man and a Baby Box", accessed on 12-29-07.
891.
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Gale, Credo Reference. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
892.
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Experiments of the Twentieth Century, London, Bloomsbury
893.
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Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
894.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1961). "Why we need teaching machines". Harvard
Educational Review31: 377398.
895.
Jump up^ "Programmed Instruction and Task Analysis". College of Education,
University of Houston.
896.
Jump up^ Skinner,B.F. 1961. "Teaching machines." Scientific American, 205,
90-112. doi:10.2307/1926170, p. 381
897.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. and Holland, J. "The Analysis of Behavior: A Program
for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
898.
Jump up^ Philip McRae, Ph.D.
899.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1960). Pigeons in a pelican. American Psychologist,
15, 2837. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. . (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
900.
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behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
901.
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History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
Retrieved2008-06-10.
902.
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1971.
903.
Jump up^ Richard Dawkins. "Design for a Faith-Based Missile". Free Inquiry
magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.
904.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
905.
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of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
906.
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that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
907.
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Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
908.
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the preface, 2nd paragraph
909.
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Erlbaum Associates
910.
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Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
911.
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912.
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913.
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1971."http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710920,00.html. Web.
914.
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Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.

915.
Jump up^ Ramsey, Richard David, Morning Star: The Values-Communication of
Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI. Attempts to
analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
916.
Jump up^ see Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1974 for example
917.
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Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
918.
Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
919.
Jump up^ ECON 252, Lecture 8 by Professor Robert Schiller at Yale University
920.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
921.
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922.
Jump up^ Timberlake & Lucas, (1985) "JEAB"
923.
Jump up^ "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat - 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-1107.
924.
^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
925.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
926.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
927.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
928.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
929.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
930.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
931.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
932.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
933.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
934.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
935.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life

Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.


Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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I was not a lab rat, response by Skinner's daughter about the "baby box"
Audio Recordings Society for Experimental Analysis of Behavior
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Superstition in the Pigeon by B.F. Skinner (Full Text)
Reprint of "the Minotaur of the Behaviorist Maze: Surviving Stanford's Learning
House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
2011. 266272.
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian

novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber
o 3.2 Cumulative recorder
o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.
Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,

behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are
"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light

is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement
Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement

Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]
Operant conditioning chamber[edit]
Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder

was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]

The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has
been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;

failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.
Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.

B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.


Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper
corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things
he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health
1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Johns Hopkins University


Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

References[edit]
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962.
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964.
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965.
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971.
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Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
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Educational Review31: 377398.
980.
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981.
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for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
983.
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984.
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986.
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988.
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magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.

989.
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1001.
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1011.
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& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
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1017.
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1020.
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Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life
Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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Works by or about B. F. Skinner at Internet Archive

Works by B. F. Skinner at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)


I was not a lab rat, response by Skinner's daughter about the "baby box"
Audio Recordings Society for Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Youtube Video Skinner and Teaching Machine
Superstition in the Pigeon by B.F. Skinner (Full Text)
Reprint of "the Minotaur of the Behaviorist Maze: Surviving Stanford's Learning
House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
2011. 266272.
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born March 20, 1904, in the small Pennsylvania town
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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb

Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian
novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber

o 3.2 Cumulative recorder


o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.

Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,
behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are

"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light
is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement

Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement
Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]

Operant conditioning chamber[edit]


Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder
was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]
The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has

been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)


Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;
failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.

Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper

corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things

he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health


1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life

Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.


Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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I was not a lab rat, response by Skinner's daughter about the "baby box"
Audio Recordings Society for Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Youtube Video Skinner and Teaching Machine
Superstition in the Pigeon by B.F. Skinner (Full Text)
Reprint of "the Minotaur of the Behaviorist Maze: Surviving Stanford's Learning
House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
2011. 266272.
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B. F. Skinner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian

novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber
o 3.2 Cumulative recorder
o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.
Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,

behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are
"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light

is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement
Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement

Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]
Operant conditioning chamber[edit]
Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder

was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]

The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has
been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;

failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.
Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.

B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.


Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper
corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things
he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health
1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Johns Hopkins University


Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
1186.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
1187.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
1188.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

1189.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
1190.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life
Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
2011. 266272.
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb

Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian
novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber

o 3.2 Cumulative recorder


o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.

Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,
behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are

"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light
is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement

Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement
Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]

Operant conditioning chamber[edit]


Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder
was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]
The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has

been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)


Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;
failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.

Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper

corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things

he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health


1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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1241.
Jump up^ "Nose Cone, Pigeon-Guided Missile". National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
Retrieved2008-06-10.
1242.
Jump up^ "Skinner's Utopia: Panacea, or Path to Hell?". TIME. September 20,
1971.
1243.
Jump up^ Richard Dawkins. "Design for a Faith-Based Missile". Free Inquiry
magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.
1244.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
1245.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A., B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise and fall
of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
1246.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1957) Verbal Behavior. The account in the appendix is
that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
1247.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederick(1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Gale.
Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
1248.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1957) "A Review of BF Skinner's Verbal Behavior." in
the preface, 2nd paragraph
1249.
Jump up^ Richelle, M. (1993). B. F. Skinner: A reappraisal. Hillsdale: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates
1250.
Jump up^ Michael, J. (1984). "Verbal behavior". Journal of the Experimental
Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
1251.
Jump up^ The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (Journal)
1252.
Jump up^ Holland, J. (1992). B.F Skinner. Pittsburgh: American Psychologist
1253.
Jump up^ "B.F. Skinner Sep. 20,
1971."http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710920,00.html. Web.
1254.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1968). "The Design of Experimental
Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.

1255.
Jump up^ Ramsey, Richard David, Morning Star: The Values-Communication of
Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI. Attempts to
analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
1256.
Jump up^ see Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1974 for example
1257.
Jump up^ Asimov, Nanette (1996-01-30). "Spanking Debate Hits
Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
1258.
Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
1259.
Jump up^ ECON 252, Lecture 8 by Professor Robert Schiller at Yale University
1260.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
1261.
Jump up^ Classics in the History of Psychology Skinner (1948)
1262.
Jump up^ Timberlake & Lucas, (1985) "JEAB"
1263.
Jump up^ "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat - 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-1107.
1264.
^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
1265.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
1266.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
1267.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
1268.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
1269.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
1270.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
1271.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
1272.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
1273.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
1274.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
1275.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life

Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.


Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian

novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber
o 3.2 Cumulative recorder
o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.
Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,

behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are
"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light

is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement
Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement

Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]
Operant conditioning chamber[edit]
Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder

was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]

The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has
been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;

failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.
Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.

B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.


Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper
corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things
he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health
1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Johns Hopkins University


Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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1295.
Jump up^ "Humanist Manifesto II". American Humanist Association.
Retrieved October 9, 2012.
1296.
Jump up^ Skinner, Deborah. "About". Horses by Skinner. Retrieved 4
September 2014.
1297.
Jump up^ Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The
Guardian. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
1298.
Jump up^ http://www.humanistsofutah.org/humanists/bfskinner.html
1299.
Jump up^ Bjork, D.W. (1993). B.F. Skinner, A Life. New York: Basic Books.
1300.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Topic
Pages. Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
1301.
Jump up^ About Behaviorism Ch. 1 Causes of Behaviour 3 Radical
Behaviorism B. F. Skinner 1974 ISBN 0-394-71618-3

1302.
Jump up^ ibid. pp. 1820 of the paperback edition which had the redacted typo
s/it/is/.
1303.
Jump up^ Skinner, B.F. (1938). Behavior of Organisms. New York: AppletonCentury-Crofts.
1304.
Jump up^ Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditioned Reflexes. Oxford: Oxford Univ.
Press.
1305.
Jump up^ Thorndike, E. L. (1911). Animal Intelligence: Experimental Studies.
New York: Macmillan.
1306.
^ Jump up to:a b c Jenkins, H.M. "Animal Learning and Behavior", Ch. 5, in Hearst,
E. "The First Century of Experimental Psychology" (1979) Erlbaum: Hillsdale, N. J.
1307.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F.(1966) Contingencies of Reinforcement, New York;
Appleton-Century-Crofts. reprinted 2013, B. F. Skinner Foundation.
1308.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. Science and Human Behavior (1953) New York:
Macmillan
1309.
Jump up^ Skinner, B.F (31 July 1981). "Selection by
Consequences" (PDF). Science 213 (4507): 501
504. Bibcode:1981Sci...213..501S. doi:10.1126/science.7244649.PMID 7244649. Archiv
ed (PDF) from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 14 August2010.
1310.
^ Jump up to:a b Ferster, C. B. and Skinner, B. F. Schedules of Reinforcement.
New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957
1311.
Jump up^ "Different Types of Reinforcement
Scedules" (PDF).http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/Reinforce
ment-Table1.pdf. National Professional Development Center for Autism Spectrum
Disorders. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
1312.
^ Jump up to:a b Psychology 2nd Edition
1313.
Jump up^ Daniel L. Schacter, Daniel T. Gilbert, Daniel M.
Wegner.(2011).Schedules of Reinforcement. Psychology second edition.
1314.
Jump up^ Air-crib photograph in "What Man Can Make of Man", by James
Bennet. The Atlantic,June 2012.
1315.
^ Jump up to:a b Snopes.com "One Man and a Baby Box", accessed on 12-29-07.
1316.
Jump up^ "Burrhus Fredrick Skinner". Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904 - 1990).
Gale, Credo Reference. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
1317.
Jump up^ Slater, L. (2004) Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychological
Experiments of the Twentieth Century, London, Bloomsbury
1318.
Jump up^ Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The
Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
1319.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1961). "Why we need teaching machines". Harvard
Educational Review31: 377398.
1320.
Jump up^ "Programmed Instruction and Task Analysis". College of Education,
University of Houston.
1321.
Jump up^ Skinner,B.F. 1961. "Teaching machines." Scientific American, 205,
90-112. doi:10.2307/1926170, p. 381
1322.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. and Holland, J. "The Analysis of Behavior: A Program
for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
1323.
Jump up^ Philip McRae, Ph.D.
1324.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1960). Pigeons in a pelican. American Psychologist,
15, 2837. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. . (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
1325.
Jump up^ Described throughout Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a
behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
1326.
Jump up^ "Nose Cone, Pigeon-Guided Missile". National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
Retrieved2008-06-10.
1327.
Jump up^ "Skinner's Utopia: Panacea, or Path to Hell?". TIME. September 20,
1971.
1328.
Jump up^ Richard Dawkins. "Design for a Faith-Based Missile". Free Inquiry
magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.

1329.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
1330.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A., B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise and fall
of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
1331.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1957) Verbal Behavior. The account in the appendix is
that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
1332.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederick(1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Gale.
Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
1333.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1957) "A Review of BF Skinner's Verbal Behavior." in
the preface, 2nd paragraph
1334.
Jump up^ Richelle, M. (1993). B. F. Skinner: A reappraisal. Hillsdale: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates
1335.
Jump up^ Michael, J. (1984). "Verbal behavior". Journal of the Experimental
Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
1336.
Jump up^ The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (Journal)
1337.
Jump up^ Holland, J. (1992). B.F Skinner. Pittsburgh: American Psychologist
1338.
Jump up^ "B.F. Skinner Sep. 20,
1971."http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710920,00.html. Web.
1339.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1968). "The Design of Experimental
Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.
1340.
Jump up^ Ramsey, Richard David, Morning Star: The Values-Communication of
Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI. Attempts to
analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
1341.
Jump up^ see Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1974 for example
1342.
Jump up^ Asimov, Nanette (1996-01-30). "Spanking Debate Hits
Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
1343.
Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
1344.
Jump up^ ECON 252, Lecture 8 by Professor Robert Schiller at Yale University
1345.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
1346.
Jump up^ Classics in the History of Psychology Skinner (1948)
1347.
Jump up^ Timberlake & Lucas, (1985) "JEAB"
1348.
Jump up^ "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat - 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-1107.
1349.
^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
1350.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
1351.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
1352.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
1353.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
1354.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
1355.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
1356.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
1357.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
1358.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

1359.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
1360.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life
Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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Superstition in the Pigeon by B.F. Skinner (Full Text)
Reprint of "the Minotaur of the Behaviorist Maze: Surviving Stanford's Learning
House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
2011. 266272.
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb

Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian
novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber

o 3.2 Cumulative recorder


o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.

Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,
behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are

"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light
is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement

Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement
Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]

Operant conditioning chamber[edit]


Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder
was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]
The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has

been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
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Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;
failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.

Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper

corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things

he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health


1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

References[edit]
1361.
Jump up^ Smith, L. D.; Woodward, W. R. (1996). B. F. Skinner and behaviorism
in American culture. Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press. ISBN 0-934223-40-8.
1362.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1948). Walden Two. The science of human
behavior is used to eliminate poverty, sexual expression, government as we know it,
create a lifestyle without that such as war.
1363.
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Books. ISBN 0-553-14372-7. OCLC 34263003.
1364.
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up^https://behavioranalysishistory.pbworks.com/w/page/2039033/Skinner%2C%20Burrh
us%20Frederic
1365.
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1366.
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New York, 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2013.

1367.
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States of America: Worth Publishers. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-4292-3719-2.
1368.
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1369.
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1370.
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1371.
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1372.
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1373.
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Group. ISBN 1-58390-021-7
1374.
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1375.
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1376.
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Yarbrough, Gary L.; Russell, Tenea M.; Borecky, Chris M.; McGahhey, Reagan et al.
(2002). "The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century". Review of General
Psychology 6 (2): 139152. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139.
1377.
Jump up^ "Within a year I had gone to Miss Graves to tell her that I no longer
believed in God. 'I know,' she said, 'I have been through that myself.' But her strategy
misfired: I never went through it." B.F. Skinner, pp. 387-413, E.G. Boring and G.
Lindzey's A History of Psychology in Autobiography (Vol. 5), New York: Appleton
Century-Crofts, 1967.
1378.
^ Jump up to:a b c B.F. Skinner: A Life [Paperback]. by Daniel W. Bjork, ISBN
9781557984166: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2013.
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1380.
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Retrieved October 9, 2012.
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September 2014.
1382.
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Guardian. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
1383.
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1384.
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1385.
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Pages. Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
1386.
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Behaviorism B. F. Skinner 1974 ISBN 0-394-71618-3
1387.
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s/it/is/.
1388.
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1389.
Jump up^ Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditioned Reflexes. Oxford: Oxford Univ.
Press.
1390.
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New York: Macmillan.
1391.
^ Jump up to:a b c Jenkins, H.M. "Animal Learning and Behavior", Ch. 5, in Hearst,
E. "The First Century of Experimental Psychology" (1979) Erlbaum: Hillsdale, N. J.
1392.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F.(1966) Contingencies of Reinforcement, New York;
Appleton-Century-Crofts. reprinted 2013, B. F. Skinner Foundation.
1393.
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Macmillan
1394.
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Consequences" (PDF). Science 213 (4507): 501
504. Bibcode:1981Sci...213..501S. doi:10.1126/science.7244649.PMID 7244649. Archiv
ed (PDF) from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 14 August2010.
1395.
^ Jump up to:a b Ferster, C. B. and Skinner, B. F. Schedules of Reinforcement.
New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957
1396.
Jump up^ "Different Types of Reinforcement
Scedules" (PDF).http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/Reinforce
ment-Table1.pdf. National Professional Development Center for Autism Spectrum
Disorders. Retrieved 14 February 2015.

1397.
^ Jump up to:a b Psychology 2nd Edition
1398.
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Wegner.(2011).Schedules of Reinforcement. Psychology second edition.
1399.
Jump up^ Air-crib photograph in "What Man Can Make of Man", by James
Bennet. The Atlantic,June 2012.
1400.
^ Jump up to:a b Snopes.com "One Man and a Baby Box", accessed on 12-29-07.
1401.
Jump up^ "Burrhus Fredrick Skinner". Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904 - 1990).
Gale, Credo Reference. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
1402.
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Experiments of the Twentieth Century, London, Bloomsbury
1403.
Jump up^ Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The
Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
1404.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1961). "Why we need teaching machines". Harvard
Educational Review31: 377398.
1405.
Jump up^ "Programmed Instruction and Task Analysis". College of Education,
University of Houston.
1406.
Jump up^ Skinner,B.F. 1961. "Teaching machines." Scientific American, 205,
90-112. doi:10.2307/1926170, p. 381
1407.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. and Holland, J. "The Analysis of Behavior: A Program
for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
1408.
Jump up^ Philip McRae, Ph.D.
1409.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1960). Pigeons in a pelican. American Psychologist,
15, 2837. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. . (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
1410.
Jump up^ Described throughout Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a
behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
1411.
Jump up^ "Nose Cone, Pigeon-Guided Missile". National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
Retrieved2008-06-10.
1412.
Jump up^ "Skinner's Utopia: Panacea, or Path to Hell?". TIME. September 20,
1971.
1413.
Jump up^ Richard Dawkins. "Design for a Faith-Based Missile". Free Inquiry
magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.
1414.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
1415.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A., B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise and fall
of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
1416.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1957) Verbal Behavior. The account in the appendix is
that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
1417.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederick(1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Gale.
Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
1418.
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the preface, 2nd paragraph
1419.
Jump up^ Richelle, M. (1993). B. F. Skinner: A reappraisal. Hillsdale: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates
1420.
Jump up^ Michael, J. (1984). "Verbal behavior". Journal of the Experimental
Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
1421.
Jump up^ The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (Journal)
1422.
Jump up^ Holland, J. (1992). B.F Skinner. Pittsburgh: American Psychologist
1423.
Jump up^ "B.F. Skinner Sep. 20,
1971."http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710920,00.html. Web.
1424.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1968). "The Design of Experimental
Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.

1425.
Jump up^ Ramsey, Richard David, Morning Star: The Values-Communication of
Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI. Attempts to
analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
1426.
Jump up^ see Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1974 for example
1427.
Jump up^ Asimov, Nanette (1996-01-30). "Spanking Debate Hits
Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
1428.
Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
1429.
Jump up^ ECON 252, Lecture 8 by Professor Robert Schiller at Yale University
1430.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
1431.
Jump up^ Classics in the History of Psychology Skinner (1948)
1432.
Jump up^ Timberlake & Lucas, (1985) "JEAB"
1433.
Jump up^ "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat - 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-1107.
1434.
^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
1435.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
1436.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
1437.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
1438.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
1439.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
1440.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
1441.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
1442.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
1443.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
1444.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
1445.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life

Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.


Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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Superstition in the Pigeon by B.F. Skinner (Full Text)
Reprint of "the Minotaur of the Behaviorist Maze: Surviving Stanford's Learning
House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
2011. 266272.
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian

novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber
o 3.2 Cumulative recorder
o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.
Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,

behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are
"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light

is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement
Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement

Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]
Operant conditioning chamber[edit]
Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder

was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]

The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has
been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;

failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.
Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.

B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.


Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper
corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things
he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health
1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Johns Hopkins University


Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

References[edit]
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believed in God. 'I know,' she said, 'I have been through that myself.' But her strategy
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Lindzey's A History of Psychology in Autobiography (Vol. 5), New York: Appleton
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1472.
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s/it/is/.
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1474.
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Press.
1475.
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Consequences" (PDF). Science 213 (4507): 501
504. Bibcode:1981Sci...213..501S. doi:10.1126/science.7244649.PMID 7244649. Archiv
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New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957
1481.
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Scedules" (PDF).http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/Reinforce
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Wegner.(2011).Schedules of Reinforcement. Psychology second edition.
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Bennet. The Atlantic,June 2012.
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Experiments of the Twentieth Century, London, Bloomsbury
1488.
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Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
1489.
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Educational Review31: 377398.
1490.
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University of Houston.
1491.
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90-112. doi:10.2307/1926170, p. 381
1492.
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for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
1493.
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1494.
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15, 2837. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. . (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
1495.
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behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
1496.
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History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
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1497.
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1971.
1498.
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magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.

1499.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
1500.
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of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
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that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
1502.
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the preface, 2nd paragraph
1504.
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Erlbaum Associates
1505.
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Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
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Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.
1510.
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Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
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analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
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1512.
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Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
1513.
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Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
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1520.
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1521.
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1523.
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Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
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362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
1530.
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Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life
Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

External links[edit]
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Works by or about B. F. Skinner at Internet Archive

Works by B. F. Skinner at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)


I was not a lab rat, response by Skinner's daughter about the "baby box"
Audio Recordings Society for Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Youtube Video Skinner and Teaching Machine
Superstition in the Pigeon by B.F. Skinner (Full Text)
Reprint of "the Minotaur of the Behaviorist Maze: Surviving Stanford's Learning
House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
2011. 266272.
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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Although, for obvious reasons he is more commonly known as B.F. Skinner. ...
Immediately it did so a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever.

B. F. Skinner - My Webspace files


webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/skinner.html
o

Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born March 20, 1904, in the small Pennsylvania town
... He wanted to be a writer and did try, sending off poetry and short stories.

Did B.F. Skinner really put babies into boxes? - io9


io9.com/5946822/did-bf-skinner-really-put-babies-into-boxes
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o

Sep 27, 2012 - It turns out that there were two very different things that the famous
psychologist B.F. Skinner did. On the one hand, he created gray metal boxes ...

When did you have your first real bf/gf? - General Discussion ...
www.giantbomb.com/.../when-did-you-have-your-first-real-bfgf-46692...
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I never tried to get a gf. ... What qualifies as a real gf? although i have been dating
since my early teens, i wouldn't say i had a ... Does it count if they're married?

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb

Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian
novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber

o 3.2 Cumulative recorder


o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.

Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,
behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are

"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light
is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement

Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement
Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]

Operant conditioning chamber[edit]


Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder
was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]
The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has

been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)


Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;
failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.

Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.


Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.

Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.

Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper

corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things

he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health


1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life

Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.


Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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I was not a lab rat, response by Skinner's daughter about the "baby box"
Audio Recordings Society for Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Youtube Video Skinner and Teaching Machine
Superstition in the Pigeon by B.F. Skinner (Full Text)
Reprint of "the Minotaur of the Behaviorist Maze: Surviving Stanford's Learning
House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
2011. 266272.
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian

novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber
o 3.2 Cumulative recorder
o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.
Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,

behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are
"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light

is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement
Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement

Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]
Operant conditioning chamber[edit]
Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder

was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]

The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has
been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;

failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
96. Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.
97. Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
98. Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
99. Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached.
100.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.
Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.
Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.

B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.


Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper
corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things
he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health
1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Johns Hopkins University


Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
1692.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
1693.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
1694.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
1695.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
1696.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
1697.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
1698.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

1699.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
1700.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life
Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
2011. 266272.
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb

Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian
novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber

o 3.2 Cumulative recorder


o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.

Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,
behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are

"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light
is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement

Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement
Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]

Operant conditioning chamber[edit]


Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder
was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]
The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has

been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)


Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;
failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
101.
Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.
102.
Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to
complex.
103.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
104.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is
reached.
105.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.
Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.

Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper

corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things

he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health


1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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University of Houston.
1746.
Jump up^ Skinner,B.F. 1961. "Teaching machines." Scientific American, 205,
90-112. doi:10.2307/1926170, p. 381
1747.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. and Holland, J. "The Analysis of Behavior: A Program
for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
1748.
Jump up^ Philip McRae, Ph.D.
1749.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1960). Pigeons in a pelican. American Psychologist,
15, 2837. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. . (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
1750.
Jump up^ Described throughout Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a
behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
1751.
Jump up^ "Nose Cone, Pigeon-Guided Missile". National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
Retrieved2008-06-10.
1752.
Jump up^ "Skinner's Utopia: Panacea, or Path to Hell?". TIME. September 20,
1971.
1753.
Jump up^ Richard Dawkins. "Design for a Faith-Based Missile". Free Inquiry
magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.
1754.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
1755.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A., B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise and fall
of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
1756.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1957) Verbal Behavior. The account in the appendix is
that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
1757.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederick(1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Gale.
Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
1758.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1957) "A Review of BF Skinner's Verbal Behavior." in
the preface, 2nd paragraph
1759.
Jump up^ Richelle, M. (1993). B. F. Skinner: A reappraisal. Hillsdale: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates
1760.
Jump up^ Michael, J. (1984). "Verbal behavior". Journal of the Experimental
Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
1761.
Jump up^ The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (Journal)
1762.
Jump up^ Holland, J. (1992). B.F Skinner. Pittsburgh: American Psychologist
1763.
Jump up^ "B.F. Skinner Sep. 20,
1971."http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710920,00.html. Web.
1764.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1968). "The Design of Experimental
Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.

1765.
Jump up^ Ramsey, Richard David, Morning Star: The Values-Communication of
Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI. Attempts to
analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
1766.
Jump up^ see Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1974 for example
1767.
Jump up^ Asimov, Nanette (1996-01-30). "Spanking Debate Hits
Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
1768.
Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
1769.
Jump up^ ECON 252, Lecture 8 by Professor Robert Schiller at Yale University
1770.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
1771.
Jump up^ Classics in the History of Psychology Skinner (1948)
1772.
Jump up^ Timberlake & Lucas, (1985) "JEAB"
1773.
Jump up^ "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat - 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-1107.
1774.
^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
1775.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
1776.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
1777.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
1778.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
1779.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
1780.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
1781.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
1782.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
1783.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
1784.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
1785.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life

Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.


Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian

novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber
o 3.2 Cumulative recorder
o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.
Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,

behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are
"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light

is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement
Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement

Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]
Operant conditioning chamber[edit]
Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder

was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]

The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has
been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;

failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
106.
Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.
107.
Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to
complex.
108.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
109.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is
reached.
110.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.
Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.
Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.

If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper
corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]

This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things
he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis

of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even


designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health
1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University

Ball State University


Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.

Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.


Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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Yarbrough, Gary L.; Russell, Tenea M.; Borecky, Chris M.; McGahhey, Reagan et al.
(2002). "The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century". Review of General
Psychology 6 (2): 139152. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139.
1802.
Jump up^ "Within a year I had gone to Miss Graves to tell her that I no longer
believed in God. 'I know,' she said, 'I have been through that myself.' But her strategy
misfired: I never went through it." B.F. Skinner, pp. 387-413, E.G. Boring and G.
Lindzey's A History of Psychology in Autobiography (Vol. 5), New York: Appleton
Century-Crofts, 1967.
1803.
^ Jump up to:a b c B.F. Skinner: A Life [Paperback]. by Daniel W. Bjork, ISBN
9781557984166: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2013.
1804.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner: a Life.
1805.
Jump up^ "Humanist Manifesto II". American Humanist Association.
Retrieved October 9, 2012.
1806.
Jump up^ Skinner, Deborah. "About". Horses by Skinner. Retrieved 4
September 2014.
1807.
Jump up^ Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The
Guardian. Retrieved 4 September 2014.

1808.
Jump up^ http://www.humanistsofutah.org/humanists/bfskinner.html
1809.
Jump up^ Bjork, D.W. (1993). B.F. Skinner, A Life. New York: Basic Books.
1810.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Topic
Pages. Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
1811.
Jump up^ About Behaviorism Ch. 1 Causes of Behaviour 3 Radical
Behaviorism B. F. Skinner 1974 ISBN 0-394-71618-3
1812.
Jump up^ ibid. pp. 1820 of the paperback edition which had the redacted typo
s/it/is/.
1813.
Jump up^ Skinner, B.F. (1938). Behavior of Organisms. New York: AppletonCentury-Crofts.
1814.
Jump up^ Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditioned Reflexes. Oxford: Oxford Univ.
Press.
1815.
Jump up^ Thorndike, E. L. (1911). Animal Intelligence: Experimental Studies.
New York: Macmillan.
1816.
^ Jump up to:a b c Jenkins, H.M. "Animal Learning and Behavior", Ch. 5, in Hearst,
E. "The First Century of Experimental Psychology" (1979) Erlbaum: Hillsdale, N. J.
1817.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F.(1966) Contingencies of Reinforcement, New York;
Appleton-Century-Crofts. reprinted 2013, B. F. Skinner Foundation.
1818.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. Science and Human Behavior (1953) New York:
Macmillan
1819.
Jump up^ Skinner, B.F (31 July 1981). "Selection by
Consequences" (PDF). Science 213 (4507): 501
504. Bibcode:1981Sci...213..501S. doi:10.1126/science.7244649.PMID 7244649. Archiv
ed (PDF) from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 14 August2010.
1820.
^ Jump up to:a b Ferster, C. B. and Skinner, B. F. Schedules of Reinforcement.
New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957
1821.
Jump up^ "Different Types of Reinforcement
Scedules" (PDF).http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/Reinforce
ment-Table1.pdf. National Professional Development Center for Autism Spectrum
Disorders. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
1822.
^ Jump up to:a b Psychology 2nd Edition
1823.
Jump up^ Daniel L. Schacter, Daniel T. Gilbert, Daniel M.
Wegner.(2011).Schedules of Reinforcement. Psychology second edition.
1824.
Jump up^ Air-crib photograph in "What Man Can Make of Man", by James
Bennet. The Atlantic,June 2012.
1825.
^ Jump up to:a b Snopes.com "One Man and a Baby Box", accessed on 12-29-07.
1826.
Jump up^ "Burrhus Fredrick Skinner". Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904 - 1990).
Gale, Credo Reference. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
1827.
Jump up^ Slater, L. (2004) Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychological
Experiments of the Twentieth Century, London, Bloomsbury
1828.
Jump up^ Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The
Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
1829.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1961). "Why we need teaching machines". Harvard
Educational Review31: 377398.
1830.
Jump up^ "Programmed Instruction and Task Analysis". College of Education,
University of Houston.
1831.
Jump up^ Skinner,B.F. 1961. "Teaching machines." Scientific American, 205,
90-112. doi:10.2307/1926170, p. 381
1832.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. and Holland, J. "The Analysis of Behavior: A Program
for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
1833.
Jump up^ Philip McRae, Ph.D.
1834.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1960). Pigeons in a pelican. American Psychologist,
15, 2837. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. . (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
1835.
Jump up^ Described throughout Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a
behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
1836.
Jump up^ "Nose Cone, Pigeon-Guided Missile". National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
Retrieved2008-06-10.

1837.
Jump up^ "Skinner's Utopia: Panacea, or Path to Hell?". TIME. September 20,
1971.
1838.
Jump up^ Richard Dawkins. "Design for a Faith-Based Missile". Free Inquiry
magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.
1839.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
1840.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A., B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise and fall
of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
1841.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1957) Verbal Behavior. The account in the appendix is
that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
1842.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederick(1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Gale.
Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
1843.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1957) "A Review of BF Skinner's Verbal Behavior." in
the preface, 2nd paragraph
1844.
Jump up^ Richelle, M. (1993). B. F. Skinner: A reappraisal. Hillsdale: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates
1845.
Jump up^ Michael, J. (1984). "Verbal behavior". Journal of the Experimental
Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
1846.
Jump up^ The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (Journal)
1847.
Jump up^ Holland, J. (1992). B.F Skinner. Pittsburgh: American Psychologist
1848.
Jump up^ "B.F. Skinner Sep. 20,
1971."http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710920,00.html. Web.
1849.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1968). "The Design of Experimental
Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.
1850.
Jump up^ Ramsey, Richard David, Morning Star: The Values-Communication of
Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI. Attempts to
analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
1851.
Jump up^ see Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1974 for example
1852.
Jump up^ Asimov, Nanette (1996-01-30). "Spanking Debate Hits
Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
1853.
Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
1854.
Jump up^ ECON 252, Lecture 8 by Professor Robert Schiller at Yale University
1855.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
1856.
Jump up^ Classics in the History of Psychology Skinner (1948)
1857.
Jump up^ Timberlake & Lucas, (1985) "JEAB"
1858.
Jump up^ "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat - 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-1107.
1859.
^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
1860.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
1861.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
1862.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
1863.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
1864.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.

1865.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
1866.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
1867.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
1868.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
1869.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
1870.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life
Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb

Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian
novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber

o 3.2 Cumulative recorder


o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.

Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,
behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are

"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light
is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement

Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement
Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]

Operant conditioning chamber[edit]


Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder
was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]
The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has

been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
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Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;
failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
111.
Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.
112.
Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to
complex.
113.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
114.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is
reached.
115.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.
Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.

Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper

corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things

he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health


1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

References[edit]
1871.
Jump up^ Smith, L. D.; Woodward, W. R. (1996). B. F. Skinner and behaviorism
in American culture. Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press. ISBN 0-934223-40-8.
1872.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1948). Walden Two. The science of human
behavior is used to eliminate poverty, sexual expression, government as we know it,
create a lifestyle without that such as war.
1873.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1972). Beyond freedom and dignity. New York: Vintage
Books. ISBN 0-553-14372-7. OCLC 34263003.
1874.
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up^https://behavioranalysishistory.pbworks.com/w/page/2039033/Skinner%2C%20Burrh
us%20Frederic
1875.
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1876.
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New York, 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2013.

1877.
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States of America: Worth Publishers. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-4292-3719-2.
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1879.
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1880.
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1881.
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1882.
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1883.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1958) Verbal Behavior. Acton, MA: Copley Publishing
Group. ISBN 1-58390-021-7
1884.
Jump up^ Lafayette.edu, accessed on 5-20-07.
1885.
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1886.
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Yarbrough, Gary L.; Russell, Tenea M.; Borecky, Chris M.; McGahhey, Reagan et al.
(2002). "The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century". Review of General
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1887.
Jump up^ "Within a year I had gone to Miss Graves to tell her that I no longer
believed in God. 'I know,' she said, 'I have been through that myself.' But her strategy
misfired: I never went through it." B.F. Skinner, pp. 387-413, E.G. Boring and G.
Lindzey's A History of Psychology in Autobiography (Vol. 5), New York: Appleton
Century-Crofts, 1967.
1888.
^ Jump up to:a b c B.F. Skinner: A Life [Paperback]. by Daniel W. Bjork, ISBN
9781557984166: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2013.
1889.
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1890.
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Retrieved October 9, 2012.
1891.
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September 2014.
1892.
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Guardian. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
1893.
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1894.
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1895.
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Pages. Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
1896.
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Behaviorism B. F. Skinner 1974 ISBN 0-394-71618-3
1897.
Jump up^ ibid. pp. 1820 of the paperback edition which had the redacted typo
s/it/is/.
1898.
Jump up^ Skinner, B.F. (1938). Behavior of Organisms. New York: AppletonCentury-Crofts.
1899.
Jump up^ Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditioned Reflexes. Oxford: Oxford Univ.
Press.
1900.
Jump up^ Thorndike, E. L. (1911). Animal Intelligence: Experimental Studies.
New York: Macmillan.
1901.
^ Jump up to:a b c Jenkins, H.M. "Animal Learning and Behavior", Ch. 5, in Hearst,
E. "The First Century of Experimental Psychology" (1979) Erlbaum: Hillsdale, N. J.
1902.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F.(1966) Contingencies of Reinforcement, New York;
Appleton-Century-Crofts. reprinted 2013, B. F. Skinner Foundation.
1903.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. Science and Human Behavior (1953) New York:
Macmillan
1904.
Jump up^ Skinner, B.F (31 July 1981). "Selection by
Consequences" (PDF). Science 213 (4507): 501
504. Bibcode:1981Sci...213..501S. doi:10.1126/science.7244649.PMID 7244649. Archiv
ed (PDF) from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 14 August2010.
1905.
^ Jump up to:a b Ferster, C. B. and Skinner, B. F. Schedules of Reinforcement.
New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957
1906.
Jump up^ "Different Types of Reinforcement
Scedules" (PDF).http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/Reinforce
ment-Table1.pdf. National Professional Development Center for Autism Spectrum
Disorders. Retrieved 14 February 2015.

1907.
^ Jump up to:a b Psychology 2nd Edition
1908.
Jump up^ Daniel L. Schacter, Daniel T. Gilbert, Daniel M.
Wegner.(2011).Schedules of Reinforcement. Psychology second edition.
1909.
Jump up^ Air-crib photograph in "What Man Can Make of Man", by James
Bennet. The Atlantic,June 2012.
1910.
^ Jump up to:a b Snopes.com "One Man and a Baby Box", accessed on 12-29-07.
1911.
Jump up^ "Burrhus Fredrick Skinner". Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904 - 1990).
Gale, Credo Reference. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
1912.
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Experiments of the Twentieth Century, London, Bloomsbury
1913.
Jump up^ Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The
Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
1914.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1961). "Why we need teaching machines". Harvard
Educational Review31: 377398.
1915.
Jump up^ "Programmed Instruction and Task Analysis". College of Education,
University of Houston.
1916.
Jump up^ Skinner,B.F. 1961. "Teaching machines." Scientific American, 205,
90-112. doi:10.2307/1926170, p. 381
1917.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. and Holland, J. "The Analysis of Behavior: A Program
for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
1918.
Jump up^ Philip McRae, Ph.D.
1919.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1960). Pigeons in a pelican. American Psychologist,
15, 2837. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. . (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
1920.
Jump up^ Described throughout Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a
behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
1921.
Jump up^ "Nose Cone, Pigeon-Guided Missile". National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
Retrieved2008-06-10.
1922.
Jump up^ "Skinner's Utopia: Panacea, or Path to Hell?". TIME. September 20,
1971.
1923.
Jump up^ Richard Dawkins. "Design for a Faith-Based Missile". Free Inquiry
magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.
1924.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
1925.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A., B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise and fall
of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
1926.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1957) Verbal Behavior. The account in the appendix is
that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
1927.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederick(1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Gale.
Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
1928.
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the preface, 2nd paragraph
1929.
Jump up^ Richelle, M. (1993). B. F. Skinner: A reappraisal. Hillsdale: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates
1930.
Jump up^ Michael, J. (1984). "Verbal behavior". Journal of the Experimental
Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
1931.
Jump up^ The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (Journal)
1932.
Jump up^ Holland, J. (1992). B.F Skinner. Pittsburgh: American Psychologist
1933.
Jump up^ "B.F. Skinner Sep. 20,
1971."http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710920,00.html. Web.
1934.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1968). "The Design of Experimental
Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.

1935.
Jump up^ Ramsey, Richard David, Morning Star: The Values-Communication of
Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI. Attempts to
analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
1936.
Jump up^ see Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1974 for example
1937.
Jump up^ Asimov, Nanette (1996-01-30). "Spanking Debate Hits
Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
1938.
Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
1939.
Jump up^ ECON 252, Lecture 8 by Professor Robert Schiller at Yale University
1940.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
1941.
Jump up^ Classics in the History of Psychology Skinner (1948)
1942.
Jump up^ Timberlake & Lucas, (1985) "JEAB"
1943.
Jump up^ "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat - 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-1107.
1944.
^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
1945.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
1946.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
1947.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
1948.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
1949.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
1950.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
1951.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
1952.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
1953.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
1954.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
1955.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life

Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.


Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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I was not a lab rat, response by Skinner's daughter about the "baby box"
Audio Recordings Society for Experimental Analysis of Behavior
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Superstition in the Pigeon by B.F. Skinner (Full Text)
Reprint of "the Minotaur of the Behaviorist Maze: Surviving Stanford's Learning
House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
2011. 266272.
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian

novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber
o 3.2 Cumulative recorder
o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.
Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,

behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are
"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light

is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement
Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement

Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]
Operant conditioning chamber[edit]
Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder

was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]

The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has
been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;

failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
116.
Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.
117.
Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to
complex.
118.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
119.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is
reached.
120.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.
Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.
Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.

If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper
corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]

This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things
he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis

of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even


designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health
1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University

Ball State University


Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.

Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.


Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

References[edit]
1956.
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in American culture. Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press. ISBN 0-934223-40-8.
1957.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1948). Walden Two. The science of human
behavior is used to eliminate poverty, sexual expression, government as we know it,
create a lifestyle without that such as war.
1958.
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Books. ISBN 0-553-14372-7. OCLC 34263003.
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up^https://behavioranalysishistory.pbworks.com/w/page/2039033/Skinner%2C%20Burrh
us%20Frederic
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1966.
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1967.
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1968.
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Group. ISBN 1-58390-021-7
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1970.
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1971.
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Yarbrough, Gary L.; Russell, Tenea M.; Borecky, Chris M.; McGahhey, Reagan et al.
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1972.
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believed in God. 'I know,' she said, 'I have been through that myself.' But her strategy
misfired: I never went through it." B.F. Skinner, pp. 387-413, E.G. Boring and G.
Lindzey's A History of Psychology in Autobiography (Vol. 5), New York: Appleton
Century-Crofts, 1967.
1973.
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1976.
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1977.
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Guardian. Retrieved 4 September 2014.

1978.
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1979.
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1980.
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1981.
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Behaviorism B. F. Skinner 1974 ISBN 0-394-71618-3
1982.
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s/it/is/.
1983.
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1984.
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Press.
1985.
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New York: Macmillan.
1986.
^ Jump up to:a b c Jenkins, H.M. "Animal Learning and Behavior", Ch. 5, in Hearst,
E. "The First Century of Experimental Psychology" (1979) Erlbaum: Hillsdale, N. J.
1987.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F.(1966) Contingencies of Reinforcement, New York;
Appleton-Century-Crofts. reprinted 2013, B. F. Skinner Foundation.
1988.
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Macmillan
1989.
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Consequences" (PDF). Science 213 (4507): 501
504. Bibcode:1981Sci...213..501S. doi:10.1126/science.7244649.PMID 7244649. Archiv
ed (PDF) from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 14 August2010.
1990.
^ Jump up to:a b Ferster, C. B. and Skinner, B. F. Schedules of Reinforcement.
New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957
1991.
Jump up^ "Different Types of Reinforcement
Scedules" (PDF).http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/Reinforce
ment-Table1.pdf. National Professional Development Center for Autism Spectrum
Disorders. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
1992.
^ Jump up to:a b Psychology 2nd Edition
1993.
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Wegner.(2011).Schedules of Reinforcement. Psychology second edition.
1994.
Jump up^ Air-crib photograph in "What Man Can Make of Man", by James
Bennet. The Atlantic,June 2012.
1995.
^ Jump up to:a b Snopes.com "One Man and a Baby Box", accessed on 12-29-07.
1996.
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Gale, Credo Reference. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
1997.
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Experiments of the Twentieth Century, London, Bloomsbury
1998.
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Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
1999.
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Educational Review31: 377398.
2000.
Jump up^ "Programmed Instruction and Task Analysis". College of Education,
University of Houston.
2001.
Jump up^ Skinner,B.F. 1961. "Teaching machines." Scientific American, 205,
90-112. doi:10.2307/1926170, p. 381
2002.
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for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
2003.
Jump up^ Philip McRae, Ph.D.
2004.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1960). Pigeons in a pelican. American Psychologist,
15, 2837. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. . (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
2005.
Jump up^ Described throughout Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a
behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
2006.
Jump up^ "Nose Cone, Pigeon-Guided Missile". National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
Retrieved2008-06-10.

2007.
Jump up^ "Skinner's Utopia: Panacea, or Path to Hell?". TIME. September 20,
1971.
2008.
Jump up^ Richard Dawkins. "Design for a Faith-Based Missile". Free Inquiry
magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.
2009.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
2010.
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of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
2011.
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that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
2012.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederick(1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Gale.
Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
2013.
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the preface, 2nd paragraph
2014.
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Erlbaum Associates
2015.
Jump up^ Michael, J. (1984). "Verbal behavior". Journal of the Experimental
Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
2016.
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2017.
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2018.
Jump up^ "B.F. Skinner Sep. 20,
1971."http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710920,00.html. Web.
2019.
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Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.
2020.
Jump up^ Ramsey, Richard David, Morning Star: The Values-Communication of
Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI. Attempts to
analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
2021.
Jump up^ see Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1974 for example
2022.
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Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
2023.
Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
2024.
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2025.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
2026.
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2027.
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2028.
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2029.
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2030.
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2031.
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March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
2032.
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May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
2033.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
2034.
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Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.

2035.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
2036.
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2037.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
2038.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
2039.
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and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
2040.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life
Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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I was not a lab rat, response by Skinner's daughter about the "baby box"
Audio Recordings Society for Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Youtube Video Skinner and Teaching Machine
Superstition in the Pigeon by B.F. Skinner (Full Text)
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House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner's theory is based on operant conditioning. The organism is in the


process of operating on the environment, which in ordinary terms means it is
bouncing around its world, doing what it does.

B.F. Skinner | Operant Conditioning | Simply Psychology


www.simplypsychology.org Home Perspectives Behaviorism
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by BF Skinner - Related articles


Although, for obvious reasons he is more commonly known as B.F. Skinner. ...
Immediately it did so a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever.

B. F. Skinner - My Webspace files


webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/skinner.html
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Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born March 20, 1904, in the small Pennsylvania town
... He wanted to be a writer and did try, sending off poetry and short stories.

Did B.F. Skinner really put babies into boxes? - io9


io9.com/5946822/did-bf-skinner-really-put-babies-into-boxes
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Sep 27, 2012 - It turns out that there were two very different things that the famous
psychologist B.F. Skinner did. On the one hand, he created gray metal boxes ...

When did you have your first real bf/gf? - General Discussion ...
www.giantbomb.com/.../when-did-you-have-your-first-real-bfgf-46692...
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I never tried to get a gf. ... What qualifies as a real gf? although i have been dating
since my early teens, i wouldn't say i had a ... Does it count if they're married?

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb

Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian
novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber

o 3.2 Cumulative recorder


o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.

Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,
behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are

"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light
is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement

Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement
Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]

Operant conditioning chamber[edit]


Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder
was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]
The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has

been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)


Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;
failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
121.
Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.
122.
Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to
complex.
123.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
124.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is
reached.
125.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.
Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.

Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper

corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things

he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health


1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life

Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.


Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian

novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber
o 3.2 Cumulative recorder
o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.
Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,

behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are
"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light

is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement
Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement

Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]
Operant conditioning chamber[edit]
Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder

was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]

The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has
been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;

failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
126.
Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.
127.
Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to
complex.
128.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
129.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is
reached.
130.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.
Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.
Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.

If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper
corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]

This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things
he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis

of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even


designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health
1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University

Ball State University


Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.

Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.


Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
2200.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
2201.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
2202.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
2203.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
2204.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.

2205.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
2206.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
2207.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
2208.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
2209.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
2210.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life
Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb

Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian
novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber

o 3.2 Cumulative recorder


o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.

Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,
behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are

"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light
is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement

Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement
Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]

Operant conditioning chamber[edit]


Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder
was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]
The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has

been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
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help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)


Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;
failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
131.
Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.
132.
Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to
complex.
133.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
134.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is
reached.
135.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.
Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.

Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper

corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things

he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health


1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
2254.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1961). "Why we need teaching machines". Harvard
Educational Review31: 377398.
2255.
Jump up^ "Programmed Instruction and Task Analysis". College of Education,
University of Houston.
2256.
Jump up^ Skinner,B.F. 1961. "Teaching machines." Scientific American, 205,
90-112. doi:10.2307/1926170, p. 381
2257.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. and Holland, J. "The Analysis of Behavior: A Program
for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
2258.
Jump up^ Philip McRae, Ph.D.
2259.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1960). Pigeons in a pelican. American Psychologist,
15, 2837. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. . (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
2260.
Jump up^ Described throughout Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a
behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
2261.
Jump up^ "Nose Cone, Pigeon-Guided Missile". National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
Retrieved2008-06-10.
2262.
Jump up^ "Skinner's Utopia: Panacea, or Path to Hell?". TIME. September 20,
1971.
2263.
Jump up^ Richard Dawkins. "Design for a Faith-Based Missile". Free Inquiry
magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.
2264.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
2265.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A., B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise and fall
of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
2266.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1957) Verbal Behavior. The account in the appendix is
that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
2267.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederick(1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Gale.
Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
2268.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1957) "A Review of BF Skinner's Verbal Behavior." in
the preface, 2nd paragraph
2269.
Jump up^ Richelle, M. (1993). B. F. Skinner: A reappraisal. Hillsdale: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates
2270.
Jump up^ Michael, J. (1984). "Verbal behavior". Journal of the Experimental
Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
2271.
Jump up^ The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (Journal)
2272.
Jump up^ Holland, J. (1992). B.F Skinner. Pittsburgh: American Psychologist
2273.
Jump up^ "B.F. Skinner Sep. 20,
1971."http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710920,00.html. Web.
2274.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1968). "The Design of Experimental
Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.

2275.
Jump up^ Ramsey, Richard David, Morning Star: The Values-Communication of
Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI. Attempts to
analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
2276.
Jump up^ see Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1974 for example
2277.
Jump up^ Asimov, Nanette (1996-01-30). "Spanking Debate Hits
Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
2278.
Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
2279.
Jump up^ ECON 252, Lecture 8 by Professor Robert Schiller at Yale University
2280.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
2281.
Jump up^ Classics in the History of Psychology Skinner (1948)
2282.
Jump up^ Timberlake & Lucas, (1985) "JEAB"
2283.
Jump up^ "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat - 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-1107.
2284.
^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
2285.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
2286.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
2287.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
2288.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
2289.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
2290.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
2291.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
2292.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
2293.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
2294.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
2295.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life

Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.


Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian

novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber
o 3.2 Cumulative recorder
o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.
Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,

behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are
"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light

is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement
Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement

Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]
Operant conditioning chamber[edit]
Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder

was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]

The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has
been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;

failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
136.
Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.
137.
Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to
complex.
138.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
139.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is
reached.
140.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.
Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.
Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.

If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper
corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]

This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things
he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis

of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even


designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health
1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University

Ball State University


Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.

Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.


Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

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Jump up^ BFSkinner.org, Smith Morris Bibliography
2311.
Jump up^ Haggbloom, Steven J.; Warnick, Jason E.; Jones, Vinessa K.;
Yarbrough, Gary L.; Russell, Tenea M.; Borecky, Chris M.; McGahhey, Reagan et al.
(2002). "The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century". Review of General
Psychology 6 (2): 139152. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139.
2312.
Jump up^ "Within a year I had gone to Miss Graves to tell her that I no longer
believed in God. 'I know,' she said, 'I have been through that myself.' But her strategy
misfired: I never went through it." B.F. Skinner, pp. 387-413, E.G. Boring and G.
Lindzey's A History of Psychology in Autobiography (Vol. 5), New York: Appleton
Century-Crofts, 1967.
2313.
^ Jump up to:a b c B.F. Skinner: A Life [Paperback]. by Daniel W. Bjork, ISBN
9781557984166: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2013.
2314.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner: a Life.
2315.
Jump up^ "Humanist Manifesto II". American Humanist Association.
Retrieved October 9, 2012.
2316.
Jump up^ Skinner, Deborah. "About". Horses by Skinner. Retrieved 4
September 2014.
2317.
Jump up^ Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The
Guardian. Retrieved 4 September 2014.

2318.
Jump up^ http://www.humanistsofutah.org/humanists/bfskinner.html
2319.
Jump up^ Bjork, D.W. (1993). B.F. Skinner, A Life. New York: Basic Books.
2320.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Topic
Pages. Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
2321.
Jump up^ About Behaviorism Ch. 1 Causes of Behaviour 3 Radical
Behaviorism B. F. Skinner 1974 ISBN 0-394-71618-3
2322.
Jump up^ ibid. pp. 1820 of the paperback edition which had the redacted typo
s/it/is/.
2323.
Jump up^ Skinner, B.F. (1938). Behavior of Organisms. New York: AppletonCentury-Crofts.
2324.
Jump up^ Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditioned Reflexes. Oxford: Oxford Univ.
Press.
2325.
Jump up^ Thorndike, E. L. (1911). Animal Intelligence: Experimental Studies.
New York: Macmillan.
2326.
^ Jump up to:a b c Jenkins, H.M. "Animal Learning and Behavior", Ch. 5, in Hearst,
E. "The First Century of Experimental Psychology" (1979) Erlbaum: Hillsdale, N. J.
2327.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F.(1966) Contingencies of Reinforcement, New York;
Appleton-Century-Crofts. reprinted 2013, B. F. Skinner Foundation.
2328.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. Science and Human Behavior (1953) New York:
Macmillan
2329.
Jump up^ Skinner, B.F (31 July 1981). "Selection by
Consequences" (PDF). Science 213 (4507): 501
504. Bibcode:1981Sci...213..501S. doi:10.1126/science.7244649.PMID 7244649. Archiv
ed (PDF) from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 14 August2010.
2330.
^ Jump up to:a b Ferster, C. B. and Skinner, B. F. Schedules of Reinforcement.
New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957
2331.
Jump up^ "Different Types of Reinforcement
Scedules" (PDF).http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/Reinforce
ment-Table1.pdf. National Professional Development Center for Autism Spectrum
Disorders. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
2332.
^ Jump up to:a b Psychology 2nd Edition
2333.
Jump up^ Daniel L. Schacter, Daniel T. Gilbert, Daniel M.
Wegner.(2011).Schedules of Reinforcement. Psychology second edition.
2334.
Jump up^ Air-crib photograph in "What Man Can Make of Man", by James
Bennet. The Atlantic,June 2012.
2335.
^ Jump up to:a b Snopes.com "One Man and a Baby Box", accessed on 12-29-07.
2336.
Jump up^ "Burrhus Fredrick Skinner". Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904 - 1990).
Gale, Credo Reference. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
2337.
Jump up^ Slater, L. (2004) Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychological
Experiments of the Twentieth Century, London, Bloomsbury
2338.
Jump up^ Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The
Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
2339.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1961). "Why we need teaching machines". Harvard
Educational Review31: 377398.
2340.
Jump up^ "Programmed Instruction and Task Analysis". College of Education,
University of Houston.
2341.
Jump up^ Skinner,B.F. 1961. "Teaching machines." Scientific American, 205,
90-112. doi:10.2307/1926170, p. 381
2342.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. and Holland, J. "The Analysis of Behavior: A Program
for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
2343.
Jump up^ Philip McRae, Ph.D.
2344.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1960). Pigeons in a pelican. American Psychologist,
15, 2837. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. . (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
2345.
Jump up^ Described throughout Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a
behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
2346.
Jump up^ "Nose Cone, Pigeon-Guided Missile". National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
Retrieved2008-06-10.

2347.
Jump up^ "Skinner's Utopia: Panacea, or Path to Hell?". TIME. September 20,
1971.
2348.
Jump up^ Richard Dawkins. "Design for a Faith-Based Missile". Free Inquiry
magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.
2349.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
2350.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A., B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise and fall
of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
2351.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1957) Verbal Behavior. The account in the appendix is
that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
2352.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederick(1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Gale.
Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
2353.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1957) "A Review of BF Skinner's Verbal Behavior." in
the preface, 2nd paragraph
2354.
Jump up^ Richelle, M. (1993). B. F. Skinner: A reappraisal. Hillsdale: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates
2355.
Jump up^ Michael, J. (1984). "Verbal behavior". Journal of the Experimental
Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
2356.
Jump up^ The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (Journal)
2357.
Jump up^ Holland, J. (1992). B.F Skinner. Pittsburgh: American Psychologist
2358.
Jump up^ "B.F. Skinner Sep. 20,
1971."http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710920,00.html. Web.
2359.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1968). "The Design of Experimental
Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.
2360.
Jump up^ Ramsey, Richard David, Morning Star: The Values-Communication of
Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI. Attempts to
analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
2361.
Jump up^ see Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1974 for example
2362.
Jump up^ Asimov, Nanette (1996-01-30). "Spanking Debate Hits
Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
2363.
Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
2364.
Jump up^ ECON 252, Lecture 8 by Professor Robert Schiller at Yale University
2365.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
2366.
Jump up^ Classics in the History of Psychology Skinner (1948)
2367.
Jump up^ Timberlake & Lucas, (1985) "JEAB"
2368.
Jump up^ "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat - 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-1107.
2369.
^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
2370.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
2371.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
2372.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
2373.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
2374.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.

2375.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
2376.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
2377.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
2378.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
2379.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
2380.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life
Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb

Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian
novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber

o 3.2 Cumulative recorder


o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.

Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,
behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are

"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light
is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement

Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement
Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]

Operant conditioning chamber[edit]


Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder
was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]
The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has

been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
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Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;
failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
141.
Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.
142.
Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to
complex.
143.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
144.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is
reached.
145.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.
Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.

Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.
If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper

corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]
This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things

he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis
of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even
designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health


1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University
Ball State University
Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.


Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.
Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

References[edit]
2381.
Jump up^ Smith, L. D.; Woodward, W. R. (1996). B. F. Skinner and behaviorism
in American culture. Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press. ISBN 0-934223-40-8.
2382.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1948). Walden Two. The science of human
behavior is used to eliminate poverty, sexual expression, government as we know it,
create a lifestyle without that such as war.
2383.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1972). Beyond freedom and dignity. New York: Vintage
Books. ISBN 0-553-14372-7. OCLC 34263003.
2384.
Jump
up^https://behavioranalysishistory.pbworks.com/w/page/2039033/Skinner%2C%20Burrh
us%20Frederic
2385.
Jump up^ Muskingum.edu
2386.
Jump up^ Schacter, Daniel L., and Gilbert Daniel. (2011). Psychology. (2 ed.).
New York, 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2013.

2387.
Jump up^ Schacter, Daniel (2011) [2009]. Psychology Second Edition. United
States of America: Worth Publishers. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-4292-3719-2.
2388.
Jump up^ Schacter D, L., Gilbert D, T., & Wegner D, M. (2011)
2389.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1938) The Behavior of Organisms.
2390.
Jump up^ C. B. Ferster & B. F. Skinner, (1957) Schedules of Reinforcement.
2391.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, About Behaviorism
2392.
Jump up^ Skinner, B.F. (1948). Walden Two. Indianapolis: Hackett. ISBN 087220-779-X.
2393.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1958) Verbal Behavior. Acton, MA: Copley Publishing
Group. ISBN 1-58390-021-7
2394.
Jump up^ Lafayette.edu, accessed on 5-20-07.
2395.
Jump up^ BFSkinner.org, Smith Morris Bibliography
2396.
Jump up^ Haggbloom, Steven J.; Warnick, Jason E.; Jones, Vinessa K.;
Yarbrough, Gary L.; Russell, Tenea M.; Borecky, Chris M.; McGahhey, Reagan et al.
(2002). "The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century". Review of General
Psychology 6 (2): 139152. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139.
2397.
Jump up^ "Within a year I had gone to Miss Graves to tell her that I no longer
believed in God. 'I know,' she said, 'I have been through that myself.' But her strategy
misfired: I never went through it." B.F. Skinner, pp. 387-413, E.G. Boring and G.
Lindzey's A History of Psychology in Autobiography (Vol. 5), New York: Appleton
Century-Crofts, 1967.
2398.
^ Jump up to:a b c B.F. Skinner: A Life [Paperback]. by Daniel W. Bjork, ISBN
9781557984166: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2013.
2399.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner: a Life.
2400.
Jump up^ "Humanist Manifesto II". American Humanist Association.
Retrieved October 9, 2012.
2401.
Jump up^ Skinner, Deborah. "About". Horses by Skinner. Retrieved 4
September 2014.
2402.
Jump up^ Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The
Guardian. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
2403.
Jump up^ http://www.humanistsofutah.org/humanists/bfskinner.html
2404.
Jump up^ Bjork, D.W. (1993). B.F. Skinner, A Life. New York: Basic Books.
2405.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Topic
Pages. Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
2406.
Jump up^ About Behaviorism Ch. 1 Causes of Behaviour 3 Radical
Behaviorism B. F. Skinner 1974 ISBN 0-394-71618-3
2407.
Jump up^ ibid. pp. 1820 of the paperback edition which had the redacted typo
s/it/is/.
2408.
Jump up^ Skinner, B.F. (1938). Behavior of Organisms. New York: AppletonCentury-Crofts.
2409.
Jump up^ Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditioned Reflexes. Oxford: Oxford Univ.
Press.
2410.
Jump up^ Thorndike, E. L. (1911). Animal Intelligence: Experimental Studies.
New York: Macmillan.
2411.
^ Jump up to:a b c Jenkins, H.M. "Animal Learning and Behavior", Ch. 5, in Hearst,
E. "The First Century of Experimental Psychology" (1979) Erlbaum: Hillsdale, N. J.
2412.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F.(1966) Contingencies of Reinforcement, New York;
Appleton-Century-Crofts. reprinted 2013, B. F. Skinner Foundation.
2413.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. Science and Human Behavior (1953) New York:
Macmillan
2414.
Jump up^ Skinner, B.F (31 July 1981). "Selection by
Consequences" (PDF). Science 213 (4507): 501
504. Bibcode:1981Sci...213..501S. doi:10.1126/science.7244649.PMID 7244649. Archiv
ed (PDF) from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 14 August2010.
2415.
^ Jump up to:a b Ferster, C. B. and Skinner, B. F. Schedules of Reinforcement.
New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957
2416.
Jump up^ "Different Types of Reinforcement
Scedules" (PDF).http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/Reinforce
ment-Table1.pdf. National Professional Development Center for Autism Spectrum
Disorders. Retrieved 14 February 2015.

2417.
^ Jump up to:a b Psychology 2nd Edition
2418.
Jump up^ Daniel L. Schacter, Daniel T. Gilbert, Daniel M.
Wegner.(2011).Schedules of Reinforcement. Psychology second edition.
2419.
Jump up^ Air-crib photograph in "What Man Can Make of Man", by James
Bennet. The Atlantic,June 2012.
2420.
^ Jump up to:a b Snopes.com "One Man and a Baby Box", accessed on 12-29-07.
2421.
Jump up^ "Burrhus Fredrick Skinner". Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904 - 1990).
Gale, Credo Reference. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
2422.
Jump up^ Slater, L. (2004) Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychological
Experiments of the Twentieth Century, London, Bloomsbury
2423.
Jump up^ Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The
Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
2424.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1961). "Why we need teaching machines". Harvard
Educational Review31: 377398.
2425.
Jump up^ "Programmed Instruction and Task Analysis". College of Education,
University of Houston.
2426.
Jump up^ Skinner,B.F. 1961. "Teaching machines." Scientific American, 205,
90-112. doi:10.2307/1926170, p. 381
2427.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. and Holland, J. "The Analysis of Behavior: A Program
for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
2428.
Jump up^ Philip McRae, Ph.D.
2429.
Jump up^ Skinner, B. F. (1960). Pigeons in a pelican. American Psychologist,
15, 2837. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. . (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
2430.
Jump up^ Described throughout Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a
behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
2431.
Jump up^ "Nose Cone, Pigeon-Guided Missile". National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
Retrieved2008-06-10.
2432.
Jump up^ "Skinner's Utopia: Panacea, or Path to Hell?". TIME. September 20,
1971.
2433.
Jump up^ Richard Dawkins. "Design for a Faith-Based Missile". Free Inquiry
magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.
2434.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. (1936). "The Verbal Summator and a Method for
the Study of Latent Speech". Journal of Psychology 2 (1): 71
107. doi:10.1080/00223980.1936.9917445.
2435.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A., B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise and fall
of the verbal summator as a projective technique, History of Psychology, 2003,4,362378.
2436.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1957) Verbal Behavior. The account in the appendix is
that he asked Skinner to explain why he said "No black scorpion,Carter is falling upon
this table."
2437.
Jump up^ "Skinner, Burrhus Frederick(1904 - 1990).". Credo Reference, Gale.
Credo Reference, Gale. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
2438.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1957) "A Review of BF Skinner's Verbal Behavior." in
the preface, 2nd paragraph
2439.
Jump up^ Richelle, M. (1993). B. F. Skinner: A reappraisal. Hillsdale: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates
2440.
Jump up^ Michael, J. (1984). "Verbal behavior". Journal of the Experimental
Analysis of Behavior42 (3): 363376. doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42363. PMC 1348108. PMID 16812395.
2441.
Jump up^ The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (Journal)
2442.
Jump up^ Holland, J. (1992). B.F Skinner. Pittsburgh: American Psychologist
2443.
Jump up^ "B.F. Skinner Sep. 20,
1971."http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710920,00.html. Web.
2444.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1968). "The Design of Experimental
Communities", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Volume 16). New
York: Macmillan, 1968, pages 271-275.

2445.
Jump up^ Ramsey, Richard David, Morning Star: The Values-Communication of
Skinner's Walden Two, Ph.D. dissertation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY,
December 1979, available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI. Attempts to
analyze Walden Two,Beyond Freedom and Dignity, and other Skinner works in the
context of Skinner's life; lists over 500 sources.
2446.
Jump up^ see Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1974 for example
2447.
Jump up^ Asimov, Nanette (1996-01-30). "Spanking Debate Hits
Assembly". SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-03-02.
2448.
Jump up^ A matter of Consequences, p. 412.
2449.
Jump up^ ECON 252, Lecture 8 by Professor Robert Schiller at Yale University
2450.
^ Jump up to:a b Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of
Experimental Psychology #38, 1947.
2451.
Jump up^ Classics in the History of Psychology Skinner (1948)
2452.
Jump up^ Timberlake & Lucas, (1985) "JEAB"
2453.
Jump up^ "Derren Brown: Trick or Treat - 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 2012-1107.
2454.
^ Jump up to:a b Journal of Humanistic Psychology Spring 1991 vol. 31 no. 2 112113
2455.
Jump up^ Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Knopf, 1971 p. 155
2456.
Jump up^ "I have been misunderstood" An interview with B.F.Skinner 1972
March/April Center Magazine, pp. 6365
2457.
Jump up^ New methods and new aims in teaching, B.F. Skinner, New Scientist,
May 1964, No. 392, pp. 484
2458.
Jump up^ Staddon, J. (1995) On responsibility and punishment. The Atlantic
Monthly, eb., 8894. Staddon, J. (1999) On responsibility in science and law. Social
Philosophy and Policy, 16, 146-174. Reprinted in Responsibility. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller,
& J. Paul (eds.), 1999. Cambridge University Press, pp. 146174.
2459.
Jump up^ Chomsky, Noam (1959). "Reviews: Verbal behavior by B. F.
Skinner". Language 35 (1): 2658. JSTOR 411334.
2460.
Jump up^ B. F. Skinner, (1970) "On 'Having' A Poem" talks about the poem, its
publication, and contains the poem and a reply to it as well. Real Audio mp3 Ogg
2461.
Jump up^ On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
2462.
Jump up^ A. N. Chomsky, (1972) "The Case Against B. F. Skinner."
2463.
Jump up^ Toates, F. (2009). Burrhus F. Skinner: The shaping of behavior.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
2464.
Jump up^ Rutherford, A. (2003). "B. F. Skinner and the auditory inkblot: The rise
and fall of the verbal summator as a projective technique". History of Psychology 6 (4):
362378.doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.4.362.
2465.
Jump up^ Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The
Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life

Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.


Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

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Audio Recordings Society for Experimental Analysis of Behavior
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Superstition in the Pigeon by B.F. Skinner (Full Text)
Reprint of "the Minotaur of the Behaviorist Maze: Surviving Stanford's Learning
House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
2011. 266272.
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B. F. Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990),
commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist,
author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of
Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

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B. F. Skinner
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B. F. Skinner

Skinner at the Harvard Psychology Department, c.1950

Born

20 March 1904
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Died

18 August 1990 (aged 86)


Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Fields

Psychology, linguistics,philosophy

Institutions

University of Minnesota
Indiana University
Harvard University

Alma mater

Hamilton College
Harvard University

Known for

Operant conditioning
operant conditioning chamber
radical behaviorism

Influences

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau

Notable awards

National Medal of Science(1968)

Signature

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990), commonly known as B. F.
Skinner, was an American psychologist,behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.[1][2][3][4] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard Universityfrom
1958 until his retirement in 1974.[5]
Skinner considered free will an illusion human action dependent on consequences of previous
actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated;
however if the consequences are good, the actions that led to it will become more
probable.[6] Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.[7]
Skinner called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behavior operant conditioning, and he
considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study
operant conditioning he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner
Box,[8] and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools he and C. B.
Fersterproduced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in the book Schedules
of Reinforcement.[9][10]
Skinner developed a philosophy of science that he called radical behaviorism,[11] and founded a
school of experimental research psychologythe experimental analysis of behavior. He
imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian

novel Walden Two,[12] and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal
Behavior.[13]
Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[14][15] Contemporary
academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B.
Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist
of the 20th century.[16]
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography
2 Contributions to psychological theory
o 2.1 Behaviorism
o 2.2 Theoretical structure
2.2.1 The origin of operant behavior
2.2.2 The control of operant behavior
2.2.3 Explaining complex behavior
o 2.3 Reinforcement
2.3.1 Schedules of reinforcement
3 Scientific inventions
o 3.1 Operant conditioning chamber
o 3.2 Cumulative recorder
o 3.3 Air crib
o 3.4 Teaching machine
o 3.5 Pigeon-guided missile
o 3.6 Verbal summator
4 Verbal Behavior
5 Influence on education
6 Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity
7 Political views
8 Superstition in the pigeon
9 Quotations
10 Criticism
o 10.1 J. E. R. Staddon
o 10.2 Noam Chomsky
o 10.3 Psychodynamic psychology
11 List of awards and positions
o 11.1 Honorary degrees
12 In popular culture
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links

Biography[edit]

The grave of B.F. Skinner and his wife Eve at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a
lawyer. He became an atheist after a Christian teacher tried to assuage his fear of the hell that
his grandmother described.[17] His brother Edward, two and a half years younger, died at age
sixteen of a cerebral hemorrhage. He attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention
of becoming a writer. He found himself at a social disadvantage at Hamilton College because of
his intellectual attitude.[18] While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He wrote for
the school paper, but as an atheist, he was critical of the religious school he attended. After
receiving his B.A. in English literature in 1926, he attended Harvard University, where he would
later research, teach, and eventually become a prestigious board member. While he was at
Harvard a fellow student, Fred Keller, convinced Skinner that he could make an experimental
science from the study of behavior. This led Skinner to invent his prototype for the Skinner
Box and to join Keller in the creation of other tools for small experiments.[18] After graduation, he
unsuccessfully tried to write a great novel while he lived with his parents, a period that he later
called the Dark Years.[18] He became disillusioned with his literary skills despite encouragement
from the renowned poet Robert Frost, concluding that he had little world experience and no
strong personal perspective from which to write. His encounter with John B.
Watson's Behaviorism led him into graduate study in psychology and to the development of his
own version of behaviorism.[19]
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as a researcher until 1936.
He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University,
where he was chair of the psychology department from 19461947, before returning to Harvard
as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his life. In 1973 Skinner
was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.[20]
In 1936, Skinner married Mary Joe. The couple had two daughters, Julie (m. Vargas) and
Deborah (m. Buzan).[21][22] He died of leukemia on August 18, 1990,[23] and is buried inMount
Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] Skinner continued to write and work until just
before his death. Just a few days before his death, he was given a lifetime achievement award
by the American Psychological Association and delivered a 15-minute address concerning his
work.[25]
A controversial figure, Skinner has been depicted in many different ways. He has been widely
revered for bringing a much-needed scientific approach to the study of human behavior; he has
also been vilified for attempting to apply findings based largely on animal experiments to human
behavior in real-life settings.

Contributions to psychological theory[edit]


Behaviorism[edit]
Main articles: Behaviorism and Radical behaviorism
Skinner called his approach to the study of behavior radical behaviorism.[26] This philosophy of
behavioral science assumes that behavior is a consequence of environmental histories of
reinforcement, (see Applied behavior analysis). In contrast to the approach of cognitive science,

behaviorism does not accept private events such as thinking, perceptions, and unobservable
emotions as causes of an organism's behavior. However, in contrast to methodological
behaviorism, Skinner's radical behaviorism did accept thoughts, emotions, and other "private
events" as responses subject to the same rules as overt behavior. In his words:
The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some
nonphysical world of consciousness, mind, or mental life but the observer's own body. This does
not mean, as I shall show later, that introspection is a kind of psychological research, nor does it
mean (and this is the heart of the argument) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the
causes of the behavior. An organism behaves as it does because of its current structure, but
most of this is out of reach of introspection. At the moment we must content ourselves, as the
methodological behaviorist insists, with a person's genetic and environment histories. What are
introspectively observed are certain collateral products of those histories.
...
In this way we repair the major damage wrought by mentalism. When what a person does [is]
attributed to what is going on inside him, investigation is brought to an end. Why explain the
explanation? For twenty five hundred years people have been preoccupied with feelings and
mental life, but only recently has any interest been shown in a more precise analysis of the role
of the environment. Ignorance of that role led in the first place to mental fictions, and it has been
perpetuated by the explanatory practices to which they gave rise.[27]

Theoretical structure[edit]
Skinner's behavioral theory was largely set forth in his first book, Behavior of Organisms.[28] Here
he gave a systematic description of the manner in which environmental variables control
behavior. He distinguished two sorts of behavior, which are controlled in different ways.
First respondent behaviors, which are elicited by stimuli. These may be modified through
respondent conditioning, which is often called "Pavlovian conditioning" or "classical conditioning",
in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an eliciting stimulus.Operant behaviors, in contrast, are
"emitted", meaning that initially they are not induced by any particular stimulus. They are
strengthened through operant conditioning, sometimes called "instrumental conditioning", in
which the occurrence of a response yields a reinforcer. Respondents might be measured by their
latency or strength, operants by their rate. Both of these sorts of behavior had already been
studied experimentally, for example, respondents by Pavlov [29] and operants by
Thorndike.[30] Skinner's account differed in some ways from earlier ones,[31] and was one of the
first accounts to bring them under one roof.
The idea that behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences raises several
questions. Among the most important are these: (1) Operant responses are strengthened by
reinforcement, but where do they come from in the first place? (2) Once it is in the organism's
repertoire, how is a response directed or controlled? (3) How can very complex and seemingly
novel behaviors be explained?
The origin of operant behavior[edit]
Skinner's answer to the first question was very much like Darwin's answer to the question of the
origin of a "new" bodily structure, namely, variation and selection. Similarly, the behavior of an
individual varies from moment to moment; a variation that is followed by reinforcement is
strengthened and becomes prominent in that individual's behavioral repertoire. "Shaping" was
Skinner's term for the gradual modification of behavior by the reinforcement of desired variations.
As discussed later in this article, Skinner believed that "superstitious" behavior can arise when a
response happens to be followed by reinforcement to which it is actually unrelated.
The control of operant behavior[edit]
The second question, "how is operant behavior controlled?" arises because, to begin with, the
behavior is "emitted" without reference to any particular stimulus. Skinner answered this question
by saying that a stimulus comes to control an operant if it is present when the response is
reinforced and absent when it is not. For example, if lever-pressing only brings food when a light

is on, a rat, or a child, will learn to press the lever only when the light is on. Skinner summarized
this relationship by saying that a discriminative stimulus (e.g. light) sets the occasion for the
reinforcement (food) of the operant (lever-press). This "three-term contingency" (stimulusresponse-reinforcer) is one of Skinner's most important concepts, and sets his theory apart from
theories that use only pair-wise associations.[31]
Explaining complex behavior[edit]
Most behavior of humans cannot easily be described in terms of individual responses reinforced
one by one, and Skinner devoted a great deal of effort to the problem of behavioral complexity.
Some complex behavior can be seen as a sequence of relatively simple responses, and here
Skinner invoked the idea of "chaining". Chaining is based on the fact, experimentally
demonstrated, that a discriminative stimulus not only sets the occasion for subsequent behavior,
but it can also reinforce a behavior that precedes it. That is, a discriminative stimulus is also a
"conditioned reinforcer". For example, the light that sets the occasion for lever pressing may be
used to reinforce "turning around" in the presence of a noise. This results in the sequence "noise
- turn-around - light - press lever - food". Much longer chains can be built by adding more stimuli
and responses.
However, Skinner recognized that a great deal of behavior, especially human behavior, cannot
be accounted for by gradual shaping or the construction of response sequences.[32] Complex
behavior often appears suddenly in its final form, as when a person first finds his way to the
elevator by following instructions given at the front desk. To account for such behavior Skinner
introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior. First, relatively simple behaviors come under
the control of verbal stimuli: the child learns to "jump", "open the book", and so on. After a large
number of responses come under such verbal control, a sequence of verbal stimuli can evoke an
almost unlimited variety of complex responses.[32]

Reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Reinforcement
Reinforcement, a key concept of behaviorism, is the primary process that shapes and controls
behavior, and occurs in two ways, "positive" and "negative". In The Behavior of Organisms
(1938), Skinner defined "negative reinforcement" to be synonymous with punishment, that is, the
presentation of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently, in Science and Human Behavior (1953),
Skinner redefined negative reinforcement. In what has now become the standard set of
definitions, positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the occurrence of some
event (e.g., praise after some behavior is performed), whereas negative reinforcement is the
strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event (e.g., opening
and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain
falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior
reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing event is something applied (positive
reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment is the
application of an aversive stimulus/event (positive punishment or punishment by contingent
stimulation) or the removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by
contingent withdrawal). Though punishment is often used to suppress behavior, Skinner argued
that this suppression is temporary and has a number of other, often unwanted,
consequences.[33] Extinction is the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which weakens behavior.
Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior,
"selection by consequences". Though, as he said, natural selection has now "made its case", he
regretted that essentially the same process, "reinforcement" was less widely accepted as
underlying human behavior.[34]
Schedules of reinforcement[edit]
Main article: Schedules of reinforcement

Skinner recognized that behavior is typically reinforced more than once, and, together with C. B.
Ferster, he did an extensive analysis of the various ways in which reinforcements could be
arranged over time, which he called "schedules of reinforcement".[35]
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed
or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning.

Continuous reinforcement (CRF) each time a specific action is performed the subject
receives a reinforcement. This methods is effective when teaching a new behavior because it
quickly establishes an association between the target behavior and the reinforcer.[36]
Interval Schedules : based on the time intervals between reinforcements[37]
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) : A procedure in which reinforcements are presented at
fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. This schedule yields
a response rate that is low just after reinforcement and becomes rapid just before the
next reinforcement is scheduled.
Variable Interval Schedule (VI) : A procedure in which behaviour is reinforced after
random time durations following the last reinforcement. This schedule yields steady
responding at a rate that varies with the average frequency of reinforcement.
Ratio Schedules : based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements[37]
Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) : A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered after a
specific number of responses have been made.
Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) : A procedure in which reinforcement comes after a
number of responses that is randomized from one reinforcement to the next (ex. slot
machines). The lower the number of responses required, the higher the response rate
tends to be. Ratio schedules tend to produce very rapid responding, often with breaks of
no responding just after reinforcement if a large number of responses is required for
reinforcement.[38]

Scientific inventions[edit]
Operant conditioning chamber[edit]
Main article: Operant conditioning chamber
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner Box) is a laboratory apparatus used
in the experimental analysis of animal behavior. It was invented by Skinner while he was a
graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the doctorate in 1931. As used by
Skinner, the box had a lever (for rats) or a disk in one wall (for pigeons). A press on this
"manipulandum" could deliver food to the animal through an opening in the wall, and responses
reinforced in this way increased in frequency. By controlling this reinforcement together with
discriminative stimuli such as lights and tones, or punishments such as electric shocks,
experimenters have used the operant box to study a wide variety of topics, including schedules
of reinforcement, discriminative control, delayed response ("memory"), punishment, and so on.
By channeling research in these directions, the operant conditioning chamber has had a huge
influence on course of research in animal learning and its applications. It enabled great progress
on problems that could be studied by the measuring the rate, probability, or force of a simple,
repeatable response. However, it discouraged the study of behavioral processes not easily
conceptualized in such terms - spatial learning, in particular, which is now studied in quite
different ways, for example by the use of the water maze.[31]

Cumulative recorder[edit]
The cumulative recorder makes a pen-and-ink record of simple repeated responses. Skinner
designed it for use with the Operant chamber as a convenient way to record and view the rate of
responses such as a lever press or a key peck. In this device a sheet of paper gradually unrolls
over a cylinder. Each response steps a small pen across the paper, starting at one edge; when
the pen reaches the other edge, it quickly resets to the initial side. The slope of the resulting ink
line graphically displays the rate of the response; for example rapid responses yield a steeply
sloping line on the paper, slow responding yields a line of low slope. The cumulative recorder

was a key tool used by Skinner in his analysis of behavior, and it was very widely adopted by
other experimenters, gradually falling out of use with the advent of the laboratory computer.
Skinner's major experimental exploration of response rates, presented in his book with C. B.
Ferster, "Schedules of Reinforcement", is full of cumulative records produced by this device.[35]

Air crib[edit]
The air crib is an easily cleaned, temperature and humidity-controlled enclosure intended to
replace the standard infant crib.[39] Skinner invented the device to help his wife cope with the dayto-day tasks of child rearing. It was designed to make early childcare simpler (by reducing
laundry, diaper rash, cradle cap, etc.), while allowing the baby to be more mobile and
comfortable, and less prone to cry. Reportedly it had some success in these goals.[40]
The air crib was a controversial invention. It was popularly mischaracterized as a cruel pen, and
it was often compared to Skinner's operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the "Skinner
Box". This association with laboratory animal experimentation discouraged its commercial
success, though several companies attempted production.[40][41]
A 2004 book by Lauren Slater, entitled Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychology Experiments of
the Twentieth Century[42] caused a stir by mentioning the rumors that Skinner had used his baby
daughter Deborah in some of his experiments and that she had subsequently committed suicide.
Although Slater's book stated that the rumors were false, a reviewer in The Observer in March
2004 misquoted Slater's book as supporting the rumors. This review was read by Deborah
Skinner (now Deborah Buzan, an artist and writer living in London) who wrote a vehement
riposte in The Guardian.[43]

Teaching machine[edit]

The teaching machine, a mechanical invention to automate the task of programmed instruction

The teaching machine was a mechanical device whose purpose was to administer a curriculum
of programmed instruction. The machine embodies key elements of Skinners theory of learning
and had important implications for education in general and classroom instruction in particular.[44]
In one incarnation, the machine was a box that housed a list of questions that could be viewed
one at a time through a small window. (See picture). There was also a mechanism through which
the learner could respond to each question. Upon delivering a correct answer, the learner would
be rewarded.[45]
Skinner advocated the use of teaching machines for a broad range of students (e.g., preschool
aged to adult) and instructional purposes (e.g., reading and music). For example, one machine
that he envisioned could teach rhythm. He wrote:
A relatively simple device supplies the necessary contingencies. The student taps a
rhythmic pattern in unison with the device. "Unison" is specified very loosely at first (the
student can be a little early or late at each tap) but the specifications are slowly
sharpened. The process is repeated for various speeds and patterns. In another
arrangement, the student echoes rhythmic patterns sounded by the machine, though not
in unison, and again the specifications for an accurate reproduction are progressively
sharpened. Rhythmic patterns can also be brought under the control of a printed score.[46]

The instructional potential of the teaching machine stemmed from several factors: it provided
automatic, immediate and regular reinforcement without the use of aversive control; the
material presented was coherent, yet varied and novel; the pace of learning could be
adjusted to suit the individual. As a result, students were interested, attentive, and learned
efficiently by producing the desired behavior, "learning by doing".[47]
Teaching machines, though perhaps rudimentary, were not rigid instruments of instruction.
They could be adjusted and improved based upon the students performance. or example,
if a student made many incorrect responses, the machine could be reprogrammed to provide
less advanced prompts or questions- the idea being that students acquire behaviors most
efficiently if they make few errors. Multiple-choice formats were not best suited for teaching
machines because they tended to increase student mistakes and the contingencies of
reinforcement were relatively uncontrolled.
Not only useful in teaching explicit skills, machines could also promote the development of a
repertoire of behaviors that Skinner called self-management. Effective self-management
means attending to stimuli appropriate to a task, avoiding distractions, reducing the
opportunity of reward for competing behaviors, and so on. For example, machines
encourage students to pay attention before receiving a reward. Skinner contrasted this with
the common classroom practice of initially capturing students attention (e.g., with a lively
video) and delivering a reward (e.g., entertainment) before the students have actually
performed any relevant behavior. This practice fails to reinforce correct behavior and actually
counters the development of self-management.
Skinner pioneered the use of teaching machines in the classroom, especially at the primary
level. Today computers run software that performs similar teaching tasks, and there has
been a resurgence of interest in the topic related to the development of adaptive learning
systems.[48]

Pigeon-guided missile[edit]
Main article: Project Pigeon
During World War II the US Navy required a weapon effective against surface ships such the
German Bismarck class battleships. Although missile and TV technology existed, the size of
the primitive guidance systems available rendered automatic guidance impractical. To solve
this problem Skinner initiated Project Pigeon[49][50] which was intended to provide a simple and
effective guidance system. This system divided the nose cone of a missile into three
compartments, putting a pigeon in each. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a
screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within
sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was
hinged such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship.[51]
Despite an effective demonstration the project was abandoned, and eventually more
conventional solutions, such as those based on radar, became available. Skinner
complained that "our problem was no one would take us seriously."[52] It seemed that few
people would trust pigeons to guide a missile no matter how reliable the system appeared to
be.[53]

Verbal summator[edit]
Early in his career Skinner became interested in "latent speech" and experimented with a
device he called the "verbal summator".[54] This device can be thought of as an auditory
version of the Rorschach inkblots.[54] When using the device, human participants listened to
incomprehensible auditory "garbage" but often read meaning into what they heard. Thus, as
with the Rorschach blots, the device was intended to yield overt behavior that projected
subconscious thoughts. Skinner's interest in projective testing was brief, but he later used
observations with the summator in creating his theory of verbal behavior. The device also led
other researchers to invent new tests such as the tautophone test, the auditory apperception
test, and the Azzageddi test.[55]

Verbal Behavior[edit]
Main article: Verbal Behavior (book)
Challenged by Alfred North Whitehead during a casual discussion while at Harvard to
provide an account of a randomly provided piece of verbal behavior,[56] Skinner set about
attempting to extend his then-new functional, inductive, approach to the complexity of human
verbal behavior.[57] Developed over two decades, his work appeared in the bookVerbal
Behavior. Although Noam Chomsky was highly critical of Verbal Behavior, he conceded that
Skinner's "S-R psychology" was worth a review. (Behavior analyists reject the "S-R"
characterization: operant conditioning involves the emission of a response which then
becomes more or less likely dependending upon its consequence - see above.).[58]
Verbal Behavior had an uncharacteristically cool reception, partly as a result of Chomsky's
review, partly because of Skinner's failure to address or rebut any of Chomsky's
criticisms.[59] Skinner's peers may have been slow to adopt the ideas presented in Verbal
Behavior because of the absence of experimental evidence unlike the empirical density
that marked Skinner's experimental work.[60] However, in applied settings there has been a
resurgence of interest in Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior.[61]

Influence on education[edit]
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
Skinner's views influenced education as well as psychology. Skinner argued that education
has two major purposes: (1) to teach repertoires of both verbal and nonverbal behavior; and
(2) to interest students in learning. He recommended bringing students behavior under
appropriate control by providing reinforcement only in the presence of stimuli relevant to the
learning task. Because he believed that human behavior can be affected by small
consequences, something as simple as the opportunity to move forward after completing
one stage of an activity can be an effective reinforcer (Skinner, 1961, p. 380). Skinner was
convinced that, to learn, a student must engage in behavior, and not just passively receive
information. (Skinner, 1961, p. 389).
Skinner believed that effective teaching must be based on positive reinforcement which is,
he argued, more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment. He
suggested that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.
For example, if a child is forced to practice playing an instrument, the child comes to
associate practicing with punishment and thus learns to hate and avoid practicing the
instrument. This view had obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote
learning and punitive discipline in education. The use of educational activities as punishment
may induce rebellious behavior such as vandalism or absence.[62]
Because teachers are primarily responsible for modifying student behavior, Skinner argued
that teachers must learn effective ways of teaching. In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (pages 93113): He says that teachers have not been
given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning. Without knowing the science
underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such
as:

using aversive techniques (which produce escape and avoidance and undesirable
emotional effects);
relying on telling and explaining ("Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply
when he is shown or told." p. 103);
failing to adapt learning tasks to the student's current level;

failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are
146.
Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn.
147.
Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to
complex.
148.
Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions.
149.
Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is
reached.
150.
Shift to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student's performance.
Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of
Teaching. They are also reflected in Fred S. Keller's Personalized System of
Instructionand Ogden R. Lindsley's Precision Teaching.

Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity[edit]


Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity for which he made the cover of TIME Magazine.[63] The former describes a
fictional "experimental community"[64] in 1940s United States. The productivity and
happiness of citizens in this community is far greater than in the outside world because
the residents practice scientific social planning and use operant conditioning in raising
their children.
Walden Two, like Thoreau's Walden, champions a lifestyle that does not support war or
foster competition and social strife. It encourages a lifestyle of minimal consumption, rich
social relationships, personal happiness, satisfying work and leisure.[65] In 1967, Kat
Kinkade founded the Twin Oaks Community, using Walden Two as a blueprint. The
community still exists and continues to use the Planner-Manager system and other
aspects described in Skinner's book.
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner suggests that a technology of behavior could
help to make a better society. We would, however, have to accept that an autonomous
agent is not the driving force of our actions. Skinner offers alternatives to punishment
and challenges his readers to use science and modern technology to construct a better
society.

Political views[edit]
Skinner's political writings emphasized his hopes that an effective and human science of
behavioral control a technology of human behavior could help with problems as yet
unsolved and often aggravated by advances in technology such as the atomic bomb.
Indeed, one of Skinner's goals was to prevent humanity from destroying itself.[66] He saw
political activity as the use of aversive or non-aversive means to control a population.
Skinner favored the use of positive reinforcement as a means of control, citing JeanJacques Rousseau's novel Emile: or, On Education as an example of literature that "did
not fear the power of positive reinforcement".[2]
Skinner's book, Walden Two, presents a vision of a decentralized, localized society,
which applies a practical, scientific approach and behavioral expertise to deal peacefully
with social problems. (For example, his views led him to oppose corporal punishment in
schools, and he wrote a letter to the California Senate that helped lead it to a ban on
spanking.[67])Skinner's utopia is both a thought experiment and a rhetorical piece. In his
book, Skinner answers the problem that exists in many utopian novels "What is the
Good Life?" In Walden Two, the answer is a life of friendship, health, art, a healthy
balance between work and leisure, a minimum of unpleasantness, and a feeling that one
has made worthwhile contributions to a society in which resources are ensured, in part,
by minimizing consumption.

If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only
consumption but the number of consumers.
B. F. Skinner, Walden Two, p. xi.
Skinner described his novel as "my New Atlantis", in reference to Bacon's utopia.[68]
When Milton's Satan falls from heaven, he ends in hell. And what does he say to
reassure himself? 'Here, at least, we shall be free.' And that, I think, is the fate of the oldfashioned liberal. He's going to be free, but he's going to find himself in hell.
B. F. Skinner, from William F. Buckley Jr, On the Firing Line, p. 87.

Superstition in the pigeon[edit]


One of Skinner's experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his
favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a
cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular
intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". He discovered that the
pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been
performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these
same actions.[69]
One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three
turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper
corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head
beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum
motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from
right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return.[70][71]
Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic
mechanism with their "rituals" and that this experiment shed light on human behavior:
The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as
if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food,
although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals
for changing one's fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections
between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior
in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the
alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm
and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect
upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the
food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothingor, more strictly speaking, did
something else.[70]
Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinner's "superstition" explanation for
the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971),
while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious
reinforcement" explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the
interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior:
the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that
occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal
responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than
adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and
Jenkins in their "autoshaping" procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as
the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be
traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977).[72]

This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the
popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to those of
Skinner.[73]

Quotations[edit]
"I do not admire myself as a person. My successes do not override my shortcomings."[74]
"Ethical control may survive in small groups, but the control of the population as a whole
must be delegated to specialiststo police, priests, owners, teachers, therapists, and so
on, with their specialized reinforcers and their codified contingencies."[75]
"It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to
improve the way in which he is controlled."[76]
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."[77]
"As the senses grow dull, the stimulating environment becomes less clear. When
reinforcing consequences no longer follow, we are bored, discouraged and
depressed."[74]

Criticism[edit]
J. E. R. Staddon[edit]
As understood by Skinner, ascribing dignity to individuals involves giving them credit for
their actions. To say "Skinner is brilliant" means that Skinner is an originating force. If
Skinner's determinist theory is right, he is merely the focus of his environment. He is not
an originating force and he had no choice in saying the things he said or doing the things
he did. Skinner's environment and genetics both allowed and compelled him to write his
book. Similarly, the environment and genetic potentials of the advocates of freedom and
dignity cause them to resist the reality that their own activities are deterministically
grounded. J. E. R. Staddon (The New Behaviorism, 2nd Edition, 2014) has argued
thecompatibilist position; Skinner's determinism is not in any way contradictory to
traditional notions of reward and punishment, as he believed.[78]

Noam Chomsky[edit]
Perhaps Skinner's best known critic, Noam Chomsky published a review of
Skinner's Verbal Behavior two years after it was published.[79] Chomsky argued that
Skinner's attempt to use behaviorism to explain human language amounted to little more
than word games. Conditioned responses could not account for a child's ability to create
or understand an infinite variety of novel sentences. The 1959 review became better
known than the book itself.[80] Chomsky's review has been credited with launching
the cognitive movement in psychology and other disciplines. Skinner, who rarely
responded directly to critics, never formally replied to Chomsky's critique. Many years
later, Kenneth MacCorquodale's reply[81] was endorsed by Skinner.
Chomsky also reviewed Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, using the same basic
motives as his Verbal Behavior review. Among Chomsky's criticisms were that Skinner's
laboratory work could not be extended to humans, that when it was extended to humans
it represented 'scientistic' behavior attempting to emulate science but which was not
scientific, that Skinner was not a scientist because he rejected the hypothetico-deductive
model of theory testing, and that Skinner had no science of behavior.[82]

Psychodynamic psychology[edit]
Skinner has been repeatedly criticized for his supposed animosity
towards Freud, psychoanalysis, and psychodynamic psychology. There is clear
evidence, however, that Skinner shared several of Freud's assumptions, and that he was
influenced by Freudian points of view in more than one field, among them the analysis

of defense mechanisms, such as repression.[83] To study such phenomena, Skinner even


designed his own projective test, the "verbal summator" described above.[84]

List of awards and positions[edit]

1926 A.B., Hamilton College


1930 M.A., Harvard University
19301931 Thayer ellowship
1931 Ph.D., Harvard University
19311932 Walker ellowship
19311933 National Research Council ellowship
19331936 Junior ellowship, Harvard Society of ellows*1936-1937 Instructor,
University of Minnesota
19371939 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
19391945 Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
1942 Guggenheim Fellowship (postponed until 1944-1945)
1942 Howard Crosby Warren Medal, Society of Experimental Psychologists
19451948 Professor and Chair, Indiana University
19471948 William James Lecturer, Harvard University
19481958 Professor, Harvard University
19491950 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association
19541955 President of the Eastern Psychological Association
1958 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, American Psychological
Association
19581974 Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
19641974 Career Award, National Institute of Mental Health
1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological Association
19661967 President of the Pavlovian Society of North America
1968 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1969 Overseas Fellow in Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Gold Medal Award, American Psychological Foundation
1971 Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation International award
1972 Humanist of the Year, American Humanist Association
1972 Creative Leadership in Education Award, New York University
1972 Career Contribution Award, Massachusetts Psychological Association
19741990 Professor of Psychology and Social Relations Emeritus, Harvard
University
1978 Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research Award and Development,
American Educational Research Association
1978 National Association for Retarded Citizens Award
1985 Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
1985 President's Award, New York Academy of Science
1990 William James Fellow Award, American Psychological Society
1990 Lifetime Achievement Award, American Psychology Association
1991 Outstanding Member and Distinguished Professional Achievement Award,
Society for Performance Improvement
1997 Scholar Hall of Fame Award, Academy of Resource and Development

Honorary degrees[edit]
Skinner received honorary degrees from:

Alfred University

Ball State University


Dickinson College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University
Long Island University C. W. Post Campus
McGill University
North Carolina State University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ripon College
Rockford College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Exeter
University of Missouri
University of North Texas
Western Michigan University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In popular culture[edit]
Writer of The Simpsons Jon Vitti named Principal Skinner character after behavioral
psychologist B. F. Skinner.[85]

Bibliography[edit]

The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, 1938. ISBN 1-58390-007-1, ISBN 087411-487-X.

Walden Two, 1948. ISBN 0-87220-779-X (revised 1976 edition).


Science and Human Behavior, 1953. ISBN 0-02-929040-6. A free copy of this book (in a
1.6 MB .pdf file) may be downloaded at the B. F. Skinner Foundation web
siteBFSkinner.org.
Schedules of Reinforcement, with C. B. Ferster, 1957. ISBN 0-13-792309-0.
Verbal Behavior, 1957. ISBN 1-58390-021-7.
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self Instruction, with James G. Holland,
1961. ISBN 0-07-029565-4.
The Technology of Teaching, 1968. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Library of
Congress Card Number 68-12340 E 81290 ISBN 0-13-902163-9.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, 1969. ISBN 0-390-81280-3.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971. ISBN 0-394-42555-3.
About Behaviorism, 1974. ISBN 0-394-49201-3, ISBN 0-394-71618-3.
Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography, 1976. ISBN 0-394-40071-2.
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, 1978. ISBN 0-13-770057-1.
The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography, 1979. ISBN 0-394-50581-6.
Notebooks, edited by Robert Epstein, 1980. ISBN 0-13-624106-9.
Skinner for the Classroom, edited by R. Epstein, 1982. ISBN 0-87822-261-8.
Enjoy Old Age: A Program of Self-Management, with M. E. Vaughan, 1983. ISBN 0393-01805-9.

A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography, 1983. ISBN 0-394-532260, ISBN 0-8147-7845-3.

Upon Further Reflection, 1987. ISBN 0-13-938986-5.

Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, 1989. ISBN 0-675-20674-X.


Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers, 1959, 1961, 1972 and 1999
as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition. This book includes a reprint of Skinner's
October 1945 Ladies' Home Journal article, "Baby in a Box", Skinner's original,
personal account of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device. ISBN 0-87411-9693 (paperback)

See also[edit]

Back to Freedom and Dignity


Behaviorism
Applied behavior analysis

References[edit]
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2508.
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Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
2509.
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Educational Review31: 377398.
2510.
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2511.
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90-112. doi:10.2307/1926170, p. 381
2512.
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for Self Instruction", 1961, p.387
2513.
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2514.
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15, 2837. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. . (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,pp. 574591.
2515.
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behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
2516.
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2517.
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1971.
2518.
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magazine 22 (1).The project was also featured by "Top secret weapons
revealed". Military Channel. 2012-08-14.
2519.
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2521.
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this table."
2522.
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the preface, 2nd paragraph
2524.
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2532.
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2536.
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2541.
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2542.
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2543.
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2545.
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2547.
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Further reading[edit]

Chiesa, M. (2004).Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science ISBN


Epstein, R. (1997) Skinner as self-manager. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
30, 545-569. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on: June 2, 2005
fromENVMED.rochester.edu
Pauly, Philip Joseph (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering
Ideal in Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504244-1.
Retrieved14 August 2010.
Sundberg, M.L. (2008) The VB-MAPP: The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program
Basil-Curzon, L. (2004) Teaching in Further Education: A outline of Principles and
Practice
Hardin, C.J. (2004) Effective Classroom Management
Kaufhold, J. A. (2002) The Psychology of Learning and the Art of Teaching
Bjork, D. W. (1993) B. F. Skinner: A Life
Dews, P. B. (Ed.)(1970) Festschrift For B. F. Skinner.New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Evans, R. I. (1968) B. F. Skinner: the man and his ideas
Nye, Robert D. (1979) What Is B. F. Skinner Really Saying?. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Rutherford, A. (2009) Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from
laboratory to life, 1950s-1970s.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Sagal, P. T. (1981) Skinner's Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Skinner, B. F. (1976) Particulars of my life: Part 1 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1979) The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part 2 of an Autobiography
Skinner, B. F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences: Part 3 of an Autobiography
Smith, D. L. (2002). On Prediction and Control. B. F. Skinner and the Technological
Ideal of Science. In W. E. Pickren & D. A. Dewsbury, (Eds.), Evolving Perspectives
on the History of Psychology, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Swirski, Peter (2011) "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved Behavioural Engineering
or Communal Life, Adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two". American Utopia
and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political History. New
York, Routledge.
Wiener, D. N. (1996) B. F. Skinner: benign anarchist
Wolfgang, C.H. and Glickman, Carl D. (1986) Solving Discipline Problems Allyn and
Bacon, Inc

External links[edit]

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Audio Recordings Society for Experimental Analysis of Behavior
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Superstition in the Pigeon by B.F. Skinner (Full Text)
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House in the 1970s: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 51, Number 3, July
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