Non User
Index: > A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z	Business Non User Industries Finance Tax

Home > B. F. Skinner

Burrhus Frederic Skinner ( March 20, 1904 - August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist.

He was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. He majored in literature at Hamilton College in New York in hope of becoming a writer. Whilst taking a gap year between studies, ostensibly to write a novel, he became disillusioned with his abilities as a writer, feeling he had little world experience and no strong standpoint from which to write. During this year, which Skinner called The Dark Year, he chanced upon a copy of Bertrand Russell's Philosophy in which Russell discusses Behaviourism, in particular the behaviourism of John B. Watson. At the time, Skinner had begun to take more interest in the actions and behaviours of those around him, and some of his short stories had taken a slightly "psychological" slant. He decided to abandon literature for the time being (much to the joy of his father) and apply to study Psychology at Harvard University (not then a prestigious psychology department).

Skinner was mainly responsible for the development of the philosophy of radical behaviourism and the further development of behavioural techniques in psychology resulting in applied behaviour analysis, an off-shoot of psychology which aims towards developing a unified theory of animal and human behaviour based on principles of learning. He demonstrated operant conditioning and developed this technique in contrast to classical conditioning. Important areas included shaping behaviour, positive and negative reinforcementIn operant conditioning, reinforcement is the presentation of a stimulus contingent on a response which results in an increase in response strength (as evidenced by an increase in the frequency of response). This concept has been criticized as circular, s, and the effect of such conditioning on future behaviours. Contrary to popular belief, Skinner did not advocate the use of punishmentIn society, punishment is the practice of imposing something unpleasant on a wrongdoer. Most often, criminals are punished by fines or prison. Children are also punished by their parents, guardians, or teachers. Michel Foucault describes in detail the evo in any form. His research suggested that punishment was an ineffective way of controlling behaviour which generally led to short-term behaviour change, but primarily led to the subject attempting to avoid the punishing stimulusA stimulus is the following: In physiology, a stimulus (physiology) is something external that elicits or influences a physiological or psychological activity or response. In psychology, anything effectively inpinging upon any of the sensory apparatuses o instead of avoiding the stimulus punishment was contingent upon. An explanatory example of this is prison. If prisons (as a punishing stimulus) were effective at altering behaviour, there would be no criminals, as we all know the risk of going to prison if we commit an offence. However, individuals still commit offences, but attempt to avoid discovery and therefore punishment by covering tracks, or using an alibi etc. The punishing stimulus does not stop criminal behaviour, the criminal just becomes more sophisticated at avoiding the punishment.

1 Superstition in the Pigeon

One of Skinner's most famous and interesting experiments examined the formation of superstitionSuperstition is a set of behaviors that may be faith based, or related to magical thinking, whereby the practitioner believes that the future, or the outcome of certain events, can be influenced by certain of his or her behaviors. An example is the belief in one of his favourite 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 behaviour". 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 continued to perform the same actions:

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. ("'Superstition' in the Pigeon", B.F. Skinner, Journal of Experimental Psychology #38, 1947 [1])

Skinner suggested that the pigeons believed that they were influencing the automatic mechanism with their "rituals" and that the experiment also shed light on human behaviour:

The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as if there were a causal relation between its behaviour and the presentation of food, although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behaviour. Rituals for changing one's luck at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections between a ritual and favourable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behaviour in spite of many non-reinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the alley but continues to behave as if he were controlling it by twisting and turning his arm and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviours 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 nothing -- or, more strictly speaking, did something else. (Ibid.)

Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden TwoWalden Two is a utopian novel by B. Walden Two describes a fictional community designed around behavioral principles. The community is minimally consuming and minimally polluting, and it is egalitarian in the division of work. Its most controversial aspec and Beyond Freedom and DignityPublished in 1971 by American psychologist/philosopher B. Skinner, Beyond Freedom and Dignity entails the human race's lack of independence and their desperate need for operant conditioning. See Also Walden Two''..

Walden TwoWalden Two is a utopian novel by B. Walden Two describes a fictional community designed around behavioral principles. The community is minimally consuming and minimally polluting, and it is egalitarian in the division of work. Its most controversial aspec describes a visit to an imaginary utopian commune in the 1950s United States, where the productivity and happiness of the citizens is far in advance of that in the outside world due to their practice of scientific social planning and operant conditioning of children.

Beyond Freedom and Dignity advances the thesis that obsolete social concepts, like "freedom" and "dignity", are threatening the survival of the human species and, again, advocates widespread operant conditioning of human beings to ensure productive and happy citizens.

Politics	Business	Finance

Topics: B. F. Skinner Behaviour Human Behaviourism Conditioning...

---