Burrhus Fredric Skinner
Dec 13, 2015
Burrhus Fredric Skinner
He was born March 20th
1904
He died August 18th 1990
Originally wanted to ne a
novelist
B.A. in English from
Hamilton
Went to Harvard for
Psychology Graduate
Program
Who is he?
Education is what survives when what has been learned
has been forgotten
He is a Psychologist
Studied behaviorism
Behavioral Phycology is the
study of external behavior
He theorized that you could
change the way people think
He believed that you could
influence peoples behavior
Research
We shouldn’t teach great books
We should teach a love of reading
He believed that behavior is
sustained by reinforcements or
rewards, not by free will.
Developed “Operant
Conditioning”
Definition: type of learning in
which an individual's behavior is
modified by its antecedents
(positive reinforcements) and
consequences (negative
reinforcements).
Behavior
He created the “Skinner
Box”
Placed an animal inside
to monitor the animals
behavior
Inside the box there was
a lever
Would present a treat
We’re positive treats
Invention
YouTube Videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWtvrPTbQ_c
Skinner often made the analogy of his project
to a casino
He found that:
1.) Primary Conditioners → have a breaking
point
2.) Secondary Conditioners → don’t have a
breaking point
Findings
If our behavior can be monitored and
changed the way Skinner was able to
get responses from the animals he
tested, do we really have full self
control?
Question #1
Does Skinner “de-
humanize” or “mechanize”
humans?
Question #2
Skinner is known for a quote: “Give
me a child and I’ll shape them into
anything”. Is this power or knowledge a
dangerous tool for people to posses?
Question #3
BF Skinner." BF Skinner. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014.
<http://www3.niu.edu/acad/psych/Millis/History/2003/cogrev_skinner.htm>.
"B. F. Skinner." B. F. Skinner. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014. <http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/Skinner.html>.
B. F. Skinner: The Life of Psychology's "Radical Behaviorist"." About Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014. <http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/bio_skinner.htm>.
Skinner - Operant Conditioning." B.F. Skinner. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014. <http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html>.
References