B. F. Skinner
Also known as Burrhus Frederic Skinner
American psychologist (1904 to 1990), founder of radical behaviourism and operant conditioning.
At a glance
Main ideas
Operant conditioning, Respondent and operant, Radical behaviourism …
See all 4Criticism
Noam Chomsky
Books to start with
The Behavior of Organisms, Walden Two, Verbal Behavior …
See all 5Connections
Beyond Freedom and Dignity and Noam Chomsky
See all 2
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Skinner was a Harvard psychologist who developed radical behaviourism and the experimental analysis of behaviour.
- He showed how behaviour is strengthened or weakened by its consequences, and invented the operant conditioning chamber, the Skinner box.
- He imagined a society designed on these principles in the novel Walden Two (1948).
- In Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971) he argued that belief in free will blocks a science of behaviour.
Why it matters
- A 2002 survey named him the most influential psychologist of the 20th century; operant principles are applied in therapy, education and the workplace.
Key facts
- Born
- 20 Mar 1904, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania1
- Died
- 18 Aug 1990, Cambridge, Massachusetts, of leukaemia1
- Education
- BA in English literature, Hamilton College (1926); PhD, Harvard (1931)1
- Career
- University of Minnesota from 1936; Indiana University from 1945, chairing psychology from 1946 to 1947; Harvard from 1948 until he retired in 19741
- Position
- Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard1
- Output
- 21 books and 180 articles1
- Honours
- National Medal of Science (1968); Humanist of the Year (1972); APA lifetime achievement award (1990)1
Main ideas
-
Operant conditioning1
Behaviour is strengthened by reinforcement, measured by its rate.
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Respondent and operant1
Behaviour elicited by stimuli, and behaviour emitted and shaped by consequences.
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Radical behaviourism1
What is felt or introspected is the body, not a separate mind, and is not the cause of behaviour.
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Cultural design1
Societies can be deliberately designed with a technology of behaviour.
Criticism
-
Noam Chomsky1
Reviewed Verbal Behavior and Beyond Freedom and Dignity harshly, arguing lab findings on animals do not extend to humans.
Books to start with
The line under a date fills as it gets older: empty when new, full at 2 years.
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The Behavior of Organisms1
His first book, the foundations of his behaviourism.
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Walden Two1
A utopian novel of a community run on behavioural science.
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Verbal Behavior1
His analysis of language as behaviour.
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Against free will, for a technology of behaviour.
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About Behaviorism1
His account of radical behaviourism.
Connections
Related
- Noam ChomskyPerson
His critique of Skinner's account of language helped bring down linguistic behaviourism source on Noam Chomsky
Links
Sources
Last checked against its sources today
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