Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 - August 18, 1990) was an
American psychologist and author. He conducted pioneering work on experimental psychology and advocated behaviorism, which seeks to understand behavior entirely in terms of responses to stimuli. He also wrote a
number of controversial works in which he proposed the widespread use of psychological behavior modification techniques
(primarily operant conditioning) in order to improve
society and increase human happiness.
Life
Skinner was born in rural Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. He attended
Hamilton College in New
York with the intention of becoming a writer and received a B.A. in English literature in 1926. After
graduation, he spent a year in Greenwich Village attempting to
become a writer of fiction, but he soon became disillusioned with his literary skills and concluded that he had little world
experience and no strong personal perspective from which to write. During this time, which Skinner later called The Dark
Year, he chanced upon a copy of Bertrand Russell's
Philosophy in which Russell discusses the behaviorist philosophy of
psychologist John B. Watson. At the time, Skinner had begun to take
more interest in the actions and behaviors of those around him, and some of his short stories had taken a "psychological" slant.
He decided to abandon literature and seek admission as a graduate
student in psychology at Harvard University (which at the
time was not regarded as a leading institution in that field).
Skinner received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931 and remained at that institution as a researcher until 1936. He then taught at the University of
Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University at Bloomington before
returning to Harvard as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained there for the rest of his
career.
Behaviorism
Skinner was mainly responsible for the development of the philosophy of radical behaviorism and for the further development of applied behavior analysis, a branch of psychology which aims to develop a unified theory of animal and human
behavior based on principles of learning. He conducted research on shaping behavior
through positive and negative reinforcement and demonstrated operant conditioning, a behavior modification technique which he
developed in contrast with classical conditioning.
Contrary to popular belief, Skinner did not advocate the use of punishment.
His research suggested that punishment was an ineffective way of controlling behavior, leading generally to short-term behavior
change, but resulting mostly in the subject attempting to avoid the punishing stimulus instead of avoiding the stimulus that was causing punishment. An simple example of this is the failure of
prison to eliminate criminal behavior. If prison (as a punishing stimulus) were
effective at altering behavior, there would be no criminality, since the risk of imprisonment for criminal conduct is well
established. However, individuals still commit offences, but attempt to avoid discovery and therefore punishment. The punishing
stimulus does not stop criminal behaviour. The criminal simply becomes more sophisticated at avoiding the punishment.
Superstition in the pigeon
One of Skinner's most famous and interesting experiments examined the formation of superstition 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". Whatever chance actions each bird had
been performing as food was delivered, was strengthened, so the bird continued to perform the same actions:
- One bird was conditioned to turn anti-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] (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Skinner/Pigeon/))
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.)
Social engineering
Skinner is popularly known mainly for his controversial books Walden
Two and Beyond Freedom and
Dignity. Walden Two 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 the use of operant conditioning in the raising of children.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity advanced the
thesis that obsolete social concepts, like free will and human dignity (by which
Skinner meant belief in individual autonomy) stood in the way of greater human happiness and productivity.
See also Humanist approach to psychology.
Rumors
One often-repeated story claims that Skinner ventured into human experiments by raising his daughter Deborah in a Skinner box, which led to her life-long mental illness and a bitter resentment
towards her father. Psychologist and author Lauren Slater wrote a book on Skinner's work in 2004 claiming that Deborah unsuccessfully sued her father for
abuse and later committed suicide.
Deborah Skinner herself
came forward to publically denounce the story as nothing more than hearsay and presumably to vouch for her own continued
existence.
Works
- About
Behaviourism
- The Analysis of Behaviour: A Program for Self Instruction by
James G. Holland & B. F. Skinner
- The Behaviour of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis
- Beyond Freedom and Dignity
- Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis
- Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers (this book includes the authentic account
of the much-misrepresented "Baby in a box" device).
- Enjoy Old Age
- A Matter of Consequences: Part Three of an Autobiography
- Notebooks (book)
by B. F. Skinner & Robert Epstein (Ed.)
- Particulars of My Life: Part One of an Autobiography
- Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behaviour
- Reflections on Behaviourism and Society
- Schedules of Reinforcement by C. B. Ferster & B. F. Skinner
- Science and Human Behaviour
- The Shaping of a Behaviourist: Part Two of an
Autobiography
- Skinner
for the Classroom by R. Epstein (Ed.) & B. F. Skinner
- The
Technology of Teaching
- Upon Further
Reflection
- Verbal Behaviour
- Walden Two
External links
Articles by Skinner:
|
