B.F. Skinner

Modified: 2024-05-28 6:55 PM CDST

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  B. F. Skinner's contribution was radical behaviorism, or more properly, behavior analysis.
  • Behavior analysis sidesteps issues of mind by assuming environmental determininism and by including the internal environment (self talk, covert verbal behavior) as part of the environment.
  • Thus, dualistic issues are resolved and each human becomes subject to a unique set of environmental determinants composed of both external and internal environments.
  • Skinner revived Bacon's inductive method and his lack of theory.
    • Operants, the behaviors emitted by organisms, are selected by the environment in a quasi-evolutionary way.
    • Respondents, the behaviors caused by observable stimuli, were Skinner's term for Pavlovian or classical conditioning.
    • Skinner explored the ramifications of operant conditioning both in the lab and in the field.
    • Schedules of reinforcement, programmed instruction, and behavior modification were three of his most important contributions.

• Comments
  • Skinner expanded on the work of Pavlov and Watson by redefining the human organism's environment to include the things people say to themselves.
  • The same rules of conditioning that apply to the external environment also apply to that internal environment.
  • Skinner created a logical and self-consistent system that continues to have a vocal minority of adherents today.