B. F. Skinner

[Ready for Fall 2026]

Modified: 2026-08-03 11:09 AM CDST

• 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 small but vocal minority of adherents today.