B.F. Skinner: Theory of Bevaviorism

B.F. Skinner: Theory of Behaviorism

by Carey Grucza for EMAT619

Bibliography

Early Life

Biographical Information. Retrieved 12:27, Feb 23, 2015, from http://www.bfskinner.org/archives/biographical-information/

Cherry, K. A. (2005). B. F. Skinner Biography (1904-1990). Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/bio_skinner.htm

Freedman. D.H. (2012). The Perfected Self. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/06/the-perfected-self/308970/

Lattal, K. A. (2004). Steps and pips in the history of the cumulative recorder. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 82(3), 329–355. doi:10.1901/jeab.2004.82-329

McLeod, S. A. (2007). Skinner - Operant Conditioning. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html

Skinner, B.F. (1945). Baby in a Box. Retrieved 12:27, Feb 23, 2015, from

http://aubreydaniels.com/institute/sites/aubreydaniels.com.institute/files/Baby-in-a-Box.pdf

Skinner, B.F. (1964) New methods and new aims in teaching. Retrieved 12:27, Feb 23, 2015, from

http://www.bfskinner.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/New-Methods-aims-in-Teach.pdf

Skinner, B.F. (1958). Teaching Machines Retrieved 12:27, Feb 23, 2015, from http://www.sciencemag.org/content/128/3330/969.extract

Skinner, B.F. (2015). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 12:27, Feb 23, 2015, from http://www.biography.com/people/bf-skinner-9485671.

Skinner, B.F. (1947). Superstition in the Pigeon. Retrieved 12:27, Feb 23, 2015, from http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Skinner/Pigeon/

• B.A. in English Literature 1926 from Hamilton College
• Had a passion for writing, but failed to be a "professional writer" (his "dark period")
• Inspired by works of Ivan Pavlov and John B. Watson
• Ph.D. in Psychology 1931 from Harvard
• 1938 published The Behavior of Organisms
• Taught at University of Minnesota
• Developed The Skinner Box
• Famed for teaching Pigeons to play ping pong
• Built a new type of crib the "baby tender"
• Developed The Cumulative Recorder

The Skinner Box

The Baby Tender

Built for daughter Julie

• Work compared to Ivan Pavlov's (dog salivating at sound of bell; an involuntary response to stimuli)
• Differed from Pavlov because Skinner's work involved learned response to an environment rather than an involuntary response

• A way to study operant conditioning
• Based on Edward Thorndike's Puzzle Box and his theory of "Law and Effect"
• Concluded that some form of reinforcement was crucial in learning new behaviors
• Positive Reinforcement: Rat received reward of food for pressing lever
• Negative Reinforcement: Unpleasant electric current on floor of cage switched off if rat hits lever
• Behavior not reinforced will extinguish (weaken)

• Skinner wanted to create a labor saving invention to help his wife with their 2nd child
• Heated so baby did not need blankets; free movement and less fussy
• No slats like a crib; safer
• Healthier (window kept germs out)
• Easy care (sheet roller at bottom)
• Ladies Home Journal printed article and titled it "Baby in a Box"; contributed misunderstandings
• Future literature started rumors that Skinner experimented on daughter (Julie) and she as a result committed suicide (all untrue)

Example of Positive Reinforcement

Example of Negative Reinforcement

• Trained pigeons to serve a guides for bombing runs during WWII
• Project canceled, but resulted with this famed example of reinforcement

Student Interaction and Instruction

An example applying Behaviorism in the classroom

Later Life

Note Positive reinforcement use:

• Compliments (thank you, awesome job, perfect, love these brains turned on, you guys are so smart...)
• Rewards ("one second party"-token economy points on board?)
• Non-verbal affirmations (smiles...)
• Encouragements( chanting name...)

Overview

• 1945 Chair of Psychology Department at Indiana University
• 1948 Professor at Harvard (remained at Harvard for rest of life)
• Developed a teaching machine
• Some of his prominent publishing's (was a prolific writer)
• Walden Two in 1948
• The Technology of Teaching in 1968
• Beyond Freedom and Dignity in 1971
• About Behaviorism in 1974

• Proposed a type of Utopian Society
• Lead by good citizens through behavior modification
• Publication undermined Skinner's credibility with some of academic colleagues

• Misunderstood?

• Wrote to set the record straight regarding misinterpretations of his work

• Drew fire for implying that humans had no free will or individual consciousness

Skinner on Education: Excerpt from 1972 Movie

In the Classroom

today

The Teaching Machine

1954

• Full Name Burrhus Fredric Skinner
• AKA B.F. Skinner
• Born in Susquehanna,Pennsylvania in 1904
• Died in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1990
• Best know for developing the theory of behaviorism
• Interest as a child in building gadgets and contraptions
• Critical discovery: importance of reinforcement
• Today daughter Julie S. Vargus runs B.F. Skinner Foundation (bfskinner.org)

Criticism of Skinner's Theory of Operant Conditioning:

• Fails to take into account role of inherited and cognitive factors in learning
• Incomplete explanation of the learning process (i.e. insight and observation)
• Some psychologist argue we cannot generalize studies on animals to humans because the anatomy and physiology is different; animals cannot invoke reason, patience, memory or self-comfort.

Operant Conditioning

• Behavior Modification: a set of theories /techniques based on operant conditioning
• Examples
• Token Economy: targeted behaviors are reinforced with tokens (secondary reinforcers i.e. fake money, buttons, stickers...) and are later exchanged for rewards (primary reinforcers i.e. snacks, homework passes, extra recess...)
• Positive Reinforcement: compliments, approval, encouragement and affirmation (ratio of 5 compliments to 1 criticism is seen as most effective) to alter behavior
• Particularly useful with students with learning difficulties
• In conventional classroom applies largely to classroom management verses content learning
• Is relevant to shaping skills performance i.e. memorizing math facts

• Built to make education more efficient and keep up with demands of larger classrooms
• Creates an active receiver of instruction
• Immediate self-scoring device (positive reinforcement)
• Machine permits each student to proceed at their own pace (differentiation)
• Mass production=labor saving
• Like a private tutor; only presents new material when the student is ready
• Student does not need to wait for an exam to know proficiency level
• Not intended to replace teachers
• Skinner predicted this technology would improve teacher productivity and therefore increase their pay; maybe change the definition of grading
• Would be effective for students who have to miss school (i.e. long term illness) and home study
• Could be adapted to Braille or used for technical training

• B.F. Skinner referred to his own philosophy as "radical behaviorism"
• Believed free will is an illusion
• Human action is the result of conditioning
• Reinforcement: any event that, presented after a response , increases the probability of that the response will be repeated.
• Positive reinforcement: strengthens a behavior by providing a consequence an individual finds rewarding.
• Negative reinforcement: removes an adverse stiumli which "rewards" the individual.
• Punishment: presenting something that will decrease the probability that a certain response will be repeated.

Did Skinner get it right?

Negative Reinforcement vs Punishment

Example of Positive Reinforcement

The Cumulative Recorder

• Recorded responses as a sloped line
• Indicated rate of response
• Higher response rates followed rewards
• Lower response rates followed lack of reward
• Allowed Skinner to conclude that the schedule of reinforcement influenced the rate of response

Final Years

Examples of others impacts of Behaviorism

• Wrote a series of autobiographies
• Continued to be active in the field of behavioral psychology
• Many accolades including: 1972 Humanist of the Year
• Gave a talk to a crowded auditorium for the American Psychological Association ten days before he died of Leukemia
• Finish the article from which the talk was taken on the day he died, August 18, 1990

• Applied in behavioral counseling for problems such as nail-biting, narcotics addiction, child abuse, phobias and even criminal recidivism
• Obesity epidemic: Weight Watchers bases it's program on behavior modification; rewarding gradual change in routines verses punishing battle of will power and deprivation
• Skinner actually wrote about diet and exercise as an example of behavior modification in 1957 (American Scientist); cited Harvard study on "behavioral obesity"
• Alcohol Anonymous also bases it's program on behavior modification

Operant Conditioning...There's an app for that!

"He used to say that the ultimate worth of a science is in how much good it can do in the world" -Julie Vargus, reflecting on her Father

Positive reinforcement for children with Asthma