Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born on March 20, 1904, in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, a small railroad town just south of the New York state border, and was lovingly called ‘Fred’ by his family. His father, William Skinner, worked as an attorney with Erie Railroad, and his mother, Grace Skinner, was actively involved with a number of social service organizations for the prime purpose of promoting the image of the family.
Skinner had a younger brother, two and a half years younger than him, Edward, who was the more obedient and charming of the two. (Bork, Daniel W. B. F. Skinner: A Life) his brother, however, died at the age of sixteen from cerebral aneurism.
In the course of his childhood, Skinner enjoyed working with his hands, as is evident from the things he built by himself, like roller scooters, wagons that could be steered, etc. Skinner completed his graduation from the one-building school that he attended, along with eight other students. His interest in arts and literature was evident by his drawings in the smaller grades and later his enthusiasm to read Shakespeare. (Dews 1970)
Skinner majored in English and minored in Romance languages from Hamilton College, a small but liberal arts institution. It was here that Skinner emerged as a rebel when he openly criticized and revolted against the Student life department and refused to attend the daily chapel services and physical education classes, which were mandatory, even going to the extent of mocking at the institution during the graduation services.
After his graduation, Skinner attended the Middlebury School of English in Vermont in order to attempt a career in writing. It was here that he met Robert Frost and penned his first book, Digest of Decisions of the Anthracite Board of Conciliation, which was concerning a coal strike in 1904. (Dews 1970) However, Skinner soon moved to psychology on realizing that he did not possess a writer’s temperament. At the age of twenty-four, Skinner applied and was accepted to the psychology graduate program at Harvard.
Here he encountered William Crozier at the physiology department and was very impressed by his work involving animal studies and behaviorist framework. Skinner soon accompanied Crozier and began to work across several disciplines, integrating methods and theories of the domains of physiology and psychology to develop novel ways of recording and analyzing data. Thus began Skinner’s tryst with psychology which subsequently led him to the path of achievement and glory in the world of psychology.
By the year 1931, Skinner completed his Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard and had firmly established himself on the path of development of Operant conditioning which was the Behaviorist prototype, regulating the latter part of the twentieth century. He continued to conduct research at Harvard for several more years until 1937 when he was offered a research position at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis. He had met Yvonne Blue, his prospect wife, the preceding year and married her in 1937 in November, before moving to Minneapolis to commence his new career. In 1948, Skinner was offered a position at Harvard which he accepted and remained at Harvard for the rest of his intellectual career.
Skinner perceived the effectiveness of the experimental method and proved that regulation in behavior could be brought about by controlling the environment. In 1938, he wrote ‘The Behavior of Organisms’ in which the characteristics of operant behavior were becoming defined. In his retort to Konorski and Miller’s challenge of his paper, the word operant was formally used. Its function, then as now, was to identify behavior traceable to reinforcing contingencies rather than to elicit stimuli (Dews, 1970).
Behavior analysis is the scientific study of a specific observable or measurable behavior in relation to particular recognizable events in the environment, which may comprise of events that have occurred prior to the behavior or have resulted due to the behavior in question. Thus Skinner believed that there is a continuous and lawful, consequential influence on the behavior of all living organisms.
The theories of Behavior analysis are or can be used to improve the behavior of a being by effectively varying the environment. The theorists of human development are in a constant quest for the distinctness in the behavior of a particular human from another or the difference in the abilities of children from adults and how to augment the complete development of a child into an adult and as such, are greatly benefited by the works of Skinner in solving some, if not all the problems that they encounter.
B.F.Skinner is renowned for his research on ‘operant conditioning’ and ‘negative reinforcement.’ He invented a device called the “cumulative recorder,” using which; he found that behavior did not depend on the foregoing stimulus as Watson and Pavlov (Nye, Robert D. The Legacy of B. F. Skinner) maintained, but conversely upon the result after the response. Skinner called this Operant Behavior. In the same research, Skinner also made important discoveries in schedules of reinforcement which are fixed-ratio schedules, variable-ratio schedules, fixed-interval schedules, and variable-interval schedules.
In his revolutionary research, he experimentally investigated the “voluntary” behavior of individual organisms (rats), using his self-designed equipment, the operant chamber or “Skinner box.” Skinner’s main area of focus was the investigation of learning of behavior and its subsequent continuation. In his experiments using rats, Skinner observed that the apparent responses (which he was recording) were influenced not only by what heralded them but also by what the consequences were.
Skinner’s primary breakthrough was the principle of reinforcement, according to which behavior is learned because of its results and reinforcement. Skinner went on to validate his theory with the concept of the contingency of reinforcement which, according to him, could be accomplished with the proper application of schedules in reinforcement.
The theory of ‘The Behavior of Organisms,’ which Skinner elucidated in 1938, was a landmark in human psychology. Even though Skinner by no means conducted research on humans, he analytically construed human behavior with the help of basic behavioral principles (Science and Human Behavior, 1953). His most famous intellectual elucidation is ‘Verbal Behavior’ (1957), which initiated a debate concerning the role of the mind and behavior in the investigation of language.
His other admired interpretations comprise Walden Two (1948) and Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971), which dealt with the human conditions and the ways to improve them. B.F. Skinner’s effort in psychology has laid the foundation for the study of not only the condition but also the prospects of improvement of Behavioral Analysis (Psychology Archives, University of Akron). Skinner’s psychological achievements were and still are of great use in the fields of developmental disabilities, education, and clinical psychology, to applied behavior analysts and behavior therapists.
The Operant Conditioning Model of Skinner
The Operant Conditioning Model of Skinner scrutinizes the correlation between a behavior and its consequence. This model of human development is of great help in the explication of how the experiences in the life of individuals influence their actions. It further demonstrates how changes in individual behavior can consequently result in the modification of actions. Positive or desirable consequences will enhance the augmentation of responses, and contrastingly, negative or undesirable consequences will reduce the responses.
Skinner established that continuous reinforcement proves more effective in ascertaining a response and can be effectively maintained by variable or intermittent reinforcement once it has been established. Although Skinner strictly used only animals (pigeons and mice in particular) in the laboratory, he clarified in his research that these general principles govern the behavior of all species. Psychologists working in this domain have confirmed that Skinner’s thesis and research principles of Operant Conditioning are extremely helpful in facilitating the comprehension and the disentangling of complex family life.
Therapists effectively borrow and put to use Skinner’s theories in their attempts to help people overcome irrational fears or phobias besides other problems in behavior, enabling them to help people have power over their actions. The method of Programmed teaching which Skinner propagated is used to teach certain courses or syllabi in classrooms even today. Skinner’s theories have also been put to use to teach mentally challenged children and have numerous other applications in health-related fields. B.F. Skinner’s theories regarding the principles of Operant conditioning continue to play an important role in teaching and learning practices today. B. F. Skinner died of leukemia on August 18, 1990, at the age of 86.
References
Bjork, Daniel W. B. F. Skinner: A Life. New York: BasicBooks, a Division of Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., 1993.
Carpenter, Finley. The Skinner Primer: Behind Freedom and Dignity. New York: The Free Press, a Division of Macmillan Publishing Company, Inc., 1974.
Dews, P.B. (1970). Festschrift for B.F. Skinner. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, pp 1-27.
Hunt, Morton. The Story of Psychology. New York: Doubleday, 1993.
Nye, Robert D. The Legacy of B. F. Skinner: Concepts and Perspectives, Controversies and Misunderstandings. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1992.