Skinner Article

Skinner Article

The research and contributions made by Burrhus Frederic Skinner had major impacts on the science of Psychology. Skinner was born in Pennsylvania in 1904. He first attended Hamilton College where he studied English and Classics. He originally wanted to be a writer and when things didn’t work out he attended Harvard and received a Ph.D. in Psychology.

Skinner is considered by many to be one of the most important figures in twentieth-century psychology best known for being the originator of programmed instruction and teaching machines. He believed explanations for behavior would emerge from empirical observations and the generalizations that describe them; this is sometimes called Radical Behaviorism.

Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning is what made him famous. Through his research using a device called the “cumulative recorder”, he found that behaviors were dependent upon what happens after the response to stimulus. This is what Skinner called operant behavior. Skinner also discovered that reinforcement both negative and positive could increase or decrease behaviors. Positive reinforcers such as praise or rewards; increases behaviors as do negative reinforcers. Negative reinforcers increase behavior because the response to such negative reinforcers is strengthened. Punishment, however, decreases behaviors. There are positive and negative punishments. Positive punishments decrease behaviors by presenting a consequence for the behavior, which represents aversive stimuli. Negative punishment decreases behavior by taking something away for a behavior. Superstitious behavior is another element of Skinner’s research. Skinner’s conception of the reinforcement schedule explains superstitious behavior in humans. Basically this concept is explained as coincidental reinforcement. One behavior is closely followed by a punishment or positive reinforcer.

B.F. Skinner developed the theory of operant conditioning to examine the effect...