For many years B.F. Skinner was the most famous psychologist in the United States, but the impact of his work goes far beyond professional psychology. The rejection and distrust that Skinner felt for everything mental, subjective, that is, for everything that he called «far-fetched explanations», made him focus on external forms of behavior and try to formulate methods for observing, measuring, predicting and understanding people’s behavior and animals.
«In a poll of US university professors, Skinner was overwhelmingly named the most prominent figure in modern psychology» (New-York Times Magazine, 1984).
Perhaps none of the scientists since the time of Freud has experienced such harsh criticism and has not been so revered at the same time. No one’s work has been cited so often, and no one has been misrepresented so often. At the same time, Skinner himself only enjoyed debating with opponents (Catania & Harnad, 1988; Skinner, 1972d, 1977b; Wann, 1964). His great personal charm and willingness to discuss any of his assumptions, backed by an absolute, unshakable belief in the fundamental nature of his conclusions, contributed to Skinner becoming a central figure in modern psychology.
Freud wrote about his critics that, by the emotionality of their attacks, they unwittingly proved the correctness of the basic postulates of the very psychoanalytic theory that they so fiercely opposed. Similarly, for Skinner, the actions of his opponents were only proof of the unscientific and fallacious thinking he was trying to correct. Both scientists, despite the harsh criticism of their theories, are recognized as individuals who have made a huge contribution to the development and defense of alternative points of view on human nature.
Biographical Excursion
Barres Frederick Skinner was born in 1904 in the small town of Suskehanna in northeastern Pennsylvania, where his father practiced law. From childhood, obedience, restraint, accuracy and the ability to behave “correctly” were cultivated in the child. Skinner wrote that his house «exuded warmth and security. I lived there from birth until I went to college” (1976, p. 387). A childhood fascination with mechanics foreshadowed Skinner’s future interest in modeling external behavior.
“Some of the things I invented had a direct bearing on human behavior. I was not allowed to smoke, and from a spray bottle I made a device through which I could “smoke” cigarettes and blow smoke rings without harmful consequences (today such devices may well be in demand). One day my mother started a «campaign» to get me to hang up my pajamas. Every morning at breakfast she would come up to my room, see my pajamas casually thrown, and immediately call me. This went on for several weeks. When this procedure became simply unbearable, I came up with a mechanical device that solved all problems. A special hook in my closet was connected with twine to a sign that hung over the door. When the pajamas hung on the hook, the sign was at the top and did not block the passage. If there were no pajamas on the hook, the sign ended up right in the middle of the doorway. It said: “Hang up your pajamas!” (1967a, p. 396).
After listening to a course of lectures at Hamilton College, New York, which strengthened and developed his interest in literature and art, Skinner, after receiving a bachelor’s degree and an honors degree in English literature, returned home and tried to become a writer.
“I organized a small study in the attic and sat down to work. The results were disastrous. I was wasting my time. I read aimlessly, built models of ships, played the piano, listened to the newly invented radio, published something in the humorous column of the local newspaper, but wrote almost nothing more and seriously thought about going to see a psychiatrist ”(1967a, 394).
Skinner eventually abandoned this experiment and traveled to New York, where he lived for 6 months in Greenwich Village, all the while «making awkward attempts to find an alternative culture» (Bjork, 1993, p. 72). He spent the summer of 1928 in Europe; all his adventures there consisted of flying in an open cockpit in the rain, meeting a prostitute, and the usual tourist trips with his parents. Upon his return, Skinner studied psychology at Harvard. From his unsuccessful attempt to become a writer, he brought out an absolute rejection of the method of observation used in fiction.
“I failed as a writer because I had absolutely nothing to say to people, but such an explanation could not satisfy me. I blamed literature itself. A writer can portray human behavior with exceptional accuracy, but at the same time not understand anything about it. I have not lost interest in the study of human behavior, but its reflection in literature has disappointed me completely; I turned my eyes to science” (1967 a, p. 395).
In early autobiographical essays (1967a, pp. 397-398), Skinner wrote of how hard and hard he worked as a graduate student:
“I woke up at six, studied until breakfast, went to lectures, visited laboratories and libraries, in the afternoon I had only about 15 minutes of free time, then I studied until 9 pm and went to bed. I didn’t watch movies or plays, I rarely went to concerts, hardly went to parties, and I didn’t read anything except books on psychology and physiology.»
“The first semester has passed without incident … After January, I’m going to come to grips with solving the riddle of the universe. Harvard is a great place» (Skinner, 1979a).
Later, Skinner more truthfully described his years of graduate school, where, of course, there was a place for both friends and fun parties (1979a).
After receiving his doctorate, he worked for 5 years at Harvard Medical School, studying the nervous system of animals. In 1936, Skinner took a teaching position at the University of Minnesota, where he lectured on introductory psychology and experimental psychology. He noted with pride that some of his students at that time went on to graduate school and became behaviorists in their convictions.
In 1938, Skinner published TheBehavior of Organisms, which described his own experiments in modifying the behavior of animals in the laboratory. This book established Skinner as a brilliant theorist and became the foundation for his further scientific work. Almost all of Skinner’s work after 1930 can be seen as a development, reworking, crystallization of the ideas that were outlined in his first book.
After 9 years in Minnesota, he became head of the Department of Psychology at Indiana State University. Three years later, Skinner left for Harvard, where he worked intermittently until his death. Having stopped teaching, he continued to write. Late publications include a 3-volume biography (Skinner, 1976b, 1979a, 1984a), a popular book on aging (Skinner & Vaughan, 1985), articles on psychology, and several essays criticizing mainstream psychology, which he believed , has gone astray (Skinner, 1987a, 1989, 1990a).
As Skinner continued to explore animal behavior, he found time and energy to apply his ingenuity to other areas. In 1945, he designed a ventilated crib, a device that made him famous throughout the country. The bottom of this glass-enclosed bed, in which the air temperature could be controlled, was made of a hygroscopic material. Inside it, the child could move freely without burdensome diapers, diapers and other clothes. The water-absorbing bottom was easily replaced after contamination. The first appearance of such a crib caused a surge of interest. However, the fact that the child was behind a glass wall, and not just behind a partition, as in an ordinary bed, was too contrary to existing stereotypes. Although Skinner successfully used such a crib for one of his own children, it still did not become popular.
“My experience with American industrialists is disappointing. None of them ever realized the benefits of the baby crib I invented” (Skinner in: Goodell, 1977).
Reflecting on the reasons that led him to invent such a crib, Skinner wrote:
“I must confess that I was guided by a certain interest. If, as many people argue, the first year of a child’s life is extremely important in determining character and personality, then the behavior of the child during this period must be carefully monitored, thereby identifying the main variables ”(1979, p. 290).
Skinner’s next invention for his child was the musical chamber pot, which was never put into practice (Skinner, 1989).
“Very few women like my book The Second Walden, and yet the idea of feminism is traced in it as a red thread” (Skinner in: Goodell, 1977)
In 1948, his book Walden Two («Second Walden») was published. This novella, written several years earlier, was a description of a utopia built on the basic principles of behaviorism, Skinner’s first attempt to transpose his laboratory discoveries to human society. Despite the fact that immediately after the appearance this book was in relatively little demand, over time it became more and more popular, caused heated discussions, and to date, more than 3 million copies have been sold. For Skinner himself, writing the story was an important experience. “I wrote my utopia in seven weeks. In the morning I sketched a short chapter, immediately typed it on a typewriter and edited very little … Some parts were written on such an emotional upsurge that I had never experienced before under any other circumstances ”(1979 a, pp. 297-298). “It was, no doubt, a venture, a soul-searching in which I struggled to reconcile the two sides of my own behavior, presenting them in the form of two main characters (Burris and Frazier)” (1967 a, p. 403) . The creation of The Second Walden was very different from Skinner’s usual writing style: “I write very slowly in general. For each word in my abstract, it takes me two minutes, and it still is. After 3-4 hours of daily work, I can eventually scrape together about a hundred printable words” (1967a, p. 403).
From the sequence in which Skinner’s books came out, it is easy to see how his ideological principles changed as research moved further and further, starting from practical experience. Mention should be made here of Science and Human Behavior (1953), The Technology of Teaching (1968), Cumulative Record (1959, 1961), Beyond Freedom and Dignity (“Beyond Freedom and Dignity”, 1971), About Behaviorism (“On Behaviorism”, 1974), Reflectionson Behaviorism and Society (“Reflections on Behaviorism and Society”, 1978 a). Among his more autobiographical books are Particularsof My Life (1976b), The Shaping of Behaviorist (1979a), Notebooks (1980), A Matter of Consequences ( «The Essence of Conclusions», 1984a).
Skinner’s willingness to engage with the media contributed to his ideas becoming widely known. He wrote all his life, finishing editing the last article just a day before his death at the age of 86.