Burres Frederick Skinner (1904-1990), American psychologist, leader of modern behaviorism.
Born March 20, 1904 in Susquehanna (pc. Pennsylvania). After graduating from Hamilton College, he tried to write prose and poetry, but soon came to the conclusion that his talents lay in another area. Nevertheless, in 1948 he published the novel Walden Two (Walden Two), describing a utopian community. Graduated from Harvard University with a degree in psychology. The biologist W.J. Crozier had a significant influence on the young scientist, who attracted him to experiments on animals. Skinner taught at the Universities of Minnesota and Indiana, and in 1948 became a professor at Harvard University.
Skinner’s main work is The Behavior of Organisms (1938), where he outlines the principles of «operant conditioning». They are most easily understood by looking at a typical Skinner experiment. The rat, brought to 80-90% of its normal weight, is placed in a device called a «skinner box». It is a cramped cage, allowing only those actions of the rat that the experimenter can control or observe. The box has an opening through which food is fed and a lever. The rat must press the lever several times to receive a portion of food. This pressing is called an operant response. It doesn’t matter which way the rat presses the lever — paw, nose, tail — the operant response remains the same, because it causes the same effect — the appearance of food. By rewarding (giving out food) for a certain number of clicks or for pressing at a certain interval, you can get stable ways of responding.
An operator reaction in Skinner’s sense should be distinguished from automatic, purely reflex reactions associated with unconditioned and conditioned reflexes. Operator reaction is an arbitrary and purposeful action. However, Skinner defines purposefulness in terms of feedback (i.e., the impact on behavior of its consequences), and not in terms of goals, intentions, or other internal states — mental or physiological. In his opinion, the use in psychology of these «intrinsic parameters» involves the introduction of dubious assumptions that add nothing to the empirical laws that relate observed behavior to observed environmental influences. It is these laws that are the real means of predicting and controlling the behavior of humans and animals. Skinner emphasized that «the objection to internal states is not that they do not exist, but that they are irrelevant to functional analysis.» In this analysis, the probability of an operator reaction appears as a function of external influences, both past and present.
Skinner was the initiator of training with the help of special machines created by him and his employees. Teaching machines evaluate student responses to a given question. Thus, the student’s desired behavior is directly reinforced.
According to Skinner, operant conditioning can be used not only to control the behavior of others, but also to control one’s own behavior. Self-control can be achieved by creating conditions for the desired behavior to be reinforced.
In addition to the Behavior of organisms, among the main works of Skinner are Science and Behavior (Science and Behavior, 1953), Verbal Behavior (Verbal Behavior, 1957), Beyond Freedom and Dignity (Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971) and About Behaviorism (About Behaviorism, 1974).
Skinner died in Cambridge (Massachusetts) on August 18, 1990.