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B.F. Skinner was American born on March 20, 1904 and died on August 18, 1990. Before turning to psychology, Skinner tried to be a writer (receiving his B.A. in English literature from Hamilton College). He then returned to school to get his degree in psychology from Harvard University. He is one of the leaders in behaviorism. (http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/bio_skinner.htm) Skinner received many awards for his contribution to psychology.
Skinner created operant conditioning through the use of what we call today the Skinner Box. He believed that free will did not truly exist but that behavior was caused by conditioning in the environment. For every action there is a consequence which is dependent on how strong the previous action was. He worked alongside John B. Watson and Ivan Pavlov to create the department of psychological behaviorism.
Bio: B.F. (Burrhus Frederic) Skinner was born and raised in a small town in Pennsylvania. He had one younger brother who died at the age of 16 from cerebral aneurism. As a child, Skinner enjoyed using his hands and therefore built and invented many things. Skinner’s education for all twelve grades took place in one school building and graduated with eight other students. (http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/skinner.htm) From there, Skinner went to Hamilton College, a small liberal arts school in New York to study English literature. Skinner did not agree with the school and therefore his rebellious side came out. Following graduation, Skinner attempted a career at writing. Skinner attended the Middlebury School of English in Vermont where he wrote his first book, Digest of Decisions of the Anthracite Board of Conciliation, which was about a 1904 coal strike. However, Skinner felt as if he had little to offer the writing world. He had a small background in psychology and philosophy from Hamilton College. Much of his early work was from self observation of memory and perception. ( http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/skinner.htm ) While he was a graduate student at Harvard University, Skinner met Fred S. Keller who introduced him to behaviorism. This introduction is what sparked his true academic growth because while he was able to do the minimum amount of work necessary before, he now realized that he needed to put effort into his work.
Beginning in 1930, Skinner began to focus on behavior, specifically reflexes. From here, he began to work on conditioning, later come to know as operant conditioning.
Theory: Skinner was largely influenced by the works of Edward Thorndike and his 'Law of Effect'. This said that responses which create pleasant or satisfying result in a that situation being more likely to happen again. The same would go for an unpleasant effect; it would be less likely to be happen again. (http://psychcentral.com/encyclopedia/2009/law-of-effect/) Skinner however, was the one who introduced to the 'Law of Effect' the idea of a reinforcement. Skinner concluded that a behavior that is followed with a reinforcement is more likely to continue while that which is not, is more likely to disappear. In 1938, Skinner coined the term 'operant conditioning'. (http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html)
Skinner Box: Skinner Box is very similar to Thorndike's puzzle box. Skinner discovered three different types of responses to human and animal behavior. Neutral Operants: something from the environment neither increases or decreases the chances of a behavior happening. Reinforcers: something from the environment, either positive or negative, that increases the chances of a behavior happening. Punishers: something from the environment that will decrease the chance of a behavior happening; it weakens a given behavior. (http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html)
Using positive reinforcements, Skinner created a box that would provide the rat with a reward (a food pellet) when he did the desired action. Skinner began by reinforcing the rat whenever it would accidentally touch the lever and so on until the rat learned to push down on the lever on its own. Skinner used negative reinforcement by placing an electric current in the box which would cause discomfort for the rat. It could only be stopped when the rat pushed the lever. The rat would learn by first accidentally hitting the lever and then learning to push it to avoid the electric current.
Reinforcement: There are different types of reinforcements. Positive reinforcement strengthens a desired behavior. The subject is given a reward each time he or she completes the action. Negative reinforcement would be the removal of an unpleasant stimulus therefore strengthening a behavior. Punishment however, is the opposite of reinforcement since is to weaken or decrease a behavior. Positive punishment is looking to decrease the probability of something happening in the future by presenting an unpleasant or annoying stimulus(unlike positive reinforcement which is trying to increase that likelihood). Negative punishment is taking away a positive stimulus to decrease a behavior. (http://www2.psychology.uiowa.edu/faculty/wasserman/glossary/punishment.html)