Transcript Awards

B.F. Skinner
Burrhus Frederic Skinner
Background






March 20, 1904- August 18, 1990
Born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania
1926 a B.A. in English literature Hamilton College,
Time spent a struggling writer Inspired by these works,
Entered the psychology graduate program at Harvard
University.
1936-married Yvonne Blue in 1936,
Daughters Julie and Deborah.




1945- moved to Bloomington, Indiana
became Psychology Department Chair and the University
of Indiana.
1948- joined the psychology department at Harvard
University’
1974- Retired
Accomplishments


He became a leader of behaviorism
Invented Skinner box
Awards:
 1966 Edward Lee Thorndike Award, American Psychological
Association
 1968 - National Medal of Science from President Lyndon B.
Johnson
 1971 - Gold Medal of the American Psychological Foundation
 1972 - Human of the Year Award
 1990 - Citation for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to
Psychology
Seminal Work in Field
 Continued
Pavlov and Watson’s Work
 Advanced Thorndike’s work.
Operant Conditioning Theory
 Programmed
learning

Broken into steps
Maximize success, minimize frustration

Programmed instruction

 Use
of behavioral objectives
Tracey 46
 To
employ the theory of operant
conditioning we must look at actions and
consequences
 Responses that follow behavior
 Neutral Operant
 Reinforcers
 Punishers
 Shaping-
Through shaping we gradually
bring the learner to the desired outcome
by starting to reinforce broad steps and
then more specific steps necessary to
achieve a goal
 Chaining- Sequence small steps into a
more complex act.
Tracey 28
Classroom Application
 Behaviorism
approach”


led to the “subskills
Reading is broken down to many parts
Mastery of parts through response/
immediate feedback
 Programmed


learning
Using activities that demonstrate a
correlation between what has been taught
and what is assessed
Pro
 Strong
on emphasizing concept of sequence
and success of students

Con
 Moves
very slowly with little student input

(Marlow1)
Direct Instruction
 Introduction


Select examples that are easy to apply skill
guided practice


Scaffolded
Discrimination
Criticism
 His
theory of "operant conditioning" -known as behavior modification -seemed, in the 1950s and '60s,
manufactured for the same fascist tool kit
as Huxley's soma or Orwell's
thoughtcrime” (Bennet1)
“
‘I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t read
any of his work,’ Spock wrote, ‘but I know
that it’s fascist and manipulative, and
therefore I can’t approve of it.’”
(Freedman1)
Time found
Skinner
unsettling
enough to put
him on its cover
and ask,
"Skinner's
Utopia:
Panacea, or
Path to Hell”
(Bennet 1).
Walden Two
 To
teach toddlers self-control, Frazier says,
workers hang lollipops "like crucifixes"
around their necks and tell them they
may eat the whole thing later, provided
they don't lick it until permitted (Bennet 1).
Citations

Bennet, J (2012). What man can make of man. In The Atlantic. . Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 6
May 2013.

Cherry, K. (2013). “B. F. Skinner Biography (1904-1990).”In About.Com Guide. Retrieved May 13, 2013
from http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/bio_skinner.htm

Edgier, M (2012). Recent leaders in American education. In College Student Journal 46. :174+. Student
Resources in Context. Web. 7 May 2013.

Freedman, David H.(2012) The perfected self: B.F. Skinner's notorious theory of behavior modification
was denounced by critics 50 years ago as a fascist, manipulative vehicle for government control. But
Skinner's ideas are making an unlikely comeback today, powered by smartphone apps that are
transforming us into thinner, richer, all-around-better versions of ourselves. The only thing we have to
give up? Free will. In The Atlantic: 42+. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 7 May 2013.

Tracey, D. and Morrow, L.M. (2012). Behaviorism. (Ch. 3) In Lenses on reading: An introduction to
theories and models. New York. NY: Guilford Press, pp. 40-56.