BURRHUS F SKINNER By Jordan M and Patricia

BURRHUS F. SKINNER By: Jordan M. and Patricia I.

Background • Born in PA in 1904 • Attended Hamilton College in 1926 and took up writing. He did not succeed in it, so he enrolled into Harvard to study psychology. • American psychologist: Developed the learning theory of behaviorism • Known for work with the “Skinner Box” to study animals interacting with their environment. • Was the chair of psychology department at Indiana University in 1948 - returned to Harvard two years later. • Created learning machine to study learning in children • Died of Leukemia in 1990

Influences Pavlov Watson ■ Known for Classical Conditioning ■ Automatic form of learning ■ Came up with the concept of conditioning through his work with dogs and their reactions when exposed to food ■ The founder of Behaviorist theory ■ Believed that people's reactions in various situations were determined by how experiences had programmed them to react Skinner Pavlov Watson Video

What is Behaviorism? ■ Behaviorism is the view that animals and humans are born with a "clean slate, " and that everything we do is determined by conditioned responses to certain stimuli in our environment. The likelihood of a behavior happening again is determined by reinforcement and punishments. ■ Behaviorists believe that psychology should focus on measureable and observable physical behaviors and how these behaviors can be manipulated by changes in the external environment. ■ There is no room in behaviorist theory for thoughts or emotions, a contrast to other theories of psychology. Example: If a child touches a hot surface, the punishment will be he/she will get burned. They are then conditioned to not touch the hot surface again.

Operant Conditioning • The distinctive characteristic is that the organism can emit responses instead of only eliciting response due to an external stimulus • Reinforcement is key

“Skinner Box” ■ Skinner used this box to study the behavior of animals and related their behavior to the behavior of humans ■ He trained rats and pigeons to press a lever in order to receive food as a reward for their behavior ■ Other stimuli can also be presented including lights, sounds and images. In some instances, the floor of the chamber may be electrified

Present Day application ■ According to Skinner, learning is implied by a change in behavior. – A teacher must decide the desired behavior, then manipulate the consequences to alter the chances of the behavior happening again. – Through shaping new behaviors can be developed. ■ Teachers today use reward systems to encourage desired behaviors in the classroom.

Critics ■ Some argue that the use of animal research in operant conditioning, is extrapolation. ■ Human are more complex than animals. ■ Social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) suggest that humans can learn automatically through observing rather than through personal experience.

Fun Facts: Baby in a box • Rumor has it, Skinner raised his daughter in a box for the first two years of her life. This is false. He actually intended to create a high tech crib, called the “Air Crib. ” • The crib had three solid walls and a safety glass plane at the front, which could be lower to get the baby out. The canvas was stretched to create a base, and sheeting was stretched across the base. • Parents could regulate temperature and humidity of crib, as well as filter the air that went in it. • This crib was commercialized and estimated to have sold 300 million.

Sources ■ http: //www. biography. com/people/bf-skinner-9485671#final-years ■ https: //www. learning-theories. com/behaviorism. html ■ http: //tip. psychology. org/skinner. html ■ http: //image. slidesharecdn. com/behaviorism-150117004220 -conversion-gate 01/95/behaviorism-9638. jpg? cb=1421477005 ■ http: //fpfthoughts. com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/operant-conditioning-mouse. jpeg ■ https: //upload. wikimedia. org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Skinner_box_scheme_01. png ■ http: //aweedmanbehaviorism. weebly. com/uploads/3/7/0/5/37054051/3907331. png? 506 ■ https: //owlcation. com/social-sciences/Cognitive-Development-in-Children-from-Watson-to-Kohlberg ■ www. psychologicalscience. org ■ www. theoryfundamentals. com/skinner. htm ■ www. simplypsychology. org/operant-conditioning. html