Abstract This paper presents a history of B.F. Skinner's theory of behaviorism. The paper then contrasts Skinner's theory with Freud's theory and combines it with the interpersonal model to explain adolescent development.
From the Paper "The following research paper presents B.F. Skinner and the history of his behavior theory. Skinner's theory is contrasted with Freud's theory and combined with the interpersonal model to explain the development of adolescents and personality Skinner's theory is then applied to the mental health nursing field. Findings are applied to a black male child."
Abstract The paper describes world renowned psychologist, B.F Skinner's Operant Conditioning Theory - the primary focus of this form of learning being on the relationship of reinforcement to the change in overt behavior. The paper provides a biography of Skinner and shows how his ideas affected the psychological world.
From the Paper "We, as human beings, are distinguished by the fact that our vocal responses can be easily conditioned as operants. Because the behavior must be reinforced through the mediation of other people, who do many different things, there are many kinds of verbal operants (http://www.bfskinner.org/Operant.asp). Language is composed of the reinforcing practices of a given culture. These practices are responsible for the majority of the extraordinary achievements of humans. Other species acquire behavior from each other through imitation and from modeling or showing each other what to do."
Tags: Walden, II, Beyond, Freedom, and, Dignity, Skinner, Box, reinforcer
Abstract Behaviorism, as described by philosopher B.F. Skinner in his work "Walden Two", is a scientific manner of understanding human actions as based on a certain set of principles. The paper examines Skinner's view that all actions are the result of a series of determined factors in "competition" with each other. Whichever factor proves to be dominant will determine the final action. The paper argues that while these factors can be "charted" to determine the probable end results of human action, it should be noted that these factors are not always totally predictable. It shows that Skinner, though, would simply argue that this lack of predictability was merely a technical problem that would eventually be resolved.
From the Paper "Finally there exists the problem of ultimate control. His whole concept of society is to be based on regulated planning to produce favourable situations, but who or what would be responsible for this centralized control. Skinner proposes that the "charlatans" who now have control over certain segmented areas will be replaced when all is "united", but he does not suggest who it is that will replace them. Obviously someone or something must be in overall command of this series of controls, but on what basis will this be decided."
Abstract B.F. (Burrhus Frederic) Skinner is regarded by many as the founder of operant conditioning, a form of behavior modification that, simply stated, depends on rewarding desired behaviors and initiating unpleasant consequences for undesirable behaviors. This paper explains that Skinner proposed that immediate and appropriate reinforcement of both good and bad behaviors would very likely increase the likelihood that the desirable behavior would be repeated and the undesirable one repeated less often. This paper provides a brief review dealing with the ways in which Skinner's theories are being looked at by educators today.
Outline:
Introduction
Historical Truisms Applied to Modern Classrooms
Current Point-Counterpoint Regarding Skinner's Theories
Using Skinner Early and Often
References
From the Paper "While Skinner and half a dozen contemporaries were expert at running animal experiments, with their forte being maze-running and operant conditioning of the sort employed in a Skinner box, they were also noted for "dustbowl empiricism" or, in other words, finding out what worked in reality, not in theory alone. The burden of their findings, including Skinner's, was that "repetition of a task, with suitable reinforcement for completing each trial, improved performance" (Bruner 2004, 13+)."
Abstract This paper provides a retrospective of the ideas about behaviorism and the environment contained in B.F. Skinner's 1971 book "What Is Man". The paper first summarizes Skinner's belief that man is shaped by his environment and experiences, and provides several examples from the text. Then the author critiques those theories, finding that Skinner is "heavy on conjecture, but light on proof."
From the Paper "Man, Skinner claimed, was shaped and is maintained by his environment. He agrees with Gilbert Seldes rather remarkable claim that environment changes people, that it "thirty little Hottentots" and thirty aristocratic English children had their environments switched, the English children would become Hottentots and the Hottentots conservative Englishmen. Skinner says that environmentalists actually tended to believe that if a Mongol on horseback were switched at birth with an Astronaut, they would accomplish the same things. The environmentalists may be literally saying that, if you put a rabbit along with lion cubs and is nursed along with those cubs, the rabbit will react like a lion when he gets older. There is something to be said about environment, especially when it comes to the lower order of animals, since, surely, as Darwin discovered, survival depended on adaptation to climate, environment, and other elements of nature."
Tags: nature, environment, evolution, behavior, philosophy, theory
Abstract This paper discusses theories of classroom behavior management and B.F. Skinner's theories on behavior as applied to a 7th grade classroom. The paper further looks at how to break up teaching into successive steps and reinforcements for each stage. The paper's focus is on positive reinforcement.
Tags:B.F. Skinner, Thomas Gordon, William Glasser, Lee Canter
Abstract This paper discusses the accomplishments of B.F. Skinner. The paper discusses the psychologist's history, particularly focusing on the fact that he has accomplished all that he has in psychology and behaviorism without actually studying psychology. The paper describes Skinner's interest in the behavior of animals and humans that led to his work in behavioral science.
From the Paper "The Accomplishments of B.F. Skinner "Skinner is the most important American psychologist of the twentieth century, and arguably the most important world psychologist since, or including, Freud," yet he never directly studied psychology (Smith, 1999, 1). B.F. Skinner obtained his college degree in literature. He never took college courses for psychology, yet his gift of understanding behavior has made him famous as a behavior psychologist. His interests in behavior of animals or humans led to his vast amount of work concerning behavioral science. Skinner wrote a number of books and articles that continue to be important in the field of psychology. B.F. Skinner found the behavior of organism fascinating and began to study how animals reacted to different stimuli. Skinner changed the meaning of psychology, which is the study of humans. "
Abstract This paper explains that B.F. Skinner became known for his theory of operant conditioning in relation to behavior. The author points out that, through experiments in his laboratory, Skinner determined that the human was similar to the rat because rats could be taught to behave in any manner if they knew that a reward would follow the behavior. The paper argues that, while many in society proclaimed that Skinner was attempting to create a system that would prevent individual's from being in control of their own lives, he simply demonstrated that the environment was a substantial factor in how people behave. The author describes the behavior of the student Mike and concludes that Skinner would have determined that Mike's behavior was because of extensive operant conditioning in which Mike learned through both positive and negative reinforcements.
Table of Contents:
Skinner's Theory of Operant Conditioning
Rat Experiments
Behavior Modification
Criticism
Student Case Study Observation
From the Paper "Skinner believed, nonetheless, that if the entire process of setting the timer, ringing the bell and serving the food were repeated eventually that the rats would resume their previous operant behavior. This was because Skinner found that "re-teaching" the rats to act in a certain manner was a simple task, as the rats appeared to mentally recall the process that they had learned previously. Initially teaching the rats required "continuous reinforcement" on the part of Skinner, which meant that every time, regardless of the hour, that the rat completed a task that Skinner had determined the rat would be rewarded with food."
Abstract This paper discusses B.F. Skinner's baby box and the controversy surrounding the use of the invention. The paper first explains that the primary purpose of the box was to keep Skinner's baby daughter warm, safe and comfortable. The paper then discusses the arguments in favor of using the box as well as the arguments opposed to its use. The paper also includes the writer's personal opinion about using the baby box.
From the Paper "When B. F. Skinner built his 'baby box' it worked very well, but a lot of people were concerned that it was a 'cage' in which to keep his child. Some of this undoubtedly came from the fact that Skinner was a serious proponent of operant conditioning, where he taught a rat to pull a lever in a box in order to be given food. Naturally, this was extended to the belief that he was doing the same thing with his infant daughter - putting her in a cage and requiring her to perform certain actions in order to be given food and other necessities. Of course, this was not true, but it did not stop people from saying it."
Abstract This paper discusses how theories of personality development vary with different schools of psychological thinking. It compares the theories of B. F. Skinner, who believed behavioral factors determine personality and R. B. Cattell, who believed trait factors determine personality. It shows that while Skinner and Cattell adhere to different theories of personality development, their theories have at least some elements in common. Both agreed that personality development is partly determined by the life experiences of the individual. It looks at how Skinner believed that these experiences are stimuli which result in certain behavior patterns, while Cattell believed that, though the environment has some influence one early development, basic factor traits exist and that stimuli act differently on people with different traits. Cattell offers a way of predicting behavior patterns whereas Skinner offers a way of analyzing and changing them.
From the Paper "These two factors are important in the development of behavior patterns. They are also tools for teaching behavior, and for behavior modification. A stimulus can produce a positive or negative response, i.e. it can reinforce a certain behavior by resulting in a pleasant occurrence, a reward, a feeling of pleasure etc.: on the other hand, some behavior will produce a negative response, such as burning a hand when putting it in a flame, or inciting the wrath of a parent by disobeying an order. As negative reinforcement will deter the person from behaving in that way in the future, i.e. it is a PUNISHING STIMULUS. These are the basic tenets of Skinner's theory of personality development - that it is shaped by the experiences of the individual, and that aberrant behavior can be modified by inducing appropriate behaviors in a controlled setting. However, Skinner recognized that in one sense, all behavior is inherited , since the organism that behaves in a certain way is the product of natural selection (Skinner, 1974, p. 43). He believed OPERANT CONDITIONING is as much a part of genetic endowment as digestion or gestation. Skinner further believed that, while the conditions under which a person acquires behavior are accessible and can be manipulated, the conditions under which a species acquires behavior are out of reach."
Abstract This paper compares the renowned psychologists B.F. Skinner, George Miller, Jean Piaget, and Albert Bandura theories on learning. The paper describes the theory of behavioral reinforcement and the use of uses imagery as a learning tool. It illustrates the repetitive learning process to retain information and claims that we learn from our environment.
From the Paper "There have been many theorists over the course of history who have had influence upon the world's ideas of how people learn. While these theorists may stem from some of the same ideas, they are also each distinctly different in at least one aspect of their theories. B.F. Skinner, George Miller, Jean Piaget, and Albert Bandura all have different theories of learning, yet each theory can be related to one another in a number of ways."
Compares the views on human development of these behavioral and cognitive psychologists, their major contributions, applications, limitations and testing.
2,025 words (approx. 8.1 pages), 8 sources, 1999, $ 71.95
Abstract "B. F. Skinner (1904-1990), an American psychologist, and Jean Piaget (1896-1980), a Swiss psychologist, were two of the most influential human development theorists of the twentieth century. The two men approached the question of development from very different angles.
From the Paper "B. F. Skinner (1904-1990), an American psychologist, and Jean Piaget (1896-1980), a Swiss psychologist, were two of the most influential human development theorists of the twentieth century. The two men approached the question of development from very different angles. Skinner, a behaviorist, worked from a learning perspective and saw human development as a continuous process in which changes in behavior were responses to experience and adaptation to the environment. Piaget, on the other hand, took a cognitive approach and was concerned with the evolution of mental structures. Where Skinner saw development in quantitative terms (i.e., changes in the amount learned), Piaget held that development occurred in stages in which qualitative changes (i.e., changes in how the person thinks) enabled the individual to construct her/his world through progressively more complicated ..."
From the Paper This research is directed to an analysis of the social and philosophical attitudes on human behavior as outlined in the work Beyond Freedom and Dignity, by B. F. Skinner.
Modern psychological science has developed many technologies for the understanding and the techniques of the changing of behavior, other-wise known as behavior therapy, behavior modification, behavioral engineering. These different definitions are more basically similar than dissimilar. They derive from experimentally established procedures and principles, which ultimately means the experimenter is in control of the variables and the development of data, replication of the findings, and the required statement, in its own terms of reference, of the consequent generalizations. The work of Skinner and his group at Harvard College is now known and accepted as one of the most ... "
Abstract This paper reviews the book "Walden Two" by B.F. Skinner, about the perfect society in which strife and conflict do not exist. It shows how by using behavioral technology, the creator of this Utopia, T.E. Frazier, eliminates societal problems such as greed, envy and anger, to name a few. It examines how Frazier faithfully utilizes the tenants of operant conditioning in every aspect of the resident's lives. Nothing is left to chance; from the organization of childcare and education to the design of the tea service. It analyzes how every aspect of life in Walden Two is examined and designed for optimum performance.
From the Paper "On the surface, Walden Two appears to be the perfect solution to the glaring problems within our society. The residents adhere to the doctrine of Walden Two with a cult-like devotion. The atmosphere of cooperative living is sustained by the community dining and sleeping facilities, normalized education and the standardized mode of dress. Walden Two attempts to make everything easier for it's occupants and, in essence, removes spontaneity and originality. For example, all meals are taken in a community dining area. The residents of Walden Two are on staggered shifts due to the fact that no one exists on a typical, nine to five workday. Because each individual is only required to work approximately four hours per day doing activities of his or her choice, the individual can set their own schedules."
Looks at B.F. Skinner and Sigmund Freud, two of the most important figures in the history of psychology and psychological development and compares their systems of analysis.
Abstract This paper compares and contrasts Freud's and Skinner's vastly different and conflicting theories of the study of psychology. It looks at how they differed on their views of psychology's basic function and compares the differences in the way each one approached the study of psychology. The paper goes on to look at both Freud's and Skinner's most important focus and contribution to the field of psychology
From the Paper "So Freud noted not only that we are motivated and moved by forces that exist outside of our conscious cogitation and understanding, but also developed a theoretical explanation for how and why these unconscious elements existed. Freud argued that the primary drive for human interaction was, at its base, sexual, and that the majority of repressed and unconscious motivations were different sublimations of a primal sexual impulse that society had necessarily and understandably required to be repressed."
