B.F. Skinner

• Behaviorism


  Emerged in the early 20th century from laboratory studies of animals and humans
• Pioneers of behaviorism


  • Edward L. Thorndike
  • John Watson
  • B.F. Skinner
• B.F. Skinner


  Known for radical behaviorism, focusing solely on observable behavior and rejecting speculative theories
• Observable behavior


  Skinner emphasized observable behaviors, including private ones like thinking and remembering
• Determinism


  Rejects free will, believes behavior is lawfully determined and can be studied scientifically
• Environmentalism


  Behavior is influenced primarily by environmental stimuli rather than physiological factors
• Watson's promise


  Watson proposed shaping personality solely through environmental control, famously stating he could shape any child into any specialist regardless of their innate traits
• Skinner's identity crises


  The first occurred after completing his bachelor's degree in English when he struggled to find success as a writer, leading to feelings of confusion and uncertainty about his future. The second crisis arose later, amid frustrations with failed projects and financial dependence on his parents despite professional success in behaviorism. These crises reflected a struggle with personal identity and unfulfilled potential, as Skinner grappled with the contrast between his professional achievements and personal struggles, leading to periods of deep introspection and uncertainty.
• Thorndike's Law of Effect


  Behaviors followed by satisfying outcomes are reinforced, while those followed by aversive outcomes are weakened
• John B. Watson's influence

  Rejected introspection and consciousness in favor of an objective approach focused on observable behaviors and stimulus-response connections. Challenged traditional psychological concepts, advocating for psychology to prioritize the prediction and control of behavior through empirical analysis of habits.
• Scientific behaviorism


  Studying behavior scientifically, devoid of attributions to needs, instincts, or motives. Rejecting the notion of explaining behavior through internal mental states, equating it to attributing free will to natural phenomena. Emphasizing observing and analyzing observable physical events to understand behavior.
• Characteristics of science (according to Skinner)

  • Cumulative - science progresses over time, accumulating knowledge

  2. Empirical observation - values empirical observation above all else, rejects authority, demands intellectual honesty, and suspends judgment until clear trends emerge

  3. Search for order and lawful relationships - seeks to infer general principles and laws from observed events, involves prediction, control, and description
• Classical conditioning (respondent conditioning)


  Response is drawn out of the organism by a specific, identifiable stimulus. Involves elicited responses. Pairs a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned one to produce a conditioned response.
• Operant conditioning (Skinnerian conditioning)

  Behavior is made more likely to recur when immediately reinforced. Involves emitted responses, where behavior simply appears. Learning through immediate rewards and punishments.
• Distinction between classical and operant conditioning

  In classical conditioning, behavior is elicited from the organism. In operant conditioning, behavior is emitted by the organism.
• Shaping


  Rewarding small steps toward a desired behavior until the final behavior is achieved. Starts with rewarding actions similar to the target behavior and gradually requiring more accurate responses.
• Reinforcement


  Strengthens the behavior and rewards the person. Can be positive (adding something good) or negative (removing something bad), both resulting in increased or strengthened behavior.
• Punishment


  Adding something bad or removing something good to decrease unwanted behavior. Decreases behavior, while negative reinforcement strengthens it.
• Effects of punishment


  Temporarily stops bad behavior but doesn't offer guidance for better actions. Can make people associate negative feelings with punished behavior. May lead to avoiding certain situations or developing negative feelings towards punishment-related things. Punished individuals might use mental tricks like justifying bad actions to cope with punishment-related stress.
• Conditioned and generalized reinforcers


  Environmental cues linked to primary rewards, like money for obtaining various essentials. Stimuli associated with multiple rewards, like attention linked to various positive outcomes.
• Schedules of reinforcement

  • Fixed-ratio
  • Variable-ratio
  • Fixed-interval
  • Variable-interval
• Natural selection


  Human behavior, influenced by both genetics and learned experiences, reflects adaptations for survival and reproduction, yet not all behaviors shaped by natural selection remain advantageous in modern contexts, as culture and reinforcement history also play significant roles in shaping behavior.
• Cultural evolution


  Shapes behavior through practices that aid group survival, originating from individual reinforcement but leading to both adaptive and non-adaptive outcomes.
• Inner states


  Skinner acknowledged the existence of internal states like love, anxiety, and fear, but emphasized studying them through observable behaviors rather than speculative constructs.
• Self-awareness


  Skinner recognized humans' consciousness and private events like thoughts and intentions, which he deemed observable behavior influenced by the environment.
• Drives


  Skinner dismissed drives as hypothetical explanations for behavior, emphasizing the need for empirical evidence to establish their relationship with specific behaviors.
• Emotions


  While Skinner acknowledged emotions' subjective existence, he attributed behavior to survival and reinforcement contingencies rather than emotions themselves.
• Purpose and intention


  Skinner acknowledged purpose and intention but cautioned against solely attributing behavior to them, emphasizing behavior's shaping by past reinforcement rather than present intentions.
• Higher mental processes


  Skinner rejected the concept of a separate "mind" and viewed thinking, problem-solving, and memory as behaviors influenced by past experiences and environmental factors, not internal processes.
• Creativity


  According to radical behaviorism, creativity is akin to natural selection, with accidental behaviors selected based on their reinforcing consequences. Creative individuals produce responses with a chance of reinforcement, shaped by genetic differences and past experiences.
• Unconscious behavior


  Skinner acknowledged unconscious behavior but rejected the idea of hidden unconscious ideas or emotions, attributing behavior to environmental factors and reinforcement. Behavior can become unconscious through punishment, with denial serving as negative reinforcement.
• Dreams


  Skinner viewed dreams as symbolic behaviors subject to reinforcement contingencies, similar to Freud's notion of wish-fulfillment. In dreams, repressed stimuli can find expression without punishment, allowing for the symbolic expression of behaviors.
• Social behavior


  Groups are formed by individuals reinforced for doing so, with positive reinforcement within the group sometimes outweighing punishment. Individuals may stay in a group due to reinforcement, lack of means to leave, or intermittent rewards.
• Control of human behavior

  An individual's behavior is controlled by environmental contingencies, which may have been erected by society, another individual, or oneself.
• Social control


  The influence exerted by social groups through laws, rules, and customs, which shape individual behavior. Methods include operant conditioning, verbal communication about consequences, controlling access to reinforcers, and direct physical control.
• Self-control


  Individuals manipulating their environment to regulate their behavior, using techniques like physical aids, altering surroundings, arranging escape options, taking drugs, and redirecting behavior.
• Counteracting strategies


  Escape (withdrawing physically or psychologically), revolt (active opposition), and passive resistance (subtle obstruction and defiance) - used by individuals to resist or oppose controlling forces.
• Inappropriate behaviors


  Self-defeating techniques resulting from unsuccessful attempts at counteracting social control or self-control, often accompanied by strong emotions and shaped by positive and negative reinforcement.
• Types of inappropriate behaviors

  • Excessively vigorous behavior
  • Excessively restrained behavior
  • Reality blocking
  • Defective self-knowledge
  • Self-punishment
• Psychotherapy


  Skinner critiqued psychotherapy as a barrier to psychology's scientific progress, yet his behavior-shaping concepts profoundly influenced behavior therapy. He viewed therapists as controlling agents, distinguishing between punitive figures and supportive ones. Therapeutic behavior, like any behavior, evolves gradually, with therapists reinforcing small improvements.