Theorist: B.F. Skinner

THEORIST B .F SKINNER

Theorist B .F Skinner

Biographical

B .F Skinner was born on 20th March , 1904 to Grace and a lawyer , William skinner in Susquehanna in the state of Pennsylvania , US . Skinner initial intentions was to become a writer while he attended collage in New York at Hamilton College , where he wrote critical articles for the school s , and proceeded to graduate in 1926 , with a BA in English literature . As time went and he widened his reading , Skinner got interested in psychology and had started introducing psychological

aspects in his short literary works , this came to a climax when he left literature , and sought admission at Harvard university to study psychology as a graduate student thus the culmination of his behavioral studies and theories , the common one being : operant conditioning theory (Boeree , 1998 ,

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Principal teachings

BF Skinner developed the theory of operant conditioning where he used animals (rats ) to perform experiments to determine how animals behave He noted that animals operate in an environment thus exhibiting operant behavior , which is important in developing certain consequences which eventually determine the probability of similar behaviors being repeated . He concluded that behavior is basically shaped and maintained by the eventual consequences of exhibiting a certain behavior . The consequences that shape behavior include : positive reinforcement negative reinforcement and lastly punishment (Boeree , 1998 ,

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Positive reinforcement basically reinforces a behavior that leads to its presentation , for instance if an organism takes part in a behavior that is proceeded...