Research Paper on Burrhus Frederic Skinner

Research Paper on Burrhus Frederic Skinner

Burrhus Frederic Skinner was an American psychologist and scholar who influenced behaviorism theory and experimental psychology studies. Skinner became interested in psychology later in life and went back to school to major. During this time, he developed arguments of operant conditioning, which have transformed the theory he called radical behaviorism. This paper aims to research who Skinner was, his life, and majorly how his contributions to psychology have continued to transform the discipline and practice today.

Background

Skinner was born in 1904 in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, and died in 1990 (Cherry, 2020). Skinner’s father, William Skinner, was an established lawyer, while his mother, Grace, was a homemaker (Cherry, 2020). Skinner only had one sibling named Edward, although he died at 16 due to a hemorrhage attack in the cerebral brain (Cherry, 2020). From high school, Skinner developed an interest in scientific reasoning, primarily through Francis Bacon’s works (Cherry, 2020). However, at Hamilton College, he studied a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and graduated in 1926 (Cherry, 2020). Afterward, he explored the career of being a writer with a newspaper but soon became disinterested in the art. Skinner then started working as a clerk in a book store where he enjoyed reading. In one of the readings, Skinner came across the psychological works of Pavlov and Watson. They became influential in enrolling at Harvard University, where he studied a psychology graduate program and later Ph.D. from the same institution in 1931 (Cherry, 2020). After graduation, he continued to work under a fellowship for Harvard University for five years, during which he progressed in the research of operant conditioning and behavior studies. In 1936, Skinner married Yvonne Blue, and they had two daughters Julie and Deborah (Cherry, 2020).

While at Harvard University, Skinner worked with one friend, Fred Keller, and they continued exploring their interest in learning more about human behavior (Cherry, 2020). The two started conducting experiments to monitor how people behaved. For instance, Skinner developed the Skinner box, a model experiment to monitor if the behavior was influenced by a stimulus or what happened after the behavior due to conditioning. In this case, the Skinner box contained a chamber with a bar or key that animals could press to receive food or water (Leeder, 2022). The reward acted as a form of reinforcement of the animal’s behavior. Response rates were recorded to determine how fast the animal responded to wanting food and how delays in response led to the withdrawal of the food as a reward (Leeder, 2022). This contributed substantially to the development of positive and negative reinforcement as ways of influencing human behavior in a particular way. In his career, Skinner also taught at the universities of Minnesota and Indiana before returning to Harvard, where he taught until he retired from 1948 to 1974 (Cherry, 2020). He died in 1990 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, due to leukemia illness (Cherry, 2020). Throughout most of his life, Skinner was a critic of religion and did not believe in the existence of God.

Theory Development and Achievements

Skinner is renowned because of the development of the radical behaviorism theory, which focuses primarily on the impact of the operant condition on human behavior. The theory entails the relationship between a particular behavior and its consequences (Moore, 2013). Skinner argued that humans tend to do actions that depend on the consequences of similar actions. For instance, the chances of the consequences of an action being favorable will influence the person to repeat the behavior (Moore, 2013). However, if the results become negative, the chances of the person repeating the same action are low (Moore, 2013). This led to the development of the principle of reinforcement as part of the stimulus to strengthen or weaken a behavior. Positive reinforcements primarily work with the provision of rewards to encourage people to retain a particular behavior and result in positive outcomes (Moore, 2013). However, negative reinforcement can be through rewards withdrawal if a particular behavior is not achieved or punishments (Moore, 2013). These contributions led to the development of the Skinner box and the cumulative recorder devices, which enhanced experimental psychology development (Leeder, 2022). Based on the wife’s request, Skinner also developed baby tender, an improved version of the baby beds with slats covering the high sides (Cherry, 2020). However, this invention received criticism from many people. It led to some rumors that he was experimenting on his daughter and even led to the daughter committing suicide. However, these rumors were addressed as false even though the daughter came out strongly to condemn them, such as asking for people to embrace the invention.

Apart from the psychology experiments, Skinner was also a renowned scholar. In his lifetime, he wrote more than twenty books that have continued to progress academic teaching, behavioral studies, and practice worldwide (Cherry, 2020). Besides books, Skinner also wrote and published more than two hundred articles that have contributed significantly to academic literature and studies (Cherry, 2020). As a result of these contributions, there have been many awards to recognize his works. For instance, in 1990, Skinner was recognized by the American Psychology Association (APA) as the most influential psychologist and outstanding lifetime contributor to the psychology field in the 20th century (Cherry, 2020). The notable awards also presented to Skinner by the APA organization include the Edward Lee Thorndike award presented in 1966 and a gold medal in 1971 (Cherry, 2020). In addition, Skinner also got a humanist of the year award in 1972 (Cherry, 2020). These awards show how the works by Skinner helped revolutionize the field of Psychology as a scholar and theorist in human behavior, which not only impacts the discipline but also applies to other sectors such as motivation theories in management, among others.

The research and theory of behaviorism developed by Skinner have been applied in many psychological scenarios. For instance, in mental health institutions, most clinical psychologists have utilized operant conditioning techniques to help assess the clients’ needs and work with them to recover (Leeder, 2022). In education, the operant conditioning of human behavior has been effective when used by educators to motivate students to achieve good performance. In addition, the teachers have always used the concepts of positive and negative reinforcement as a way not only to influence the behavior of students in the classroom but also to encourage them to increase their performance and understanding (Leeder, 2022). In the zoology field, many animal trainers have also utilized concepts drawn from the Skinner box to help train both wild and domestic animals (including pets) to behave in a particular way. Good examples of how such animals are trained to include dogs, dolphins, and even some baby whales used for live shows (Leeder, 2022). Therefore, Skinner’s contributions to psychology have left a substantial impact in the field and other fields and sectors.

Influence on Psychology

One of the significant influences in psychology is the development of radical behaviorism theories, which many scholars in the field have used to further human research behavior. This became a significant school of thought because it influenced many scholars. In this particular school of thought, there are two significant concepts: the experimental analysis of behavior, which has expanded experimental psychology, and the applied behavioral analysis. In this case, the environment, which is the stimulus and consequences of actions an individual experiences, determines the responses of humans. Therefore, this implies that the cognitive process and emotions can influence human behavior; hence, one can apply behavioral analysis to understanding the thoughts and emotions of another person. This concept and school of thought have helped make headway in the clinical psychology field and treatments in mental health institutions.

Conclusion

In summary, the contributions of Skinner have been implicated as one of the most contributing scholars to the field of psychology, especially in his theoretical advancements in behaviorism thought. His theory and published articles have provided a further discussion of the human behavior understanding and principles used in psychology practice and teaching in contemporary society. Despite being dead, Skinner’s work continues to be upheld as necessary, such as the reinforcement and operant conditioning in the present times. In his lifetime, he dedicated his time. He put in hard work to explore the subject further, which led to numerous awards recognizing and appreciating his experimental research and psychology efforts.

References

Cherry, K. (2020). B. F. Skinner: The Life of Psychology’s Radical Behaviorist. Verywell Mind. Retrieved 21 July 2022, from https://www.verywellmind.com/b-f-skinner-biography-1904-1990-2795543.

Leeder, T. (2022). Behaviorism, Skinner, and Operant Conditioning: Considerations for Sports Coaching Practice. Strategies, 35(3), 27-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/08924562.2022.2052776

Moore, J. (2013). Methodological behaviorism from the standpoint of a radical behaviorist. The Behavior Analyst, 36(2), 197-208. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf03392306