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Prominent Theorist Research: B. F. Skinner
Fricretia Rice
Kennesaw State University
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Abstract
B. F. Skinner theorized many things. One of his most important and well-known theories is
Operant Conditioning. In the beginning, Skinner wanted to prove other theorist like Ivan Pavlov
and John Watson wrong. In this effort he discovered Operant Conditioning. Skinner uses
Operant Conditioning to consider many different types of human behavior through the study of
animals. Operant conditioning refers to the study of behavior and how animals (or humans) react
to particular stimuli to reinforce it positively or negatively. Skinner wrote many different books,
journals and articles based on Operant Conditioning and used it to relate to many of his other
contributions to education and psychology.
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Introduction
B. F. Skinner was described as inquisitive and rebellious. This attitude pushed him to
learn and research many theories that he felt were lacking. After doing this he went on to create
Operant Conditioning. This theory addressed various issues and helped him contribute to society.
This paper will discuss how all of his theories and ideas ultimately relate back to Operant
Conditioning. It will then give an analysis of the theories and how they relate to multiple
classroom applications.
Description of Theorist
In his younger days one might describe B. F. Skinner as inquisitive and rebellious. He
maintained these characteristics throughout his life. These characteristics drove his desire to
discover all that he could about psychology and prove other theories right or wrong according to
him. However, it known that Skinner took a different approach to looking at behaviorism.
Skinner graduated with a degree in English and started his career as a writer after attending
Hamilton College. After this he began working as a bookstore clerk and this is where he first
discovered the works of Ivan Pavlov and John Watson. Interested and intrigued by what he read,
he enrolled himself into the Psychology Department at Harvard University.
While attending Harvard, Skinner was taken under the wing of William Cozier, a
psychologist and professor at Harvard. Cozier was testing animal behavior at the time and
Skinner quickly became interested. Eventually, Skinner went on to create the cumulative
recorder. This was a mechanical device that recorded upward movement on a horizontally
moving line. Skinner found that the rate at which the rat touched the lever depended on the
stimuli that followed. John Watson and Ivan Pavlov tested this same information and insisted it
was stimuli that preceded the rat pressing the bar. Skinner had discovered something new. He
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said this behavior operated on the environment and was controlled by its effects so he called it
Operant Behavior. Skinner continued to research behavior-consequence relationships and
eventually went on to publish his first book The Behavior of Organisms in 1938.
After starting his psychology career through his fellowship at Harvard University Skinner
went on to do further research with Operant Behavior. He went on to write many books and
articles based on his theory as well as creating inventions. He later went on to become the Chair
of the Psychology Department at Indiana University and returned to Harvard University to
become a member of the Psychology Department.
Issues Theorist Addresses
Operant Conditioning addressed many issues that Skinner had with the works of Pavlov
and Watson. Pavlov and Watson focused more on what happed before the stimuli where as
Skinner focused on how the stimuli created a desirable outcome. After studying animal behavior,
which mostly consisted of rats, Skinner theorized that the animal responded better depending on
the reward received for completing a particular task. He stated that in order to get the behavior
you want there should be an immediate reward following that behavior. He later went on to
theorize different components to the theory that included positive and negative reinforcement
and punishment, shaping, extinction, generalization and discrimination.
Why Operant Conditioning?
“Skinner is regarded as the father of Operant Conditioning, but his work was based on
Thorndike’s law of effect.” Skinner introduced a new term into the Law of Effect Reinforcement. Behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e. strengthened); behavior
which is not reinforced tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e. weakened)”(McLeod). In an
effort to disprove other psychologist Skinner tested the reaction to stimuli and came up with the
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theory of Operant Conditioning. He used conditioning as a basis of all of his research. In order to
create a favorable outcome Skinner theorized that the behavior should be rewarded with a
positive or negative punishment or reinforcement. He called it Operant Conditioning because it
focused on how the study (animal) operated after the behavior.
Contributions and Historical Context
B. F. Skinner made many contributions to society because of his behaviorism theory.
They include his theories, inventions and books and articles. His theories go on to speak about to
other things in society that aren’t specifically related to psychology. This includes education.
One contribution that is well known under Skinner is Operant Conditioning. Operant
Conditioning is when a behavior is reinforced so that it is repeated for a favorable outcome.
There are many things that Skinner tested under Operant Conditioning. These things are
reinforcement, punishment, shaping, extinction, generalization and discrimination.
The main components to consider in Operant Conditioning are reinforcement and
punishment. Reinforcement is the process in which a behavior is strengthened. There are two
types of reinforcement, positive and negative. Positive reinforcement makes the behavior
stronger by providing the positive stimulus. For example, a teacher rewards a student for
standing correctly in the line. The student will then most likely stand correctly in order to be
rewarded again. Negative reinforcement makes the behavior stronger by taking away a negative
stimulus. An example of negative reinforcement would be if a student decided to complete their
work to avoid getting in trouble by their teacher. The reason that it is negative is because if it is
not done, then there will be a negative and unfavorable reaction. There is also positive and
negative punishment in Operant Conditioning. Punishment is the process in which the behavior
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is weakened and less likely to happen again. Negative punishment is when there is a negative
consequence to lessen the behavior. The consequence takes away something positive. In the
classroom, an example would be if a student is misbehaving and as a result loses recess time.
Positive punishment is when the stimuli give an unfavorable outcome or consequence. For
example, if two students were arguing over who would be the line leader then the teacher would
make both students go to the end of the line.
The other concepts of Operant Conditioning are shaping, extinction, generalization and
discrimination. Shaping refers to the difficulty level of the task. Initially the task to receive an
award will be simple but as time progresses the task to be rewarded will gradually become more
difficult. In his research the rat would receive the food when it pressed the lever. After a while,
Skinner would increase the number of times that the rat had to press the level to still be rewarded
with the food. Extinction in Operant Conditioning refers to stopping the behavior by not
reinforcing the behavior at all. Considering Skinner’s animal testing, this would mean that when
the rat presses the lever it would no longer get the food. Eventually the rat will stop pressing the
lever altogether. Then there is Generalization. Generalization refers to a behavior being
performed in more than one situation. In this case, the rat would try to press other levers in the
hopes of getting food even though it is not the lever in which the rat learned this behavior. Lastly
there is Discrimination. Discrimination is learning that the behavior will only be rewarded in one
situation. Therefore the rat would learn that it receives no food by pressing the second lever only
the first. It will no longer press the second lever. Operant Conditioning is Skinner’s biggest
contribution but there are others.
During World War II Skinner also worked for the U. S. Army creating something known
as Project Pigeon. “Anxious to help, Skinner sought funding for a top secret project to train
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pigeons to guide bombs. Working intently, he trained pigeons to keep pecking a target that
would hold a missile onto a target” (Vargas). Project Pigeon was a success. The pigeons pecked
reliably even considering the warlike conditions that surrounded them. Eventually the project
was discontinued because of something top secret. But, Skinner used his theory Operant
Conditioning to get the pigeons to peck at the target.
Another one of Skinner’s inventions was called the baby tender or “Baby in a Box.” This
was a baby crib meant for newborns that was safer than the typical baby crib. It was heated and
included a plexiglass window. He designed it this way because of the cold climate in Minnesota.
It would help parents to regulate the temperature of the crib. It started off as something popular
but was eventually frowned upon because it was literally a baby in a box. Some critics thought it
related closely to the Skinner Box and that he was using his child in experiments, which was
proven to not be true. The Skinner Box, another invention, was what Skinner used to test rats he
used in his studies. It was a box that contained a loud speaker, lights, a response lever, a food
dispenser and an electric grid. The Skinner Box is how he tested the rats to create his theory of
Operant Conditioning.
Skinner went on to invent other things as well. After observing students in a fourth grade
classroom, Skinner created the Teaching Machine. While watching the students he noticed that
they would solve a problem and move on to the next without knowing if they did the previous
problem correctly. He said this was a delay in reinforcement and this created the idea of the
Teaching Machine. During this process he considered his theory under Operant Conditioning
called shaping. The Teaching Machine did not teach the students but it randomly selected
problems for the students to answer based on learned skills. He did this so the students could
receive immediate feedback. “Within three years, Skinner developed programmed instruction,
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where through careful sequencing, students responded to material broken into small steps. The
steps were similar to what a skilled tutor would ask of a student working with one student at a
time. The first responses of each sequence were prompted, but as performance improved, less
and less help was given. By the end, a student was doing something he or she could not have
done at the beginning”(Vargas). However at the time the computer was underdeveloped and
Skinner had to end up putting his technology in written form. But, with the new technology
today some of his programs from the 60s are still being used.
Additionally, Skinner wrote numerous books, journals and articles throughout his career
that many people still read and study today. Some of them include The Technology of Teaching,
The Behavior of Organisims, Contingencies of Reinforcement, About Behaviorism. Particulars of
my Life, The Shaping of a Behaviorist, and A Matter of Consequences. All of these books are
related to his main behaviorist theory, Operant Conditioning. One of his most popular books was
the Walden Two. The book was quickly written after World War II. It was about a soldier that
had just come home from war. It outlines the aspects of a community called Walden Two. The
book sales started off slow but ended up becoming one of Skinner’s most popular works.
Skinner is even recognized for his contribution to other fields. This includes sociology
and education. In one article called The Potential Impact of B. F. Skinner Upon American
Sociology they even going as far as to say that it is obvious Skinner grew up in a Protestant
environment. These families valued you living right, “a mother who will wash your mouth out
with soap for saying something forbidden, a father who viewed a trip with his son through the
county jail, and attendance of a program with slides on life with Sing Sing as essential to the
boy’s education, a grandmother who made sure that I understood the concept of hell by showing
me the glowing bed of coals in the parlor stove” (Skinner, 1969:387-91). This is ultimately
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reinforcement. You see that the potential outcomes of doing certain behaviors are not favorable
so therefore you are less likely to do it. In the education field, Skinner’s work is tied to
classroom management as well as a skills based approach to learning reading.
Not only did Skinner Contribute to history and society today he influenced many people
that continue to study his works and make theories of their own. Some of these people include
Douglas B. Anger, James A Anliker, Nathan H. Azrin, Donald S. Blough and many more. If
people continue to study and research his theories his legacy in the world of Behaviorism will
continue and he will continue to make contribution to society even after his death.
Comprehensive Analysis
After studying Behaviorism, Operant Conditioning in particular, one can come to many
conclusions. First, behaviorism is the study of observable behavior. To take that further it does
not relate to emotion, or thinking. “Skinner did not say that the rats learnt to press a lever
because they wanted food. He instead concentrated on describing the easily observed behavior
that the rats acquired” (McLeod). This makes me consider why the rat continued to press the
lever. It is only because it knew it would get something in return for it. However, I would still
say that it is based on something that the animal or human wants. The rat wanted the food so it
kept pressing the lever. If something that was meaningless had of came out when the rat pressed
the lever, or if there were no reward for pressing the lever then the behavior would have stopped.
Overtime that means that the rats would no longer press the lever.
Secondly one can conclude that environment influences human behavior. How students
grow and learn the difference between right and wrong influence who they are. If in their home
students are allowed to do particular things, then they will exhibit those behaviors at school. This
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is only because of how they have been reinforced by that particular behavior either negatively or
positively. So, because Skinner provided food after pressing the lever the rats continued to do it
in their environment. When the rats were taken from that environment because of generalization
the rats would press any lever that they saw. However, if pressing that lever were not rewarded
with food the rats would no longer press it. This shows that behavior also depends on particular
environments as well as the original environment. If something that is reinforced differently in
different environments then that particular behavior could only exist in one place.
Finally, studying behavior should be viewed as studying nature. Even though Skinner’s
studies took place in a laboratory he is still studying how the animals reacted to a particular
stimuli. From his studies it can be concluded that there is little difference between learning that
takes place in animals and humans (McLeod). This was the same idea of behaviorism that was
conducted with Pavlov’s dogs when he was researching Classical Conditioning. Skinner goes on
to state, “I have studied nature not books asking questions of the organism rather than those who
have studied the organism."... "Observation overemphasizes stimuli; experimentation includes
the rest of the contingencies which generate repertoires" (Dews, 1970, p18). Skinner conducted
his research with animals, but if we think about our everyday lives we see that how our society is
set up is reinforced based. Even down to our prison system. If you do something you shouldn’t
do it is reinforced by you possibly spending time in prison. However, if you do well in prison
you could get an early release. Although that analysis may seem grim, it is the truth of our
system. Even now with educators, the government wants to go to performance pay. If your
students perform well receiving a higher salary will reinforce you. Our society operates on
responses to behavior.
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Multiple Classroom Applications
Operant Conditioning can apply to many things in the classroom setting. The first thing
that came to mind when considering the theory was classroom management. In my opinion, I
thought Operant Conditioning would be the perfect way to run a classroom. It considers how you
reinforce student behavior to keep them on the right track. Reinforcement could be anything in
the education world. Teachers use clips, flipping cards, stickers, treats, and etc to control and
manage student behavior. Many of the things that teachers use are actually negative
reinforcement or punishment. The student is punished and told to flip their card or move their
clip down. This is to keep the student from doing whatever the particular behavior was that got
them in trouble.
Another common form of Operant Conditioning most teachers also is verbal praise. This
simple saying or gesture can get students back on track. If a teacher calls out one student’s name
that is doing particularly well, then the rest of the students will follow suit in order to be
recognized. My biggest concern with Operant Conditioning was are students only doing what is
right to doing it seeking something in return. However, as I begun to think students will
eventually learn the appropriate behavior and the teacher can use other parts of Operant
Conditioning to shape the student’s behavior even more. This process causes the behavior to be a
continuous cycle. Another thing to consider is that the teacher won’t always catch every student
doing the right thing to reward every behavior anyway. This also changed my view of my
original thought. Another concept that I considered is that students learn different behaviors in
different classrooms. This depends on the way that the behaviors are being reinforced.
Initially I thought that Operant Conditioning only related to classroom management.
However, after reading different studies I realized that it could be applied to many other things,
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such as language. With Conditioned Learning Skinner viewed language in a skills based way.
“Whether by classical conditioning or Operant Conditioning, species acquire new skills,
deepening on the effects these skills have on the specie's environment” (B. F. Skinner).
Therefore, students will feel rewarded by their ability to read and this will encourage them to try
again. Teachers should try to create a positive reading atmosphere where the students are
constantly being reinforce positively, which encourages them to keep going, or negatively, which
tells them its okay to try again. This also focuses on skills because each particular skill the
students try would have to be reinforced.
Operant Conditioning when related to reading would focus on each specific skill in a
cycle. This would start with Phonemic Awareness. Once a student has mastered the manipulation
of sound, through teacher led guidance, the students can move to language in written form,
which is Phonics. After a student has mastered Phonics then the student can master Fluency.
Students will know how to put sounds together in a written for to be able to read with appropriate
prosody, automaticity and accuracy. As soon as a student has mastered these skills they can
move on to learn more vocabulary which leads to comprehending the text. How does this relate
to Operant Conditioning? Throughout this process the teacher will help reinforce the behavior by
creating a positive learning environment that is encouraging to student learning. The
environment will give students the opportunity to fail but still try again. The teacher will be
positively reinforcing the effort of the students for trying their best and even more for getting all
of the words correct. In order to have a positive learning environment you must have a great
management system in place. This system could be the basis of some sort (whether positive or
negative) of reinforcement or punishment. This relates back to Operant Conditioning.
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Conclusion
B. F. Skinner contributed greatly to society by creating the theory Operant Conditioning.
He saw that reinforcing a behavior could have a desirable outcome. Had he not had the drive to
disprove other theorist then we might not have this research. Today we use this concept towards
many different things and have even applied it to the education field. Although we know that
Skinner was not testing emotion, his study of behavior has led us to see that environments shape
behavior as well as the reinforcement.
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