* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download Prominent Theorist Research
Symbolic behavior wikipedia , lookup
History of psychology wikipedia , lookup
Observational methods in psychology wikipedia , lookup
Cross-cultural psychology wikipedia , lookup
Social psychology wikipedia , lookup
Thin-slicing wikipedia , lookup
Learning theory (education) wikipedia , lookup
Educational psychology wikipedia , lookup
Abnormal psychology wikipedia , lookup
Conservation psychology wikipedia , lookup
Neuroeconomics wikipedia , lookup
Applied behavior analysis wikipedia , lookup
Attribution (psychology) wikipedia , lookup
Adherence management coaching wikipedia , lookup
Theory of planned behavior wikipedia , lookup
Organizational behavior wikipedia , lookup
Classical conditioning wikipedia , lookup
Sociobiology wikipedia , lookup
Theory of reasoned action wikipedia , lookup
Insufficient justification wikipedia , lookup
Descriptive psychology wikipedia , lookup
Social cognitive theory wikipedia , lookup
Behavior analysis of child development wikipedia , lookup
Psychological behaviorism wikipedia , lookup
Verbal Behavior wikipedia , lookup
Running Head: Prominent Theorist Research Prominent Theorist Research: B. F. Skinner Fricretia Rice Kennesaw State University 1 Prominent Theorist Research 2 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. Prominent Theorist Research 3 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 Prominent Theorist Research 4 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 Prominent Theorist Research 5 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 Prominent Theorist Research 6 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 Prominent Theorist Research 7 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, Prominent Theorist Research 8 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 Prominent Theorist Research 9 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 Prominent Theorist Research 10 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. Prominent Theorist Research 11 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, Prominent Theorist Research 12 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. Prominent Theorist Research 13 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. Prominent Theorist Research 14 References Benjamin, L.T., Jr. & Nielson-Gammon, E. (1999). B.F. Skinner and Psycho technology: The Case of The Heir Conditioner.. Review of General Psychology 3(3) 155-167. Brown, T.M., & Bjork, D. W. (1995). B. F. Skinner: A life.. The American Historical Review, 100(1), 253. Cherry, K (n.d.). Skinner Box Definition. About.com Psychology. Retrieved February 10, 2013 from http://psychology.about.com/od/sindex/g/ Dews, P.B., & Skinner, B.F (1970). Festschrift for B.F. Skinner. New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts Epstein, R. (1995, November 1). Babies in boxes. Psychology Today. Retrieved February 10, 2013, from http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-19951101-000010.html Faye, C. & Joyce, N. (n.d.). Skinner Air Crib. Association of Psychological Science RSS. Retrieved February 10, 2013 from http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2010/september10/skinner-air-crib.html FODOR, J.A., & BEVER, T.G. (1974) The psychology of language: An introduction to psycholinguistics and generative grammar. [By] J.A. Fodor, T.G. Bever, M. F. Garret. New York, etc: McGraw-Hill Book Co.. Friedrichs, R. W. (1974). The Potential Impact of B. F. Skinner Upon American Sociology. American Sociologist, 9(1), 3. Hothersall, D. (1984). History of Psychology. New York: Random House Karen, R. L. (1974). An introduction to behavior theory and its applications. New York: Prominent Theorist Research 15 Harper and Row. Lana, R (2002). The cognitive approach to language and thought. Journal of Mind and Behavior, 23 (1, 2), 51-67 McLeod, S. (2007). Skinner - Operant Conditioning. B. F. Skinner. Retrieved February 8, 2013 from http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html Skinner, B. F. (1945). Baby in a box: The mechanical baby-tender. The Ladies Home Journal, 62, 30-31, 135-136, 138. Skinner, B. F. (1938). The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis. New York: Appleton-Century Skinner, B. F. (1948). 'Superstition' in the pigeon. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38, 168-172. Skinner-Buzan, D. (2004, March 12). I was not a lab rat. The Guardian. Retrieved February 11, 2013 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2004/mar/12/highereducation.uk Swenson, C. (1999). Burrhus Frederick Skinner. Psychology History. Retrieved February 11, 2013 from http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/skinner.htm#Theory Thorndike, E. L. (1905). The elements of psychology. New York: A. G. Seiler.