B. F. Skinner

1. B. F. Skinner ED 530 Theorist Presentation Summer Semester 2010 Dr. Richard Clark

2. Born March 20, 1904 in Susquehanna, PA • B.A. from Hamilton College • M.S. from Harvard University • Ph.D. from Harvard University • Died August 18, 1990 of leukemia Background

3. An organism is operating in its environment • This organism encounters a reinforcing stimulus • special stimulus has the effect of increasing the operant (behavior occurring just before the reinforcer) Operant Conditioning

4. The skinner box was designed so that when a rat accidentally pressed a bar, a small food pellet would be released • Soon, the rat would be conditioned to know every time it pressed the bar it would receive a pellet Skinner Box

5. For the Skinner Box to work, reinforcement had to be present. He dabbled in a few schedules: • Continuous reinforcement (pellet every time) • Fixed ratio schedule (one pellet every 3 times) • Fixed interval schedule (press the bar once during a certain amount of time—20 seconds) • Variable schedules-change the “x” each time—3 pushes then 10 Reinforcement

6. During WWII, Skinner aided in a top secret project to train pigeons to guide bombs. • He trained pigeons to keep pecking a target that would hold a missile onto a target. • The pigeons pecked reliably, even when falling rapidly and working with warlike noise all around them. Project Pigeon

7. Project Pigeon was discontinued • Skinner liked working with pigeons best because pigeons behave more rapidly than rats, allowing more rapid discoveries of the effect of new contingencies • Skinner never worked with rats again Project Pigeon

8. Skinner is also credited for shaping behavior • For the desired behavior, make variations to take you closer to that behavior (plus reinforcements) • Skinner once used shaping to teach pigeons to bowl Shaping

9. Skinner designed a heated crib that was enclosed with a Plexiglas window • Many people believed this crib to be a Skinner Box for humans The Baby Tender

10. A book about a community called Walden II • This community was very well planned out including how children would be cared for • The book received much praise as well as condemnation Walden II

11. "Teachers must learn how to teach ... they need only to be taught more effective ways of teaching.“ • positive reinforcement is more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment Skinner in the Classroom

12. Skinner says that there are five main obstacles to learning: • People have a fear of failure. • The task is not broken down into small enough steps. • There is a lack of directions. • There is also a lack of clarity in the directions. • Positive reinforcement is lacking. Skinner in the Classroom

13. Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught using five principles to remedy the above problems: • Give the learner immediate feedback. • Break down the task into small steps. • Repeat the directions as many times as possible. • Work from the most simple to the most complex tasks. • Give positive reinforcement. Skinner in the Classroom

14. B. F. Skinner Foundation – Better Behavioral Science For a More Humane World. Retrieved May 28, 2010 http://www.bfskinner.org/BFSkinner/Home.html. • Personality Theories. Retrieved May 30, 2010 http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/skinner.html. • B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) - Behavioral Analysis, Social Service, Educational Reform. Retrieved May 30, 2010 http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2421/Skinner-B-F-1904-1990.html. References