Burrhus Frederic Skinner. Professor at Harvard University and follower of the behavioral school of Psychology. Known for his project Skinner’s Box (Baby box) and developer of the Pigeon project. Among his main works is On behaviorism in 1974.
Summary
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- 1 Biographical data
- 1 Birth
- 2 Studies
- 2 Career path
- 1 Other works
- 3 Works
- 4 Death
- 5 Sources
- 6 External links
Biographical data
Birth
He was born in a small Pennsylvania town called Susquehanna , on March 20 , 1904 . His father was a lawyer and his mother a homemaker. During his growth he was tinged with the idea of hard work and very traditional customs.
Studies
He studied at Hamilton College and chose Biology for the first year of his degree as he was interested in animal behavior. Finally, he preferred to opt for Psychology and argued that this is an experimental branch of natural science, where it is possible to control and predict behavior if it is done under direct observation and under experimental stimulus-response conditions. He wants to completely dispense with the consciousness and the introspection of Psychoanalysis . A pioneer in the experimental analysis of human behavior, together with other intellectuals of the time, he founded the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior . Professor at Harvard UniversitySince 1948 , he has introduced a course on Science and Human Behavior into the class program. He was the discoverer of Operant Conditioning. He was also one of the most important figures in behaviorism .
Career path
In 1939 he developed the Pigeon Project, which was a pigeon-guided missile system. At that time radar was unknown and he designed this project to guide them to the target. Skinner is also known for his project Skinner’s Box (Baby box), which he built at the end of World War IIwhen he had his second daughter, on whom he tested his experiment. It consisted of putting her to sleep or resting in a special box designed by him, and instead of wrapping the girl with clothes and putting her in a crib, in this box the temperature was regulated by hot air moved by convection. That’s how Julie was for the first two and a half years of her life. Finally the girl was found to be in very good health.
Other works
Other fields of work in which he was carrying out studies with autistic children and also in the field of programmed teaching. He analyzed the problems of teaching and designed reinforcement series to be used as study methods, as well as a machine to learn spelling and arithmetic . In his formal theories he does not apply at all the conceptions of common sense, according to which every human being is conscious and autonomous. In one of his books, Beyond Freedom and Dignity in 1971, argues that the concept of autonomous man, which essentially means that human beings have free will, has expired, because it is useless to predict and control behavior. It says that behavior is shaped by its own consequences. Skinner focuses primarily on the mechanical and automated aspects of human behavior. The central theme of his work is that behavior is shaped by its own consequences. “We do what we do or pay back, we refrain from doing what we do not pay or pay back.”
Plays
- The behavior of organismsin 1938 .
- Walden IIin 1948 .
- On behaviorismin 1974 .
- Enjoy old age
- Beyond freedom and dignity
- Science and human behavior
- Autobiography, 1
- Autobiography, 2
