Biography
Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born on March 20, 1904, in the small town of Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, where he also grew up. Skinner began working on ideas of human behavior after earning his doctorate from Harvard; he would later become an American psychologist, philosopher, and scientist. An important advocate of behaviorism, Skinner is known for inventing the operant conditioning chamber, and for his own experimental analysis of behavior. He is widely considered as one of the most influential psychologists of all time.
Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior.
Law of Effect
Edward Thorndike put forward a “Law of effect” which stated that any behavior that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and any behavior followed by unpleasant consequences is likely to be stopped.
One of Thorndike's major contributions to the study of Psychology was his work with animals. Through long, extensive research with these animals, he constructed devices called "puzzle boxes." Thorndike's setup of the puzzle boxes is an example of instrumental conditioning: An animal makes some response, and if it is rewarded, the response is learned. If the response is not rewarded, it gradually disappears. The entire experiment was based on animals being placed into these contraptions, and could only escape from it by making some specific response (pulling a string or pushing a button).
|
B.F Skinner |
Edward Thorndike |
Key Concepts & Vocab
- Skinner Box (Operant Chamber): a laboratory apparatus used to study animal behavior
- Positive Reinforcement: increases behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food
- Negative Reinforcement: increases behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock
- Primary Reinforcers: an event that is innately reinforcing, often by satisfying a biological need
- Conditioned/Secondary Reinforcers: an event that gains its reinforcing power through its link with a primary reinforcer