B. F. Skinner (1904–1990): Obituary.

Marks the death of B. F. Skinner (1904–1990). Eight days before his death on August 18, 1990, Skinner received the American Psychological Association's Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology. His contribution was his demonstration that behavior could be studied as self-sufficient rather than as a reflection of inner mental events. The goal of Skinner's science was the control, prediction, and interpretation of behavior. While his work carried profound implications for the psychology of the 1940s, few adopted his approach until the early 1950s. His work on verbal behavior (1957) has only recently stimulated any serious research or application. Skinner always viewed his own work as the product of environmental contingencies, and not the result of a creative mind. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Looking for Skinner and finding Freud.

Sigmund Freud and B. F. Skinner are often seen as psychology's polar opposites. It seems this view is fallacious. Indeed, Freud and Skinner had many things in common, including basic assumptions shaped by positivism and determinism. More important, Skinner took a clear interest in psychoanalysis and wanted to be analyzed but was turned down. His views were influenced by Freud in many areas, such as dream symbolism, metaphor use, and defense mechanisms. Skinner drew direct parallels to Freud in his analyses of conscious versus unconscious control of behavior and of selection by consequences. He agreed with Freud regarding aspects of methodology and analyses of civilization. In his writings on human behavior, Skinner cited Freud more than any other author, and there is much clear evidence of Freud's impact on Skinner's thinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Setting the record straight: The social views of B. F. Skinner.

Skinner suggested that it is punishment that people find objectionable and against which they rebel, rather than simply the fact that our behavior is under external control. Positive reinforcement leads to voluntary cooperation. Hostile reactions to Skinner's message may reflect confusion of his opposition to autonomous action as a scientific concept with opposition to behavior described as autonomous. Negative reactions toward science, psychology, and the use of "lower" animals to understand human behavior may also have played a role. Properly understood, Skinner was much closer to the libertarian than to the totalitarian end of the political spectrum. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Skinner's early research: From reflexology to operant conditioning.

The facts of Skinner's research in the 1930s on the acquisition of operant behavior are combined with his own later comments. Skinner discovered that a single reinforcement is enough for conditioning of an arbitrary response. The combination of successive extinction curves after single reinforcements within 1 session led to the 1st schedule of intermittent reinforcement. Operant conditioning also could be arranged to generate new forms of behavior by shaping by successive approximation. Skinner was first influenced by the then dominant terminology of reflexology, but he soon rejected this stimulus–response tradition by demonstrating that eliciting stimuli play no role in operant conditioning. Theoretical implications of Skinner's early research are compared and contrasted with other theories of conditioning at the time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

B. F. Skinner and the Auditory Inkblot: The Rise and Fall of the Verbal Summator as a Projective Technique.

Behaviorist B. F. Skinner is not typically associated with the fields of personality assessment or projective testing. However, early in his career Skinner developed an instrument he named the verbal summator, which, at one point, he referred to as a device for "snaring out complexes," much like an auditory analogue of the Rorschach inkblots. Skinner's interest in the projective potential of his technique was relatively short lived, but whereas he used the verbal summator to generate experimental data for his theory of verbal behavior, several other clinicians and researchers exploited this potential and adapted the verbal summator technique for both research and applied purposes. The idea of an auditory inkblot struck many as a useful innovation, and the verbal summator spawned the tautophone test, the auditory apperception test, and the Azzageddi test, among others. This article traces the origin, development, and eventual demise of the verbal summator as an auditory projective technique. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Orbital bar pressing: A historical note on Skinner and the chimpanzees in space.

Describes how the work of Skinner, referred to as probably the 1st comparative aerospace psychologist, was influential in a program of space animal research that sent 2 barpressing chimpanzees into space. Every technique, schedule, and programming recording device used then and subsequently can be traced to Skinner or his students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

B. F. Skinner and psychology: Introduction to the special issue.

Celebrates the scientific and intellectual impact of Skinner on psychology. Noted are his 6 decades of prominance in psychology, including his numerous publications. Also noted is that his work spawned Division 25, Experimental Analysis of Behavior, of the American Psychological Association (APA); an independent professional organization, the Association of Behavior Analysis; 2 foundations dedicated to behavioral psychology; and at least 23 journals. Also discussed are his numerous honorary degrees, his contribution to the APA, and post-Skinnerian behaviorism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Essentialism and selectionism in cognitive science and behavior analysis.

Contingencies of selection, be they phylogenetic or ontogenetic, merely set boundaries on units: They do not provide blueprints. Thus, variability is fundamental to all products of selection. Skinner, by characterizing the units of analysis in behavior as generic in nature, established his science squarely within the selectionist paradigm, thereby avoiding the tendency, common throughout psychology, to slip into essentialist analyses. The distinction between essentialism and selectionism is refined in this article, and prominent examples of essentialism in linguistics, theories of memory, theories of representation, associationism, and even in behavior analysis are identified. Recent trends in cognitive science (specifically, research on adaptive networks) is amenable to a selectionist interpretation, suggesting the possibility of future fruitful interactions with behavior analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A case history in scientific method.

The case history in scientific method cited is autobiographical; Skinner relates certain relevant experiences in the development of some of his scientific contributions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The cognitive behaviorism of Boneau may help to integrate the work of Skinner and Szasz.

Comments on the conceptual relationship between Skinner and T. S. Szasz in response to Skinner's (1975) article. Szasz emphasizes the individual human adult as a responsible agent while Skinner emphasizes individual human adult behavior as caused by external agents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cook's Tour de Farce.

Comments on an article by John Oliver Cook entitled, 'Superstition' in the Skinnerian (see record 1964-03363-001). The article made the commenter question what exactly a "Skinnerian" is. Apparently, a Skinnerian is one who has theories but does not know it, in contrast to Cook, who is aware of his own as well as other people's theories. Cook reveals the Skinnerian to be inordinately fond of classical paired-associate learning, and convinced beyond all reason that rote paired-associate learning is the best educational procedure. Cook further exposes the Skinnerian theory that only the fingers learn (overt responses assumed essential and covert responses useless). The commenter compares the Skinnerian discussed in Cook's paper to a book by Skinner (see record 1954-05139-000) in which Skinner strongly strongly advocated prompts in programmed instruction. The commenter concludes that the "devout Skinnerian" is a science-fiction character. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Whatever happened to psychology as a science of behavior?": Comment.

Comments that there are some fundamental misunderstandings in B. F. Skinner (see record 1988-00027-001). According to the author, Skinner seems to think that there is something inherently objective about behavioral data. The author notes that behavior is subject to interpretation, inference, and bias in conceptualization and measurement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Skinner's dark year and Walden Two..

Points out that although it was offered simply as a fictional application of radical behaviorism to the design of society, Skinner's utopian novel Walden Two possessed strong emotional connotations for him. The "dark year," a period during his youth when he failed as a creative writer, displayed many earmarks of a major identity crisis. Walden Two was written during a mid-life crisis when identity issues again became highly salient for Skinner. The novel incorporated issues from both periods into its picture of an ideal society and helped him to resolve his developmental conflicts. He emerged with a restructured identity as public advocate for a behavioristic science of human conduct. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Terwilliger on Skinner.

Objects to R. Terwilliger's (1970) criticisms of Skinner and behavior theory, particularly Terwilliger's statement that psychology serves to justify current social and political circumstances and allows no room for social change. Terwilliger's real argument is with determinism, not behavior theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Radical behaviorism and psychology's public: B. F. Skinner in the popular press, 1934–1990.

B. F. Skinner is perhaps 2nd only to Freud among the most publicly identifiable psychological figures of the last century. This article reviews the popular press coverage of Skinner between 1934 and 1990 to examine how radical behaviorism was interpreted, portrayed, and received by psychology's public. Reactions to Skinner were often skeptical or condemnatory. It is suggested that some members of the public had difficulty accepting his views because of the disparities between the philosophy of radical behaviorism and the phenomenology of everyday experience. Furthermore, Skinner's status as a psychological expert was inextricably linked to the public's perception of his credibility not only as a scientist but also as a human being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Whatever happened to scholarly discourse? A reply to B. F. Skinner.

Comments that B. F. Skinner (see record 1988-00027-001) has presented an egregiously inaccurate characterization of humanistic psychology. The authors note that Skinnerian radical behaviorism emphasizes behavior, science, and technology, while humanistic psychologies emphasize human beings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Has psychology ever been a science of behavior? A comment on Skinner.

Argues that B. F. Skinner (see record 1988-00027-001) failed to recognize the role of behaviorism in the failure of psychology to become a science of behavior. The authors state that behaviorism has generated laws concerning the impact of behavior on certain environments instead of laws of behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Radical behaviorism, internal states, and the science of psychology: A reply to Skinner.

Responds to B. F. Skinner (see record 1988-00027-001) by addressing his 2 central misconceptions involving psychology's lack of empirical rigor and adverse effects of attention to variables that are not directly observable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)