The Shaping of a Behaviorist

by B.F. Skinner

Continues Skinner's life story through the crucial years that saw the development of his controversial behaviorist philosophy, his famous experiments with rats and pigeons, the invention of the Skinner Box, and the writing of Walden Two

Genres: Psychology, Biography

373 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Burrhus Frederic Skinner was a highly influential American psychologist, author, inventor, advocate for social reform and poet. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974. He invented the operant conditioning chamber, innovated his own philosophy of science called Radical Behaviorism, and founded his own school of experimental research psychology—the experimental analysis of behavior. His analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal Behavior, which has recently seen enormous increase in interest experimentally and in applied settings. He discovered and advanced the rate of response as a dependent variable in psychological research. He invented the cumulative recorder to measure rate of responding as part of his highly influential work on schedules of reinforcement. In a recent survey, Skinner was listed as the most influential psychologist of the 20th century. He was a prolific author, publishing 21 books and 180 articles.

Reviews

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE SECOND OF THREE VOLUMES OF SKINNER'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990) was an American psychologist, social philosopher, and author. He was a Professor of Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974, and perhaps the most influential behaviorist of the 20th century. His most famous books are 'Verbal Behavior,' 'Beyond Freedom & Dignity' and 'Walden Two.' The other volumes are 'Particulars of My Life' and 'A Matter of Consequences.'

After being asked to give a colloquium, he mused during its preparation, "At the beginning of the experimental session, a rat eats rather rapidly, but, as the rate falls off, there are pauses between pellets... during which the rat moves rather aimlessly about the box... In my experiment the only thing the rat had to do was to decide: to eat or not to eat. But the decision was made FOR the rat... by some orderly physiological change." (Pg. 61) His friend Fred Keller said of Skinner, "'Burrhus says a thing in its most extreme form and takes some of it back if he has to.' There were many things about behaviorism that I would never take back. Thanks to Fred I was now so much more the complete behaviorist that I was shocked when people I admired used mentalistic terms." (Pg. 80)

When explaining his ideas to philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, he recalls, "He agreed that science might be successful in accounting for human behavior provided one made an exception of VERBAL behavior. Here, he insisted, something else must be at work. He brought the discussion to a close with a friendly challenge, 'Let me see you,' he said, 'account for my behavior as I sit here saying, "No black scorpion is falling upon this table."' The next morning I drew up the outline of a book on verbal behavior." (Pg. 149)

When he began looking for a job, he admitted, "there was the almost insurmountable difficulty that I lacked qualifications. I knew almost nothing about psychology... I had never had a course in social or child psychology... I had learned nothing from [Gordon Allport] about personality... I had never even read a text in psychology as a whole. Even as an 'animal psychologist' I knew little about the errors made by rats in mazes... nor had I any interest in finding out." (Pg. 178-179)

Later, he recalls, "I had collected a lot of experimental data on verbal behavior... They threw the book as a whole badly out of balance because I could not find experiments for the greater part of the analysis. I was still the empiricist at heart, but I did not think it would betray the position if my book were not a review of established facts. I was INTERPRETING a complex field, using principles that had been verified under simpler, controlled conditions... I decided to leave out all experimental data." (Pg. 282)

He asserts, "Consciousness or awareness, generated by the differential reinforcement supplied by a verbal environment, was a social product. It was not a matter of observing the nervous system... The events observed through introspection were physiological ... but they were stimuli and responses, not nerve impulses... The EVIDENCE that a person was 'having thoughts' was behavioral: there was nothing psychic or mental to be explained." (Pg. 295) Later, he adds, "The question of truth had come up years earlier when I was discussing my thesis... I had said that I was not writing to state truths but to have an effect upon my reader. [His professor] sent me a note the next day telling me that he was shocked. But my subsequent analysis led to much the same conclusion." (Pg. 336)

This book provides fascinating insights into the development of Skinner's ideas, and will be of great interest to anyone studying him, or behaviorism in general.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main guy who influenced me to study behaviourism. And he walked the talk too. A guy widely misunderstood. Maybe people should read his 3-part autobiography?

[Loretta Breuning · Rating 5 out of 5]

So exciting to read about his grad school years. Sort of a narcissist, but historical context of academic psychology is great. When I got to the middle of the book, I realized that it's Part 2 of his autobio, so I put it down to read Part 1 first. An opportunity to know about the childhood shaped the adulthood.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite of the three-part series.