B&f skinner biography psychology definition

“To say that a reinforcement is contingent upon a response may mean nothing more than that it follows the response.

B&f skinner biography psychology definition

It may follow because of some mechanical connection or because of the mediation of another organism; but conditioning takes place presumably because of the temporal relation only, expressed in terms of the order and proximity of response and reinforcement.

Whenever we present a state of affairs which is known to be reinforcing at a given drive, we must suppose that conditioning takes place, even though we have paid no attention to the behavior of the organism in making the presentation.”

– B.F.

Skinner, “Superstition’ in the Pigeon” (p. 168)

In the 20th century, many of the images that came to mind when thinking about experimental psychology were tied to the work of Burrhus Frederick Skinner.

The stereotype of a bespectacled experimenter in a white lab coat, engaged in shaping behavior through the operant conditioni