B. F. Skinner
An Inspiration in Psychology
Kimberly Whitmore
PSY3421, Psychology of Learning and Motivation

Abstract
Burrhus Fredrick Skinner, a son, literary writer, husband, father and most important an inspiration in the psychology world. B.F. Skinner born March 20, 1904, in a small railroad town in Pennsylvania, was a creative child who liked to think out side the box. Skinner was a behaviorist, which means he seeks out the explanation to human behavior not in the mind but outside within the environment that collectively determines behavior. In the opinion of his professional peers, he was the most influential psychologist in the country. Over his career in Psychology, Skinner also faced criticisms, especially when it came to the Air Crib. Skinner was a revolution to the times in psychology, with his research, his workings with the military, experiments on dogs, pigeons and rodents to his observational findings. His philosophies of behaviorism still play a major part in the psychology world today.

Skinner is the most important American psychologist of the twentieth century, and arguably the most important world psychologist. No issue seemed too large or too small for his observant eye and his analytic insights. 1. A Skinner Family Background. 2. How did Skinner make his way in to Psychology? 3. What is the cumulative recorder? 4. What is the operant conditioning chamber; also know as Skinner’s Box? 5. What is operant behavior? 6. The Air Crib and the controversy. 7. Skinner’s work with the military.
A Skinner Family Background.
Burrhus Frederick Skinner was born on March 20, 1904, known to his family as Fred. His father was a lawyer and his mother, originally a typist but then stayed at home to care for him and his younger brother, Edward who was 2 ½ years younger than Fred. Edward and Fred spent their days creating many unique inventions such as a failed system for getting oxygen out of seawater, a shack in the woods, and a cart with an opposite-direction steering wheel. Even though Fred enjoyed his small town education, he was eager to get away so he applied to Hamilton College. Fred’s first year of college was not particular normal, he became isolated, Fred matured in to a detached mature individual. This detachment later helped Fred deal with the passing of his brother Edward, who died at the age of 16 from a brain hemorrhage. Fred continued his education and his journey to success of many publications in journals, many books, and experiments with pidgins that lead to amazing discoveries in learning and behavior. B. F. Skinner obtained a PhD from Harvard University in 1931, where he remained as a researcher till 1936. He taught at Minnesota University, while teaching there he published his first textbook, The Behavior of Organisms. At Indiana University he served as chair of the Psychology Department for a year, and which then he returned to Harvard as a professor, where he remained for the rest of his career life. Skinner received four awards during his lifetime; the 1968 National Medal of Science from President Lyndon B. Johnson, the 1971 Gold Medal of the American Psychological Foundation, the 1972 Human of the Year, and the 1990 Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Psychology. His numerous accomplishments are too many to list but some of his great contributions to psychology were his invention of the air crib, operant conditioning chamber, teaching machine, and pigeon guided missile. Along with these awards and inventions, B. F. Skinner also had his own version of behaviorism know as radical behaviorism, which “emphasizes the influence of the environment on overt behavior, rejects the use of internal events to explain behavior, and views thoughts and feelings as behaviors that themselves need to be explained” (Powell, Symbaluk & Honey, 2009). Skinner was more than just a psychologist; he was a father to two daughters and a husband as well. In November 1989, doctors diagnosed Skinner with leukemia; he passed away August 18, 1990 in Cambridge Massachusetts. Burrhus Frederick Skinner was a successful man within the field of psychology, leaving the unforgettable legacy that still inspires others to research learning and behaviorism.

How did he make his way in to Psychology?
After college Skinner convinced his parents to let him spend a year with them and he was going to try his luck at writing a novel. Skinner found himself to be unsuccessful with his writing and would spend his days just sitting there lifeless for hours at a time. His parents were concerned and brought this to his attention, Skinner thought maybe he would see a psychiatrist. His father said to Skinner that he thought that it would be a waste of money, so Skinner was forced to endure without any help. He later in life called that his “Dark Age”. After being unsuccessful with literature Skinner decided to take on a new study in the world of science, the science of psychology. When it came to psychology, Skinner was not interested in the science behind psychology but rather the inner world of thoughts and feelings and desires and saw human behavior as being controlled by environmental forces. (Demorest, 2005) Skinner’s own version of behaviorism know as radical behaviorism, which “emphasizes the influence of the environment on overt behavior, rejects the use of internal events to explain behavior, and views thoughts and feelings as behaviors that themselves need to be explained” (Powell, Symbaluk & Honey, 2009).
What is the cumulative recorder?
From the start of life, as we spoke earlier of Skinner, he was very creative; he was always interested in how things worked. This creativity was what helped him build successful inventions for his experiments. Skinner in his early years at Harvard invented a device called the “Cumulative Recorder”. The cumulative recorder showed the rates of responding as a sloped line. Using this device, he found that behavior did not depend on the preceding stimulus as Watson and Pavlov maintained. Instead, Skinner found that behaviors were dependent upon what happens after the response. Skinner called this operant behavior.
What is the operant conditioning chamber, aka. Skinner’s Box?
In Skinner’s early years at Harvard he created another invention called the operant conditioning chamber. As stated on eNotes, the meaning of operant conditioning chamber (also known as Skinner’s Box) is a laboratory apparatus used in the experiment analysis of behavior to study animal behavior. It is used to study both operant and classical conditioning. Skinner’s box contained response levers and feeders and a variety of devices capable of generating many stimuli, like lights, sounds and shocks. The structure of the box is constructed so it is soundproof and lightproof to avoid stimuli. The subjects that Skinner really liked to use were rodents because they were in expensive and easy to care for; he did though have experiments with pigeons and dogs.
What is operant behavior?
Skinner was very interested in Thorndike’s Laws of Effect but not satisfied with it, it stated that “ Behaviors leading to satisfying state of affair are strengthening or “stamped in”, while behaviors leading to an unsatisfying or annoying state of affairs are weakened or “stamped out”.” Skinner decided to use Thorndike’s, Laws of Effect and elaborate on it. As stated in our textbook, Introduction to Learning and Behavior, “Skinner abandoned the notion that all behavior could be analyzed in terms of reflexes and along with other theorist that behavior can be divided into two groups, respondent behavior and operant behavior.”(217) Respondent behavior is brought out by an environmental stimulus, like a puff of air in the eye will lead the eye to blink. Operant behavior is of a voluntary nature brought out by the consequences of the stimuli that came before them. For example: A child finishing homework to get a reward. Skinner say’s that’ “ Operant conditioning shapes behavior as a sculptor shapes a lump of clay”. Skinner goes even further into the breakdown of how operant behaviors are controlled. They are controlled by reinforcement, extinction and punishment. Reinforcements, positive reinforcements at which operant behavior is followed with a positive reinforcement the behavior is more than likely to continue and negative reinforcements, a removal of unpleasant reinforcer which can also strengthen behaviors. As explained on simplypsychology.com, Skinner showed how positive reinforcement worked by placing a hungry rat in his Skinner box. The box contained a lever in the side and as the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately it would drop a food pellet into a container next to the lever. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box. The consequence of receiving food if they pressed the lever ensured that they would repeat the action over again and over again. For example: You are out hiking and you are thirsty and hot (stimulus), you find a soda machine and drop in your money (response,) the soda you get from the machine is a positive reinforcement. To show negative reinforcement, Skinner placed a rat in the same operant conditioning box and then exposed the rat to an unpleasant shock, which was uncomfortable for the rat. As the rat moved around the box and hit the lever and the shocking would stop. The rat learned quickly to hit the lever after a few times being put back in the box. The consequences of escaping the shock ensured that the rat would repeat the action over and over again. For example: You become sick (response) just as the teacher hands out an examination (stimulus). The student is permitted to go to the nurse's office. The response of getting sick has been lead to the stopping of the test (negative reinforcer).

Extinction is when there is no reinforcing consequence that follows the behavior and that behavior will stop. In the Skinner box experiment, this is the rat pushing the lever and being rewarded with a food pellet several times, and then pushing the lever again and never receiving a food pellet again. Eventually the rat would stop pushing the lever. For example: When a child has a temper tantrum because he or she wants a piece of candy, if the behavior is no longer followed by reinforcement over time this behavior will become extinct.
Punishment, when a behavior is followed with un-pleasurable consequence, or removal of something favorable. For example, when a parent takes away privileges for inappropriate behavior is a punishment.

By using different stimuli in the operant conditioning chamber Skinner could observe the behaviors of reinforcements, extinction and punishment. When Skinner used his research on man instead of subject, he was for the maximum use of positive reinforcements and the minimal use of negative reinforcement that leaves the individual feeling controlled and coerced. The Cumulative Record and Operant Condition Chamber were revolutionary inventions.
The Air Crib and the controversy.
In, 1944 Skinner also designed a very controversial invention called the Air Crib. Skinner felt that he could make the process of parenting simplified. He created what he called the “Air Crib” a climate-controlled environment for his second daughter. One reason was to keep the baby warm, usually that would have to be done swaddling the baby in blankets. The blankets and clothing would be restrictive. It also saved on laundry for the parents. The design of the air crib was basically an oversized metal crib but with a ceiling, three solid walls and a safety-glass pane at the front which could be lowered to move the baby in and out of the crib. Canvas was stretched to create a floor. Sheeting was to be rolled on top of the canvas and easily rolled off when soiled. Parents regulated the temperature and humidity of the crib through a control box on top of the crib and clean air was filtered into the crib from below. The crib was also built higher off the ground than other cribs to prevent the parent from bending over all the time to get their child. The air crib was produced and thought to be that 300 children were raised in them. People looked at the air crib and associated it with Skinner’s operant chamber, believing that he was running experiments on his daughter. There was also great concern that the technology would be a replacement for the love that a child receives from its mother. Skinners daughter was raised in the crib for about 2 years. There are many stories surrounding the sanity of Skinner’s second daughter Debbie, rumors so tragic to the point of her committing suicide. Debbie is still living and has written many articles regarding her having a happy childhood and having supportive parents, despite all the rumors, there was no damage done by being raised in the “Air Crib” to Debbie. Psychology Today, ran a short piece on the air crib where the authors tracked down 50 children that were raised in the air crib. The results for these children were all positive and the parents enjoyed using the crib. (Faye, C., Joyce, N., 2010)
Skinner’s work with the military and Walden Two.
During World War II, Skinner was hired to work on the “Pigeon in a Pelican” project. The issue was that before the radar was invented, pilots trying to hit enemy ships flew so close that they were often shot down. Skinner realized that he could teach pigeons to guide missiles. Pigeons were trained to peck at an image that would look like a ship as a missile approached. Pecks on the ship would steer the missile towards the ship. This project after sometime was discontinued due to another top-secret project unknown to Skinner, but the work he performed was still very useful.
When the war was about to come to an end, Skinner felt that it was to bad that the young people would have to go back to living in their old ways. Skinner hurried to worked on his book called “Walden Two”. In this book, a soldier who was just returning back from the war invites friends and his former professor to visit a community called Walden Two, a group of about 1000 members. They all go to the community. Its community designer, Frazier, explains how the happy and the industrious behaviors they are seeing have been carefully shaped using Skinners behavioral techniques. He also explains how the competitive urge of parents to favor their own children has been converted to a more equal concern for all youngsters by bringing up the babies communally rather than in families. In this community both women and men worked. Jobs earn work credits weighted so that one can work for only a short time at undesirable jobs or longer at desirable ones. All aspects of the community living have been planned. The book in the beginning was not of great success, but ended up becoming one of the best-known works of Skinner's career, receiving both high praise and condemnation. (Vargas, 2005)
B. F. Skinner was like no other psychologist of his time; he contributed more to the scientific research of human behavior and learning. He took tremendous pride in everything he has done, whether it was the books that he wrote, the inventions that he created or his research, Skinner always remained driven, even though his “Dark Age”. The research and observations are still in place today, in all aspects of life. When you use the “time out method”, when you train your animals or when you teach your children to eat dinner before dessert, yes that is all Skinners work. The Introduction of Learning and Behavior contained a great amount of information regarding Skinner and his research, more than any others. We were able to use Sniffy, our virtual rat, as a wonderful tool to apply all of Skinner’s experiments and observe first hand his findings, which made it a lot easier for us to understand. Burrhus Frederick Skinner was truly an inspiration in psychology.
On a personal level, Burrhus Frederick Skinner’s operant conditioning has played a very big part over the past two years of my life and continues to do so. I have had the “unfortunate” but fortunate opportunity to work with a variety of different people in the psychology field: a MST (multi- systemic therapist), care coordinator, LCSW and also the staff of a substance abuse program for high risk teens. They have taught my husband and I a tremendous amount regarding operant conditioning and how to put it in to play in our personal life with our children. Darren and I were and still are the type of people who think that for achievements there should be rewards and negative behavior, consequences but until we were faced with the intense situation of having a child who was in a downward spiral at the age of 16, I didn’t truly understand on how it all could have such an impact when put in place on a constant basis. I learned first hand about reinforcements, punishments, extinction and extinction bursts. As Skinner had also stated, “ Negative reinforcement leaves the individual feeling controlled and coerced”, which is something we dealt a lot with. The challenges that my family had faced over that time was just heart wrenching, I never thought that we would be able to over come this awful situation and be united as a family again. As much as we trained ourselves to follow through with the operant conditioning, at that point in time it was to late. Our son who was having emotional issues and substance abuse issues needed a higher level of care than we could not give him at our house and was enrolled into an amazing program called Marimed. I know that they also use operant conditioning with the boys in the program, so I am in hopes that when my son is released from the program that we can follow through with the conditioning he has had and have him on a road to happiness and success in his life.

References
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Vargas, J. (2005). A brief biography of b.f. skinner. Retrieved February 26, 2012 from http://www.bfskinner.org/BFSkinner/AboutSkinner.html