B. F. Skinner ED 530 Theorist Presentation Summer Semester 2010 Dr. Richard Clark

Background Born March 20, 1904 in Susquehanna, PA B.A. from Hamilton College M.S. from Harvard University Ph.D. from Harvard University Died August 18, 1990 of leukemia

Operant Conditioning An organism is operating in its environment This organism encounters a reinforcing stimulus special stimulus has the effect of increasing the operant (behavior occurring just before the reinforcer)

Skinner Box The skinner box was designed so that when a rat accidentally pressed a bar, a small food pellet would be released Soon, the rat would be conditioned to know every time it pressed the bar it would receive a pellet

Reinforcement For the Skinner Box to work, reinforcement had to be present. He dabbled in a few schedules: ◦Continuous reinforcement (pellet every time) ◦Fixed ratio schedule (one pellet every 3 times) ◦Fixed interval schedule (press the bar once during a certain amount of time—20 seconds) ◦Variable schedules-change the “x” each time—3 pushes then 10

Project Pigeon During WWII, Skinner aided in a top secret project to train pigeons to guide bombs. He trained pigeons to keep pecking a target that would hold a missile onto a target. The pigeons pecked reliably, even when falling rapidly and working with warlike noise all around them.

Project Pigeon Project Pigeon was discontinued Skinner liked working with pigeons best because pigeons behave more rapidly than rats, allowing more rapid discoveries of the effect of new contingencies Skinner never worked with rats again

Shaping Skinner is also credited for shaping behavior For the desired behavior, make variations to take you closer to that behavior (plus reinforcements) Skinner once used shaping to teach pigeons to bowl

The Baby Tender Skinner designed a heated crib that was enclosed with a Plexiglas window Many people believed this crib to be a Skinner Box for humans

Walden II A book about a community called Walden II This community was very well planned out including how children would be cared for The book received much praise as well as condemnation

Skinner in the Classroom "Teachers must learn how to teach... they need only to be taught more effective ways of teaching.“ positive reinforcement is more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment

Skinner in the Classroom Skinner says that there are five main obstacles to learning: ◦People have a fear of failure. ◦The task is not broken down into small enough steps. ◦There is a lack of directions. ◦There is also a lack of clarity in the directions. ◦Positive reinforcement is lacking.

Skinner in the Classroom Skinner suggests that any age- appropriate skill can be taught using five principles to remedy the above problems: ◦Give the learner immediate feedback. ◦Break down the task into small steps. ◦Repeat the directions as many times as possible. ◦Work from the most simple to the most complex tasks. ◦Give positive reinforcement.

References B. F. Skinner Foundation – Better Behavioral Science For a More Humane World. Retrieved May 28, Personality Theories. Retrieved May 30, B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) - Behavioral Analysis, Social Service, Educational Reform. Retrieved May 30, /Skinner-B-F html. /Skinner-B-F html