B. F. Skinner

B. F. Skinner was an American psychologist who developed radical behaviorism and advanced experimental research on operant conditioning.

Operant conditioning: A learning process in which consequences change the future frequency of behavior. Skinner made this form of learning the center of his experimental program.
Operant chamber: A controlled apparatus for studying animal behavior and its consequences. Skinner used it to measure responses such as lever pressing under controlled conditions.
John B. Watson: An American psychologist who helped establish behaviorism as a movement in psychology. Watson’s rejection of introspection preceded Skinner’s distinct radical behaviorism.
Walden Two: B. F. Skinner’s 1948 novel about a community organized through behavioral principles. It dramatizes Skinner’s proposal that cultural practices can be designed around consequences.
Reinforcement: A consequence that increases the future frequency of a behavior. Skinner distinguished reinforcement by its effect on behavior, not by its intention.
Reinforcement schedule: A rule specifying which responses or times produce reinforcement. Skinner showed that different schedules produce distinct patterns of responding.
Edward Thorndike: An American psychologist whose studies of animal learning produced the law of effect. Thorndike’s findings on consequences anticipated Skinner’s analysis of operant behavior.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity: B. F. Skinner’s 1971 book arguing for a science-based analysis of human behavior and social design. The book brought his claims about behavioral control into public controversy.
Punishment: A consequence that decreases the future frequency of a behavior. Skinner analyzed punishment as a behavioral consequence, while favoring reinforcement for teaching.
Shaping (psychology): A teaching procedure that reinforces successive approximations of a target behavior. Skinner used shaping to build complex actions from simpler responses.

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