Theory of Operant Conditioning

Theory of Operant Conditioning

     Skinner believed that everything we do is shaped by our experience of punishment and reward. He believed that he could shape one's behavior through the techniques of operant conditioning.

     The three outcomes of an event that determines whether or not you are likely to repeat that action include reinforcers, neutral operants, and punishers. Reinforcers reward you for an action and increase the probability of a behavior being repeated. Punishers decrease the chances of a behavior being repeated. A neutral operant is a response that neither increases or decreases the probability of a behavior being repeated.  

Picture of the Skinner box 

used in Skinner's experiments—

     Skinner showed the power of positive reinforcement by placing a hungry rat in his Skinner box and teaching it to pull a lever in order to receive food. By the rat receiving food when he pulls the lever, the behavior is strengthened and the rat will continue to repeat this behavior in the future.

     Skinner also showed how negative reinforcement works with a similar experiment in which he placed a rat in his Skinner box and shocked it with electric currents until the rat pulled the lever. The rat quickly learns that pulling the lever stops the shocking which reinforces the behavior through the removal of the unpleasant shocking and the rat is likely to repeat the behavior again. 

Here's a video on Skinner conducting another experiment on operant conditioning, but this time on pigeons instead of rats.

B.F. Skinner Biography

B.F. Skinner Biography

Burrhus Frederic Skinner, or B.F. Skinner for short, was born on March 20, 1904. Skinner spent most of his childhood in Pennsylvania, which he described as "warm and stable." As a child he loved building and inventing things, especially building Rube Goldberg contraptions. Later on in life he received his B.A. in English Literature from Hamilton College and moved to New York as an aspiring writer. After his career as a novelist failed he returned to school by entering the psychology graduate program at Harvard University and received his PhD in 1931. He got married to Yvonne Blue in 1936 and had 2 daughters named Julie and Deborah shortly after. In 1936 Skinner took an academic position at the University of Minnesota. Then, in 1945 he became the psychology Department Chair at the University of Indiana. After that Skinner joined the psychology department at Harvard University in 1948 which was the position he held until he died on August 18, 1990.

For more information on B.F. Skinner visit the links below:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bhskin.html

http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/bio_skinner.htm