Skinner

=Burrhus Frederick Skinner =



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 * Born: March 20, 1904**
 * Birth Place: Susquehanna, Pennsylvania**
 * Bachelors Degree: English, Hamilton College**


 * Career: Started off as a writer and then returned to Harvard for a Masters in Psychology in 1930. He continued to get his doctorate while compiling his research**


 * Professor at the University of Minnesota**
 * Chairman of the psychology department at Indiana University**


 * Click here for more background information:**

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Skinner was a believer in the concept of operational conditioning which primarily covers the consequences and reinforcements of various behaviors and how to induce the reoccurrence of a specific behavior.

We've known both negative and positive reinforcement methods to be tested mostly with animals as two of the four types of Operant Conditioning methods. Both Positive and Negative reinforcement are proven to strengthen behavior, while punishment and extinction are known to do the very opposite. He was unyielding in the approach that,  “The consequences of an act affect the probability of it occurring again.”

FOUNDATION

**Positive Reinforcement: Food is used as the automatic reward**

Action: The dog pulls the lever with his paw. Every time he repeats this action, a piece of meat falls through a tube. Therefore the dog is able and more than willing to repeat the same action each time to achieve the same result.

In negative reinforcement, a particular behavior is also strengthened as a result of learning what action to take in order to avoid a negative condition. For example as a negative condition a dog hears an ear piercing tone whenever it steps of of a treadmill. When he hops back on and walks, the sound goes away. We'll soon find that the dogs willingness to walk the treadmill will be strengthened by the consequence of no hearing the sound.

**Punishment**

Action: A highly vocal dog has a bark collar place around it's neck as a negative reinforcement. Every time he bark it give him a shock. He barks again and there's another shock. The dogs behavior of barking is weakened by the consequence of being shocked after each bark.

**Extinction**

In extinction reinforcement happens in the absence of a positive or negative response for the dog. When the dog hits the lever and no meat is expelled and there is no negative reaction such as a shock, the behavior will die off.

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**Is learning primarily focused on the transmission of facts and information or is it focused on the development of understanding of concepts and new knowledge?**

**Development vs learning which comes 1st?**

“ I did not direct my life. I didn't design it. I never made decisions. Things always came up and made them for me. That's what life is.” Skinner

<span style="font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">I’m sure Skinner would agree that learning has much to do with the transmission of facts as well as new knowledge. However, the primary focus of learning is based on the influences around us. However, these influence do not only have to be social, they can also be solitary. This was proven in his studies with rats and pigeons. One’s learning and development is a synchronous process that is shaped by natural stimuli in his or her own environment. We may at time confuse this with what seems to be “free will”. However, it is how we adjust and self pace ourselves according to what is happening in our lives, which in many cases we have no control over.