Behavioral Technologist
(1904 - 1990)
Introduction
If John B. Watson can be considered an Apostle of Behaviorism, then B.F. Skinner is their 'St. Paul' in this regard while Watson is its 'St. Peter', as Skinner's name pops up first in predominant discussions of this most "scientific" of the branches of psychology. He further developed Watson and Thorndike's operant conditioning from Pavlov's classical conditioning. Pavlov's famous dogs had two stimuli, food and a bell ringing --that caused a conditioned response: salivation. The famous Skinner Box allowed pigeons to be rewarded (positive reinforcement) for 'correct behavior,' and more importantly could be studied more accurately in laboratory settings. His operant conditioning was different from classical conditioning as it resulted from free operation, rather than just a stimulus. Also, the nature of the reinforcement concerns the following rather than the preceding of the behavior.
In his book, Beyond Freedom and Dignity he makes the case against punishment (negative reinforcement) as a superior means of controlling behavior. He believes his approach would make a better world. Educators have made good use of these principles. (No pun intended.)
Like the other pure behaviorists, (Skinner is sometimes called a neo-behaviorist) the study of the mind, a mysterious 'black box,' was best left alone, and he was consistent in developing the branch further in this direction. As he said:
The question is not whether machines think, but whether men do.
Biography
Our Town
Small town Susquehanna, Pennsylvania was Americana at its best in the turn of the century, and B.F. Skinner came into that world on March 20, 1904. His lawyer father had married an intelligent Christian-valued woman, and they along with grandparents instilled on Burrhus Frederic (called Fred) God-fearing, law-abiding, polite values without resorting to undue spanking and withholding goodies. This close family had a hard-working ethic as part of a means to garner God's favor, and B.F. admits it was instrumental in his work and philosophy in later years.
Though he assiduously did the actual hanging up of his nighties, a natural inventor, he devised an alarm to remind him. Though his grandiose plans of a perpetual motion machine never came to fruition, his separator of ripened from not elderberries worked --using the principle of buoyancy. His smoke ring machine just barely cleared his parent's ban on smoking.
As a young lad, Skinner loved to watch the creatures in his nearby Pennsylvania woods, and some he captured and studied at home. This, too, was instrumental in future endeavors.
Schooling and Academia
And I want to be a paperback writer...
Skinner actually originally pursued writing, and while an English major at New York state's little Hamilton College, he wrote a letter and included some of his stories to Robert Frost. He was positively reinforced to follow that course, but his two year sabbatical for that journey hit rocks, but 'stranded' he happened on the inspiration of his life, behavioral books by Pavlov and Watson!
He entered Harvard University's graduate school of Psychology, and was awarded their Doctor of Philosophy in 1931.
After holding a teaching postion at the University of Minnesota for almost a decade, he was elevated at the University of Indiana to their Chairman of the Psychology Department. He finally finished out his career at Harvard after a 'homecoming' in 1948.
The Last Battle
We are fortunate that fate allowed B.F. Skinner to contribute to our understanding of behavior until he had lived 86 years, as at the end leukemia did finish his opportunities on this planet. He was an optimist, as seen from these words at the end of his Beyond Freedom and Dignity
{Man}... is indeed controlled by his environment, but we must remember that it is an environment largely of his own making. The evolution of a culture is a gigantic exercise in self-control. It is often said that a scientific view of man leads to wounded vanity, a sense of hopelessness, and nostalgia. But no theory changes what is a theory about; man remains what he has always been. And a new theory may change what can be done with its subject matter. A scientific view of man offers exciting possibilities. We have not yet seen what man can make of man.
His Contributions
Personality Without Personality
Plus you got a great big smile.
The very thing that Skinner focused on, that is, selecting the changing impetuses that shape persons and almost ignoring the person, is what causes controversy in his peers and laymen. He believes looking internally, when the outside forces are more evident is excessive, unneccesary.
Schedules of Reinforcement
I want candy...
These various timings of awards have different effectiveness.
- Continuous
- Interval
- Ratio
Re-evaluation of Punishment
Don't you know it hurts so good.
Punishment, unfortunately traditionally overused, actually has been proven not effective at long-term behavioral change, and creatures will find other ways of getting what it wants. In Freedom he states:
If we no longer resort to torture in what we call the civilized world, we nevertheless still make extensive use of punitive techniques in both domestic and foreign relations. And apparently for good reasons. Nature if not God has created man in such a way that he can be controlled punitively. People quickly become skillful punishers (if not, thereby, skillful controllers), whereas alternative positive measures are not easily learned. The need for punishment seems to have the support of history, and alternative practices threaten the cherished values of freedom and dignity.
Fear involved with punishment causes
frustration: with typical results loathing,
hostility and
apathy. Skinner's teaching on the superiority of positive reinforcement's benefits for keeping desired behavior have proved very valuable.
Behavior Modification Therapy
My mind been goin' through them changes.
Restructure the environment to get rid of unwanted behavior, and more importantly, re-establish constructive ones. These are practical ideas adopted not just by clinical applications and teaching forums, but by industry as well.
The Skinner Box
Work all day for the sugar in your tea.
The "Skinner Box" is the device that moved behaviorism beyond what is called "classical conditioning" (or Pavlovian) to what he called "instrumental" (or operant) by changing the emphasis from merely responding to stimuli, but by learning efforts to either make goals or avoid pain.
The sound proof enclosed apparatus was first assembled in 1938 using strings and push-buttons as well as levers. The measured amount of food as reward gained by the test subjects, (at first pigeons, but also included rats) was what "reinforcement" for a "conditioned response." Trial and error developed into learned patterns.
The box could be set up for a variety of experiments. It can produce automatic timing of each response, or regulate the number during any or each segment of time. "Schedules of reinforcement" can be measured by changing that interval the pellet, or reinforcement is given.
Also the box was adapted to change where the levers were located, their appearance, like lighted or particularly colored ones.
They have tracked rats performing in the box with electronic devices inserted in their brains, giving valuable information in the aid of studying that highest of neurological organs. Those animals were able to push levers up to 5000 times an hour.
This is ground control to Major Tom...
More amazingly was the fact that Skinner box trained pigeons did better at guiding aeronautic missles better than the electronic hardware of the last century. These supposedly stupid birds would peck like crazy when the rocket was off-target!
pin0 noted: You can add also that the name of Principal Skinner, from
The Simpsons was taken from him.
Skinner's Publications
Journals and Academic
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
"On the conditions of elicitation of certain eating reflexes". 1930, 16, 433-38.
"The abolishment of a discrimination". 1933, 19, 825-28.
"A discrimination without previous conditioning". 1934, 20, 532-36.
"The extinction of chained reflexes". 1934, 20, 234-37.
"Resurgence of responding after the cessation of response-independent reinforcement". 1980, 77, 6251-53. (with R. Epstein)
Journal of General Psychology
"On the inheritance of maze behavior". 1930, 4, 342-46.
"The progressive increase in the geotropic response of the ant" Aphaenogaster. 1930, 4, 102-12. (with T. C. Barnes)
1931
"The concept of the reflex in the description of behavior". 1931, 5, 427-58.
1932
"Drive and reflex strength". 1932, 6, 22-37.
"Drive and reflex strength: II". 1932, 6, 38-48.
"On the rate of formation of a conditioned reflex". 1932, 7, 274-86.
"A paradoxical color effect". 1932, 7, 481-82.
1933
"The measurement of 'spontaneous activity'". 1933, 9, 3-23.
"On the rate of extinction of a conditioned reflex". 1933, 8, 114-29.
"The rate of establishment of a discrimination". 1933, 9, 302-50.
"Resistance to extinction" in the process of conditioning. 1933, 9, 420-29.
"A discrimination based upon a change in the properties of a stimulus". , 1935, 12, 313-36.
"The generic nature of the concepts of stimulus and response". 1935, 12, 40-65.
"Two types of conditioned reflex and a pseudo type". 1935, 12, 66-77.
1936
"Conditioning and extinction and their relation to drive". , 1936, 14, 296-317.
"The effect on the amount of conditioning of an interval of time before reinforcement". , 1936, 14, 279-95.
"A failure to obtain "disinhibition". 1936, 14, 127-35.
"The reinforcing effect of a differentiating stimulus". 1936, 14, 263-78.
"Thirst as an arbitrary drive". 1936, 15, 205-10.
"Two types of conditioned reflex: A reply to Konorski and Miller". 1937, 16, 272-79.
1938
American Journal of Psychology
"The verbal summator and a method for the study of latent speech". (
Journal of Psychology), 1936, 2, 71-107.
1937
"A quantitative estimate of certain types of sound-patteming in poetry". 1941, 54, 64-79.
"A second type of superstition in the pigeon". 1957, 70, 308-11. (with W. H. Morse)
Psychological Record
"Changes in hunger during starvation". 1937, 1, 51-60. (with W. T. Heron)
"The distribution of associated words". 1937, 1, 71-76.
"Effects of caffeine and benzedrine upon conditioning and extinction". 1937, 1, 340-46. (with W. T. Heron)
"The alliteration in Shakespeare's sonnets: A study in literary behavior". 1939, 3, 186-92.
"An apparatus for the study of animal behavior". 1939, 3, 166-76. (with W. T. Heron)
"Some factors influencing the distribution of associated words". , 1939, 3, 178-84. (with S. W. Cook)
1940
The rate of extinction in maze-bright and maze-dull rats. 1940, 4, 11-18. (with W. T. Heron)
1941
Psychological Review
"The operational analysis of psychological terms". 1945, 52, 270-77, 291-94.
1947
"Are theories of learning necessary?" 1950, 57, 193-216.
1951
Journal of Experimental Psychology
"Some quantitative properties of anxiety". 1941, 29, 390-400. (with W. K. Estes)
1942
"The processes involved in the repeated guessing of alternatives". , 1942, 30, 495-503.
1943
"Reply to Dr. Yacorzynski". 1943, 32, 93-94.
1945
"'Superstition' in the pigeon". 1948, 38, 168-72.
American Scientist
"Card-guessing experiments". 1948, 36, 456, 458.
"The experimental analysis of behavior". 1957, 45, 343-71.
Scientific American
"How to teach animals". 1951, 185(12), 26-29.
1953
"Teaching machines". 1961, 205(11), 90-102.
American Psychologist
"Some contributions of an experimental analysis of behavior to psychology as a whole". 1953, 8, 69-78.
1954
"A case history in scientific method". 1956, 11, 221-33.
"Reinforcement today". 1958, 13, 94-99.
"Pigeons in a pelican". 1960, 15, 28-37.
"Operant behavior". 1963, 18, 503-15.
"Herrnstein and the evolution of behaviorism". 1977, 32, 1006-12.
"Intellectual self-management in old age". 1983, 38, 239-44.
"The shame of American education". 1984, 39, 947-54.
1985
"What is wrong with daily life in the western world?" 1986, 41, 568-74.
1987
"Whatever happened to psychology as the science of behavior?" 1987, 42, 780-86.
1988
"The origins of cognitive thought". 1989, 44, 13-18.
"Can psychology be a science of mind?" 1990, 45, 1206-10.
Harvard Educational Review
The science of learning and the art of teaching. Harvard Educational Review, 1954, 24, 86-97.
1955
Why we need teaching machines. Harvard Educational Review, 1961, 31, 377-98.
1962
Science
"Some issues concerning the control of human behavior: A symposium". 1956, 124, 1057-66. (with C. R. Rogers)
"Teaching machines". 1958, 128, 969-77.
1959
"John Broadus Watson, behaviorist". 1959, 129, 197-98.
"Behaviorism at fifty". 1963, 140, 951-58.
"The phylogeny and ontogeny of behavior". 1966, 153, 1205-13.
"Teaching science in high school-What is wrong?" 1968, 159, 704-10.
"Autoshaping". 1971, 173, 752.
"Symbolic communication between two pigeons". (Columba livia domestics). 1980, 207, 543-45. (with R. Epstein & R. P. Lanza 2)
1981
"Selection by consequences". 1981, 213, 501-504.
"'Self-awareness' in the pigeon". 1981, 212, 695-96. (with R. Epstein & R. P. Lanza)
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
"Diagramming schedules of reinforcement". 1958, 1, 67-68.
"Fixed-interval reinforcement of running in a wheel". 1958, 1, 371-79. (with W. H. Morse)
"Some factors involved in the stimulus control of operant behavior". 1958, 1, 103-107. (with W. H. Morse)
"Sustained performance during very long experimental sessions". 1958, 1, 235-44. (with W. H. Morse)
"Operandum". 1962, 5, 224.
"Technique for reinforcing either of two organisms with a single food magazine". 1962, 5, 58. (with G. S. Reynolds)
"Two 'synthetic social relations.'" 1962, 5, 531-33.
"Conditioned and unconditioned aggression in pigeons". 1963, 6, 73-74. (with G. S. Reynolds & A. C. Catania)
"What is the experimental analysis of behavior"? 1966, 9, 213-18.
1967
"Farewell, my LOVELY!" 1976, 25, 218.
"Charles B. Ferster-A personal memoir". 1981, 35, 259-61.
"The evolution of behavior". 1984, 41, 217-21.
The Listener
"Utopia through the control of human behavior". January 12, 1967, pp. 55-56.
"Visions of utopia". January 5, 1967, pp. 22-23.
1968
"B. F. Skinner says what's wrong with the social sciences". September 30, 1971, pp. 429-31.
Psychology Today
"The machine that is man". April 1969, pp. 20-25, 60-63.
1970
"Between freedom and despotism". September 1977, pp. 80-82, 84, 86,90-91.
"My experience with the baby-tender". March 1979, pp. 28-31, 34, 37-38, 40. (an expanded excerpt from The Shaping of a Behaviorist {1979})
"I am most concerned. . . ." May 1982, pp. 48-49. (part of "Understanding Psychological Man: A State-of-the-Science Report," pp. 40-59)
The Humanist
"Humanistic behaviorism". May/June 1971, 31, 35.
"Humanism and behaviorism". July/August 1972, 32, 18-20.
"A humanist alternative to A.A.'s Twelve Steps". July/August 1987, 47, 5.
The New York Times
"Freedom and dignity revisited". August 11, 1972, p. 29.
"Freedom, at last, from the burden of taxation". July 26, 1977, p. 29.
Daedalus
"The design of cultures". 1961, 90, 534-46.
"Designing higher education". 1974, 103, 196-202.
1975
Behaviorism
"Why I am not a cognitive psychologist". 1977, 5, 1-10.
1978
"Reply to Place:
Three senses of the word 'tact.' 1985, 13, 75-76.
The Behavior Analyst
"The species-specific behavior of ethologists". 1980, 3(l), 51.
"How to discover what you have to say-A talk to students". 1981, 4(l), 1-7.
"Contrived reinforcement". 1982, 5, 3-8.
"Can the experimental analysis of behavior rescue psychology?" 1983, 6, 9-17.
"News from nowhere", 1984. 1985, 8, 5-14.
"To know the future". 1990, 13, 103-106. (published concurrently in C. Fadiman
Ed., Living philosophies: The reflections of some eminent men and women of our time. New York: Doubleday, 1990, pp. 193-99)
1993
Free Inquiry
"What religion means to me". Spring 1987, 7, 12-13.
"Sleeping in peace". Summer 1986, 6, 57.
Other Journalistic, Academic, Professional Articles
"Some conditions affecting intensity and duration thresholds in motor nerve, with reference to chronaxie of subordination".
American Journal of Physiology, 1933, 106, 721-37. (with E. F. Lambert & A. Forbes)
1934
"Has Gertrude Stein a secret?"
Atlantic Monthly, January 1934, pp. 50-57.
1935
A method of maintaining an arbitrary degree of hunger. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 1940, 30, 139-45.
"The psychology of design".
In Art education today. New York: Bureau Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1941, pp. 1-6.
"Baby in a box".
Ladies' Home Journal, October 1945, pp. 30-31, 135-36, 138.
"An automatic shocking-grid apparatus for continuous use".
Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1947, 40, 305-307. (with S. L. Campbell)
"A critique of psychoanalytic concepts and theories".
Scientific Monthly, 1954, 79, 300-305.
"The control of human behavior". Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1955, 17, 547-51.
"Freedom and the control of men".
American Scholar, Winter 1955-56, 25, 47-65.
1956
"Concurrent activity under fixed-interval reinforcement".
Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1957, 50, 279-8 1. (with W. H. Morse)
"Animal research in the pharmacotherapy of mental disease". In J. Cole & R. Gerard (Eds.),
Psychopharmacology: Problems in evaluation. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, 1959, pp. 224-28.
"Concept formation in philosophy and psychology". In S. Hook (Ed.),
Dimensions of mind: A symposium. New York: New York University Press, 1960, pp. 226-30.
"Modern learning theory and some new approaches to teaching". In J. W. Gustad (Ed.),
Faculty utilization and retention. Winchester, MA: New England Board of Higher Education, 1960, pp. 64-72.
"Special problems in programming language instruction for teaching machines". In F.J. Oinas (Ed.),
Language teaching today. Bloomington: Indiana University Research Center in Anthropology, Folklore, and Linguistics, 1960, pp. 167-74.
"Teaching machines".
The Review of Economics and Statistics, August 1960 (Supplement), 42, 189-91.
"The use of teaching machines in college instruction" (Parts II-IV). In A. A. Lumsdaine & R. Glaser (Eds.),
Teaching machines and programmed learning: A source book. Washington, DC: Department of Audio-Visual Instruction, National Education Association, 1960, pp. 159-72. (with J. G. Holland)
1961
"The theory behind teaching machines".
Journal of the American Society of Training Directors, July 1961, 15, 27-29.
"Learning theory and future research". In J. Lysaught (Ed.),
Programmed learning: Evolving principles and industrial applications. Ann Arbor: Foundation for Research on Human Behaviors, 1961, pp. 59-66.
"Squirrel in the yard: Certain sciurine experiences ot B. F. Skinner".
Harvard Alumni Bulletin, 1962, 64, 642-45.
"Verbal behavior".
Encounter, November 1962, pp. 42-44. (with 1. A. Richards)
1963
"A Christmas caramel, or, a plum from the hasty pudding".
The Worm Runner's Digest, 1963, 5(2), 42-46.
"L'avenir des à machines enseigner".
Psychologie Francaise, 1963, 8, 170-80.
Reflections on a decade of teaching machines'.
Teachers College Record, 1963, 65, 168-77.
"Reply to Thouless".
Australian Journal of Psychology, 1963, 15, 92-93.
1964
"Man."
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 1964, 108, 482-85.
"New methods and new aims in teaching".
New Scientist, 1964, 122, 483-84.
"On the relation between mathematical and statistical competence and significant scientific productivity".
The Worm Runner's Digest, 1964, 6(l), 15-17. (published under the pseudonym, F. Galtron Pennywhistle)
1965
"The technology of teaching".
Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B, 1965, 162, 427-43.
Why teachers fail.
Saturday Review, October 16, 1965, pp. 80-81, 98-102.
1966
Conditioning responses by reward and punishment.
Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, 1966, 41, 48-51.
Contingencies of reinforcement in the design of a culture.
Behavioral Science, 1966, 11, 159-66.
"Some responses to the stimulus 'Pavlov.'"
Conditional Reflex, 1966, 1, 74-78.
"Development of methods of preparing materials for teaching machines". Alexandria, VA:
Human Resources Research Office, George Washington University, 1968. (edited by L. M. Zook)
"Contingency management in the classroom".
Education, 1969, 90, 93-100.
"Are we free to have a future?"
Impact, 1973, 3(l), 5-12.
"The free and happy student".
New York University Education Quarterly, 1973, 4(2), 2-6.
"Walden (one) and Walden Two".
The Thoreau Society Bulletin, Winter 1973, pp. 1-3.
1974
"Comments on Watt's 'B. F. Skinner and the technological control of social behavior.'"
The American Political Science Review, 1975, 69, 228-29.
"The ethics of helping people".
Criminal Law Bulletin, 1975, 11, 623-36.
"The shaping of phylogenic behavior".
Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis, 1975, 35, 409-15.
"Why don't we use the behavioral sciences?"
Human Nature, March 1978, 1, 86-92.
"A happening at the annual dinner of the Association for Behavioral Analysis", Chicago, May 15, 1978.
The Behavior Analvst, 1979, 2(l), 30-33. (published anonymously)
1979
"Le renforçateur arrangé".
Revue de modification du comportement, 1979, 9, 59-69. (translated into French by Raymond Beausoleil)
"Pavlov's influence on psychology in America".
Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 1981, 17, 242-45.
"A better way to deal with selection".
The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1983, 3, 377-78.
"Cognitive science and behaviourism".
British Journal of Psychology, 1985, 76, 291-301.
"Programmed instruction revisited".
Phi Delta Kappa, 1986, 68, 103-10.
"Some thoughts about the future".
Journal of the Experimented Analysis of Behavior, 1986, 45, 229-35.
"Outlining a science of feeling".
The Times Literary Supplement, May 8, 1987, pp. 490, 501-502.
"A thinking aid".
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1987, 20, 379-80.
"A fable".
The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 1988, 6, 1-2.
"The operant side of behavior therapy".
Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 1988, 19, 171-79.
"Signs and countersigns".
The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1988, 11, 466-67.
"A statement on punishment".
APA Monitor, June 1988, p. 22.
"War, peace, and behavior analysis: Some comments".
Behavior Analysis and Social Action, 1988, 6, 57-58.
1989
"The non-punitive society".
Japanese Journal of Behavior Analysis, 1990, 5, 98-106.
"A world of our own".
Behaviorology, 1993, 1, 3-5.
Articles or Chapters in Books, Compilations
"Experimental psychology". In W. Dennis et al.,
Current trends in psychology. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1947, pp. 16-49.
1948
"What is psychotic behavior?" In
Theory and treatment of the psychoses: Some newer aspects. St. Louis: Committee on Publications, Washington University, 1956, pp. 77-99.
1957
"The flight from the laboratory". In B. F. Skinner,
Cumulative record. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1959, pp. 242-57.
"The programming of verbal knowledge". In E. Galanter (Ed.),
Automatic teaching: The state of the art. New York: John Wiley, 1959, pp. 63-68.
1960
"Stimulus generalization in an operant: A historical note". In D. 1. Mostofsky (Ed.),
Stimulus generalization. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1965, pp. 193-209.
"An operant analysis of problem solving". In B. Kleinmuntz (Ed.),
Problem solving: Research, method, and theory. New York: John Wiley, 1966, pp. 225-57.
"The design of experimental communities". In
International encyclopedia of the social sciences (Vol. 16). New York: Macmillan, 1968, pp. 271-75.
"Edwin Garrigues Boring". In
The American Philosophical Society: Yearbook 1968. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society, 1969, pp. 111-15.
"The science of human behavior". In
Twenty-five years at RCA laboratories 1942-1967. Princeton, NJ: RCA Laboratories, 1968, pp. 92-102.
"Creating the creative artist". In A. J. Toynbee et al.,
On thefuture of art. New York: Viking Press, 1970, pp. 61-75.
1971
"A behavioral analysis of value judgments". In E. Tobach, L. R. Aronson, & E. Shaw (Eds.),
The biopsychology of development. New York: Academic Press, 1971, pp. 543-51.
"Operant conditioning". In
The encyclopedia of education, Vol. 7. New York: Macmillan and Free Press, 1971, pp. 29-33.
1972
"Compassion and ethics in the care of the retardate". In B. F. Skinner,
Cumulative record (3rd ed). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1972, pp. 283-91.
"'A lecture on "having a poem.'" In B. F. Skinner,
Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1972, pp. 345-55.
"Some relations between behavior modification and basic research". In B. F. Skinner,
Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1972, pp. 276-82.
1973
"Answers for my critics". In H. Wheeler (Ed.), Beyond the punitive society. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1973, pp. 256-66.
"Reflections on meaning and structure". In R. Brower, H. Vendler, & J. Hollander (Eds.),
I. A. Richards: Essays in his honor. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973, pp. 199-209.
"Some implications of making education more efficient". In C. E. Thoresen (Ed.),
Behavior modification in education. Chicago: National Society for the Study of Education, 1973, pp. 446-56.
"The steep and thorny way to a science of behaviour". In R. Harré (Ed.),
Problems of scientific revolution: Progress and obstacles to progress in the sciences. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975, pp. 58-71.
1976
"The experimental analysis of operant behavior". In R. W. Rieber & K. Salzinger (Eds.),
The roots of American psycholoyy: Historical influences and implications for the future (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. 29 {1}). New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1977, pp. 374-85.
"The spontaneous use of memoranda by pigeons".
Behaviour Analysis Letters, 1981, 1, 241-46. (with R. Epstein)
1982
Skinner for the classroom. Champaign, IL: Research Press, 1982. (edited by R. Epstein)
1983
"B. F. Skinner
'The books that have been most important. . .'". In C. M. Devine, C. M. Dissel, & K. D. Parrish (Eds.),
The Harvard guide to influential books: 113 distinguished Harvard professors discuss the books that have helped to shape their thinking. New York: Harper & Row, 1986, pp. 233-34.
Canonical papers of B. F. Skinner. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1984, 7, 473-724. (edited by A. C. Catania & S. Harnad, with numerous commentators; reprinted in book form under the title,
The selection of consequences: The operant behaviorism of B. F. Skinner: Comments and consequences New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988)
"Genes and behavior". In G. Greenberg & E. Tobach (Eds.),
Evolution of social behavior and integrative levels. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1988, pp.77-83.
"The behavior of organisms at fifty". In
B. F. Skinner, Recent issues in the analysis of behavior. Columbus, OH: Merrill, 1989, pp. 121-35.
"The behavior of the listener". In
S. C. Hayes (Ed.), Rule-govemed behavior: Cognition, contingencies, and instructional control. New York: Plenum Press, 1989, pp. 85-96.
"The school of the future". In B. F. Skinner, Recent issues in the analysis of behavior. Columbus, OH: Merrill, 1989, pp. 85-96.
1990
Books
The behavior of organisms: An experimental analysis. New York: Appleton-Century, 1938.
1939
Walden Two. New York: Macmillan, 1948.
1950
Science and human behavior. New York: Macmillan, 1953.
Schedules of reinforcement. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957. (with C. B. Ferster)
Verbal behavior. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957.
1958
Cumulative record. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1959; Enlarged edition, 1961. Third edition, 1972.
The analysis of behavior: A program for self-instruction. New York: McGraw Hill, 1961. (with J. G. Holland)
B. F. Skinner ... An autobiography. In E. G. Boring & G. Lindzey (Eds.), A history of psychology in autobiography (Vol. 5). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts,1967, pp. 387-413.
Handwriting with write and see. Chicago: Lyons & Carnahan, 1968. (with S. Krakower ; a series of manuals for teachers and students, grades 1 to 6)
The technology of teaching. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1968.
1969
Contingencies of reinforcement: A theoretical analysis. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1969.
Beyond freedom and dignity. New York: Knopf, 1971.
About behaviorism. New York: Knopf, 1974.
Particulars of my life. New York: Knopf, 1976.
1977
Reflections on behaviorism and society. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1978.
The shaping of a behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf, 1979.
1980.
Notebooks. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1980. (edited by R. Epstein)
Enjoy old age: A program of self management. New York: W. W. Norton, 1983. (with M. E. Vaughan)
A matter of consequences. New York: Knopf, 1983.
1984
Upon further reflection. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1987.
Recent issues in the analysis of behavior. Columbus, OH: Merrill, 1989.
One can order free reprints of the above from the B.F. Skinner Foundation. Or purchase:
To order single copies of the listed reprints (not books), or to obtain permission to reprint any of the listed publications, please contact:
The B. F. Skinner Foundation
P. O. Box 84
Morgantown, WV 26507
Phone: (304) 293-2146 ext. 1051
FAX: (304) 293-7388
"The B.F. Skinner Foundation"
bfsf@wvu.edu
Sources
Golenson, Robert M., PhD, The Encyclopedia of Human Behavior. Garden City: Doubleday, 1970.
Hunt, Morton, The Universe Within, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982.
Skinner, B.F., Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York: Alfred Knoph, 1971.
http://www.redeemer.on.ca/~psychist/behavioral_psych/Skinner/skinnerhome.htm