B.F. Skinner's Achievements in the Field of Behaviorism
- titatuchinda
- Jun 10, 2020
- 4 min read
If anyone mentions the term "behaviorism", Burrhus Frederic Skinner — known simply as B.F. Skinner — will be the first person who pops up in my mind. Let's first define the concept that I just brought up. Behaviorism explores the mechanisms behind human and animals' actions through scientific observations and experimentations. Prior to Skinner, Ivan Pavlov investigated the behaviors of living organisms by engaging in classical conditioning. A famous example is when repeated stimuli (the bell) generates a respond (dog's salivation). The dog salivates because it has been "conditioned" to expect food after the owner has rang the bell. Skinner admired Ivan's findings, but he disagreed with classical conditioning. To prove his point, Skinner came up with many incredible inventions to elucidate his theories of behaviorism.
The first invention that I am going to discuss is the Skinner Box, which introduces the concept of operant conditioning. The term mentioned previously illustrates how we learn the consequences of our behaviors through experiencing rewards or punishments. The format of a typical "box" includes an animal, a lever, a bar, and a key. These components are important to psychologists as they are testing the subject's response to a stimuli. Let's say that you have a pet mouse and decide to put it into the Skinner box. Once inside, the mouse will naturally run around and test the different features out of curiosity. Finally, it will press the lever. If you want to experiment with positive reinforcement, then you can set up the lever in a way that the pellet dispenser will spit out food once the mouse presses on it. As time goes on, the mouse will engage in continuous reinforcement as it expects the pellets as a reward. Unfortunately, the mouse will get bored easily. With partial reinforcement, the mouse will receive the pellets after a certain amount of time; it will run on a fix-interval schedule and is more likely to have a higher rate of engagement with the task.
Let's imagine that the electric grid that the mouse stands on is powered by the shock generator. So the mouse continues to suffer unless it finds a way to stop the electricity. If you want to experiment with negative reinforcement, then you can set up the lever in a way that the electric shock will halt only if the mouse presses on it. There is, however, a difference between negative reinforcement and punishment. If you want to experiment with punishment, then you can set up the lever in a way that a blast of cold wind will blow from the ceiling and discourages the mouse from repeating this action. Interestingly, the lessons that we learn from experimenting with the Skinner box are also applicable to human habits and addictions.
The second invention that I am going to discuss is the Cumulative Recorder, which is used in conjunction with the Skinner Box. Each time the mouse steps on the lever, the pen that is attached to the cumulative recorder will draw a line to documents the response. The blue line that you see below is the record of simple repeated responses, where the slope represents the rate of response on average.
Now, I will explain what each label on this diagram means. Since the paper direction goes from right to left, I will start with the "series of rapid responses". In this part, the mouse presses the lever many many times as it just discovers the reward (pellet) which lights up the dopamine center. As time goes on, the slope is less steep and responses are fewer. Once the "not responding" point is reached, the mouse has grown used to the reward and is no longer excited by the pellets. This phenomenon is known as habituation. According to a Coursera course: Introduction to Psychology taught by Professor Paul Bloom of Yale University, habituation is defined as "a declining tendency to generate a strong response toward the same stimuli". Overall, the cumulative recorder demonstrates that a subject's behavior depends on whether its response to a stimulus is positive or negative; this concept is known as operant behavior.
The third and final invention that I am going to discuss is the Teaching Machine, a box that applies Skinner's theories of behaviorism to enhance students' learning experiences. The function of this device is to give incremental feedbacks to students until they achieve a desired response (eg: solid grasp of the educational concepts). In order to attain this goal, the box runs on a system of program instruction where it provides a list of questions through a small window. If the problems are too difficult for the students, the machine will adapt accordingly until the students acquire the intended new skills. For each correct answer, the students will receive rewards.
Although we have now abandoned the Teaching Machine, educators still adapt Skinner's theories in schools. Teachers use positive reinforcements, such as praises and encouragements, to push students to perform better in class. We can also see a subtle example of a negative reinforcement when students get poor scores as a result of inadequate preparation for the exams. Consequently, students feel sad or upset and will avoid getting into this type of situation in the future. Essentially, the Teaching Machine serves as a stepping stone in unlocking students' academic potential.
As one of the most influential psychologist in the 20th century, Skinner leaves many physical legacies behind in the forms of inventions. His impacts on behaviorism extend to numerous fields such as education, mental health, and animal experimentations. So thank you, B.F. Skinner, for conducting experiments so that we can understand the relationships between stimuli, reinforcements, and responses.
Lastly, I would like to give credits to the following sources that I used to write this article. Please refer to them if you need more information on B.F. Skinner and behaviorism:
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