BF SKINNER: THEORY OF BEHAVIORISM AND OPERANT CONDITIONING - ECONOMÍA - 2025

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990), better known as BF Skinner, was a highly influential American psychologist for his contributions in developing the theory of behaviorism, and for his utopian novel Walden Two (1948).

Skinner is the most recognized psychologist within the current of behaviorism and his theory has been one of the most influential in Psychology. Behaviorism assumes that all behaviors are responses to certain stimuli in the environment, or consequences of the individual's history.

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1950)

Although behaviorists generally accept the important role of heredity in determining behavior, they focus primarily on environmental factors. They thus differ from cognitive psychologists, who attach great importance to thoughts.

Short biography

Born in Pennsylvania in 1904, Skinner began working on his ideas of human behavior after earning his doctorate from Harvard. His works include The Behavior of Organisms (1938) and a novel based on his theories, Walden Dos (1948). He explored behaviorism in relation to society in later books, including Beyond Freedom and Human Dignity (1971).

As a student at Hamilton College, Skinner developed a passion for writing. He tried to become a professional writer after graduating in 1926, but met with little success. Two years later, he decided to follow a new direction for his life; he enrolled at Harvard University to study psychology.

Skinner considered free will an illusion and human action as dependent on the consequences of previous actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high probability that the action will not be repeated. On the contrary, if the consequences are good, the action is likely to be repeated. Skinner called this the reinforcement principle.

Skinner Box

To strengthen behavior, Skinner used operant conditioning and to study it he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as Skinner's box.

By the 1920s, Watson had left academic psychology, and other behaviorists were becoming influential, proposing new ways of learning apart from classical conditioning.

Skinner's way of thinking was slightly less extreme than Watson's. Skinner believed that we have minds, but that it is simply more productive to study observable behaviors rather than internal mental events.

Introduction to behaviorism

John watson

Behaviorism was the main paradigm of psychology between 1920 and 1950, founded by John Watson and based on the belief that behaviors can be measured, trained and changed. Behaviorism could be summarized with the following quote from Watson, considered the "father" of this psychological current:

John Watson, Behaviorism, 1930.

According to the principles of behaviorism, all behaviors are learned from the environment in which we grow up. The behaviorists did not believe in biological determinations.

Furthermore, they were primarily concerned with behaviors that could be observed and believed that there was not much difference between learning that takes place in humans and that which takes place in animals.

How did behaviorism start?

The Russian physician Pavlov was the first to study theories of behaviorism in the 1890s. Classical Pavlovian conditioning was discovered by accident when he discovered, in an experiment on the digestion of his dogs, that their dogs salivated when he entered the room, without even bringing food with you.

Pavlov and dog

To summarize, classical conditioning involves learning that associates an unconditioned stimulus that by default brings a response in the body (for example, a reflex) with a new stimulus, so that the latter also carries the same response.

1-The dog salivates seeing the food. 2-The dog does not salivate at the sound of the bell. 3-The sound of the bell is shown next to the food. 4-After conditioning, the dog salivates with the sound of the bell.

This theory was later developed by Watson (1913), who was the American psychologist who founded the behavioral school of psychology, publishing an article called "Psychology as seen by a behaviorist." Later, he conditioned a boy to fear a white rat.

Thorndike, the American psychologist and pedagogue, formalized the term "Law of Effect" in 1905. In 1936, Skinner, the American psychologist who forms the true focus of this article, published "The Behavior of Organisms" and introduced the concepts of operant conditioning and modeling.

Behaviorism according to Burrhus Frederic Skinner

Source: emaze.com.

Skinner's work was rooted in the view of classical conditioning as too simple to constitute a complete explanation of complex human behavior. Skinner believed that the best way to understand human behavior was to check the causes of an action and its consequences. He called this approach "operant conditioning."

Operant conditioning has to do with operants: intentional actions that have an effect on the environment around us. Skinner began to identify the processes that made the occurrence of certain operant behaviors more or less likely.

Rat in an operant conditioning chamber

Skinner's theory of operant conditioning is based on the work of Thorndike (1905). Edward Thorndike studied learning in animals using a puzzle box to propose the theory known as "The Law of Effect."

Skinner's operant conditioning

As we have said, Skinner is considered the father of operant conditioning, but his work is based on Thorndike's law of effect. Skinner introduced a new term in the law of effect: reinforcement. Behavior that is reinforced tends to repeat itself; behavior that is not reinforced tends to die out (weaken).

Skinner studied operant conditioning by conducting animal experiments, which he placed in a "Skinner box", similar to Thorndike's puzzle box.

Skinner coined the term "operant conditioning," which involves changing a behavior using reinforcement given after the desired response. Skinner identified three types of responses or operants that can follow behavior:

• Neutral operators. They are responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease the probability that the behavior will be repeated.
• These responses increase the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated. Reinforcements can be positive or negative.
• They are responses that decrease the probability that a behavior is repeated; punishments weaken the conduct in question.

We have all experienced examples of behaviors that have been affected by reinforcement and punishment. When we were children, for example, if we talked during a class, the teacher told us to shut up. This response on the part of the teacher constitutes a punishment that, at least supposedly, should weaken the behavior of talking with the classmate during class.

During adolescence, for example, wearing a certain style or brand of clothing could be positively reinforced by peers of the same age through flattery, social acceptance or simply a kind gesture. This reinforces and makes it more likely that the behavior of wearing a certain brand clothing will be repeated.

Positive reinforcement

Researchers with Skinner's box and dove.

Skinner demonstrated how positive reinforcement worked by placing a hungry rat in his Skinner box. The box contained a lever on one side and the rat, as it moved through the box, accidentally pressed the lever. Immediately, a food pellet fell into a small container next to the lever.

The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after being in the box a few times. The consequence of receiving the food if they pressed the lever ensured that they would repeat the behavior over and over again.

Positive reinforcement strengthens a behavior by providing a consequence that the individual considers rewarding. For example, if your teacher gives you money every time you complete your homework, you are more likely to repeat the behavior of doing homework in the future, strengthening this behavior.

Negative reinforcement

Eliminating an unpleasant reinforcement can also strengthen a certain behavior. This is known as negative reinforcement, because it is the removal of an adverse stimulus that is "rewarding" for the person or animal. Negative reinforcement strengthens behavior by stopping or eliminating an unpleasant experience.

For example, when you have a headache, you take an aspirin to relieve it. The fact that the pain disappears constitutes a negative reinforcer for the behavior of taking an aspirin, making it more likely to recur in the future when you have a headache.

Skinner studied how negative reinforcement worked, again, by placing a rat in his Skinner box and exposing it to an unpleasant electrical current that caused him some degree of discomfort. This time, the lever on the box caused the electrical current to stop.

Rats initially pressed the lever by accident, but soon they learned to press it to stop the electric current. The consequence of escaping the current ensured that they repeated the action each time they were placed in the box or each time they felt electricity.

In fact, Skinner even taught rats to avoid electrical current by turning on a light just before the electrical current appeared. The rats learned early to press the lever when the light came on because they knew that this would prevent the electrical current from being turned on.

These two learned responses are known as "escape learning" and "avoidance learning."

Punishment

Punishment is defined as the opposite of reinforcement, as it is designed to weaken or eliminate a response rather than increase its probability. It is an aversive event that decreases the behavior that follows.

As with reinforcement, punishment can work both by directly applying an unpleasant stimulus, such as an electric shock after a response, and by removing a potentially rewarding stimulus.

For example, deducting money from someone's pay to punish undesirable behavior. It should be noted that it is not always easy to distinguish between punishments and negative reinforcement.

There are several problems when it comes to using punishments, such as the following:

• Punished behavior is not forgotten, it is suppressed. This behavior returns when punishment is not present.
• Punishment can lead to increased aggressiveness. It can show that aggressiveness is a way of coping with problems.
• Punishments create fear that spreads to undesirable behavior, for example, fear of going to school.
• Often times, punishment does not shape behavior toward the desired goal. Reinforcement tells you what to do, while punishment only tells you what not to do.

Behavior modeling

Skinner's box alters mouse behavior. Source: User U3144362, via Wikimedia Commons

Another of Skinner's important contributions is the notion of behavior modeling through the successive approach. Skinner argues that the principles of operant conditioning can be used to produce extremely complex behaviors if rewards and punishments are carried out in ways that encourage the organism in question to get closer and closer to the desired behavior.

For this result to occur, the conditions (or contingencies) required to receive the reward should change each time the organism takes a step closer to the desired behavior.

According to Skinner, most of human behavior (including language) can be explained as a product of this type of successive approach.

Behavior modification

Behavior modification is a set of therapies or techniques based on operant conditioning. The basic principle is to change environmental events related to a certain behavior of a person. For example, reinforce desired behaviors and ignore or punish unwanted ones.

However, this is not as simple as it sounds. Always reinforcing a desired behavior, for example, is basically bribing someone.

There are several types of positive reinforcement. Primary reinforcement occurs when a reward strengthens a behavior by itself. Secondary reinforcement occurs when something reinforces a behavior because it leads to a primary reinforcer.

Educational practical applications

In the conventional learning situation, operant conditioning is applied to topics related to classrooms and study, rather than to content related to learning.

Regarding the educational application of behavior modeling, a simple way to model behavior is to provide feedback on the learner's performance (eg, compliments, signs of approval, encouragement).

For example, if a teacher wanted to encourage his students to answer questions in class, he should praise them on every attempt, regardless of whether the answer is correct or not. Gradually, the teacher will only praise the students when their answers are correct and, over time, only exceptional answers will be praised.

Unwanted behaviors, such as being late to class and dominating class discussions, can be extinguished by being ignored by the teacher, rather than reinforced by drawing the teacher's attention to such behaviors.

Knowing that you have been successful is also important, as it motivates future learning. However, it is important to vary the type of reinforcement provided so that the behavior is sustained. This is not an easy task, as the teacher can appear insincere if he thinks too much about the way in which he should behave when praising a student.

Other practical applications and critical evaluation

Operant conditioning can be used to explain a host of behaviors, from the learning process to addiction to language acquisition. It also has practical applications, such as the educational ones we have previously described, and in prisons, psychiatric hospitals, and economics.

In economics, a well-known application of operant conditioning is token economy, a system through which a person receives tokens right after performing a desired behavior. The tokens are collected and then exchanged for something meaningful to the individual.

The use of animal research regarding operant conditioning also raises the question of extrapolation of the findings.

Some psychologists argue that we cannot generalize concluded results of research with animals to human behavior, since their anatomy and physiology are different and they cannot reflect on their experiences or invoke reason, patience and memory like humans.