B. F. Skinner
B. F. Skinner
Burrhus Frederic Skinner, commonly known as B. F. Skinner, was an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth20 March 1904
CitySusquehana Depot, PA
CountryUnited States of America
B. F. Skinner quotes about
real science technology
The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.
teacher teaching tasks
Many instructional arrangements seem "contrived," but there is nothing wrong with that. It is the teacher's function to contrive conditions under which students learn. It has always been the task of formal education to set up behavior which would prove useful or enjoyable later in a student's life.
war believe men
In the world at large we seldom vote for a principle or a given state of affairs. We vote for a man who pretends to believe in that principle or promises to achieve that state. We don't want a man, we want a condition of peace and plenty-- or, it may be, war and want-- but we must vote for a man.
education world impossible
The problem of far greater importance remains to be solved. Rather than build a world in which we shall all live well, we must stop building one in which it will be impossible to live at all.
believe dying not-afraid
I don't believe in God, so I'm not afraid of dying.
education skins important
An important fact about verbal behavior is that speaker and listener may reside within the same skin.
reinforcement facts behavior
The strengthening of behavior which results from reinforcement is appropriately called 'conditioning'. In operant conditioning we 'strengthen' an operant in the sense of making a response more probable or, in actual fact, more frequent.
teacher teaching needs
Teachers must learn how to teach ... they need only to be taught more effective ways of teaching.
mind personal-history evolution
A person's genetic endowment, a product of the evolution of the species, is said to explain part of the workings of his mind and his personal history the rest.
change trying age
If you're old, don't try to change yourself, change your environment.
self behavior given
A self is a repertoire of behavior appropriate to a given set of contingencies.
inspiring education book
We shouldn't teach great books; we should teach a love of reading.
different mutation culture
The evolution of cultures appears to follow the pattern of the evolution of species. The many different forms of culture which arise correspond to the "mutations" of genetic theory. Some forms prove to be effective under prevailing circumstances and others not, and the perpetuation of the culture is determined accordingly.
education reality decision
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.