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Would you be surprised to learn that B.F. Skinner was a very likable guy and that you may actually be very much in agreement with his ideas? Many people who study psychology have a negative impression of Skinner. Well, I’m about to challenge those impressions by presenting a side of Skinner you probably haven’t been exposed to. In these sound bytes you’ll hear his ideas about learning to play music, about discovery, having fun and becoming the most that you can be.
B.F. Skinner
- Listen to B.F. Skinner here on a show called The Limits of Human Freedom (1974). Skinner, B.F. with Charles Frankel and Eugene Kennedy.1974-07-14.
- Here's an excellent Pearltree with more info on Skinner.
- Here's my episode in which I discuss the famous article, On The Folly of Rewarding A While Hoping For B.
- The B.F. Skinner Foundation.
- If you're a teacher or student you might want to use Voicethread to get others to comment on these quotes by Skinner. Check out my Voicethread below:
- Watch this YouTube video to see the real human side of B.F. Skinner:
A really great episode. Thanks!
Michael, thanks so much for this podcast.
It was wonderful getting this personal insight into Skinner. Like you, I learned so much more about the man…I have now fallen ever deeper in admiration for this great man and father of behavioural psychology. It was especially poignant to hear his ‘personal’ side, especially when he taked about his children (my personal favourite!)
I’m going to post this on my university Moodle page in the current 3rd year unit I’m doing ‘Behaviour Modification’ to share with my peers. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it too.
Thanks again,
Best wishes from Susan in Australia
Glad you like the episode Susan. It’s a real eye (and ear) opener to hear and see him in his own words. It helps you get a sense for some of the reasons why his ideas were hard to accept by many people. His choice of words can be complex and off-putting to some, but if you get past this, I think most of us would heartily agree with what he has to say about learning to read, to play music and to become the most we can be.
This episode is really good! I´m listening for the third time and learning more each time.
What amazed me the most is that the majority of critics against BF Skinner and behaviorism are wrong.
There´s always the “new cool theory” and behaviorism. Behaviorism is wrong and the opposite is always right, but when you listen Skinner explain, you realize that “the new cool theory” it´s the same on a new package.
Thank you very much for this episode. If you find more material, perhaps you could do another one?
This was a terrific episode. I especially appreciated the “de-stereotyping” of Skinner. So often a complex and nuanced point of view ends up being oversimplified to the point of caricature, and then dismissed on the basis of arguments against the caricature. Someone like Skinner becomes, merely, “that guy who thought that people are just stimulus-response machines” and the attitude taken toward him becomes “thank goodness we all now know better.”
I especially appreciated the debunking of the rumor that Skinner’s parenting had been warped by his theoretical views to disastrous effect. It might have been worthwhile, also, to debunk the urban legend of the “conditioned professor” since the last time heard it repeated, Skinner, himself, was in the professor role. (http://www.snopes.com/college/pranks/trained.asp)
I hope you will consider doing more episodes with a similar historico-biographical theme.