Burrhus Frederic Skinner 19041990

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Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990)

• The Father of Behaviorism
• By
• Carolyn Beall Josh Sullivan

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Background

• Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born in Susquehanna,
  Pennsylvania in 1904. He initially studied
  literature at Hamilton College and was hoping to
  become a writer. However, his attempts at
  writing did not produce much and he moved to New
  York City for a short time. While in New York,
  Skinner worked at a bookstore where he read many
  works by Pavlov and Watson. This excited Skinner
  and caused him to do further research into
  psychology. He went back to school to earn his
  Ph. D. in Psychology from Harvard in 1931. He
  then taught at Harvard University from 1931 to
  1936 and from 1947 to 1974. The primary focus of
  his work involved the experimental analysis of
  behavior.

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Behavioral Theory

• Explanations of learning that focus on external
  events as the cause of changes in observable
  behaviors
• Operant Conditioning- Not all learning is
  unintentional or automatic like Classical
  Conditioning would imply. People learn to
  actively operate on the environment to draw
  different consequences, rather than just
  responding. We learn to behave in different ways
  and this process is called Operant Conditioning.

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Reinforcement

• Behavior Reinforcer Strengthened or Repeated
  Behavior
• Punishment
• Behavior Punisher Weakened or Decreased Behavior

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Important Terms

• Reinforcement- any consequence that strengthens a
  behavior
• Positive- behavior produces new stimulus
• Negative- disappearance of stimulus
• Punishment- suppresses behavior
• Programmed Instruction- method of presenting new
  subject matter to students in a graded sequence
  of controlled steps. Students work through the
  programmed material by themselves at their own
  speed and after each step test their
  comprehension by answering an examination
  question or filling in a diagram. They are then
  immediately shown the correct answer or given
  additional information.

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Skinner and Technology

• Skinner created a teaching machine that
  presented problems in random order for students
  to do, with feedback after each one.
• Within three years Skinner developed programmed
  instruction, where through careful sequencing,
  students responded to material broken into small
  steps. Learning was reinforced through immediate
  feedback.
• The first responses of each sequence were
  prompted, but as performance improved, less and
  less help was given. By the end, a student was
  doing something he or she could not have done at
  the beginning.

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Programmed Instruction

• Software for Drill and Practice
• LF Software- Fractions Made Easy, Basic Math for
  Windows, Algebra I for Windows
• Merit Software- Reading Shape Up, Grammar Fitness
• GramTech
• Review It
• Crossdown
• Cherokee Trails by Pharos Games
• Word Search Construction Kit
• AceReader and StepWare
• Online Tutorials
• www.mathprep.com
• www.gomath.com
• www.lessontutor.com
• www.testbuddy.com
• www.tutor.com
• www.skillstutor.com

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Sources

• Books
• Roblyer, M.D. (2003). Integrating Educational
  Technology Into Teaching. New Jersey Pearson
  Education.
• Woolfolk, A. (1998). Educational Psychology.
  Massachusetts Viacom.
• Websites
• www.bfskinner.org
• tip.psychology.org/skinner.html
• www.educational-software-directory.net
• www.edu-soft.org