Bf skinner biography powerpoint
B.F. Skinner
Learning theorist project-�Bf skinner
By Lee cohen and Sara richardson
Biography
B.F. (Burrhus Frederic) Skinner
Born: March 20, 1904
Grew up: Susquehanna Depot, PA
Died: August 18, 1990
B.F. Skinner began his career as an English major in hopes of pursuing a career as a novelist. After a few years of being a novelist, however, he decided to back his tracks and follow another route. B.F. Skinner entered the psychology graduate program at Harvard University and became the leader of behaviorism and experimental psychology. His experiments with operant conditioning (showing that behaviors are dependent upon what happens after the response) and the Skinner box (a rat learning to obtain food by pressing a lever”) demonstrated the power of reward- ultimately making him famous.
�
Behaviorism
"The consequences of behavior determine the probability that the behavior will occur again" --B. F. Skinner
B.F. Skinner theorized that positive reinforcement pushes a behavior to happen again, while negative reinforcement drives an organism away from the action. Basically, behavior will repeat itself or stop itself, as long as there is some kind of a reward or consequence.
Ex. Positive reinforcement: Getting $10 for each A you receive on a report card will motivate an individual to continue to get A’s.
Ex. Negative reinforcement: Touching a pot of boiling water will stop the action from happening again due to the consequence it created.
Impact on learning or understanding of behavior
Skinner impacted our understanding of behavior with his belief that we do have such a thing as a mind, but that it is simply more productive to study observable behavior rather than internal mental events. He believed that the best way to understand behavior is to look at the causes of an action and its consequences. Operant conditioning had a huge impact on our understanding of behavior and has/can be used 1 B.F. Skinner 2 Who was he?Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born on March 20, 1904 in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania and died on August 18, 1990.Skinner was an American behaviorist, author, inventor, social philosopher, and poet.He received a PhD from Harvard in 1931 and remained there as a researcher until Later in 1946, Skinner became the chair of the psychology department at Indiana University.For the rest of his career, Skinner returned to Harvard as a tenured professor. 3 Theories of B.F. SkinnerBEHAVIORISMBehaviorism, or behavior learning, is one of the most influential theories of the last half century.This theory states that learning is a change in behavior that is controlled by the consequences, either positive or negative, that follow the behavior. 4 Reinforcers are consequences that increase or strengthen behaviors. 5 How Theory Works in practice By: Michelle Lezama B.F. Skinner Introduction • BurrhusFredericSkinnerwasan American psychologist, inventor, author and poet. • He developedthesystem of operantconditioning and developedhisownscientificphilosophyknown as Radical Behaviorism. EarlyLife • Skinner was born on March 20, 1904 in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. • His father was a rising young lawyer, his mother a housewife. • His brother died at the age of 16 from a cerebral aneurysm. • During his boyhood, Skinner had a strong passion for building things. • Among his first projects were a cart with steering that worked backwards (by mistake) and a perpetual motion machine (the latter did not work). PerpetualMotion Machine EarlyLife • Skinner attended Hamilton College in New York and received his BA in English. • He didn’t fit in very well, not enjoying the fraternity parties or the football games. • In addition, he was an atheist in a school that required daily chapel attendance. FirstInfluences • After graduation, he spent a year at his parents' home in Scranton, attempting to become a writer of fiction. • He soon became disillusioned with his literary skills. • During this time, Skinner discovered the works of behaviorist psychologists like John B. Watson and Ivan Pavlov. • He became especially interested in their system of classical conditioning. DiscoveringPsychology • After some traveling, he decided to go back to studying and enrolled in Harvard University. • He got his masters in psychology in 1930 and his doctorate in 1931. • He stayed there to do research until 1936. • He then taught at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) and later at Indiana University, where he was chair of the psychology department from 1946–1947. • He returned toHarvard as a tenured professor in 1948 and remained there for the rest of his career Personal and Mature Life • He met and marriedYvonne Blue in hisyears at theUniversity of Minneapolis. • Theyhad 2 daughters; Juli B.F. Skinner.
Presentation on theme: "B.F. Skinner."— Presentation transcript:
Theories of B.F. skinnerOPERANT CONDITIONINGWhen a particular Stimulus Response pattern is reinforced the individual will respond.Reinforcers are consequences that increase or strengthen behaviors.Positive Reinforcement is a reward or pleasant consequence that follows behavior, causing that behavior to be repeated.Negative reinforcement also increases the frequency of a desired behavior, but in a different way. An unpleasant consequence can be avoided if the person performs a positive behavior more frequently.Punishment is an unpleasant consequence that stops or decrease the frequency of a particular behavior.With extinction, reinforcers are removed, and the conditioned behavior diminishes and eventually disappears.
Breaking down complex tasks, skills and information to be learned into small subunits. Checking student's work regularly and providing feedback as well as encouragement (reinforcement).Teaching "out of context." Behaviorists generally believe that students can be taught best when the focus is direct B.F. Skinner