Skinner’s Quote of the Day

The practical problem of taking probability as a basic datum may not be as difficult as we suppose . . . The mistake we seem to have made is in…

We are dealing here with a question of probability—specifically, the probability that an organism will emit behavior of a given sort at a given time. But probability is always a…

A science must achieve more than a description of behavior as an accomplished fact. It must predict future courses of action; it must be able to say that an organism…

The behavior of an organism is not an easy thing to describe. It is not an object which may be held still for inspection. It is a process, a continuous…

Beyond the collection of uniform relationships lies the need for a formal representation of the data reduced to a minimal number of terms. A theoretical construction may yield greater generality…

Theories are fun. But it is possible that the most rapid progress toward an understanding of learning may be made by research which is not designed to test theories. (p.…

By occasionally reinforcing a response on one key or the other without favoring either key, we obtain equal rates of responding on the two keys . . . This follows…

The appeal to theory is encouraged by the fact that choosing (like discriminating, matching, and so on) is not a particular piece of behavior. It is not a response or…

A response to one of two available stimuli may be called choice, but it is commoner to say that it is the result of choice, meaning by the latter a…

Even after prolonged extinction an organism will often respond at a higher rate for at least a few moments at the beginning of another session . . . The only…

A rat conditioned in the presence of a light will not extinguish fully in the absence of the light. It will begin to respond more rapidly when the light is…

When we fail to reinforce a response which has previously been reinforced, we not only initiate a process of extinction, we set up an emotional response—perhaps what is often meant…

. . . the law of effect is no theory. It simply specifies a procedure for altering the probability of a chosen response. (p. 78)

We do not choose rate of responding as a basic datum merely from an analysis of the fundamental task of a science of behavior. The ultimate appeal is to its…

[Many events do not occur] often enough to make a rate of response meaningful. But these activities are not responses. They are not simple unitary events lending themselves to prediction…

If we are to predict behavior (and possibly to control it), we must deal with probability of response. The business of a science of behavior is to evaluate this probability…

Progress in a scientific field usually waits upon the discovery of a satisfactory dependent variable. Until such a variable has been discovered, we resort to theory. (p. 75)

Rate of responding appears to be the only datum which varies significantly and in the expected direction under conditions which are relevant to the “learning process.” (p. 75)

To show an orderly change in the behavior of the average rat or ape or child is not enough, since learning is a process in the behavior of the individual.…

That a theory generates research does not prove its value unless the research is valuable. (p. 71)

When we assert that an animal acts in a given way because it expects to receive food, then what began as the task of accounting for learned behavior becomes the…

When we attribute behavior to a neural or mental event, real or conceptual, we are likely to forget that we still have the task of accounting for the neural or…

A science of behavior must eventually deal with behavior in its relation to certain manipulable variables. Theories—whether neural, mental, or conceptual—talk about intervening steps in these relationships. But instead of…

It would be foolhardy to deny the achievements of theories . . . in the history of science. The question of whether they are necessary, however, has other implications and…

The term theory will . . . refer here . . . to any explanation of an observed fact which appeals to events taking place somewhere else, at some other…

No empirical statement is wholly nontheoretical . . . because evidence is never complete, nor is any prediction probably ever made wholly without evidence. (p. 69)

Certain statements are also theories simply to the extent that they are not yet facts. A scientist may guess at the result of an experiment before the experiment is carried…

Certain basic assumptions, essential to any scientific activity, are sometimes called theories. That nature is orderly rather than capricious is an example. (p. 69)

Asked to describe a world in which he would like to live, a man will often refer directly to reinforcing conditions—freedom from aversive stimulation and an abundance of positive reinforcers—but…

From the point of view of an experimental analysis of behavior, [the concept of “happiness”] appears to be merely an awkward way of representing the roles of positive and negative…

If the community has solved the essential problems of daily life, it may leave each member free to do as he pleases. But he is free only to come under…

Current systems of rewards are largely aversive, the threatened loss of a standard of living being more important than the receipt of wages. (p. 63)

It is a basic principle that behavior which is followed by certain kinds of consequences is more likely to occur again, but reinforcements may be contingent on behavior in many…

A community may need as much power to reward as to punish, but it is not said to be using force because its operations are not resisted. (p. 62)

Reward refers very loosely to the “positive reinforcers” which have been extensively analyzed in laboratory research. (p. 62)

Extensive use of punishment will cost a community some of its members. It may also lead to counterattack—as in revolution or religious reformation—or to stubborn resistance to all forms of…

The principles derived from an experimental analysis of behavior offer the designer [of an experimental community] considerable help in setting up an environment under which behavior which will contribute to…

A special branch of psychology has now reached the point at which promising technological applications are becoming feasible. (p. 61)

The hard fact is that the culture which most readily acknowledges the validity of a scientific analysis is most likely to be successful in the competition between cultures which, whether…

If we must have something to admire, let it be man’s willingness to discard a flattering portrait of himself in favor of a more accurate and hence more useful picture.…

Science leads us to see man in a different light, but he is nevertheless the same man we once saw in another light. (p. 57)

Men control themselves by controlling the world in which they live. They do this as much when they exercise self-control, as when they make changes in their culture which alter…

Science and technology are concerned with changing the world in which men live, and changes are made precisely because of their effect on human behavior. (p. 56)

In turning to external and manipulable variables, a scientific analysis moves away from supposed inner activities which we have tried to reach through admiration. (p. 56)

We shall no longer admire wrestling with the devil, if it turns out that the devil is simply a slight disturbance in the hypothalamus which can be allayed by a…

Admiration is a social practice used to eke out defective control. (p. 55)

When we regard a criminal as in need of treatment rather than punishment, . . . we deprive him of “the human attribute of responsibility.” (p. 54)

There are many advantages in arranging matters so that the pupil does what he wants to do, but he must be carefully prepared to want to do those things which…

Yet, the individual is at best a locus in which many lines of development come together in a unique set. His individuality is unquestioned. (p. 209)

Man himself may be controlled by his environment, but it is an environment which is almost wholly of his own making. The physical environment of most people is largely man-made.…