Skinner’s Quote of the Day

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…

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

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)

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…

We may condition a man to behave in virtuous ways as we condition animals to behave according to any set of specifications, but such a man will not [according to…

Freedom—or, rather, behavior which “feels free”—is also the product of a history of conditioning. (p. 53)

That [a scientific analysis of human behavior] will be simpler, more expedient, and more useful will not necessarily mean its adaptation, because the older view served other than scientific functions.…

As plausible connections with external variables are demonstrated ... , the need for inner explanations is reduced. An effective scientific analysis would presumably dispense with them altogether. (p. 52)

Where a scientific analysis shows that we react in a given way because similar actions in our past have had particular consequences, the mentalist may insist that we act because…

… where a scientific analysis relates behavior to the physical environment, the mentalist may insist that the mind observes only a none-too-reliable copy of the environment called subjective experience. (p.…

... more and more of the behavior of organisms, including man, is being plausibly related to events in their genetic and environmental histories. If other sciences are any guide, human…

We cannot predict the success or failure of a cultural invention with the same accuracy as we do that of a physical invention. It is for this reason that we…

There is very little personal reimbursement for the most profitable ideas of modern science. (p. 48)

The scientist is usually concerned with the control of nature apart from his personal aggrandizement. (p. 48)

Our apparatus was designed by the organism we study, for it was the organism which led us to choose a particular manipulandum, particular categories of stimulation, particular modes of reinforcement,…

It is easier for the teacher to control the student by threatening punishment than by using positive reinforcement with its deferred, though more powerful, effects. (p. 46)

The behavior of a child born into a flourishing society is shaped and maintained by variables, most of which are arranged by other people. (p. 43)

By far the greater part of behavior develops in the individual through processes of conditioning, given a normal biological endowment. (p. 43)

In general, the evolution of man has emphasized modifiability rather than the transmission of specific forms of behavior. (p. 43)

Inherited patterns of behavior must have been selected by their contributions to survival in ways which are not unlike those in which the behavior of the individual is selected or…

Contingencies of reinforcement are similar to what we might call contingencies of survival. (p. 42)

The experimental study of reinforcing contingencies is nothing more than a nonteleological analysis of the directed effects of behavior, of relations which have traditionally been described as purpose. (pp. 41-42)

Our present understanding of the so-called “contingencies of reinforcement” is undoubtedly incomplete, but it nevertheless permits us to construct new forms of behavior, to bring behavior under the control of…

Fear of control, generalized beyond any warrant, has led to a misinterpretation of valid practices and the blind rejection of intelligent planning for a better way of life. (p. 38)

If we are worthy of our democratic heritage we shall, of course, be ready to resist any tyrannical use of science for immediate, selfish purposes. (p. 38)

From the therapist’s point of view it may appear to be possible to relinquish control. But the control passes, not to a “self,” but to forces in other parts of…

A people relinquish democratic power when a tyrant promises them the earth. Rich men give away wealth to escape the accusing finger of their fellow men. A woman destroys her…

A nation has burned its Reichstag, rich men have given away their wealth, beautiful women have become ugly hermits in the desert, and psychotherapists have become nondirective. When this happens,…

Do not ask me why I want mankind to survive. I can tell you why only in the sense in which the physiologist can tell you why I want to…

The observable effect of any statement of value is to alter the relative effectiveness of reinforcers. (p. 35)

Even a pigeon can be taught some measure of self-control! (p. 35)

Any list of values is a list of reinforcers—conditioned or otherwise. (p. 35)

No scientist, I am sure, wishes to develop new master-slave relationships or bend the will of the people to despotic rulers in new ways. These are patterns of control appropriate…

The dangers inherent in the control of human behavior are very real. The possibility of the misuse of scientific knowledge must always be faced. (p. 33)