Skinner’s Quote of the Day

"A man may spend a great deal of time designing his own life—he may choose the circumstances in which he is to live with great care, and he may manipulate…

"Self-reinforcement of operant behavior presupposes that the individual has it in his power to obtain reinforcement but does not do so until a particular response has been emitted . .…

"The place of operant reinforcement in self-control is not clear. In one sense, all reinforcements are self-administered since a response may be regarded as "producing" its reinforcement, but "reinforcing one's…

"The individual often comes to control part of his own behavior when a response has conflicting consequences—when it leads to both positive and negative reinforcement. . . . The positive…

"When we say that a man controls himself, we must specify who is controlling whom . . . Evidently selves are multiple and hence not to be identified with the…

"A purely private event would have no place in a study of behavior, or perhaps in any science; but events which are, for the moment at least, accessible only to…

"We may simplify the analysis by considering examples of self-control and thinking in which the individual manipulates external variables, but we shall need to complete the picture by discussing the…

"When a man controls himself, chooses a course of action, thinks out the solution to a problem, or strives toward an increase in self-knowledge, he is behaving. He controls himself…

"A common objection to a picture of the behaving organism such as we have so far presented runs somewhat as follows. In emphasizing the controlling power of external variables, we…

"An analysis of the techniques through which behavior may be manipulated shows the kind of technology which is emerging as the science advances, and it points up the considerable degree…

"Proving the validity of a functional relation by an actual demonstration of the effect of one variable upon another is the heart of experimental science. The practice enables us to…

"Implicit in a functional analysis is the notion of control. When we discover an independent variable which can be controlled, we discover a means of controlling the behavior which is…

"A special kind of chaining is represented by behavior which alters the strength of other behavior and is reinforced because it does so. Such behavior could almost be said to…

"A response may produce or alter some of the variables which control another response. The result is a "chain." . . . Some chains have a functional unity. The links…

"Supplementary variables are often used in controlling behavior. A familiar case is "suggestion," which may be defined as the use of a stimulus to raise the probability of a response…

"All sustained verbal behavior is multiply determined. When a man begins to speak or write, he creates an elaborate set of stimuli which alter the strength of other responses in…

"The presence of more than one stimulus variable in verbal behavior is sometimes dealt with as "multiple meaning." The term is too narrow for our present purposes, for we must…

"Two or more operations may combine in a common effect . . . Behavior is often most vigorous and effective when an emotional predisposition works in the same direction as…

"Suppose we approach a child who is playing happily by himself and give him a small piece of candy. We may observe the sudden emergence of a great deal of…

"A given event may have two or more kinds of effects upon behavior at the same time." (p. 205) Subscribe to RSS feed here

"Although a functional analysis begins with relatively isolated relations, an important part of its task is to show how its variables interact." (p. 205) Subscribe to RSS feed here

"It is true that the simplicity is to some extent artificial. We do not often find anything like it outside the laboratory—especially in the field of human behavior, which is…

"In a scientific analysis it is seldom possible to proceed directly to complex cases. We begin with the simple and build up to the complex, step by step." (p. 204)…

"A fairly exhaustive set of tests may enable us to evaluate traits and to predict performances in a wide range of situations, but the prediction is still from effect to…

"Trait-names usually begin as adjectives—"intelligent," "aggressive," "disorganized,"  "angry," "introverted," "ravenous," and so on—but the almost inevitable linguistic result is that adjectives give birth to nouns. The things to which these…

"We are all thoroughly familiar with descriptions of behavior in terms of traits, and trait-names are an extensive part of our daily vocabulary. As a result, we feel at home…

"We have seen that there are practical circumstances under which it may be useful to predict traits, but in general the trait-name tells us little about behavior. It is not…

"The principal advantages of a functional analysis are lost, however, when we resort to these alternative practices. Perhaps the most conspicuous feature of an aspect-description is its failure to advance…

"A prediction from effect to effect is, of course, sometimes useful. It may enable us to dispense with the direct observation of variables. This is particularly important when the variables…

"A test is simply a convenient opportunity to observe behavior—to survey or sample our dependent variable. The score may be used to predict some aspect of the larger universe of…

"Differences in experience between the "ignorant" and the "learned," the "naive" and the "sophisticated," or the "innocent" and the "worldly" refer mainly to differences in histories of reinforcement. Such terms…

"There are practical circumstances under which it is useful to know that a man will behave in a given manner even though we may not know precisely what he will…

"Frequently we describe behavior not with verbs which specify action but with adjectives describing characteristics or aspects of action." (p. 194) Subscribe to RSS feed here

"We may avoid the use of punishment by weakening an operant in other ways . . . The most effective alternative process is probably extinction . . . Another technique…

"In the long run, however, punishment does not actually eliminate behavior from a repertoire, and its temporary achievement is obtained at tremendous cost in reducing the over-all efficiency and happiness…

"Severe punishment unquestionably has an immediate effect in reducing a tendency to act in a given way. This result is no doubt responsible for its widespread use." (p. 190) Subscribe…

"The most important effect of punishment, then, is to establish aversive conditions which are avoided by any behavior of "doing something else." (p. 189) Subscribe to RSS feed here

"Strong emotional predispositions are also rearoused by the beginnings of severely punished behavior. These are the main ingredient of what we speak of as guilt, shame, or a sense of…

". . . as a second effect of punishment, behavior which has consistently been punished becomes the source of conditioned stimuli which evoke incompatible behavior." (p. 187) Subscribe to RSS…

"The first effect of the aversive stimuli used in punishment is confined to the immediate situation . . . When we stop a child from giggling in church by pinching…

"We first define a positive reinforcer as any stimulus the presentation of which strengthens the behavior upon which it is made contingent. We define a negative reinforcer (an aversive stimulus)…

"The fact that punishment does not permanently reduce a tendency to respond is in agreement with Freud's discovery of the surviving activity of what he called repressed wishes." (p. 184)…

"More recently, the suspicion has also arisen that punishment does not in fact do what it is supposed to do. An immediate effect in reducing a tendency to behave is…

"In the long run, punishment, unlike reinforcement, works to the disadvantage of both the punished organism and the punishing agency." (p. 183) Subscribe to RSS feed here

"Reinforcement builds up these tendencies [to behave in certain ways]: punishment is designed to tear them down." (p. 182) Subscribe to RSS feed here

"The commonest technique of control in modern life is punishment." (p. 182) Subscribe to RSS feed here

"When we speak of the effects of anxiety, we imply that the state itself is a cause, but so far as we are concerned here, the term merely classifies behavior.…

"The effect of stimuli which characteristically precede positive reinforcement may be chronic in a world in which "good" things frequently happen. It is not seen in the clinic because it…

"Since conditioning may take place as the result of one pairing of stimuli, a single aversive event may bring a condition of anxiety under the control of incidental stimuli." (p.…

"In the design of controlling techniques the possibility of generating anxiety as an unfortunate by-product must constantly be kept in mind." (p. 179) Subscribe to RSS feed here