Recent Issues. Chapter 12: The Behavior of Organisms at Fifty. Quote 8

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Recent Issues. Chapter 12: The Behavior of Organisms at Fifty. Quote 8

Post author:B. F. Skinner Foundation
Post published:April 10, 2019
Post category:Skinner's Quote of the Day

“In 1935 I published a paper called The Generic Nature of the Concepts of Stimulus and Response in which I argued that a reflex was not something that could be observed on a given occasion.” (p. 124)

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SKINNER'S QUOTE OF THE DAY

Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 6: Special Conditions Affecting Stimulus Control. Quote 7
Reinforcing sounds in the child’s environment provide for the automatic reinforcement of vocal forms. Such sounds need not be verbal; the child is reinforced automatically when he duplicates the sounds of airplanes, streetcars, automobiles, vacuum cleaners, birds, dogs, cats, and so on. But among the sounds which become important are the verbal responses of his parents and others. (p. 164)
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“In 1935 I published a paper called The Generic Nature of the Concepts of Stimulus and Response in which I argued that a reflex was not something that could be observed on a given occasion.” (p. 124)

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