Recent Issues. Chapter 12: The Behavior of Organisms at Fifty. Quote 9

Post author:B. F. Skinner Foundation
Post published:April 11, 2019
Post category:Skinner's Quote of the Day

“An operant was a kind of behavioral atom. True, I could take pressing a lever apart by extinguishing its parts separately (The Behavior of Organisms, 1938, p. 102), but even so it was close to a minimal unit.” (p. 125)

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SKINNER'S QUOTE OF THE DAY

Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 4: Verbal Behavior under the Control of Verbal Stimuli. Quote 16
Echoic responses are useful and reinforced when they serve as fill-ins. In answer to the question What will happen to the international situation during the next few weeks? the student may begin During the next few weeks, the international situation…, which may be purely echoic but, especially if the situation demands speed, self-reinforcing if it provides a breathing space for the composition of the rest of the sentence. (p. 57)
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“An operant was a kind of behavioral atom. True, I could take pressing a lever apart by extinguishing its parts separately (The Behavior of Organisms, 1938, p. 102), but even so it was close to a minimal unit.” (p. 125)

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