Burrhus Frederic Skinner | |
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Born | |
Died | August 18, 1990 | (aged 86)
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Hamilton College Harvard University |
Known for | Behavior analysis Operant conditioning Radical behaviorism Verbal Behavior Operant conditioning chamber |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Psychologist |
Institutions | University of Minnesota Indiana University Harvard University |
Influences | Charles Darwin Ivan Pavlov Ernst Mach Jacques Loeb |
Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990) was a leading American psychologist and author.
Skinner was the leading behaviorist in psychology; he built on the work of John B. Watson, and added the idea of operant conditioning. These two American psychologists paid no attention to mental states and 'thinking' (terms they thought were unscientific), but dealt only with visible behaviors. Skinner's work had effects on education (programmed learning) and on behavior therapy for various psychological problems. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974, and then Emeritus Professor until 1990.[1]
Skinner was also a social philosopher who wanted to change society, and wrote a eutopian novel,[2] in which the science of human behavior is used to eliminate poverty, sexual oppression, government as we know it, and create a lifestyle without war.[3] He wrote poetry,[4] and three volumes of autobiography.
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