B.F. Skinner Essay -- Biographies Biography Psychologist Essays

B.F. Skinner B.F. Skinner was born on March 20, 1904 in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. He grew up in a happy and â€Å"stable† home environment. Skinner spent a lot of time as a child building and inventing things. After Skinner attended Hamilton College, he worked as a newspaper writer. Then, he went to New York City for a few months and worked as a bookstore clerk. It was here that Skinner read books about the famous behavior theorists, Pavlov and Watson (B.F. Skinner Foundation, 2002). When Skinner turned 24, he attended graduate school at Harvard University. As a Psychology student, he teamed up with Physiology Professor, William Crozier. Together, they began to study the relationship between behavior and experimental conditions. During his time at Harvard, Skinner conducted many experiments using rats (B.F.Skinner Foundation, 2002). Skinner’s findings made him â€Å"the most influential psychologist of the 20th century† (Roblyer,2003, p.57). B. F. Skinner concluded that people could mentally have control over all of their responses. He believed that a reinforcement and/or consequence given after a behavior would influence future behavior (Roblyer,2003, p.57). In other words, reinforcements and/or punishments can shape human behavior. For example, if a child eats all of his vegetables at dinner and his parent’s reward him with positive words and a cookie, then the child will probably eat his vegetables at the next dinner. Skinner’s theory can be applied inside the classroom as well. A teacher can get her students to behave by positively reinforcing acceptable behavior and punishing or negatively reinforcing poor behavior. A teacher can also get her student to work hard in her class by doing the same thing. I am planning ... ... with Skinner when he said, â€Å"The major problems of the world today can be solved only if we improve our understanding of human behaviors† (B.F.Skinner Foundation, 2003). As a future teacher, I believe that I can reinforce students to behave desirably in the future. I can also positively reinforce the use of technology in the classroom so students are excited to learn about and use this technology. This is mainly because I feel technology is such an important tool in the classroom. In conclusion, B.F. Skinner’s theory about shaping behavior by using positive and/or negative reinforcements can be extremely useful in the classroom. Works Cited B.F.Skinner Foundation. (2002, October 18) About B.F.Skinner. Retrieved September 18,2003 from http://www.bfskinner.org/bio.asp Roblyer, M.D. (2003). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching Merril Prentice Hall.