Skinners Theories of Behaviorism Essay - 912 Words

Behaviorism is by far one of the most interesting fields of psychology in my opinion. B.F. Skinner’s view on behaviorism was that a person’s actions are controlled by rewards and punishments. Relating this to a real life situation, a great example of this would be a parent and a child. Behavioral analysis is how a person’s behaviours are based on the individuals’ personal history and past experiences. This is different then radical behaviorism, which Skinner fell into. Skinner believed that mental events, such as thinking, were not needed to explain behavior. A parent raising a child deals with a lot of operant conditioning if they know it or not. A parent is always trying to teach a child right and wrong. From operant conditioning†¦show more content†¦The changing of the channel is removing the unwanted television program. Punishment refers to a response with an unpleasant consequence. Punishment unlike reinforcement decreases the likelihood tha t the response will occur again. Positive punishment is any stimulus that, when added to a situation decreases the probability that a given behavior will occur. If a child is destroying the house by painting the walls and the parent catches them doing this act. The parent may spank the child adding an unpleasant consequence and hoping this behavior will not occur again. Negative punishment is any stimulus that, when removed from the situation decreases the probability that the behavior will occur again. A lot of times the negative punishment is called the response cost. If a child is hitting their sister instead of adding an action such as hitting the child a parent (mostly permissive parenting) will remove this action. Another way this can be seen is if you take away the child’s playtime and replace it with a timeout. The child is having a pleasant event removed, which will decrease the chance that the child will hit their sibling again. All of these reinforcements and punis hments are shaping the child to grow into an individual who has the right morals in life. If a parent wants their child to do well in school and clean the house they need to set a series of gradual daily goals for their child. The parent then can reward them forShow MoreRelated B. F. Skinner Essay1590 Words   |  7 Pageswas a very straightforward man and a very educated man. His theories have helped mankind in many ways. He has studied the behavior patterns of many living organisms. Skinner was a well-published writer. His work has been published in many journals. He also has written many books on behaviorism. His most important work was the study of behaviorism.   Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  First began by John B. Watson, behaviorism is one of the most widely studied theories today. B.F. Skinner and His Influence in Psychology B.F. SkinnerRead MoreThe Ambiguity Of Behaviorism : Human Equality And Freedom Essay1286 Words   |  6 Pages The Ambiguity of Behaviorism: Human Equality and Freedom YI TSAM MARY KONG University of British Columbia The Ambiguity of Behaviorism: Human Equality and Freedom Behaviorism on learning and memory occupies an important position in the history of psychology. John B. Watson is the father of behaviorism while B.F. Skinner is the most famous behaviorist of the twentieth century. Watson’s methodological behaviorism means that it is only the behaviors of an individual thatRead MoreVerbal Behavior and Verbal Response1328 Words   |  5 PagesSkinner, in ‘A review of B. F. Skinner’s verbal Behavior’ and ‘Selections from Science and Human Behavior’, discusses the idea of operant conditioning in human behavior, and functional analysis in human verbal behavior respectively. Both ideas seek to explain human behavior, whether in physical action or in verbal communication. 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Watson helped with defining the study of behavior anticipated Skinners emphasis on operant conditioning and the importance of learning and environmental influencesRead MoreThe Theory Of Operant Conditioning Theory Essay746 Words   |  3 Pagesas operant conditioning (Rholetter, 2013). Operant conditioning is one of two theories in learning that illustrates behaviorism (Kretchmar, 2015). It is according to Rholetter (2013), â€Å"the idea that behavior is the learned result of consequences†. Skinner believed that learning during operant conditioning is done based upon the outcome of a given situation (Lefrancois, 2012, p. 91). His operant conditioning theory is constructed on reinforcements consisting of positive, negative, primary andRead MoreComparison of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs with Skinners Behaviorist Theory1587 Words   |  7 PagesComparison of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs with Skinners Behaviorist Theory Typing Template for APA Papers: A Sample of Proper APA Fifth Edition Formatting Deborah DiBerardino Grand Canyon University: Educational Psychology EDU 313N Amy Wilkinson August 5, 2012 Comparison of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs with Skinners Behaviorist Theory The definition of motivation according to Dictionary.com is: â€Å"The reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way; theRead More B. F. Skinner Essay1073 Words   |  5 Pagesmother, Grace M. Burrhus, was a stenographer and a secretary, in a law office and later in a railroad chief executives office. His father, William A. Skinner, was an attorney, who studied law with another local attorney at a New York Law School. Skinners parents were both good students. His father had bought several sets of books, so there was a lot of reading material their children. Skinner said that his parents never used physical punishment, except for the time they washed his mouth out withRead MoreBehavioral Psychology and BF Skinner916 Words   |  4 Pagesfor his theories in behaviorism and remains as one of the best and most controversial figures in the world of psychology. Most of his work throughout his lifetime dealt with both positive and negative reinforcements and the after-effects it had on behavior. B.F. Skinner understood that as humans, everything that we do or become is through the methods of rewards and punishments. Though his time has long since passed, his ideology and his written works such as Walden II and About Behaviorism have applied