Behavior Modification Essay Example

Behavior Modification Essay example
Behavior Modification Behavior Modification, a psychological theory of human behavior. It evolved from the application of experimentally derived
principles of learning to the modification of problem behaviors. The theory is based on a psychological model of human behavior that rejects the
psychoanalytic or quasi–disease model of mental illness. Approaches to behavior modification assume that abnormal behavior is acquired and
maintained in the same manner as normal behavior and can be changed directly through the application of social–learning principles. Assessment
procedures focus on describing how an individual behaves, thinks, and feels in specific situations. Treatment methods are derived from the theories and
findings of... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This procedure, used to alleviate anxiety in adult patients, became one of the best–known and most widely used behavior–modification techniques.
Another key development in the evolution of behavior modification was the work of Hans Eysenck and his colleagues in England in the 1950s.
Eysenck defined behavior modification as the application of modern learning theory to the treatment of behavioral and emotional problems. He held
that, in contrast to traditional psychoanalytic procedures, the efficacy of behavior–modification procedures could be verified through experiments. The
third major development in the evolution of behavior modification was the publication in 1953 of B. F. Skinner's Science and Human Behavior. This
work heralded a philosophical shift from the search for inner causes of behavior to an emphasis on the measurement and modification of observable
behavior. A fundamental tenet of Skinner's radical behaviorism is that the probability of a behavior is related directly to the nature of the
environmental consequences that follow performance of that behavior. From this basic tenet he derived a set of procedures for modifying behavior by
a method called operant conditioning. Specifically, behavior is strengthened, or increased in frequency, when followed by either a positive consequence
(positive reinforcement) or removal of a negative consequence (negative reinforcement). Behavior is weakened, or decreased
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Essay on Nvq Level 3
Implement the Positive Behavioural Support Model 1.1 Explain how Positive Behavioural Support has been influenced by: Applied Behaviour
Analysis (ABA) Social Role Valorisation (SRV) ABA is a scientific process of examining what causes and maintains behaviour, in order to bring about
positive change. SRV promotes valued social roles for individuals who are socially disadvantaged, to help them get some of the good things in life. 1.2
Summarise current legislation and policy guidance relating to Positive Behavioural Support The current legislation relating to Positive Behavioural
Support is titled – the Positive Behaviour Support Policy – Safe management of challenging behaviour in children and young people with learning...
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Challenging behaviour can often be viewed as a 'behavioural equivalent' of a mental health problem. However, research evidence indicates that
challenging behaviours and mental health problems are relatively independent conditions. 2.3 Analyse key factors that lead to a behaviour being
defined as challenging Factors that lead to behaviour being defined as challenging may include: * Culture * competence and capacity of settings *
social norms * frequency, intensity and duration of the behaviour * ability to communicate effectively 3.1 Summarise key environmental risk factors
for challenging behaviours Environmental risk factors will include features that are physical or social, such as: * Uncomfortable levels of stimulation
(eg too busy, boring) * Institutional–style setting (eg block treatment, rigid routines) * Poor service organisation (eg. inexperienced carers) *
Inappropriate social environment (eg overly restrictive, limited choice) * Environmental pollutants (eg. temperature, noise levels) 3.2 Explain how
slow and fast triggers contribute to challenging behaviour Triggers are factors that make challenging behaviours more likely to occur. They include: *
Slow triggers, which are aspects of a

Learning Behavior Essays
Learning Behavior
Psychologists have preformed many studies and proposed many theories regarding learning. Learning can be defined as a relatively permanent change
in behavior that is due to past experience. John B. Watson was an early psychologist that didn't agree with many other psychologist's ideas about
learning only relating to consciousness and thought processes. As the founder of behaviorism, Watson studied learning in a behavioral perspective, an
approach that emphasizes the relationship between outwardly observable behaviors and environmental events, rather than mental processes. Classical
conditioning is a process of learning associations between stimuli used by Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist. In ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Skinner believed that classical conditioning was limited to behaviors that are reflexively elicited. An operant describes behaviors that are "operate upon
the environment to generate consequences." Reinforcement follows an operant and increases the likelihood of the operant being repeated. There are
two forms of reinforcement: positive and negative reinforcement. When an event occurs producing a positive effect, it is considered positive
reinforcement. Negative reinforcement involves the removal of a stimulus increasing the likelihood of a positive effect. An example of this would be to
take two aspirins to remove the pain from a headache. Punishment is a process that decreases the likelihood of a behavior to occur again. This is not to
be confused with negative reinforcement because it doesn't increase the likelihood of an occurrence. There are drawbacks to punishment. It doesn't
teach an appropriate behavior to replace an inappropriate one. Also, intense punishment can lead to results such as passivity, fear, anxiety, or hostility.
Finally, effects of punishment are sometimes temporary. An alternative to punishment is trying to change the behavior of others. First, stop reinforcing
the problem behavior by identifying the reinforcer and eliminating it. When it is not possible to eliminate the reinforcement, remove the opportunity to
obtain positive reinforcement. An example of this would be time–out for a child because he or she is no longer

Non Christians Present A Concern For The Christian Therapist
IV(2). Should the Fact that All were Either Atheists or Non–Christians Present a Concern for the Christian Therapist?
B.F. Skinner's theory of behaviorism claims that behavior is directed by environmental reinforcements, some natural and some intentionally applied.
Skinner proposed three possible consequences of any behavior: reinforcements which are consequences which increase the likelihood of behavior
(such as praise or food), punishments which tend to decrease behavior (such as a frown or a traffic ticket), and the lack of reinforcement or punishment
which also tends to decrease behavior (such as no response to the punch line of a joke). He also holds that reinforcers can be learned (money becomes
valuable because of it 's ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Both Christian and non–Christian parents alike have applied these principles in the rearing of their children time after time. Skinner's skeptical view of
God and religion aside, it is both safe and useful for Christian therapists to apply the operant conditioning component to their respective practices, as
long as the distinction between Skinner and Christianity's view of body, mind, and spirit is established up front. Here is a good example:
"We refrain from hurting others not because we know how it feels to be hurt, but because hurting other members of the species reduces the chances that
the species will survive, and when we have to hurt others, we ourselves have been hurt" –B.F. Skinner
According to behaviorism, behavior is strictly motivated by the evasion of negative outcomes, the pursuit of positive outcomes, and of course,
behavioral responses tend to die out in the absence of any consequence/ reinforcement, whether positive or negative. Our manipulation with various
reinforcers shift behavior in either direction or extinguish it altogether. Life also has countless natural reinforcers, such as survival, that we all have
come to know so well through experience. From a Christian standpoint, however, we have an even greater motivation, and this is to allow the Holy

Skinner 's Behavioral Approach On Analyzing Myself
Behaviorism and Attachment
For this paper I am going to focus on B. F. Skinner's Behavioral Approach on analyzing myself. Behaviorism emerged in the early years of the
twentieth century as a counterbalance to the psychoanalytic approaches of therapy and psychology. Skinner was born in 1904, just nine years after
Freud published Studies on Hysteria. Both of these opposing theories, psychoanalysis and behaviorism, have greatly influenced the way we think of the
human mind. I lean more towards the behaviorists approach because what I have read about Skinner has resonated with me. I will use behaviorism to
approach my own inner introspection and hopefully come away from this more enlightened about myself. The classic nature verse nurture debate has
been rocking the boat in psychology since Socrates' time. Skinner and behaviorists tend to lean much more towards the nurture side of this debate,
believing that an individual's behavior is a direct consequence of what that individual has experienced in the past, especially within the context of
reinforcement and punishment. Because of this emphasis on nurture, genes and genetics do not play as much of a role as the experiences one receives
after being born. The genes that one is born with gives the individual the genetic constitution that is capable of responding to external stimuli. If one
has inherited genes that code for a more aggressive response to external stimuli, then that person may have a greater ability to be aggressive

Verbal Behavior and Verbal Response
Skinner, 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. Operant conditioning takes its root from Thorndike's law of effect, dealing with reinforcing consequences that are
contingent on a response (or specified behavior). Functional analysis, on the other hand, deals with the identification of the variables that control
verbal behavior and the means by which they interact to produce a particular verbal response. In this paper we seek to look at these two ideas in detail,
as well as present Chomsky's concerns and arguments about them.
As briefly described in the previous chapter, operant conditioning has its basis in Thorndike's law of effect. Thorndike's law states that responses that
result in a gratifying effect in a particular situation are more likely to occur in that situation, and responses that result in an inconvenience are less likely
to occur again in that situation. Operant conditioning hence involves a reinforcing consequence that is contingent on a response (specified behavior).
As a result the operant, which is a reference to the class of responses that result in the reinforcing consequence, is made more probable. Skinner
illustrates the concept with an example in which an experimental

What Is Radical Behaviourism
Are there any versions of behaviourism that should be considered anything more than a(n) historical curiosity? Are any versions of behaviourism
preferable to some other versions?
Radical behaviorism is a philosophy developed by B.F. Skinner that underlies the experimental analysis of behavior approach to psychology. He writes:
"As discussed throughout this book, radical behaviorism is interested in providing comprehensive explanatory statements about the cause's of anyone's
behavior. ... By virtue of its fundamental concern with verbal behavior and knowledge claims, radical behaviorism is in a unique position: It is based
on the science for which it stands as a foundation. Importantly, then, radical behaviorism admits no discontinuity ... Show more content on
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Remember Grace? It was uttered that she 'wants an apple'; Chisholm would pertain to this by suggesting that Grace understands, wants and believes
the conditions attached to her, the statement, and the apple. She will reply 'yes' after being offered an apple, but only is she understands the
questions, and wants to react honestly. Similarly, she will only go into the kitchen to get an apple if she believes there are apples in the kitchen. This
behavioural analysis clearly offers the mentality of comprehension, want, and belief, thus the analysis per se, is not behavioral at all. Any behvaioural
paraphrase will accept other mental terms, and a cycle

Psychologist B.F. Skinner was born March 20, 1904 and...
Psychologist B.F. Skinner was born March 20, 1904 and passed away August 18, 1990. Raised in a small town in Pennsylvania by his father William
who was a lawyer and his mother Grace. Skinner had a younger brother who he watched die at age sixteen due to cerebral hemorrhage. He attended
Hamilton College in New York with plans of becoming a writer. After graduating with his B.A. in English literature he attended Harvard University.
Here Skinner invented his prototype for the Skinner box. After Graduating he tried to write a novel which unsuccessfully failed. After his studies in
psychology he then developed his own idea on behaviorism. Skinner then received a Ph.D. from Harvard and was a researcher there until 1936. He
went on to teach at ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In September Skinner began his classes at Harvard. He was enrolled in Physiology 5; Physiology 20; Psychology 11; and elementary German due
to a language requirement. During the period of these classes Skinner found great joy in finding something through experimentation, and did many
experimental studies on the human consciousness and the study of animal intelligence. In this time Skinner also made a gadget which later would
play an important role in research, most widely known as the Skinner box. The device was a silent release box, operated by compressed air and
designed to eliminate disturbances when a rat was introduced into a habitation. In his first year of graduate school Skinner came close to changing
his field from psychology to physiology. His indecision was due to his belief that psychology was less scientific than physiology, and physiology
would allow the kind of experimenting he was more interested in. After deciding to stick with studying psychology he passed his German and French
exams required for his Ph.D. For the spring term he was enrolled in one philosophy course and three psychology courses, his favorite being
Psychology 20C; animal research. It was a class that met once a week to discuss individual work on some aspect of animal behavior. With Dwight
Chapman, another graduate student Skinner observed the insight of young squirrels. Skinner was interested in testing the theories of Kohler a

Skinner 's Behavioral Approach On Analyzing Myself
For this paper I am going to focus on B. F. Skinner's Behavioral Approach on analyzing myself. Behaviorism emerged in the early years of the
twentieth century as a counterbalance to the psychoanalytic approaches of therapy and psychology. Skinner was born in 1904, just nine years after
Freud published Studies on Hysteria. Both of these opposing theories, psychoanalysis and behaviorism, have greatly influenced the way we think of the
human mind. I lean more towards the behaviorists approach because what I have read about Skinner has resonated with me. I will use behaviorism to
approach my own inner introspection and hopefully come away from this more enlightened about myself. The classic nature verse nurture debate has
been rocking the boat in psychology since Socrates' time. Skinner and behaviorists tend to lean much more towards the nurture side of this debate,
believing that an individual's behavior is a direct consequence of what that individual has experienced in the past, especially within the context of
reinforcement and punishment. Because of this emphasis on nurture, genes and genetics do not play as much of a role as the experiences one receives
after being born. The genes that one is born with gives the individual the genetic constitution that is capable of responding to external stimuli. If one
has inherited genes that code for a more aggressive response to external stimuli, then that person may have a greater ability to be aggressive than one
that lacks those

Stay Decisions On Domestic Abusive Relationships
Stay–Leave Decisions in Domestic Abusive Relationships
Jennypher White
George Mason University
Abstract
Prior research has given a variety of explanations for the reasons domestic violence men and women decided to stay in an abusive relationship. Operant
conditioning principles theories This study will implement the principles of operant conditioning to explain the challenges domestic violence victims
face when making decisions to either stay or leave the abuser. The participants in this experiment will be domestic violence victims who will complete
two sets of surveys after arriving to a shelter. The data collected from this study will attempt to support prior theories on operant conditioning principles
and stay–leave decisions of victims.
Introduction
Operant conditioning is defined as the effects of the consequences that influence a behavior. Skinner was one of the first experimenters who studied
and gave a new meaning to the basic principles of operant conditioning. He discovered a three part process of principal operant conditioning: behavior
that produces a consequence, the consequence that either increases or decreases the repetition of the original behavior, and a stimulus that follows a
behavior and a gives a signal to another consequence. An operant behavior, or operant, is a set of responses that are made and ends up causing a
consequence and therefore affect the effect of future responses. Reinforcers and punishers either increase the frequency of the behavior

B F Skinner Sparknotes
This chapter is centered on researcher B.F Skinner, who was known for highlighting rewards and reinforcements through animal experiments. He also
demonstrated operant conditioning through positive reinforcements. Today, many individuals possess both a negative and a positive view of Skinner
and his experiments (ranging from evil to highest esteem respectively). This may be due to the difficulty of "separating content from controversy"(8).
Skinner was born in 1904 and can be identified for many quirks such as working only on a cluttered desk. He went onto go and study psychology at
Harvard in 1928, rather than taking up his desire of becoming a novelist. Despite initially avoiding the softer psychology fields, Skinner came across a
psychology workshop ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
However, many others viewed it to be much more frightening (as suggested by the name "Heir Conditioner"). Towards the end of the chapter,
Slater attempts to find Skinner's box daughter and comes into contact with one of his daughters, Julie. As Slater attempted to ask questions about
Skinner, Julie dismissed any negative claims of her father and mentioned how her sister Deborah, the alleged dead child, is alive and doing well.
As the conversation escalated, Julie ends the conversation by asking if Slater read Beyond Freedom and Dignity by Skinner and she agrees to
actually meet and talk with Slater once Slater read the book. Beyond Freedom and Dignity suggests how "Skinner is clearly proposing a humane
social policy rooted in his experimental findings" and how "man exists irrefutably in relationship to his environment and can never be free of it" (28).
Once Slater finished the book, she was able to visit Julie in B.F Skinner's home and take a look inside his study. Everything in the study was preserved
in its original state, such as books, manuscripts and a piece of chocolate that Skinner bit

The Relevance of Behavioral Psychology to Instructional...
The Relevance of Behavioral Psychology to Instructional Technology
Behavioral Psychology Defined
John Watson wrote a paper in the Psychological Review in 1913 and defined behavioral psychology or behaviorism as
...a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no
essential part of its methods, nor is the scientific value of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend themselves to interpretation in
terms of consciousness. The behaviorist in his efforts to get a unitary scheme of animal response recognizes no dividing line between man and brute (
Reynolds, Sinatra, & Jetton 95).
Essentially Watson's views supported the... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Lastly the concept of functionalism states "when people think or act they do so for a purpose or function"(Alberto & Troutman 30). Thus behavioral
psychology becomes a science emphasizing "a practical and observable approach" (Alberto & Troutman 30).
There are many behavioral psychologists that have contributed to the field.
John Watson's definition provided the foundation for Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner. Their work has been extremely beneficial to the development of
psychology and education.
Ivan Pavlov earned a Nobel Peace Price for his research on respondent conditioning. It was by chance that this discovery was made. He was studying
the behavior of dogs in his laboratory. If his assistant who fed the dogs came into the laboratory when Pavlov was studying the dog's stomach, the
dog began to secrete gastric liquids, just as if they had been given food. Pavlov deemed this a "psychic secretion" and "noted that this reaction affected
the whole digestive system, starting with the flow of saliva in the mouth as well as the secretion of acids in the stomach"(Alberto & Troutman 31). His
peers discouraged him from pursuing this research, but he continued. His experiment involving the dogs included pairing food powder (which starts
salivation–an automatic reflex) with a tone or noise that would normally have no affect on a dog's

Positive And Negative Reinforcement
When teaching a child to complete a task, questions of motivation and reinforcement surface often during the process. Discovering stimuli that are
reinforcing enough to change future behavior and responding is an important process in Applied Behavior Analysis. The effectiveness of
reinforcement depends on the existing level of motivation for the reinforcement (Cooper, Heron, Heward, 2007). In other words, for stimulus change
to function as reinforcement, the subject must already want it (Cooper & Heron & Heward, 2007). Positive and negative reinforcement are the most
important principles behavior analysts use to manipulate behavior (Vollmer & Hackenberg, 2001). As many studies have shown, the most complex
behaviors can be modified and maintained by reinforcement contingencies (Vollmer & Hackenber, 2001). Delivery of contingent reinforcement
depends on the occurrence of a given response requirement (Vollmer, Hackenberg, 2001). Before an analyst can start in any observation or
experiment, a reinforcement assessment must be conducted in order to discover which reinforcers will be likely to reinforce appropriate responding
and behavior. Reinforcer assessments determine whether or not a stimulus is, in fact, a reinforcer (Flint, 2011). Effective reinforcers found in an
experimental setting may be used in applied setting to promote skill acquisition (Flint, 2011). One of the most commonly used types of reinforcers by
behavior analysts is social reinforcement (Vollmer &

Behaviorism Was A Slow Revolution
Behaviorism was a slow revolution that proved to become a popular study within psychology that lasted through the second decade of the twentieth
century and through the beginning of the cognitive science revolution (Behjamin, 2014). During this time, there had been a vast amount of academic
individuals that contributed to the multifaceted studies within the context of behaviorism. Many of the studies within this movement were based on the
concept that all behaviors are the result of conditioning which the individual could be trained in an identified manner regardless of their previous
background. In respect to the worldview of this psychological approach, it assumes a learner is essentially passive, responding to environmental stimuli
(n/a, 2016). The theory discusses that the learner begins with a clean slate and the behavior is then shaped through the use of negative or positive
reinforcement or reinforcement which increase the probability that the antecedent behavior will occur again (n/a, 2016). In contrast, punishment
(positive and negative) decreases the likelihood the antecedent behavior will occur again. In respect to the act of positive reinforcement, the
application of a stimulus in action, negative indicates the withholding of a stimulus (n/a, 2016). Learning is defined as a change in behaviors of the
learner, but in this approach, it is considered to be created with reinforcement. In regards to the benefits of allowing researchers to investigate observable

Bf Skinner Biography
II. Brief Biography of the Top Six Founders of Psychology
Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born on March 20,1904, in the small town of Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. His father was an attorney, and his mother's
primary mission was to stay home and raise Skinner and his brother. "At an early age, Skinner showed an interest in building different gadgets and
contraptions" ("B.F. Skinner Biography", 2016). Skinner attended Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, and it was here that he cultivated his
immense passion for writing. After graduating from Hamilton in 1926, he set out to take his writing to the professional level but was sadly met with
little success. After a two year period of despondency, he finally made the decision to take... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Skinner was an experimental scientist, an atheist, and is touted as the father of strict behaviorism. He felt at his core that people are socially
conditioned, and this belief permeated his entire career. He expected nothing from religion and felt that faith in God was utterly futile. He based
his science of behaviorism upon determinism, viewing human beings as mere programmed robots without free will, thus maintaining a
perspective that saw no need for the role of religion and a divine power. He did hold to a strict moral code and made an honest effort to live
according to "moral" principles, but he viewed spirituality as a myth and simply irrational. To him, it was a mere state of positive emotion. His
harsh view of religion originated in a childhood fear of religion invoked by his grandmother's constant threat of hell, and this resulted in a view of the
relationship between God and man as strictly punitive (Chirban, 2014). "It was evident that religion failed to provide Skinner with a positive self
image and an understanding of the world that had led him to exclude God from his pursuit of Truth thought to seek the design of a positive world
scientifically" (Chirban, 2014). The following direct quotes from Skinner himself sum up his feelings on the matter of religious

Essay On Sniffy The Virtual Rat
Method
Subjects
A virtual rat, Sniffy, was used for this experiment. Sniffy the Virtual Rat, Pro Version 3.0 allows for the demonstration of Pavlovian and operant
conditioning of a virtual rat. Tom Alloway, Greg Wilson, and Jeff Graham, authors of Sniffy the Virtual Rat designed this program to be an affordable
alternative for students to gain "access to the main phenomena of classical and operant conditioning that courses on the psychology of learning typically
discuss" (Jakubow, 2007). The program allows for simulations for Pavlovian conditioning such as acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery,
stimulus–intensity effects, compound conditioning, blocking, overshadowing, overexpectation, inhibition, sensory preconditioning, ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
The fourth window is the Helpful Advice window, this window gives you information on Sniffy's state whether he made an association or not and
instructions on what to do.
Procedure
We started this experiment by conducting magazine training with Sniffy. The Magazine training technique was used in order for Sniffy to make the
association between the sound of the food hopper with food. Every time Sniffy approached the food hopper a food pallet would be delivered through
the pressing of the space bar. We waited until the Sound–Food bar association on the Operant Associations mind window reached 3/4's of the way. This
meant that the association between sound and food was strong enough to begin helping shape Sniffy's behavior. This file was saved to be used later in
the training of Sniffy to press the bar himself.
Using the previously saved file some adjustments were made before training Sniffy. The session was adjusted to the Design Operant Conditioning
Experiment with the Reinforcement Schedule set to Continuous. The Recorded Shaping Behavior was set to Press Bar in order to begin training
Sniffy to press the bar. Sniffy was first rewarded only when Sniffy would rear up facing the wall where the bar and hopper were located. Later Sniffy
would be rewarded when he reared closer and

Human Behaviorism After The Founding Summary
With all great theorists and their great theories, there are critics who do not all agree with how their theories are postulated. In the case of B.F. Skinner,
some who studied under him, and other researchers criticized his theory of Behaviorism and its components. The components that were criticized were
his assertions about economic, social, political, and religious issues, learned behaviors, and the development of human behavior.
In 1986, B.F. Skinner wrote an article in which he stated, "human behavior in the West has grown weak, but it can be strengthened through the
application of principles derived from an experimental analysis of behavior" (Schultz, D., & Schultz, S. (2012). Behaviorism: After the Founding. In A
history of modern psychology ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
(2012). Behaviorism: After the Founding. In A history of modern psychology (10th ed., p. 251). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.). The
APA and the United States government presented Skinner with many awards for his contributions to science. In 1958, the APA awarded Skinner with
the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, noting that "few American psychologists have had so profound an impact on the development of
psychology and on promising younger psychologists (Schultz, D., & Schultz, S. (2012). Behaviorism: After the Founding. In A history of modern
psychology (10th ed., p. 251). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.). Skinner also received the National Medal of Science in 1968, which is
the highest accolade bestowed by the United States government for contributions to science (Schultz, D., & Schultz, S. (2012). Behaviorism: After the
Founding. In A history of modern psychology (10th ed., p. 251–252). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.). Before receiveing the

Operant Conditioning : History And Application Essay
Operant Conditioning Never Goes Out of Style: The History and Application of
Operant Conditioning Since the beginning of time people have wanted to control others behaviors and this want is still prevalent in the world. One way
people can achieve this is through operant conditioning. Experiments that worked with controlling behavior by awarding or removing a reinforcement
or punishment were conducted over one hundred years ago (Chance 1999). Unlike some psychological theories that become irrelevant after further
research, operant conditioning aspects are still used to influence behavior today. Operant conditioning is not only being used in experiments
conducted by psychologists, but also by many businesses. E.L. Thorndyke's and B.F. Skinner's experiments shed light on operant conditioning and
their research findings are still applicable. One proponent of operant conditioning was E.L. Thorndike.(Scott, 2009). Thorndike made major
contributions to the psychology field, by examining how animals learn. His finding can be found in his dissertation, An Experimental Study of the
Associative Process in Animals, which was released in 1898. In the his experiments, he put hungry cats into a puzzle box and placed food that was
visible to the cat outside of the box. The cat was released when it stepped on a lever that would cause the door to open. He collected data from the
repeated trials on how the cats behaved while in the box and how long it took for them to escape.

B. F. Skinner Essay
B.F. Skinner
B.F. Skinner was one of the most influential theorists in modern psychology. His work was very important and has been studied by many for years.
Skinner was 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.
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.
Skinner was one of the most famous of the American psychologists. He was ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
He also read about animals. He collected toads, lizards, and snakes. He trained pigeons to do tricks after he saw them performing one year at a
fair. Training the pigeons probably was where he got his ideas of operant conditioning. He attended Susquehanna High School just like his mother
and father. In his graduating class there were only eight people including him. He was a very intellectual person. He reported that he really
enjoyed school. Over the four years in high school Skinner became good at math and reading Latin, but was no good at science. He was always
performing physical and chemical experiments while he was at home. His father was a book collector. Skinner always had a good library of books
around his house. Skinner recalled the little collection of applied psychology journals that his father had bought. Those books could have been the
starting point in his psychology career. Skinner grew up in a very religious family.
After high school Skinner went to Hamilton College where he majored in English Literature and minored in Romance Languages. Skinner's freshman
year did not turn out to be what he expected. He felt that the college was pushing him around with unnecessary requirements, such as daily chapel
and physical education. Skinner's college life became better as the years went on. He was very comfortable with college life by his senior year. He
and a friend once printed up a poster that said that Charles Chaplin was

Punishment Based Interventions By Monique R Turner
Punishment–Based Interventions
By
Monique R Turner
A comprehensive exam response submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science in Psychology
Dr. Gibson
Kaplan University
2015
Punishment–Based Interventions
Punishment–Based interventions are types of treatment that is sometime used in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis to modify or change behaviors.
There is a quite a bit of controversy and misunderstanding related to use of punishment. Punishment–based interventions have been proven to be one of
the most controversial treatments used by behavior analyst and found in behavior analyst literature (e.g. Johnston, 1991; Matson & Kazdin, 1981; Repp
& Singh, 1990) (DiGennaro Reed, & Lovett, 2008). The definition itself is many times confused or lack understanding. Cooper, Heron, and Heward
(2006) explain that punishment frequently misunderstood, misapplied and quite controversial. There are some therapists or behavior analysts, parents,
caregivers, teachers, and people in general who support punishment and some who do not (Hall, 2013). Although there is a lot of controversy about
whether to use punishment or not, punishment is indeed still sometimes used in the field of applied behavior analysis, but there are special guidelines
for using punishment based procedures in the field. Before a behavior analyst can decide whether or not they want to use punishment in an intervention,
they must clearly understand the definition

Positive And Negative Reinforcement : Two Major Causes Of...
Major causes of problem behaviors There are two categories that the causes of problem behavior can be divided into; operant and respondent. Operant
causes can also be divided further into two more categories; positive and negative reinforcement (Martin and Pear, 2016).
Operant
Indicators that attention maintains a behavior includes, whether or not attention reliably follows the behavior, whether the subject looks at or
approaches a caregiver just before the behavior, and whether the individual smiles just before engaging in the behavior. Behavior can also be
maintained by self stimulatory (automatic) positive reinforcement. These are reinforcing without producing any consequence that another person can
control or detect. In addition, external sensory reinforcement can also maintain behavior. This occurs when the individual continues the behavior
undiminished over numerous occasions even though no social consequences are obtained. Social negative reinforcement is yet another variable that
can maintain behavior. These most commonly take the form of escape from demands. Furthermore, problem behavior may be maintained by internal
sensory negative reinforcement, which consists of eliciting a problem behavior that decreases the sensory of an unpleasant response. Some examples of
this may be binge eating, scratching, biting, etc. External sensory of negative reinforcement can maintain problem behaviors by allowing the escape
from an external sensory stimulus. Such as squinting

Edward Beladike, S Theory Of Edward Thorndike's Law Of Effect
Edward Thorndike was born August 31, 1874, in Williamsburg, Massachusetts to Robert and Abbie Thorndike. He continued his undergraduate work
from Wesleyan University and proceed his postgraduate composition at Harvard. By the age of 23, he completed his Ph.D. from Columbia
University. Thorndike started his professional career at the Women's College of Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where he taught for
one year, before accepting an education proposition at Teachers College at Columbia University in 1899. Thorndike remained at Teachers College
until his departure in 1940; his career centered largely on evaluating the learning process and testing intelligence. Edward Thorndike was a powerful
psychologist who is often referred to as the establisher of modern educational psychology. He was perhaps most known for his remarkable puzzle box
experiments with feline which led to the elaboration of his law of effect. Thorndike's commencement suggests that responses instantly followed by
gratification will be more credible to happen in the future. The law of effect also suggests that behaviors followed by displeasure or discouragement
will become less probable to happen. Thorndike's commencement also played a significant role in the elaboration of behaviorism and B.F. Skinner's
operant conditioning. Thorndike's law of effect refers to human behavior and is supported by his confidence that human behavior can be analyzed in the
stimulus–response units. Edward's

Birth And Death By Frederic Skinner Essay
Birth and Death Burrhus Frederic Skinner is one of the most influential psychologists to study and practice, the ideology of Behaviorism. The concept
behind behaviorism is to understand the thought that emphasizes the importance of experience in governing behavior while, the key role of
behaviorism was to the determine the laws that govern learning (Claypoole, 2016). Skinner was born on March 20, 1904 and died on August 18, 1990
due to Leukemia.
There are many personal and historical events that shaped B. F. Skinner as a Behavioral Psychologist. Skinner got his Master's in Psychology at
Harvard University on May 1, 1930. While, studying psychology and behaviorism, he invented an operant conditioning chamber, also known as
"the Skinner Box". After one year, Skinner received his PhD in Psychology and on November 29, 1938, his first book was published called The
Behavior of Organisms. The book is about an experimental analysis and studies on his theory behind operant conditioning and behavior. After having
achieved a significant amount of success, he invented The Baby Tender under the influence of his wife, Yvonne who desired to have crib that was
safe for a baby by keeping it from trapping it legs or suffocating itself under blankets or within bars. Furthermore, during World War II, Skinner trained
pigeons to continuously peck at a target and this would allow the missile to hold in target. On November 29, 1948, he published a fictional book called
Walden Two. In this

B. F. Skinner Research Paper
Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born on March 20, 1904 in Pennsylvania. His dad was a lawyer and his mother was a housewife Most of his
childhood he spent building things. Often times he would build gadgets for example a cart with steering that worked backwards by mistake. He then
went to Hamilton College, where he developed a passion for writing. He tried to make writing a profession after graduating but he had no success in
it. When Skinner was the age of 24 he enrolled in Harvard University to study Psychology. In his time there he constructed the cumulative recorder, a
mechanical device that recorded every response as an upward movement of a horizontally moving line. In 1936 when Skinner was thirty–two years old
he married Yvonne Blue and the couple moved to Minnesota. Around this time Skinner was busy with his family and did not really advance in the
science he did before. In 1944, World War two started and Skinner wanted to help and created a project to train pigeons to guide bombs. He trained the
pigeons to peck at a target that would hold a missile onto a target. Although the pigeon work was useful it was discontinued to an unknown reason....
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Skinner's teaching machine presented random problems for students to answer and the feedback was given after each individual problem. The machine
gave students more practice on what they already knew but it did not actually teach the students. The machine was programmed with sequencing and
students responded to material broken down into small steps. The first responses of each sequence were prompted but when the students improved
there was less help given. By the end of the program, students were doing something they did not know how to do before. Skinner answered many
questions that parents, schools, and business had about his teaching machine. After ten years Skinner got a grant and hired James G. Holland who
created The Analysis of Behavior for Skinner's class of Harvard students to take on a mechanical

Skinner 's Theory Of Operant Conditioning Essay
Burrhus Frederic (B. F.) Skinner, an American behavioral psychologist who believed the idea that human free will was an illusion and any human
action was the result of the consequences of that same action, developed an experiment to verify if superstition was present in pigeons. Skinner's
beliefs led him to conduct this research experiment which ultimately declared him as one of the top psychologists of his era. Skinner believed that the
best way to understand behavior was to look at the causes of an action and its consequences. He called this approach operant conditioning. Skinner 's
theory of operant conditioning was based on the work of Thorndike that he reviewed (1948). Edward Thorndike studied learning in animals using a
puzzle box to propose the theory known as the 'Law of Effect ', responses that produce a satisfying effect in a situation become more likely to occur
again in that situation, and responses that produce a discomforting effect become less likely to occur again in that situation. Skinner introduced a new
term to Thorndike's theory known as reinforcement (Skinner, 1948). Reinforcement is a stimulus (as a reward or the removal of an electric shock)
that increases the probability of a desired response in operant conditioning by being applied or affected following the desired response. Skinner
branched off Thorndike's approach studied operant conditioning by experimenting on animals using conditioning chambers also known as a Skinner
box and in 1948

F. Skinner 's Operant Conditioning Theory
Burrhus F. Skinner or more commonly known as B. F. Skinner is regarded as one of the most influential psychologists in the world by his peers. In
comparison to other behaviorist Skinners approach was referred to as radical behaviorism. Behaviorist search to find answers to how humans behave
through observations in the environment not in the mind ("Conversation" 1973). Specifically, B. F. Skinner was not interested in theories that involve
speculation, but more importantly theories that could be proven with explicit definitions and findings. His operant conditioning approach controlled
behavior. B. F. Skinner 's operant conditioning approach includes but is not limited to shaping, reinforcements, and punishments. One subject that is
intertwined in all areas of study and everyday life is mathematics. Often times, math is one of the hardest concepts for people to grasp. In regards to B.
F. Skinner 's operant conditioning theory, mathematics can be learned in the classroom through shaping, reinforcement, and punishment. Shaping is
primarily used to train animals because it reinforces behaviors that are out of the ordinary. By the same token, mathematics is foreign to humans it is
not something that humans know how to do naturally. The complex numbers are not easily grasped and the very same techniques used to teach a dog
to ride a bike can be implemented into a lesson to teach a child multiplication or division. Complex behaviors were learned in pigeons quickly through a

The Behavior Is A Learned Habit
Have you ever heard a young child say something way beyond their age, or, watched a child preform an action–good or bad–that is far too advanced
for them to be doing at their age? Have you ever stopped to wonder why? Children are like sponges, absorbing everything around them whether it is
positive or negative. According to American behaviorist, B.F. Skinner, "all behavior is a learned habit". As an aspiring teacher and (someday!) mother,
that statement can be scary because I know none of my behaviors are golden. Fortunately, Skinner created an operant conditioning chart (also known as
the "Skinner Box") which consists of three consequences: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and punishment. Biographical Background of
B. F.... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
After having children, accepting a new job in Indiana, returning to Harvard, and all the while watching his children grow, Skinner's focus shifted
from studying the behavior of animals to studying the behavior of children. This shift is important in the field of education, having created what
we know as "classroom management," where a teacher either rewards or punishes the student(s) for their behavior. Skinner's belief behind his idea
was that "positive [and negative] reinforcement was a great tool for shaping behavior". In 1989, Skinner was diagnosed with leukemia and passed
away the following year at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Today, his work lives on thanks to his daughter, Julie, who is head of the B.F.
Skinner Foundation (Biography.com Editors, 2016). Key Points of Behaviorism Skinner and his work are monumental to the field of education.
Skinner's entire theory is based off of the fact that behaviors are learned, and in order to learn an acceptable behavior, a consequence must be given
as a way of praising the behavior, or condemning it. In Skinner's book, About Behaviorism (1974), he says: "we cannot anticipate what a person
will do by looking directly at his feelings or his nervous system, nor can we change his behavior by changing his mind or his brain". Just as others
cannot see how I feel, which drives my behavior, I cannot see how they feel, which will drive their behavior. This is why Skinner's operant

The Study Of Developmental Psychology
B.F Skinner
His life and works
Who is B.F Skinner? And why is he important in the study of developmental psychology? And what ideas did he add to it?
What was his early life like?
What fields did he operate in?
What education has he received? Was it related to what he did?
What new ideas did he bring to the world of psychology?
What were his theories?
What was his major experiments?
What did he invent?
How does his proposes and ideas help us educate kids?
What were some of his writings that he left after his death? And what did they talk about?
Awards
Hypothesis
I guess that B.F Skinner was a scientist in the field of psychology, and he was a behaviorist that introduced and explained the ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Burrhus was an active, out–going boy who loved the outdoors and building things, and actually enjoyed school
His fields and education
Skinner was a prolific author; he had more than 200 articles and 20 books related to psychology, so he was a psychologist and a writer. His first
encounters with behavioral science was after attending Hamilton College, where he decided to become a writer, he loved what he did and was
impressed by it. At Hamilton College he felt that he didn't fit in with others, he didn't party or hang out with other students. However he graduated in

1926 with his BA in English. Skinner worked in writing newspapers and articles, but didn't feel that he was such a success in what he was doing.
He resigned and decided to pursue a different direction in his life. He went back to studying but this time in Harvard University to study Psychology,
he got his masters and doctorate and stayed there to do researches and finally he graduated in 1936.
Because he chose the psychology field he had many theories and experiments that changed our world today and introduced new systems that were
revolutionary to the world of psychology and how we study people.
Skinner's Theory Parents since a long time ago had known that their children respond to the system of reward and punishment, this basically explains
the theories of B.F Skinner. He believed in his theory which he called operant

Reinforcement Theory Vs. Operant Conditioning
There has been concern if the effects of certain types of reinforcement (such as positive and negative) can effectively change an individual's behavior.
There is evidence to suggest that certain types of positive and negative reinforcement can motivate an individual far beyond his potential, while
punishment, on the other hand, is completely different from negative reinforcement, but it is very often associated with it. Both forms of reinforcement
are designed to have a desired behavior learned and repeated. Finally, studies concerning the effects of positive and negative reinforcement will be
examined. This particular examination of reinforcement theory continues to prove how effective this type of study can be, and how it can promote a
desired behavior, although there are some who criticize this theory, nevertheless, it has shown promising insight on behavior and motivation. Evaluation
of reinforcement theory Behavior is something must learn, whether it be repeated multiple times, or learned right away. Reinforcement theory or
operant conditioning suggests that there are two forms of reinforcement: positive and negative. Positive reinforcement is adding something to obtain a
positive response, whereas negative reinforcement takes away or diminishes something for a particular response. If someone is shown positive
reinforcement, such as an a person receiving a raise at work, because of their actions they are rewarded, which means they are likely to repeat the
process

Classical And Operant Conditioning, Discovered By. Skinner...
Classical and Operant conditioning, discovered by B.F. Skinner and Ivan Pavlov, are two types of behavioral theories in psychology used to describe
why a certain person may respond in various ways to different situations. Ms. Larson's ideas are not working simply because she is employing positive
reinforcement, when she should employ positive punishment. A positive reinforcement is when a person adds stimulation to the environment (ie. Ms.
Larson Scolding the class) in order to increase behavior. Positive punishment however, is when a person adds stimulation to the environment in order
to decrease behavior. Ms. Larson wanted to decrease the students' behavior, therefore positive punishment would have been ideal. Given this, Ms.
Larson could have added stimulation such as a prize given to the student with the best behavior at the end of each week.
Operant conditioning is used to describe the reaction of the environment based off of the addition of stimuli. There are four types of this conditioning,
positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment and negative punishment. Positive reinforcement is when stimuli is added to the
environment in order for a behavior to increase, a great example of this would be Ms. Larson Scolding her class (added stimuli) as the students
continue to act unruly. (Behavior increased) Next there is negative reinforcement, which is when something is taken away in order for the environment
to increase behavior. If a class is

Cognitive And Intellectual Disorders, By Dr. Brian Iwata...
Introduction
As a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Florida, Dr. Brian Iwata is the field's foremost researcher on functional analysis
methodology of problematic behaviors. He has held faculty positions at both Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Western Michigan
University before settling down at the University of Florida. After receiving his Ph.D. from Florida State University, Dr. Iwata set out to revolutionize
the disciplines of behavioral and intellectual disorders, program development, and applied behavior analysis by accepting a director position at the
Florida Center on Self–Injury and the University of Florida–ARC Prader–Willi Syndrome Program. He has served as the President of the Association
of Behavior Analysis (1988–1989), Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (1995–1997), Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis
(1988–1989), the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis (1992–1993), Division 33 of the American Psychological Association (1991–1992), and as
a chair for Human Development Review Committee at the National Institute of Health (1984–1988).
Dr. Iwata has published over 200 articles, chapters and texts within the field, all while continuing his research and academic presence across the globe.
He appears in numerous conferences, lectures, and journals to promote his work in applied behavior analysis all while bequeathing his knowledge upon
his students. Half of all recipients of the B.F.

Notes On Childhood And Background
B.F. Skinner Childhood and Background Burrhus Frederic Skinner (B.F. Skinner) was born on March 20, 1904 in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania
(Boeree, n.d., para. 1). Skinner's father was a lawyer while his mother stayed home to care for Skinner and his siblings. Interest in building
contraptions and gadgets was shown by Skinner at an early age (Kaiga, C. (2012, July 2). Academic Essays on Simple topics. Retrieved October 19,
2014.). He spent much of his childhood building various machines and devices, including a failed attempt to build a perpetual motion machine (Kaiga,
2012, para.4). In a biography about B.F. Skinner, Dr. C. George Boeree said "He constructed a floatation system which separated ripe from green
berries" ((1999, May) Burrhus... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Skinner moved back to his parents' home and built a study to conduct his writings (Kaiga, 2012, para.4). After some time as a writer, Skinner soon
returned to school, studying psychology at Harvard University (Boeree, n.d., para. 5). In 1930, Skinner received his Master's degree followed by
his PhD in 1936 (Boeree, n.d., para. 5). Later that year, Skinner moved to the University of Minnesota to teach (Swenson, 1999, para. 6). Skinner is
also known for his work on the "baby box", an attempt at mechanizing the care of a child, following the death of his second child (Swenson, 1999,
para. 7). The box would maintain a certain temperature while only wearing a diaper (Swenson, 1999, para. 7).The box has led to what is now
known as an "air crib" (Swenson, 1999, para. 7). Operant Conditioning While at Harvard, Skinner developed an operant conditioning apparatus to
study behavior in a more objective and measured way (Kaiga, 2012, para. 6). The apparatus could be used to observe animals and how they interact
with their environment (Kaiga, 2012, para. 6). Skinner experimented with rats that had to pull a lever in the box to dispense food at different
intervals (Kaiga, 2012, para. 6). Skinner's is regarded as the father of Operant conditioning while his work was based on Thorndike's law of effect
(Kaiga, 2012, para. 6). Reinforcement is a term that Skinner introduced to the law of effect in which behavior that is reinforced tends to be repeated
while

Summary Of ' Walden Two ( 1948 )
B.F. Skinner is an American Psychologist from Pennsylvania who developed the idea of Behaviorism after studying at Harvard University
(Biography.com Editors, n.d.). He is also known for his works such as, The Behavior of Organisms (1938), the novel Walden Two (1948), and later
Beyond Freedom and Human Dignity (1971) which examines behaviorism in society (Biography.com Editors, n.d.). Burrhus Frederic Skinner was
born and raised in Susquehanna, a little town in Pennsylvania on March 20,1904 (B.F. Skinner Foundation, 2014;Biography.com Editors, n.d.). He
was an imaginative and inventive child that built different mechanism which included, a cart that steered backwards, a perpetual motion machine, and
a flotation device that separated ripe from unripe fruit (B.F. Skinner Foundation, 2014). As he grew older, he also showed an interest in writing, and
the ideas of Francis Bacon, whose ideas of inductive reasoning influenced Skinner (B.F. Skinner Foundation, 2014). According to the B.F. Skinner
Foundation (2014) once in college Skinner chose to be a writer, he attended Hamilton and after graduating returned home and wrote a few articles
which brought him little to no success. He later moved to New York and worked as a bookstore clerk where he stumbled upon the works of Pavlov
and Watson, they held an impression on him and he strived to learn more (B.F. Skinner Foundation, 2014). Therefor, Skinner decided to attend Harvard
University's Department of Psychology (B.F. Skinner

The Theory Of Behavioral Learning Theory
B. F. Skinner is one of the top psychologist who invented the radical behaviorism and critical psychiatry. B. F. Skinner believed that behavior is
maintained from one condition to another through similar or same consequences across situations. Skinner believed that actions followed by a positive
effect tend to be repeated, while actions followed by negative effect were not. I believe the behaviorist theory states that individuals develop certain
behavior traits based off of their reaction to certain events that they are presented with. This means that people act certain ways because of how they
handled situations that have occurred in their life. Introduction to Behavioral learning theory. For example, inside the classroom, teachers could use this
theory to help children behave correctly and have a positive outlook on their schoolwork. By understanding the theory, teachers would recognize that
students need and want positive reinforcement. As a result of giving positive reinforcement, students would continue to display the desired behavior.
Skinner said that "radical behaviorism emphasizes a functional level of analysis that may be contrasted with mainstream psychology's emphasis on
essentialism. Behaviorism is a theory mostly developed by B.F. Skinner. Three basic assumptions are held to be true. Learning is manifested by the
change in behavior, the environment shapes behavior and the reinforcement essential in explaining the process of learning. For behaviorism learning

Skinner vs. Bandura
Behaviorism has been a major school of thought in psychology since 1913, when John B. Watson published an influential article. Watson argued that
psychology should abandon its earlier focus on mind and mental processes and focus exclusively on overt behavior. He contended that psychology
could not study mental processes in a scientific manner because they are private and not accessible to outside observation. In completely rejecting
mental processes as a suitable subject for scientific study, Watson took an extreme position that is no longer dominant among modern behaviorists.
Thus, most behaviorists view an individual's personality as a collection of response tendencies that are tied to various stimulus situations. A specific
situation... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
For example, I clowned around in class and gained appreciative comments and smiles from schoolmates. This social approval reinforced my
clowning–around behavior. If such behavior would have been reinforced with some regularity, it would have gradually become an integral element
of my personality. Similarly, whether or not I developed traits such as independence, assertiveness, or selfishness depended on whether I got
reinforced for such behavior by parents or by other influential persons. "Negative reinforcement occurs when a response is strengthened (increased
in frequency) because it is followed by the removal of a (presumably) unpleasant stimulus "(Skinner, p.67). Do not let the word negative here
confuse you. Negative reinforcement is reinforcement. Like positive reinforcement, it strengthens a response. However, this strengthening occurs
because the response gets rid of an aversive stimulus. Consider a few examples: I rush home in winter to get out of the cold. I clean my house to
get rid of a mess. Parents gave in to my begging to halt my whining. Negative reinforcement plays a major role in the development of avoidance
tendencies. As you have may notices, many people tend to avoid facing up to awkward situations and sticky personal problems. This personality trait
typically develops because avoidance behavior gets rid of anxiety and is therefore negatively

An Influential Psychologists Of All Times
One of the most influential psychologists of all times is Burrhus Frederic Skinner, also known as B. F. Skinner, who was born on March 20, 1904
in a small town called Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. B. F. Skinner was raised in a warm and wealthy home. His father was a lawyer and his mother
was a stay at home mom. In Skinner's early childhood, it was noted that he and his younger brother, Edward James, liked to build things such as
arrows and shack in the woods, to name a few ( ). These construction skills would enable an older Skinner to build the equipment invented for his
psychology research. As he grew up, he went through all twelve grades at the same school, graduating with less than eight students. Within these years,
he developed an interest in art and literature through drawing and later reading Shakespeare (Dews, 1970).
In Skinner's higher education, he attended Hamilton College in New York, where he majored in English Literature to become a writer ( ). Soon after
college, Skinner tried to write his first psychological novel but failed to do so because of family trouble and lack of success. After becoming
discontent with his literary skills, and inspired by John B. Watson and Ivan Pavlov'sBehaviorism, he obtained a degree in psychology from Harvard
University in 1928. Soon after, Skinner graduated with his PhD from Harvard in 1931, which led him to the development of his influential operant
behaviorism ( ).
B. F. Skinners had many contributions within in his

Operant Conditioning And Continuous Reinforcement
1.Mr. Higginbotham uses the idea of operant conditioning and continuous reinforcement throughout his classroom. Operant conditioning is the
behavior in which voluntary behavior are strengthened or weakened by consequences, while continuous reinforcement deals with giving a reinforcer
after every response. These reinforcers can be either positive or negative, strengthening or weakening the behavior that occurred. Positive
reinforcements are there to increase the opportunity of a specific behavior reoccurring and negative reinforcement is strengthening behavior that results
in a negative action. (Woolfolk, 2014, pgs. 277–278). An example in Mr. Higginbotham's class of positive reinforcement would be during the point in
time when he decides to announce that his progress checks can each be earned towards bonus points on their project and once ten complete progress
checks have occurred the children can also receive a homework pass. Another positive reinforcement is the three highest scoring students will receive
twenty–five dollars to their class trip fund for their senior year. A negative reinforcement is demonstrated in Mr. Higginbotham's class when Susan
shows disrespectful behavior and earns four detentions. These four detentions equal a day of indoor, in–school suspension. So even when students do
not want to do their homework the progress report check will help the students work towards that one homework pass. Both positive and negative
reinforcement as continuous

The Behavior Of Organisms, An Experimental Analysis Essay
In 1938, B.F. Skinner published The Behaviour of Organisms, An experimental analysis. The publication documented Skinner's findings in several
experiments he conducted with the aim of explaining how organisms learn behaviours and how this knowledge could be used to teach them new
ones. Skinner was a behaviourist and was therefore interested in overt behaviours that could be observed and recorded. In his publication, he defines
behaviour as follows, "Behaviour is what an organism is doing or more accurately what it is observed by another organism to be doing." (Skinner,
1938). While classical conditioning is passive, operant conditioning requires the learner to actively "operate" on their environment. Therefore,
operant conditioning mainly relies on the learner making voluntary responses, for example, pushing the buttons on a TV remote to select a
desired channel. In Skinner's experiment, the learner was a white rat who was placed in a small chamber where there is only a lever and tray
upon which food pellets were dispensed. The experiment required the rat to stand on its hind legs and press down on the lever with a force of at
least 10g in order for a food pellet to be dispensed. Of course, the rat's first few presses of the lever would be purely accidental, but gradually the rat
learned that if he wanted a pellet, pressing down on the lever would cause one to fall into the feeding tray. Skinner experimented further, adjusting the
lever so that the rat would have to apply

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