Burrhus Fredrick Skinner is one of the most profound influential on teaching and learning in the 20th century. He has been considered by many Americans to be one of the influential psychologists. I am writing this to bring his many contributions to the attention of your readers in order to ensure Burrhus Fredrick Skinner receives the credit he deserves. Skinner had the idea that a person’s behavior could change after his or her response to a certain situation, operant behavior is what Skinner referred to this idea as. He wanted people to know that with operant conditioning, triggers a dramatic impact of response with the right reinforcement, that it is important to reinforce because of the results. Operant conditioning uses punishment and reinforcement to modify behavior.
Punishment and reinforcement are applied or withheld to produce different responses. Skinner believes that when a person is rewarded for positive behavior that he or she will continue to act positive seeking different rewards. Skinner believed that a person who was rewarded for positive behavior would act more positive than a person who had been punished for a negative behavior. Skinner did not agree with negative punishment. Although some may disagree and not support Skinners theories, many people agree and will always agree with Skinner. Skinner is responsible and will always be known for changing the views of many psychologists’; he changed the way people’s behaviors were approached. Skinner spent years doing different researches on many things; he made many contributions to psychology that continues to take place in research today.
Reference
Understanding Psychology, Ninth Edition, by Charles G. Morris and Albert A. Maisto. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2010 by Pearson Education, Inc.