B.F.+Skinner

[]. Skinner’s main goal was relating behavior to experimental conditions. Skinner sought funding for a top secret project to train pigeons to guide bombs. Working intently, he trained pigeons to keep pecking a target that would hold a missile onto a target. The pigeons pecked reliably, even when falling rapidly and working with warlike noise all around them. While Project Pigeon was discontinued (because of another top secret project unknown to Skinner - radar), the work was useful. Pigeons behave more rapidly than rats, allowing more rapid discoveries of the effect of new contingencies. As Skinner put it, "the research that I described in //The Behavior of Organisms//  appeared in a new light. It was no longer merely an experimental analysis. It had given rise to a technology." Skinner never again worked with rats. Skinner described Project Pigeon in an article with the same name. The article is in //Cumulative Record// .
 * B.F. Skinner **
 * Work with Pigeons: **

Skinner influenced education as well as psychology. He was quoted as saying ** "Teachers must learn how to teach ... they need only to be taught more effective ways of teaching." ** Skinner asserted __that positive reinforcement is more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment, with obvious implications for the then widespread practice of__ [|rote learning] __ and __[|punitive discipline] __ in education. __Skinner also suggests that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment. Skinner says that there are five main obstacles to learning : Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught using five principles to remedy the above problems: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Skinner's views on education are extensively presented in his book //The Technology of Teaching//
 * <span style="color: red; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Influence on Teaching: **
 * 1) <span style="background: yellow; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">People have a fear of failure.
 * 2) <span style="background: yellow; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The task is not broken down into small enough steps.
 * 3) <span style="background: yellow; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">There is a lack of directions.
 * 4) <span style="background: yellow; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">There is also a lack of clarity in the directions.
 * 5) <span style="background: yellow; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Positive reinforcement is lacking.
 * 1) <span style="background: yellow; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Give the learner immediate feedback.
 * 2) <span style="background: yellow; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Break down the task into small steps.
 * 3) <span style="background: yellow; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Repeat the directions as many times as possible.
 * 4) <span style="background: yellow; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Work from the most simple to the most complex tasks.
 * 5) <span style="background: yellow; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Give positive reinforcement.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Schedules of reinforcement <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">
//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Main article: //[|//Reinforcement//]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Part of Skinner's analysis of behavior involved not only the power of a single instance of reinforcement, but the effects of particular schedules of reinforcement over time. The most notable [|schedules of reinforcement] presented by Skinner were interval (fixed or variable) and ratio (fixed or variable).
 * **<span style="background: yellow; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Continuous reinforcement **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> — constant delivery of reinforcement for an action; every time a specific action was performed the subject instantly and always received a reinforcement. This method is impractical to use, and the reinforced behavior is prone to extinction.
 * **<span style="background: yellow; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Interval (fixed/variable) reinforcement **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Fixed — reinforcement followed the first response after a set duration. Variable — time which must elapse before a response produces reinforcement is not set, but varies around an average value.
 * **<span style="background: yellow; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Ratio (fixed or variable) reinforcement **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Fixed — a set number of responses must occur before there is reinforcement. Variable - number of responses before reinforcement is delivered differs from the last, but has an average value.