Psychology of Classroom Learning, Vol2 – Finals/ 7/29/2008 14:29 Page 832

Skinner, B(urrhus) F(rederic)

SKINNER, B(URRHUS) ized in his first book, The Behavior of Organisms: An

Experimental Analysis (1938).
F(REDERIC)
1904–1990 Behaviorists inspired by the work of Russian physiol-
ogist Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936) had focused on relatively
Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904–1990) is considered by simple stimulus-response reflexes, whereas Skinner was
many to be the most influential psychologist of all time able to show a high degree of orderliness in more com-
and by some to be one of the most influential people in mon, fluid, everyday behavior, which Skinner called oper-
history. A research scientist, author, and philosopher, his ant behavior. Skinner showed that a great deal of behavior
work has had a lasting impact on psychology, education, that appeared to be spontaneous and voluntary was the
psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, philosophy, and product of a ‘‘history of reinforcement,’’ and he also
even the business world. showed how a reinforcer (a stimulus that strengthens the
Skinner was born March 20, 1904, in the small town behavior it follows) could be delivered in optimal ways to
of Susquehana, in Pennsylvania, the son of a lawyer alter future behavior. In a major breakthrough, Skinner
father and a housewife mother. He earned his under- showed that entirely new behaviors could quickly be
graduate degree at Hamilton College in New York, taught simply by selectively reinforcing successive approx-
intending to become a professional writer. Soon discour- imations to that behavior, a process he called shaping.
aged, a book about behaviorism by psychologist John B. During the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, Skinner
Watson inspired him to enter graduate school at Harvard extended his laboratory discoveries to a number of prac-
University in 1928. There his extraordinary mechanical tical human domains. During World War II he trained
skills allowed him to invent a series of devices for study- pigeons to guide missiles for the U.S. military (a project
ing rat behavior. Ultimately one of those devices, sub- never fully implemented). In 1948 Skinner published a
sequently known as the Skinner Box, gave him novel called Walden Two, in which he speculated about
unprecedented control over ongoing behavior, summar- how a science of behavior might be used to create an
ideal community. During the 1950s, in work with psy-
chotic patients, he laid the foundations for modern
behavior therapy, a term that was coined by his research
team. He also invented sophisticated mechanical teaching
machines and developed the first programmed textbook,
advances which helped lead the way toward modern
computer-aided instruction.
During the 1960s Skinner’s students and adherents
guided by his numerous essays on education (brought
together in 1968 in his book, The Technology of Teaching)
developed successful reinforcement-based classroom man-
agement techniques, which were subsequently widely used
in countries around the world. His work also inspired
business professionals to develop new management techni-
ques and incentive systems, and professionals working with
developmentally disabled individuals were inspired to
develop powerful new training and treatment techniques,
which later became standard in virtually all treatment facili-
ties for such individuals.
In its impact on education, Skinner’s work is similar
to that of Edward L. Thorndike. In the late 1890s, while a
graduate student at Harvard, Thorndike conducted animal
experiments that convinced him of the enormous power of
behavioral consequences, which led to Thorndike’s formu-
lation of the Law of Effect, which remains influential in
education in the early 2000s. Thorndike’s experiments had
been relatively crude and were conducted in open cham-
bers. Skinner eventually learned how to conduct such
B. F. Skinner, April 1, 1987. YVONNE HEMSEY/GETTY IMAGES.
experiments in closed chambers, which eliminated distrac-
tions and the need for handling the animals, thus allowing

832 PSYCHOLOGY OF CLASSROOM LEARNING

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Social Cognitive Theory

Skinner to determine much more precisely how behavior cognitive, behavioral, and contextual factors. For instance,
actually works. It was the precision in Skinner’s research classroom learning is shaped by factors within the aca-
that helped lay the foundations for a true science of both demic environment, especially the reinforcements experi-
animal and human behavior. enced by oneself and by others. At the same time, learning
SEE ALSO Operant Conditioning. is affected by students’ own thoughts and self-beliefs and
their interpretation of the classroom context.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A closely related assumption within SCT is that
people have an agency or ability to influence their own
WORKS BY
behavior and the environment in a purposeful, goal-
Holland, J. G., & Skinner, B. F. (1961). The analysis of behavior:
directed fashion (Bandura, 2001). This belief conflicts
A program for self-instruction. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Skinner, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organisms: An experimental
with earlier forms of behaviorism that advocated a more
analysis (The Century Psychology Series). New York: rigorous form of environmental determinism. SCT does
Appleton-Century. not deny the importance of the environment in deter-
Skinner, B. F. (1948). Walden two. New York: Macmillan. mining behavior, but it does argue that people can also,
Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. New York: through forethought, self-reflection, and self-regulatory
Free Press. processes, exert substantial influence over their own out-
Skinner, B. F. (1968). The technology of teaching. New York: comes and the environment more broadly.
Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Skinner, B. F. (1971). Beyond freedom and dignity. New York: A third assumption within SCT is that learning can
Alfred A. Knopf. occur without an immediate change in behavior or more
broadly that learning and the demonstration of what has
WORKS ABOUT been learned are distinct processes. One reason for this
Demorest, A. (2005). Psychology’s grand theorists: how personal separation is that SCT also assumes that learning involves
experiences shaped professional ideas. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. not just the acquisition of new behaviors, but also of
Nye, R. D. (2000). Three psychologies: perspectives from Freud, knowledge, cognitive skills, concepts, abstract rules, val-
Skinner, and Rogers (6th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
ues, and other cognitive constructs. This division of
O0 Donohue, W. & Ferguson, K. E. (2001). The psychology of B.F.
Skinner. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. learning and behavior is a shift from the position advo-
cated by behavioral theories that defined learning stri-
dently as a change in the form or frequency of behavior.
Robert Epstein It also means that students can learn but not demonstrate
that learning until motivated to do so.

SOCIAL COGNITIVE HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF SCT

THEORY Born in 1925, Albert Bandura was trained and began his
Social cognitive theory (SCT) refers to a psychological career in the mid-twentieth century when explanations of
model of behavior that emerged primarily from the work human functioning, including classroom learning, were
of Albert Bandura (1977; 1986). Initially developed with dominated by behavioral models advocated by research-
an emphasis on the acquisition of social behaviors, SCT ers such as B. F. Skinner, Clark Hull, Kenneth Spence,
continues to emphasize that learning occurs in a social and Edward Tolman. In this context, Bandura, along
context and that much of what is learned is gained with his students and colleagues, initiated a series of
through observation. SCT has been applied broadly to studies designed to examine social explanations for why
such diverse areas of human functioning as career choice, and when children displayed aggressive behaviors. These
organizational behavior, athletics, and mental and phys- studies demonstrated the value of modeling for acquiring
ical health. SCT also has been applied extensively by novel behaviors and provided initial evidence for the
those interested in understanding classroom motivation, separation of learning and performance. They also indi-
learning, and achievement (Pajares, 1996; Schunk & cated the importance of the learner’s perceptions of the
Zimmerman, 1994; 1998). environment generally, of the person modeling a behav-
SCT rests on several basic assumptions about learning ior specifically, and of the learner’s expectations regarding
and behavior. One assumption concerns triadic reciprocal- the consequences of behavior. In doing so, findings from
ity, or the view that personal, behavioral, and environ- this systematic research contradicted assumptions within
mental factors influence one another in a bidirectional, behavioral models that learning was the result of trial and
reciprocal fashion. That is, a person’s on-going function- error learning or that changes in behavior were due
ing is a product of a continuous interaction between primarily to the consequences of one’s own actions.

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Psychology of Classroom Learning

An Encyclopedia

VOLUME 1
a–j

Eric M. Anderman
EDITOR IN CHIEF

Lynley H. Anderman
CO-EDITOR
Psychology of Classroom Learning, Vol1 – Finals/ 7/29/2008 15:23 Page 4

Psychology of Classroom Learning: An

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Editorial Board

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Eric M. Anderman, Ph.D.

Professor, School of Educational Policy and Leadership
The Ohio State University

CO-EDITOR

Lynley H. Anderman, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, School of Educational Policy
and Leadership
The Ohio State University

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Clark A. Chinn, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Educational
Psychology, Graduate School of Education
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Tamera B. Murdock, Ph.D.

Associate Professor and Associate Chair, Department of
Psychology
University of Missouri–Kansas City

H. Lee Swanson, Ph.D.

Distinguished Professor and Endowed Chair Educational
Psychology/Special Education
University of California–Riverside