Burrhus F. Skinner (1904-1990)
Abstract
Burrhus F. Skinner (1904-1990) - On 18th August last year B.F. Skinner died. He was a world famous behaviourist who wanted to develop a psychology analogous to the model of physics and biology. According to him, psychology has to concentrate on behaviour and not on the content of consciousness. This became the key-stone of his discipline. The well known example of behaviour conditioning is the 'Skinner box’. With this experiment Skinner wants to confirm that a human being reacts in the same way as an animal and that human behaviour is the result of reward or punishment by the environment. Skinner suggests that people are not free. Freedom and free will are illusions. He also sets out a utopian society led by behavioural principles and believes it is possible to change human behaviour by applying the right psychological techniques. Behaviourism is susceptible of criticism, but it represents a great success in didactics : programmed instraction is an important illustration of this.
How to Cite:
Naessens, E., (1991) “Burrhus F. Skinner (1904-1990)”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 36(2), 176–178. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95073
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