Skinner

An interactive, multimedia tutorial that will help you master the key concepts, terms, and approach of B.F. Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior and language

In this 1972 conversation with John M. Whiteley, B.F. Skinner addresses a variety of important issues in education that remain relevant today. He advocates using positive reinforcement and behavioral approaches to instruction to improve both our educational system and our culture. Topics addressed include aversive control, free will, effective instruction, morality, culture, philanthropy, educational reform, and programmed versus natural contingencies.

In 1957, B.F. Skinner published the book Verbal Behavior. In 1959, a young linguist named Noam Chomsky published a review of that book that sharply criticized Skinner’s behaviorism in general and his behavioral approach to language acquisition in particular. The debate between the pragmatism of Skinner and the structuralism of Chomsky continues to this day. Now hear directly from both men, in a series of archival interviews and speeches spanning several decades, as they address the philosophical and practical differences between their approaches.

Read the following article and pass an 8-question quiz on it:

Barnes-Holmes, D., Barnes-Holmes, Y., & Cullinan, V. (2000). Relational frame theory and Skinner’s Verbal Behavior: A possible synthesis. The Behavior Analyst, 23(1), 69-84.

Read the following article and pass a 6-question quiz on it:

Murphy, C., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Barnes-Holmes, Y. (2005). Derived manding in children with autism: Synthesizing Skinner’s Verbal Behavior with relational frame theory. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 38(4), 445-462.

Read the following article and pass a 5-question quiz on it:

Skinner, B. F. (1984). The shame of American education. American Psychologist, 39(9), 947–954.