June 2019
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society. Chapter 2: Are We Free to Have a Future? Quote 6
“Human beings, it is said, differ from physical objects or non-human living things because they can think about the future . . . This is a mentalistic explanation of human behavior, of course, and it has the weakness which has always been the hallmark of mentalism.” (p. 18)
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society. Chapter 2: Are We Free to Have a Future? Quote 5
“Final causes were soon ruled out of physics and eventually out of biology, but must we suppose that there is some way in which they function in the field of human behavior? The traditional answer is yes.” (p. 18)
June 2019 Update
Dear Friends, The B. F. Skinner Foundation is celebrating its 30th anniversary! Our first board meeting was held on May 28th, 1989 in Milwaukee, WI. We recently had our 30th board meeting at the Foundation’s office in Cambridge, MA.The Foundation is working on many new and ongoing exciting projects. To just name a few: a […]
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society. Chapter 2: Are We Free to Have a Future? Quote 2
“Even the work with other species was relevant to human affairs, because it revealed the extraordinary role played by the environment in the determination of behavior. One did not have to believe that men and women were just like rats and pigeons to begin to look more closely at the world in which they lived.” […]
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society. Chapter 2: Are We Free to Have a Future? Quote 1
“I have always stressed the implications of an experimental analysis of behavior, an analysis which was, indeed, first carried out on lower species, but which was eventually extended to human subjects with comparable results.” (p. 16)
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society. Chapter 1: Human Behavior and Democracy. Quote 17
“The trouble is that any allusion to the control of human behavior evokes the challenge: who will control? – often with the implication that a technology of behavior will naturally fall into the hands of despots. Like all sources of power it could very well do so, especially if those who are not despots refuse […]
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society. Chapter 1: Human Behavior and Democracy. Quote 15
“The student who continues to turn to a teacher has not been successfully taught; the client who continues to consult a counselor has not been successfully counseled. The uncontrived reinforcers of the world at large must take over.” (p. 12)
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society. Chapter 1: Human Behavior and Democracy. Quote 14
” There is nothing wrong with contrived reinforcers as such. Teachers and counselors need them to shape and strengthen behavior which the individual will find helpful in the natural contingencies in daily life. But contrived reinforcers must be abandoned before the preparation is complete.” (p. 12)
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society. Chapter 1: Human Behavior and Democracy. Quote 13
“A second principle in improving the control of people by the people is the avoidance of contrived reinforcers. Here, again, there is a long history. We all live in a token economy. . . But behavior is most expeditiously shaped and maintained by its natural consequences . . . The separation of workers from the […]
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society. Chapter 1: Human Behavior and Democracy. Quote 10
“Can we design an environment in which people will treat each other well, keep the size of the population within bounds, learn to work and work productively, preserve and enhance the reinforcing character of the world, explore and analyze that world, limit the use of resources and keep the environment safe for future generations, and […]
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society. Chapter 1: Human Behavior and Democracy. Quote 8
“In short, the world has changed, and the processes through which we free ourselves from aversive stimulation, nonsocial and social, have begun to work against the survival of the culture and possibly the species.” (pp. 6-7)
Reflections on Behaviorism and Society. Chapter 1: Human Behavior and Democracy. Quote 7
“… a vast technology has been developed to prevent, reduce, or terminate exhausting labor and physical damage. It is now dedicated to the production of the most trivial conveniences and comfort … Moreover, because the technology cannot be made available to everyone, our trivial gains mean costly losses for others. (p. 6)