Cumulative Record. Chapter 18: A Critique of Psychoanalytic Concepts and Theories. Quote 3
There is an alternative view [to the one held by some of Freud’s followers], however, which holds that Freud did not discover the mental apparatus but rather invented it, borrowing part of its structure from a traditional philosophy of human conduct but adding many novel features of his own devising. (p, 286)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 18: A Critique of Psychoanalytic Concepts and Theories. Quote 2
No matter what logicians may eventually make of this mental apparatus, there is little doubt that Freud accepted it as real rather than as a scientific construct or theory. One does not at the age of 70 define the goal of one’s life as the exploration of an explanatory fiction. (p. 286)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 18: A Critique of Psychoanalytic Concepts and Theories. Quote 1
Freud demonstrated that many features of behavior hitherto unexplained—and often dismissed as hopelessly complex or obscure—could be shown to be the product of circumstances in the history of the individual. (p. 285)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 17: Contingency Management in the Classroom. Quote 20
No matter how bad a teacher may be, he has at least one available reinforcer—dismissing his class . . . He should wait until the behavior of the class is as acceptable as it is likely to be and then dismiss. But almost inevitably he will do the wrong thing: he will tend to dismiss […]
Cumulative Record. Chapter 17: Contingency Management in the Classroom. Quote 19
Many problems in classroom management arise because the teacher reinforces students when they behave in objectionable ways . . . The teacher tends to do so “naturally,” and he will be dissuaded from doing so only when the effects of reinforcement have been made clear to him. (p. 280)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 17: Contingency Management in the Classroom. Quote 17
The training of a teacher should begin with basic principles. Everyone who intends to be a teacher should have a chance to see learning take place or, better, to produce visible learning himself, as by shaping the behavior of a rat or a pigeon. (pp. 279-280)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 17: Contingency Management in the Classroom. Quote 15
Students reinforced on a variable-ratio schedule will show a fantastic dedication if the schedule has been properly programmed. They will work for long periods of time with no reinforcement whatsoever, and are thus well prepared for a world in which reinforcements may indeed be rare. (p. 279)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 17: Contingency Management in the Classroom. Quote 13
. . . adults put jigsaw puzzles together and work crossword puzzles for no more obvious reason than that they come out right. In a good program the student makes things come out right; he makes things work; he brings order out of chaos. (p. 276)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 17: Contingency Management in the Classroom. Quote 10
Behavioral objectives remove much of the mystery from education, and teachers may feel demeaned when their task is reduced to less awesome dimensions. But the loss is more than offset by a greater sense of achievement. (p. 275)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 17: Contingency Management in the Classroom. Quote 8
Quite complex forms of behavior can be generated, often with surprising speed, through a series of stages leading to the terminal specifications. One actually “sees learning take place,” and the visibility is important. (p. 274)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 17: Contingency Management in the Classroom. Quote 5
. . . man is an animal, although an extraordinarily complex one, and shares many basic behavioral processes with other species. Human behavior must nevertheless be studied in its own right, and human subjects are in fact now commonly used in experimental analyses. (p. 273)
Presentations from the Skinner Session are Available On-Demand
A recording of Skinner Session, an online event by B. F. Skinner Foundation is now available on-demand on behaviorlive.com. The event provides an in-depth look at the topics that Skinner discussed in his last book, Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior. The event features the following presentations: Lessons from Animals on How to Teach People by […]
Cumulative Record. Chapter 16: Teaching Science in High School—What Is Wrong? Quote 8
If we announce that we are interested in giving the student a thorough knowledge of a science, a grasp of its structure, an understanding of its basic relations, we shall be endlessly admired. If, instead, we specify the things we want him to do, verbally and nonverbally, we risk being called mechanical and shallow, even […]
Cumulative Record. Chapter 16: Teaching Science in High School—What Is Wrong? Quote 7
Statements of educational policy are replete with [mentalistic expressions] . . . It would be a mistake to underestimate their power, for they are supported by ancient systems of psychology imbedded in our language and by vestigial cognitive theories. It is therefore hard to realize that they are either metaphors which inadequately represent the changes […]
Cumulative Record. Chapter 16: Teaching Science in High School—What Is Wrong? Quote 6
The commonest practice in high school as well as college is still “assign and test.” We tell the student what he is to learn and hold him responsible for learning it by making a variety of unhappy consequences contingent upon his failure. In doing so we may give him some reason to learn, but we […]
Cumulative Record. Chapter 16: Teaching Science in High School—What Is Wrong? Quote 5
It is characteristic of the successful scientist, for example, that he continues to work for long periods when nothing interesting is happening. That kind of dedication can be instilled in the student, as we shall see, but not by making a subject interesting. (p. 259)
Skinner Session coming soon!
Skinner Session, a live event by B. F. Skinner Foundation is coming to behaviorlive.com on Saturday, January 21, 2023. The event will provide an in-depth look at the topics that Skinner discussed in his last book, Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior. The Extended Edition of this title has been recently published by the B. F. Skinner […]
Cumulative Record. Chapter 16: Teaching Science in High School—What Is Wrong? Quote 3
A student who is not paying attention is obviously not learning, and the teacher is therefore reinforced when he behaves in ways which attract attention . . . But to attract attention is to deprive the student of the chance to learn to pay attention. (p. 258)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 16: Teaching Science in High School—What Is Wrong? Quote 1
The significant results of teaching lie in that distant future in which students make use of what they have learned, and it is a future usually closed to the teacher . . . He is influenced instead only by short-term results, and many of these not only contribute nothing to long-term gains but may actually […]
Cumulative Record. Chapter 15: Reflections on a Decade of Teaching Machines. Quote 14
Appropriate terminal schedules of reinforcement will maintain the student’s interest, make him industrious and persevering, stimulate his curiosity, and so on; but less demanding schedules, carefully designed to maintain the behavior at every stage, must come first. (p. 248)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 15: Reflections on a Decade of Teaching Machines. Quote 10
Perhaps we could answer by redefining traditional goals: Instead of imparting knowledge, we could undertake to bring about those changes in behavior which are said to be the conspicuous manifestations of knowledge, or we could set up the behavior which is the mark of a man possessing well-developed rational power. (p. 247)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 15: Reflections on a Decade of Teaching Machines. Quote 8
Traditional specifications of the goals of education have never told the teacher what to do upon a given occasion. No one knows how to alter a mental process or strengthen a mental power, and no one can be sure that he has done so when he has tried. (pp. 246-247)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 15: Reflections on a Decade of Teaching Machines. Quote 7
In reply to the complaint that he has not produced observable results, the teacher of the mind can lay claim to invisible achievements . . . They may not be able to solve problems, but he has been teaching them simply to think creatively. They may be ignorant of specific facts, but he has been […]
Cumulative Record. Chapter 15: Reflections on a Decade of Teaching Machines. Quote 6
The teacher begins with whatever behavior the student brings to the instructional situation; by selective reinforcement, he changes that behavior so that a given terminal performance is more and more closely approximated. (p. 241)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 15: Reflections on a Decade of Teaching Machines. Quote 5
An important contribution has been the so-called “programing” of knowledge and skills —the construction of carefully arranged sequences of contingencies leading to the terminal performances which are the object of education. (p. 241)