On January 4, 2016, the B. F. Skinner Foundation launched a new project – Skinner’s Quote of the Day. Quotes from B. F. Skinner’s works, selected by renowned scientists, appear daily Monday-Friday in order, starting with Chapter 1 of each book and running all the way through the last chapter. We started with the Science and Human Behavior (January-December 2916), followed by About Behaviorism (January-November 2017), Contingencies of Reinforcement (January-October 2018), Recent Issues (October 2018-May 2019), Reflections on Behaviorism and Society (May 2019-February 2020), and now moving on to Upon Further Reflection (from February 10 2020).
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Inherited patterns of behavior must have been selected by their contributions to survival in ways which are not unlike those in which the behavior of the individual is selected or…
Contingencies of reinforcement are similar to what we might call contingencies of survival. (p. 42)
The experimental study of reinforcing contingencies is nothing more than a nonteleological analysis of the directed effects of behavior, of relations which have traditionally been described as purpose. (pp. 41-42)
Our present understanding of the so-called “contingencies of reinforcement” is undoubtedly incomplete, but it nevertheless permits us to construct new forms of behavior, to bring behavior under the control of…
Fear of control, generalized beyond any warrant, has led to a misinterpretation of valid practices and the blind rejection of intelligent planning for a better way of life. (p. 38)
If we are worthy of our democratic heritage we shall, of course, be ready to resist any tyrannical use of science for immediate, selfish purposes. (p. 38)
From the therapist’s point of view it may appear to be possible to relinquish control. But the control passes, not to a “self,” but to forces in other parts of…
A people relinquish democratic power when a tyrant promises them the earth. Rich men give away wealth to escape the accusing finger of their fellow men. A woman destroys her…
A nation has burned its Reichstag, rich men have given away their wealth, beautiful women have become ugly hermits in the desert, and psychotherapists have become nondirective. When this happens,…
Do not ask me why I want mankind to survive. I can tell you why only in the sense in which the physiologist can tell you why I want to…
The observable effect of any statement of value is to alter the relative effectiveness of reinforcers. (p. 35)
Even a pigeon can be taught some measure of self-control! (p. 35)
Any list of values is a list of reinforcers—conditioned or otherwise. (p. 35)
No scientist, I am sure, wishes to develop new master-slave relationships or bend the will of the people to despotic rulers in new ways. These are patterns of control appropriate…
The dangers inherent in the control of human behavior are very real. The possibility of the misuse of scientific knowledge must always be faced. (p. 33)
As long as only a few pupils learn much of what is taught, we do not worry about uniformity or regimentation. (p. 31)
By admiring the student for knowledge and blaming him for ignorance, we escape some of the responsibility of teaching him. (p. 30)
The individual is especially likely to be praised, admired, or loved when he acts for the group in the face of great danger, for example, or sacrifices himself or his…
The practice of admiration is an important part of a culture, because behavior which is otherwise inclined to be weak can be set up and maintained with its help. (27)
We hesitate to admit, even to ourselves, that we are engaged in control, and we may refuse to control, even when this would be helpful, for fear of criticism. (p.…
Now, the control of human behavior has always been unpopular. Any undisguised effort to control usually arouses emotional reactions. (p. 26)
Science is steadily increasing our power to influence, change, mold—in a word, control—human behavior. (p. 25)
A rejection of science at this time, in a desperate attempt to preserve a loved but inaccurate conception of man, would represent an unworthy retreat in man’s continuing effort to…
Unless there is some unseen virtue in ignorance, our growing understanding of human behavior will make it all the more feasible to design a world adequate to the needs of…
A world in which education is so successful that one is naturally right [intellectually and morally] is criticized because it provides for no heroism in transcending an inadequate environment. (p.…
We must continue to experiment in cultural design, as nature has already experimented, testing the consequences as we go. . . . Eventually, the practices which make for the greatest…
A technique need not be immediately objectionable to the controllee to engender counter-control. The gambler, for instance, is possibly the last person to ask for legal or moral restrictions on…
A later type of popular hero is the cheat, who outwits the strong man by misrepresentation and deceit . . . But the cheat, eventually, is almost as objectionable as…
In primitive literature, the hero is often the man who can whip everyone else in the group in open combat. He controls with the techniques of the bully . .…
In civilized countries, the more powerful controlling techniques have eventually been contained by a sort of ethical counter-control, which prevents exploitation by those in a position to use them. (p.…
In turning to the external conditions which shape and maintain in the behavior of men, while questioning the reality of inner qualities and faculties to which human achievements were once…
Far from being a threat to the tradition of Western democracy, the growth of a science of man is a consistent and probably inevitable part of it. (p. 17)
If we neglect the conditions which produce democratic behavior, it is useless to try to maintain a democratic form of government. (p. 17)
It will be a long time before the world can dispense with heroes and hence with the cultural practice of admiring heroism, but we move in that direction whenever we…
In admiring intellectual and moral heroism and unrewarding labor, and in rejecting a world in which these would be uncommon, we are simply demonstrating our own cultural conditioning. (p. 15)
Praise and blame are cultural practices which have been adjuncts of the prevailing system of control in Western democracy. (p. 15)
We cannot reconcile traditional and scientific views by agreeing upon what is to be admired or condemned. The question is whether anything is to be so treated. (p. 15)
It is reasonable to look forward to a time when man will seldom ”have” to do anything, although he may show interest, energy, imagination, and productivity far beyond the level…
“Having to be good” is an excellent example of an expendable honorific . . . In a culture which did not resort to punishment we should never "have" to do…
. . . if really effective techniques are available, we cannot avoid the problem of design simply by preferring the status quo. At what point should education be made deliberately…
Suppose . . . that we someday possess such effective educational techniques that every student will in fact be put in possession of all the behavior specified in a syllabus.…
The experimental method is superior to simple observation just because it multiplies “accidents” in a systematic coverage of the possibilities. (p. 12)
Those who reject the scientific conception of man must, to be logical, oppose the methods of science as well. (p. 11)
. . . it is only through . . . counter-control that we have achieved what we call peace—a condition in which men are not permitted to control each other…
Slowly, and as yet imperfectly, we have worked out an ethical and governmental design in which the strong man is not allowed to use the power deriving from his strength…
The danger of the misuse of power is possibly greater than ever. It is not allayed by disguising the facts. We cannot make wise decisions if we continue to pretend…
We are all controlled by the world in which we live, and part of that world has been and will be constructed by men. The question is this: Are we…
Education grown too powerful is rejected as propaganda or “brain-washing,” while really effective persuasion is described as “undue influence,” “demagoguery,” “seduction” and so on. (p. 10)
The appeal to reason has certain advantages over the authoritative command. A threat of punishment, no matter how subtle, generates emotional reactions and tendencies to escape or revolt. (p. 9)
A philosophy which has been appropriate to one set of political exigencies will defeat its purpose if, under other circumstances, it prevents us from applying to human affairs the science…