The 55 best phrases of B. F. Skinner and behaviorism.

A selection of interesting thoughts of this psychologist and researcher.

B. F. Skinner has been one of the most important psychologists in the history of psychology.. Maximum exponent of operant or instrumental conditioning, he is best known for his studies with mice and pigeons.

• You can learn more about his theory in our post: "B. F. Skinner: life and work. F. Skinner: life and work of a radical behaviorist".

The best quotes by B. F. Skinner

B. F. Skinner has left for history a multitude of famous quotes. In this article you will find 55 of his best quotes..

1. Nobody asks how to motivate a baby. A baby naturally explores everything it can, unless it is prevented from doing so. And even then, this tendency does not die on its own, it is annihilated.

Interaction with the environment allows us to learn and develop.

2. The most significant fact of our time is the increasing weakening of the family.

A quote from Skinner on the family.

To triumph over nature and over oneself. But never over others

In his theory, Skinner talks about reinforcement and how it affects our behavior.

4. It is a surprising fact that those who most fiercely oppose the manipulation of behavior nevertheless make the most vigorous effort to manipulate minds.

Skinner, in his research, manipulated the environment in order to register consequences in behavior.

5. We must not teach the great books; we must teach the love of reading. Knowing the content of some works of literature is a trivial achievement. To be inclined to continue reading is a great achievement.

A reflection that allows free interpretation.

6. What people feel is as important as what they do.

Positive reinforcement causes us to repeat the behavior.

7. Science is a willingness to accept facts, even when they are opposed to desires.

Skinner had a major influence on the development of psychology as a science.

8. The propositions and hypotheses of psychology must be tested exclusively by objective evidence.

As a behaviorist, observable behavior is what is of value in the study of psychology.

9. At this very moment an enormous number of men and women of good will are trying to build a better world. But problems are born faster than they can be solved.

Skinner claims that the world is changing very rapidly.

10. I didn't run my life. I did not design it. I never made decisions. Things always came up and did it for me. That's what life is.

Skinner was a behaviorist and, therefore, according to him, the environment shapes our behavior.

11. If freedom is a prerequisite for human happiness, then all that is necessary is to provide the illusion of freedom.

If we change the perception we have, we change what we feel.

12. Democracy is the spawn of despotism. And like father, like son. Democracy is power and rule. It is not the will of the people, remember; it is the will of the majority.

Democracy refers to the will of the great part of the people.

13. There is no reason why a man cannot be taught to think.

Thinking can also be learned, Skinner explains.

14. Education is what survives when all that has been learned is forgotten.

Experiential learning has a greater effect than rote learning.

15. Society strikes early, when the individual can do nothing.

Society has a great impact on our development.

16. Not everyone is willing to defend a "don't know" position. There is no virtue in ignorance

Ignorance is associated with inferiority.

17. A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best that can be done under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying

Failure, in reality, can be an opportunity to grow.

18. The concept of the mind is a human invention, not a discovery.

Behaviorists such as Skinner belittled the mind.. They did not give it great importance, at least when studying human behavior.

19. The real problem is not whether machines think, but whether men do.

A reflection of Skinner with a touch of irony.

20. Do not consider any practice as immutable. Change and be willing to change again. Do not accept eternal truth. Try it.

People can change through experience.

21. Men act on the world, modifying it and are in turn modified by the consequences of their action.

In clear reference to his concept of reinforcement.

22. We should not teach to great books, we have to teach to a love of reading

Habits are learned, and reading, which brings many benefits to people, is a good habit.

23. Stable personal affection is something more than a romantic rationalization of an economic unit.

Affection is something that cannot be measured.

24. When something is pleasurable to us, we are more likely to repeat it.

In instrumental conditioning, pleasant or unpleasant consequences cause us to repeat or not a behavior.

25. Men construct society and society constructs men.

We act on the environment and the environment acts on us.

26. The consequences of an act affect the probability of its recurrence.

Again, a mention of the impact that consequences have on our behavior.

27. Science is first and foremost a set of attitudes. It is a willingness to deal with the facts rather than with what someone has said about them... Science is a willingness to accept the facts even when they are in opposition to one's desires... Science is a willingness to accept the facts even when they are in opposition to one's desires.

Science must be rigorous and objective, as explained by Skinner.

28. The world is at a mediocre level. Any society that is free of hunger and violence looks brilliant in this context.

Human beings are treating the world badly.

29. There are remarkable similarities between natural selection, operant conditioning and the evolution of the social environment. All three not only dispense with a prior creative design and a prior purpose, but also appeal to the notion of survival as a value. What is good for the species is that it is conducive to its survival. What is good for the individual is what promotes his well-being. What is good for the culture is what allows it to solve its problems.

Unlike classical conditioning, operant conditioning is not based on an automatic response to an environmental stimulus, but has a direction and purpose, reflecting the subject's knowledge of the consequences of his action.

30. We do not choose survival as a value, it is survival that chooses us.

The environment exerts a great influence on our lives.

31. It is said that the life of the mind requires and consumes psychic energy. This is simply another way of representing the probability of behavior derived from the contingencies of supervision or reinforcement.

For behaviorists, observable behavior has more value than mental processes.

32. The real issue is not whether machines think, but whether men do.

A certain touch of humor is perceived in this quotation from B. F. Skinner

33. The only geniuses are those produced by the chaos of society; they are those who do something about it. Chaos breeds genius

Problem solving and adaptation to the environment is what makes us intelligent.

34. The person is not a generating agent; a point at which many genetic and environmental conditions converge in a common effect. No one else (unless you have an identical twin) has your genetic endowment, and no one else, without exception, has your same personal history. Therefore, no one else will behave in exactly the same way.

Experiences shape our development and our personality.

35. All people talk about the mind without hesitation, but are perplexed when asked to define it.

Behaviorists such as Skinner, Watson or Pavlov underestimated the role of the mind in our behavior.

36. Each person is in contact with a small part of the universe contained within his or her own skin.

A profound reflection that invites the reader to interpret it freely.

37. The main problem facing the world today can only be solved if we improve our understanding of human behavior.

Understanding ourselves is essential to live in harmony.

38. A piece of music is an experience to be taken for its own sake.

Skinner emphasizes the value of this art.

39. Do not intervene between a person and the consequences of his actions.

Skinner held that the main learning process consisted in associating acts with the perceived consequences of these acts.

40. I don't believe in God, so I'm not afraid to die.

One of Skinner's statements about his religious beliefsor rather, the absence of them.

41. When we say that a man controls himself, we must specify who controls whom.

Skinner understood that human beings can intervene in the environment so that it influences themselves in the desired way, so controlling oneself can mean doing so or, conversely, not worrying about influencing oneself and letting everything take its course without taking advantage of the potential of operant conditioning.

42. My rats have taught me much more than I have taught them.

This researcher developed most of his work by experimenting with animals.

43. The rat is always right

Rats express behavior that is not tainted by bias.

44. We have not yet seen what man can make of man.

Another one of Skinner's phrases in which he talks about the potential of behavior modification technology.

45. Freedom is an illusion, but a valuable one

Skinner had a deterministic conception of nature.

46. Instead of building a world in which one can live well, we should stop building a world in which one cannot live at all.

A phrase that embodies the pessimism that Skinner showed on certain subjects.

47. Problem solving typically involves the discrimination of stimuli.

Distinguishing stimuli from each other is necessary to draw conclusions about experience.

48. One of the advantages of education is simply getting to the end of it

Another of the phrases critical of the typical educational model.

49. If you are old, do not try to change yourself, change your environment.

There is a point at which it is better to concentrate efforts on changing the outside.

50. A man who has been incarcerated for violent assault is not necessarily less prone to violence.

Punishments don't have to work in any context.

51. To ask the citizen to take an oath is to lose some of the genuine loyalty he might develop, since any loyal behavior will be attributed to the oath.

A skillful observation based on the idea of operant conditioning.

52. The scientist may not be sure of the answer, but he is sure that he can find one.

A reflection on the attitude that scientists tend to have.

53. What is love but another name for positive reinforcement? Or vice versa

One of B. F. Skinner's phrases with a more biting and humorous touch at the same time.

54. Generally a disappointment is not an oversight; it may be the best that can be extracted from a given situation. The wrong thing to do is to stop trying

Disappointments teach us to progress.

55. A permissive government is one that leaves control of society to other sources

A somewhat obscure view of politics: less government does not mean more freedom.