Comments on: The Legacy of B. F. Skinner?

By: Denise

Denise — Wed, 23 May 2007 00:05:00 +0000

I remember reading a book by Skinner in high school and thinking it was great—but of course, then I was naive enough to think I could grow up to be one of society’s elite “trainers,” dishing out the conditioning as I saw best, rather than one of the great public mass of “trainees.” Funny how different things look from the other perspective!

What a difference from the teacher who said, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me,… and you will find rest for your souls.”

By: Dana

Dana — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 20:45:00 +0000

I'm sorry you feel this is a misrepresentation, but I disagree with you. As I mentioned in my entry, Skinner was at the core of the teaching philosophy of my university (KU) which helped develop the behavioral model of education.

And, as I mentioned, parts of it are fine. I use parts of it myself. Not everything is all or nothing.

Yes, humans can be conditioned. But that is not the whole of what it is to be educated and we are not free because we think we are doing what we want to do.

I have a philosophical difference with Skinner and that does not mean that I misunderstand or misrepresent him.

And I'm not sure how you can say that his teaching is not more widely disseminated when he is one of the founders of our modern education system.

Thank you for your comments, but there really is no need to post anonymously. I'm not going to attack you, and I doubt my readers would, either.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:35:00 +0000

I was sad to read your poor mis-interpretation of Skinner’s writings.

When Skinner compares humans to animals, he is referring to the way that we learn - due to the things in our environment that change immediately after we behave. These consequences can, as you said in the case of teaching children, “bring good to them”, but they can also bring good to others. We actuall learn our principles and values by which we behavior using these “conditioning” (which just means “learning” methods). These values, as you stated, are what we want to teach our children. In Skinner’s book “Verbal Behavior” he talks of the ways in which humans are different from animals, and how this should change our teaching methods when we are dealing with people.

Maybe you should do a little more research and reading (and then maybe edit your posted comment…)

It’s misrepresentations like yours that contribute to why a science founded by Skinner, which has been empirically supported and proven to be effective (in fields such as education, developmental disabilities, industrial orgnizations, geriatric care, and many others)is not more widely disseminated.

By: T. F. Stern

T. F. Stern — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 09:53:00 +0000

Amen.

I wrote back in May or 2005, an article I called Author of Liberty. “In spite of all attempts to dishonor the founding fathers intent to honor our Creator, it remains there in dried ink upon our most revered documents for all the world to witness. God is the author of inherent rights, to argue otherwise is folly.”

Freedom, in its true meaning is the right to be obedient to God in order to achieve eternal progression. Thank you for your thoughtful article.