Psychologist B.F. Skinner is born

March 20, 1904

On this day, American psychologist B.F. Skinner, best known for developing the theory of behaviourism and for his utopian novel Walden Two (1948), born in Pennsylvania.

Skinner began working on ideas of human behaviour after earning his doctorate from Harvard. His works include The Behaviour of Organisms (1938) and a novel based on his theories Walden Two (1948) which was a fictional interpretation of some of his views and proposed a type of utopian society. The people in the society were led to be good citizens through behaviour modification.

Skinner explored behaviourism in relation to society in later books, including Beyond Freedom and Human Dignity (1971). While many of his behavioural theories have fallen out of favour, Skinner’s identification of the importance of reinforcement remains a critical discovery. He believed that positive reinforcement was a great tool for shaping behaviour, an idea still valued in numerous settings including schools today. Skinner died in Massachusetts in 1990.

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 19th, 2015