Analysis Of Skinner's Behaviorist Theory

Explain Yourself! #5: Skinner’s Behaviorist Theory

I’m constantly speeding when I drive. On my way to work, school, church, movies, or grandma’s house, I always seem to drive over the speed limit. Interestingly though, I also tend to slow down at the sight of a police car near me. Skinner would find this to be a valuable trait to study, considering the fact that this behavior distinguishes me from others. In this essay, I will allow Skinner to analyze me by utilizing his operant conditioning theory. Perhaps, Skinner might interpret my imprudent driving as a behavior that is ultimately modified to the environment. That is, this behavior is undisputedly connected to an environmental event. In order to provide the reader with the best understanding

A response is an observable reaction someone has towards something. A responses may vary from a simple behavior to a more complex behavior. For instance, a simple response would be a flinch, while a more complex response would be swerving a vehicle car out of danger. In contrast to Pavlov, Skinner believes that all responses can’t always be trained to become automatic by association of a stimulus, as Pavlov’s classical conditioning theory suggests. In fact, Skinner believes that all responses are not automatically evoked by the environment. Instead, people and animals are biologically wired to do things naturally. For instance, babies are able to grasp things since birth and this sort of behavior, like others, is naturally embedded in us. For that reason, the primary cause of behavior is in us, and we usually operate on our

Reinforcement is something that comes after a response and it usually increases the probability of it happening again. Though, reinforcers themselves can vary from person to person and everyone can respond differently to a reinforcements. A relevant reinforcement to consider would be a negative punishment. This type of reinforcement involves taking a pleasurable stimulus away to decrease a particular behavior; for example, getting a speeding ticket for speeding. However, we must take into account that punishment reinforcers only change behavior temporary, as oppose reward reinforcers that are more pleasurable. Ultimately, finding a reinforcement that works best for you may take trial-and-error and what might reinforce my behavior might not reinforce yours.

Skinner would likely say that my behavior is reinforced by negative punishment. And perhaps that is why I’m likely to slow down when seeing a police car, before actually receiving a speeding ticket. For example, I’ve never actually been given a speeding ticket, but I have actually been stopped by a police officer before for speeding. And even though he didn’t give me a speeding ticket at that moment, he did tell me to drive slower or else I would get $100 speeding ticket next time. As a broke college student, this was the perfect reinforce to temporarily stop me from speeding in sight of police