Biography of Burrhus Frederic Skinner

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Burrhus Frederic Skinner Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born in a small town called Susquehanna, Pennsylvania on March 20, 1904. His dad was a lawyer and his mom was a house wife. Skinner was the typical boy, he enjoyed playing outside and to build things. He created many inventions as a kid. He and a friend made a cabin in the woods and Skinner created a cart with backwards steering. When working for a shoe store he thought of and invention that helped the broom pick up dust. Skinner also invented a flotation system for a door to door business that would sell berries. The flotation system separated the ripe berries from the bad. Skinner also enjoyed school very much. He even dedicated a book later in life to his English teacher Miss Graves. Skinner did not have a tragic childhood it was fairly easy. The only tragedy was that younger brother died at sixteen from a cerebral aneurysm. Skinner was an atheist who attended college at Hamilton College to get his bachelor’s degree in English. Hamilton College was a school where students would attend daily masses. Not the place you would think an atheist would choose. To make Skinner even more different than his peers he did not enjoy the typical college activities. He avoided going to football games fraternity parties, instead he enjoyed writing for the school newspaper. The stories he wrote were acute of the school, its faculty, and a frat house. This did not make him the most popular guy on campus. Skinner wanted to be a writer. He would send out stories and poetry trying to get published. He took over his parent’s attic to create a study for himself to help him write. But that plan did not work so he tried moving to New York. He worked in a bookstore there and in that store he read... ... middle of paper ... ...ere put into books. In around 1968 publishers stopped printing the books because students just looked the answers up instead of solving for them. Skinner kept on writing throughout his life and published many more books. He acted professionally throughout all of the misinterpretations of his work. Skinner was diagnosed with leukemia in 1958 and on April 18, 1990 Skinner passed away from Leukemia. That same day he finished writing the article from his talk at the American Psychological Association ten days beforehand. Skinner left behind a legacy and is still known today as one of the greatest psychologists the world has seen. Works Cited About B.F. Skinner. (2013). Retrieved from B.F. Skinner Foundation: http://bfskinner.org/about-b-f-skinner-2/ Boeree, C. G. (2006). B.F. Skinner. Retrieved from Personality Theories: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/skinner.html

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