The strengthening of behavior which results from reinforcement is appropriately called 'conditioning'. In operant conditioning we 'strengthen' an operant in the sense of making a response more probable or, in actual fact, more frequent. B. F. Skinner More Quotes by B. F. Skinner More Quotes From B. F. Skinner Any single historical event is too complex to be adequately known by anyone. It transcends all the intellectual capacities of men. Our practice is to wait until a sufficient number of details have been forgotten. Of course things seem simpler then! Our memories work that way; we retain the facts which are easiest to think about. B. F. Skinner men memories thinking In the traditional view, a person is free. He is autonomous in the sense that his behavior is uncaused. He can therefore be held responsible for what he does and justly punished if he offends. That view, together with its associated practices, must be re-examined when a scientific analysis reveals unsuspected controlling relations between behavior and environment. B. F. Skinner practice views together But restraint is the only one sort of control, and absence of restraint isn't freedom. It's not control that's lacking when one feels 'free', but the objectionable control of force. B. F. Skinner restraint force absence Fame is also won at the expense of others. Even the well-deserved honors of the scientist or man of learning are unfair to many persons of equal achievements who get none. When one man gets a place in the sun, the others are put in a denser shade. From the point of view of the whole group there's no gain whatsoever, and perhaps a loss. B. F. Skinner views loss men Problem-solving typically involves the construction of discriminative stimuli B. F. Skinner problem-solving construction problem Your liberals and radicals all want to govern. They want to try it their way- to show that people will be happier if the power is wielded in a different way or for different purposes. But how do they know? Have they ever tried it? No, it's merely their guess. B. F. Skinner different trying people A person's genetic endowment, a product of the evolution of the species, is said to explain part of the workings of his mind and his personal history the rest. B. F. Skinner evolution personal-history mind Does a poet create, originate, initiate the thing called a poem, or is his behavior merely the product of his genetic and environmental histories? B. F. Skinner environmental poet doe We do not choose survival as a value, it chooses us. B. F. Skinner values survival The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do. The mystery which surrounds a thinking machine already surrounds a thinking man. B. F. Skinner real men thinking I may say that the only differences I expect to see revealed between the behavior of the rat and man (aside from enormous differences of complexity) lie in the field of verbal behavior. B. F. Skinner differences men lying To say that... behaviors have different 'meanings' is only another way of saying that they are controlled by different variables. B. F. Skinner variables different way If you're old, don't try to change yourself, change your environment. B. F. Skinner change age trying The mob rushes in where individuals fear to tread. B. F. Skinner individual The evolution of cultures appears to follow the pattern of the evolution of species. The many different forms of culture which arise correspond to the "mutations" of genetic theory. Some forms prove to be effective under prevailing circumstances and others not, and the perpetuation of the culture is determined accordingly. B. F. Skinner mutation different culture I don't believe in God, so I'm not afraid of dying. B. F. Skinner not-afraid dying believe A child who has been severely punished for sex play is not necessarily less inclined to continue; and a man who has been imprisoned for violent assault is not necessarily less inclined toward violence. B. F. Skinner men children sex The only geniuses produced by the chaos of society are those who do something about it. Chaos breeds geniuses. It offers a man something to be a genius about. B. F. Skinner genius education men A permissive government is a government that leaves control to other sources. B. F. Skinner source government Except when physically restrained, a person is least free or dignified when he is under threat of punishment, and unfortunately most people often are. B. F. Skinner threat punishment people
