Quotes by Skinner

"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten." "A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying." "The real problem is not…

Contingency-Shaped vs. Rule-Governed Behavior

In About Behaviorism, B.F. Skinner says, "Rule-following behavior is said to be the veneer of civilization, whereas behavior shaped by natural contingencies comes from the depth of the personality or mind."  Skinner continues to note, "Doing…

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) was an English naturalist who developed the theory of biological evolution.  Biological evolution states that species develop and change over time through a series small variances that increase the species likelihood…
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Modeling

Modeling is learning behavior by seeing someone else do the behavior and then copying it.

Imitation

Imitation is related to modeling.

Selectionism (Phylogenic, Ontogenic, Cultural)

B. F. Skinner said that there are 3 ways that the environment can apply itself upon a living being:  Phylogenic, Ontogenic and Cultural. Phylogenic:  Natural evolution of a species (aka Darwinism).  By a natural process of survival characteristics,…

Lawfulness of Behavior

The application of behavioral techniques requires that the practitioner subscribe to a deterministic philosophy that behavior in and of itself is lawful. The lawful nature of behavior means that all behavior is caused by environmental, external…

Behavioral Explanations

Some behavioral explanations include biophysical, biochemical, developmental, and cognitive.
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ABA Terms

Antecedent: Something that occurs in the environment right before the behavior of study. Behavior: Any observable and recordable action by a subject. Consequence: The result of the behavior. Positive: When an environmental condition…

Extinction

Extinction: When an observed behavior goes away entirely because of the reinforcement procedure that has been applied to the situation.  An extinction burst, occurs when the reinforcement that caused a behavior has been removed, initially there…

Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov’s work is also important to the field of ABA.  He worked in the late 1800s to early 1900s in the field of classical conditioning (FK-13-14).  Classical conditioning is the process of pairing an unconditioned response with a conditioned…

B. F. Skinner

The experimental branch of behavior analysis began in 1938 with the publication of B. F. Skinner's book, The Behavior of Organisms. Skinner used operant conditioning, which uses the consequences of behavior to shape future behavior.  Operant…