B. F. Skinner

5 Pages 1179 Words

The Man
On March 20, 1904, in a Pennsylvania railroad town known as Susquehanna, one of the world’s most famous Behaviorist’s was born. This man would go on to revolutionize the field of Behavioral Psychology with his experiments, inventions, and ideas. This man was named B. F. Skinner.
Burrhus Frederick Skinner grew up in a rather “warm and stable home,” with a lawyer father, a housewife mother, and a younger brother (“The History of,” 2004). Throughout his childhood years, Burrhus loved to build things: cabins, steering carts, dams, and even a perpetual motion machine (which did not work). He spent much of his childhood building all sorts of contraptions (“The History of,” 2004). He spent all 12 grades of school in the same building, during which he displayed a knock for learning and a curiosity for life (Boeree, 1998). Even early in life, Skinner proved to be questioning of his surroundings and of knowledge taught in school. His eighth grade teacher, Ms. Mary Graves, told him that Shakespeare had written As You Like It, despite his opposing view that it had been written by a man named Francis Bacon. Being dead set in his ways, Skinner did his research, and for months afterwards, made the life of his teacher miserable with his newfound knowledge which proved him the victor (“The History of,” 2004). He went on to receive his B.A. in English from Hamilton University in New York, and attempted a career as a writer, but failed. This led to a temporary unconventional lifestyle and a trip to Europe. Following this break in his life, Skinner attended Harvard University, where he managed to receive his Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Psychology. He remained at Harvard, doing research, until 1936. He then took up a teaching position at the University of Minnesota. Here, he met his wife, Yvonne Blue. Their union bore two daughters, the youngest becoming famous in one Skinner’s experiments, the...