B. F. Skinner Quotes

Quotes about:

• A person who has been punished is not thereby simply less inclined to behave in a given way; at best, he learns how to avoid punishment.

  B. F. Skinner

  Punishment, Way, Psychological

  "Beyond Freedom and Dignity". Book by B. F. Skinner, 1972.

  367 Copy quote

• 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.

  B. F. Skinner

  Education, Perseverance, Giving Up

  415 Copy quote

• Behavior is determined by its consequences.

  B. F. Skinner

  Determined, Behavior, Consequence

  254 Copy quote

• 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

  Reinforcement, Facts, Behavior

  B.F Skinner (2012). “Science And Human Behavior”, p.65, Simon and Schuster

  226 Copy quote

• The major difference between rats and people is that rats learn from experience.

  B. F. Skinner

  Differences, People, Rats

  272 Copy quote

• Give me a child and I'll shape him into anything.

  B. F. Skinner

  Education, Children, Giving

  297 Copy quote

• Behavior is shaped and maintained by its consequences

  B. F. Skinner

  Behavior, Consequence

  204 Copy quote

• Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.

  B. F. Skinner

  Graduation, Education, Teacher

  New Scientist 21 May 1964

  266 Copy quote

• We are only just beginning to understand the power of love because we are just beginning to understand the weakness of force and aggression.

  B. F. Skinner

  Weakness, Power Of Love, Force

  B. F. Skinner (1974). “Walden Two”, p.97, Hackett Publishing

  176 Copy quote

• The way positive reinforcement is carried out is more important than the amount.

  B. F. Skinner

  Reality, Important, Way

  "Meditations for Parents Who Do Too Much". Book by Jonathon Lazear and Wendy Lazear, p. 5, 1993.

  204 Copy quote

• It is not a question of starting. The start has been made. It's a question of what's to be done from now on.

  B. F. Skinner

  Done, Starting, Made

  B. F. Skinner (1974). “Walden Two”, p.257, Hackett Publishing

  189 Copy quote

• That's all teaching is; arranging contingencies which bring changes in behavior.

  B. F. Skinner

  Teaching, Behavior, Contingency

  210 Copy quote

• We shouldn't teach great books; we should teach a love of reading. Knowing the contents of a few works of literature is a trivial achievement. Being inclined to go on reading is a great achievement.

  B. F. Skinner

  Education, Teacher, Book

  "The Man and His Ideas". Book by Richard Isadore Evans (p. 73), 1968.

  171 Copy quote

• The consequences of an act affect the probability of its occurring again.

  B. F. Skinner

  Probability, Consequence

  33 Copy quote

• I did not direct my life. I didn't design it. I never made decisions. Things always came up and made them for me. That's what life is.

  B. F. Skinner

  Education, Reality, Design

  "The Praeger Handbook of Education and Psychology Vol. 4". Book edited by Joe L. Kincheloe and Raymond A. Horn, Ch. 99, p. 872 ("Unpacking the Skinner Box : Revisiting B. F. Skinner through a Postformal Lens" by Dana Salter), 2008.

  152 Copy quote

• What is love except another name for the use of positive reinforcement? Or vice versa.

  B. F. Skinner

  Names, What Is Love, Vices

  B. F. Skinner (1974). “Walden Two”, p.282, Hackett Publishing

  178 Copy quote

• Do not intervene between a person and the consequences of their own behavior.

  B. F. Skinner

  Behavior, Persons, Consequence

  133 Copy quote

• Science is a willingness to accept facts even when they are opposed to wishes.

  B. F. Skinner

  Wish, Facts, Accepting

  B.F Skinner (2012). “Science And Human Behavior”, p.12, Simon and Schuster

  25 Copy quote

• It is a mistake to suppose that the whole issue is how to free man. The issue is to improve the way in which he is controlled.

  B. F. Skinner

  Mistake, Men, Issues

  "I have been misunderstood". Center Magazine Interview (pp. 63-65), March/April 1972.

  19 Copy quote

• The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.

  B. F. Skinner

  Real, Science, Technology

  'Contingencies of Reinforcement' (1969) ch. 9

  52 Copy quote

• If freedom is a requisite for human happiness, then all that’s necessary is to provide the illusion of freedom.

  B. F. Skinner

  Illusion, Humans, Human Happiness

  21 Copy quote

• 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

  People, Trying, Different

  B. F. Skinner (1974). “Walden Two”, p.181, Hackett Publishing

  20 Copy quote

• If you're old, don't try to change yourself, change your environment.

  B. F. Skinner

  Change, Age, Trying

  13 Copy quote

• Society attacks early, when the individual is helpless.

  B. F. Skinner

  Society, Positive Reinforcement, Individual

  B. F. Skinner (1974). “Walden Two”, p.95, Hackett Publishing

  85 Copy quote

• Science, not religion, has taught me my most useful values, among them intellectual honesty. It is better to go without answers than to accept those that merely resolve puzzlement.

  B. F. Skinner

  Education, Honesty, Intellectual

  16 Copy quote

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