Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionV. Learning Theories 15. Skinner: Behavioral
Analysis© The McGraw−Hill^479
Companies, 2009Concept of Humanity
Without doubt, B. F. Skinner held a deterministic viewof human nature, and con-
cepts like free will and individual choice had no place in his behavioral analysis.
People are not free but are controlled by environmental forces. They may seem to
be motivated by inner causes, but in reality those causes can be traced to sources
outside the individual. Self-control depends ultimately on environmental variables
and not on some inner strength. When people control their own lives, they do so
by manipulating their environment, which in turn shapes their behavior. This envi-
ronmental approach negates hypothetical constructs such as willpower or responsi-
bility. Human behavior is extremely complex, but people behave under many of the
same laws as do machines and animals.
The notion that human behavior is completely determined is an extremely
problematic one for many people who believe that they observe daily many exam-
ples of free choice in both themselves and others. What accounts for this illusion
of freedom? Skinner (1971) held that freedom and dignity are reinforcing concepts
because people find satisfaction in the belief that they are free to choose and also
in their faith in the basic dignity of human beings. Because these fictional con-
cepts are reinforcing in many modern societies, people tend to behave in ways that
increase the probability that these constructs will be perpetuated. Once freedom and
dignity lose their reinforcement value, people will stop behaving as ifthey existed.
In the days preceding Louis Pasteur, many people believed that maggots
spontaneously generated on the bodies of dead animals. Skinner (1974) used this
observation to paint an analogy with human behavior, pointing out that the spon-
taneous generation of behavior is no more of a reality than the spontaneous gen-
eration of maggots. Haphazard or random behavior may appear to be freely chosen,
but it is actually the product of haphazard or random environmental and genetic
conditions. People are not autonomous, but the illusion of autonomy persists due to
incomplete understanding of an individual’s history. When people fail to understand
Skinnerian theory can be applied to almost all areas of training, teaching, and
psychotherapy.
The fifth criterion of a useful theory isinternal consistency,and judged by this
standard, we rate Skinnerian theory very high. Skinner defined his terms precisely
and operationally, a process greatly aided by the avoidance of fictionalized mental-
istic concepts.
Is the theory parsimonious?On this final criterion, Skinner’s theory is difficult
to rate. On one hand, the theory is free from cumbersome hypothetical constructs,
but on the other, it demands a novel expression of everyday phrases. For example,
instead of saying, “I got so mad at my husband, I threw a dish at him, but missed,”
one would need to say, “The contingencies of reinforcement within my environment
were arranged in such a manner that I observed my organism throwing a dish against
the kitchen wall.”
Chapter 15 Skinner: Behavioral Analysis 473