B.F. Skinner - Operant Conditioning and Free Will

[ihatenazi]

Having this exam in two days! Psychology of learning. I personally don't like metaphysic Watson's behaviorism, but Skinner brought methodology to the perfection. Of course, every psychologist cannot generalize his ideas, because of specific nature of this science. But Skinner had that well-intentioned idea to contribute to solving social problems (such as gambling) with his book "Beyond the freedom and dignity". Great video by the way!

[OptimalParenting]

thanks for sharing this video..never known pigeon can read..!!

[shahafsagi]

nobody knows this...the average human... we don't learn this at school. they want us to be stupid

[hybrid212]

Please watch lectures by Jacque Fresco.

[RacheyG91]

Now I want a pet pigeon.

[fernfactor]

How is this different from Aristotle or Aquinas positing that every action we take is in pursuit of something we perceive as good or best? Does that mean they too were determinists? Yet we would still say that something like racism is a choice and can be helped. It has been reinforced in some, and others have been reinforced to reject it? There does seem to be some free will in clinging to certain views despite evidence, and in risking your life for only a moral vs. physical benefit.

[YukiSatoshisan]

@fernfactor Racism can be helped if racists are provided with contingencies that will make them question their beliefs. To Skinner, free will is being able to behave in a way that will change your environment which, in turn, will change you. Of course, the behavior of changing your own environment is also something dependent on contingencies.

This is a very long discussion, making it very hard to answer here, but I hope I did get the gist of it through.

[YukiSatoshisan]

@fernfactor "How is this different from Aristotle or Aquinas positing that every action we take is in pursuit of something we perceive as good or best?"

It's different because a reinforcer is not necessarily good or best. They can produce emocional responses we label as "pleasure", but not necessarily. For instance, the lamp lighting up if you turn the switch would hardly be seen as "good", but it can be a reinforcer to the behavior of operating the switch. "Reinforcement" is descriptive.

[YukiSatoshisan]

@fernfactor Reinforcement is a label, a description, not an inate property of stimuli. "To reinforce" is merely to say that a behavior will be more likely to happen again. Pain and offensive remarks can be very powerful reinforcers to a sadomasochist and to someone who is deprived of attention, for example.

We really can't tell what will be reinforcement to a certain behavior unless we observe it, however, we can generally guess, specially in cases of physiological deprivation (water, food, etc)

[cpadill5]

Thanks for the post!

[MrScoodles]

I love determinism. I think recognizing the dangerous consequences of our choices through our own tendency to condition ourselves towards one thing or another is tremendously freeing. The determinist is less likely to set foot in a casino, less likely to pick up a cigarette, and more likely to question his behavior than someone who foolishly believes that every action is congruent with his desires.

[PJCelis]

@MrScoodles You're talking about compatibilists than, because hard determinists wouldn't acknowledge such a thing as "less likely" to do something, right?

[MrScoodles]

@PJCelis absolutely. Thank you for the clarification! 

[TSM345]

Thank you very much for posting this. It will help me study for my exam!

[kdbod]

Thanks for posting this!