Disturbing ideas about free will and collective control; good seminar fodder ( )

Overall, BFD covers much the same material as About Behaviorism (AB) does. Its not as in-depth as AB, but its also more accessible than AB. I still plan to use AB in my courses over BFD, since 1) grad students in the field should come in with far more background than a layperson, and 2) they'll have support while reading the text. However, if a layperson asked for a recommendation, I'd point them to BFD over AB in a heartbeat.

The ideas in this text are so deeply uncomfortable for most folks. However, the text is dripping with optimism for those willing to actually engage with it. ( )

S-4

Mai l'avrei letto, non fosse stato per la mia tesi, alla quale fu molti utile come "testa di ciuco". Unica funzione che tuttora gli riconosco: ma, lo confesso, la mia è proprio una presa di posizione.
Poche cose ho care al mondo e la libertà e la dignità sono ai primi posti dell'esigua lista.

I think this is Skinner's most well-known book. He passed away in 1990 as perhaps the greatest scientist of psychology since Freud. See Rachlin's memoriam,www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/biomems/bskinner.html. Freud fathered the field, and Skinner (along with many pragmatic functionalist, clinical researchers), filled it with the science-based experiments which Freud invited.

This is "psychology" imbedded in biology and divorced from abstracts and introspection. Skinner uses the "homunculus" -- a driver-bot, rather than the "inner man" with cognition, Will and choices -- to explain selection and differences.

Chomski (Cartesian structuralist) on the left and ICS Institute on the right pretty much blame him for everything. They resort to defamation -- even inventing the myth that his daughter was troubled and suicidal (untrue) having been raised in a "Skinner Box" (not understood). The critics distinguish the foraging instincts of Skinner's beloved pigeons from the "ritual behavior" he induced by experiment. Bottom line, their pigeons performed the same way -- they repeated his findings. S-R does explain the behavior of human beings, and what is left is genetics (biology), not divine "images" capable of choosing between Good and Evil.

The "cognitive" psychologists do not answer Skinner's clinical work with laboratory findings. {To put it bluntly, there is little evidence of human consciousness. The 20th century history of scholars of the German school -- among the first to fall in the tyranny of thugs -- speaks volumes.}

The theory of B.F. Skinner is based upon the idea that learning is a function of change in behavior. Changes in behavior are the result of an individual's response to events (stimuli) that occur in the environment. A response produces a consequence such as defining a word, hitting a ball, or solving a math problem. When a particular Stimulus-Response (S-R) pattern is reinforced (rewarded or punished), the individual is conditioned to respond. He discounted the genetic and biological influences (drug prescriptions) to which so many other proclaimed managers of manipulative techniques had been turning. {People cannot accept who people are.}

Most of the work is gentle and benign, and for those of us who live in a state of powerless explosion, not immediately helpful. For example, "A self is a repertoire of behavior appropriate to a given set of contingencies" [199]. Can we even understand what this means? The well of mystery and powerlessness feels deepened and increased, particularly for people who look to God for meaning. In this illustration, his examples are telling -- "I'm not myself today", and "that's not like me" -- these common expressions are fraught with meaning, and we use them everyday. This is why People with extremist views find behaviorism to be crazy-making.

Reinforcement is the key element in Skinner's S-R theory. A reinforcer is anything that strengthens the desired response -- simple verbal feedback, grading, or other consistent "conditioning". The theory defines Negative reinforcers in a much broader category than punishment, to include any stimulus that results in the increased frequency of a response when it is withdrawn. Different from adversive stimuli -- punishment -- which effectively suppress responses. A great deal of attention was given to schedules of reinforcement (e.g. interval versus ratio) and their effects on establishing and maintaining behavior.

Skinner's theory attempts to explain a broad range of cognitive phenomena, even consciousness of "self". Not an easy task -- try to explain freedom, dignity, culture and "man", or his values and drives (motivation) in any sensible way. Skinner uses terms of deprivation and reinforcement schedules.

In Skinner's earlier work (1957 see Walden II), Skinner used pseudo-parables of a utopian community to show learning within the operant conditioning paradigm. Here, Skinner (1971) deals with the issue of free will and social control:

In this expanded essay, Skinner urges us -- it is not clear who would actually be doing this -- to radically change our methods of dealing with human behavior. Traditional concepts of freedom and dignity must be sharply revised. While playing an important role in our struggle against many kinds of tyranny, the old beliefs are unscientific residue now responsible for the futile defense of a presumed free and autonomous individual which does not now, if it ever did, exist. Our use of punishment is blocking the development of "more effective" practices.

Basing his arguments on the massive results of the experimental analysis of behavior he pioneered, Skinner rejects traditional explanations of behavior in terms of states of mind, feelings, and other mental attributes in favor of explanations to be sought in the interaction between genetic endowment and personal history. ALL specific intent crimes are called into question. The concept of "negligence" is shown to be inoperable. He argues that instead of promoting freedom and dignity as personal attributes, we should direct our attention to the cultural environments in which people live. It is the environment rather than humankind itself that must be changed if the traditional goals of the struggle for freedom and dignity are to be reached.

Face it -- punishments have never worked well. Maybe the reason bad people do bad is that badness is richly rewarded. There is no abstract "freedom" or "dignity". Our reinforcers for good and bad behavior are chaotic and out of our control -- it’s a matter of having good or bad luck with your parents, teachers, peers, and other influences over which you had no control or choice. Skinner urges us to design our culture in such a way that good gets rewarded and bad gets extinguished! End it. With the right behavioral technology, we can design culture. Stop perpetuating evil -- with our present institutions built upon pre-scientific assumptions. ( )