B.F. Skinner
Burrhus Frederic Skinner
(American Behavioural Psychologist)
(Image from Eastern Psychological)
BIOGRAPHY
B. F. (Burrhus Frederic) Skinner was born March 20, 1904 in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania to father William and mother Grace Skinner. His father a lawyer and his mother a strong, intelligent housewife. He was raised in his birthplace with an old fashioned and hard working upbringing.
As a boy, Skinner was active and outgoing. He loved the outdoors and building things. School to him, as not to many others even today, was a pleasure.
Skinner received his BA in English from Hamilton College in upstate New York. He wrote for a school paper that interestingly enough criticized the school itself and the faculty. He was an atheist at a school that required daily chapel attendance. (Dr. Boeree)
He had tried being a writer and publishing short stories and poems but it was an unsuccessful effort. Skinner wrote newspaper articles on labor issues while residing in Greenwich Village, New York City as a “bohemian.” After this, Skinner did some travelling before deciding to go back to school and after a successful education at Harvard. He got his masters in psychology in 1930 and his doctorate in 1931. He stayed at Harvard for another 5 years to do research. In 1936, Skinner moved to Minneapolis to teach at the University of Minnesota where he would meet his future wife Yvonne Blue. The couple had two daughters, one of which was raised in one of Skinners interesting inventions, the air crib. It was simply a crib combined with a playpen with glass sides and air conditioning.
In 1945, Skinner became the chairman of the psychology department at Indiana University. He was chairman for 3 years before he was invited back to the place that started his successful path in psychology, Harvard. He remained at Harvard the rest of his life. Skinner was known to be a very active man. He wrote many books, did...
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