PSY 453 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Operant Conditioning, Operant Conditioning Chamber, Edward Thorndike
30 Jul 2020
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Skinner developed his studies within the methods and philosophy of behaviorism, a tradition of young psychology at the time that rejected introspective methods as a way of studying and modifying the mind. This same concept, that of " the mind ", seemed to skinner as something too confusing and abstract to be taken into account, and that is why he placed his object of study in pure observable behavior . In the established rivalry between mentalistic psychology and behaviorism, bf skinner strongly opted for the second option in pursuit of making psychology a science of behavior. Skinner did not want psychology to fully embrace the scientific method simply so that its field of study would be better regarded as endorsed by science. This researcher sincerely believed that internal mental processes are not responsible for causing human behavior, but external and measurable factors .
