BF Skinner: Part One: Introduction (01:07)

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Dr. BF Skinner is one of the most creative and influential contributors to the field of psychology. The interviewer travels to Skinner's home to speak to him about his career and psychological work.

Skinners Opinions of Freud (07:05)

The interview begins with a discussion about the theories of Sigmund Freud and Skinner's professional opinion of his work. Skinner believes Freud made important contributions to psychology, but disagrees with much of his psychological work. Skinner believes the unconscious versus conscious debate is unimportant.

Understanding Motives (05:24)

Skinner is questioned about his opinions on the motives that have been defined by many other psychologists. Skinner explains that he defines an emotion as an imagined inner state, just like a need, so the term "construct emotion" is useless.

Analyzing Behavior (10:16)

Skinner discusses methods of physiology including the theories they have formulated to explain human behavior. The discussion turns to the area of perception and cognition and the need for analysis by psychology professionals.

Conditioned Behavior (09:37)

Skinner is asked whether or not the traditional conditioning developed by renowned physiologist Ivan Pavlov influenced his work. Skinner describes how his team reinforces behavior in laboratory experiments, including negative and positive reinforcement.

Aversive Control (10:59)

American culture is completely dominated by an aversive control system. Skinner shares his thoughts on how this problem in American culture can be solved and whether creating a new system of positive reinforcement is the answer as an alternative to punishment.

Reinforcement in Education (05:01)

Skinner describes what psychologists do to program behavior in response to a question about so-called "teaching machines." The interviewer creates a scenario involving an elementary school teacher who Skinner argues must be using reinforcement schedules.

Credits: BF Skinner (00:44)

Credits: BF Skinner