Skinner's Radical Behaviorism and Application

Skinner's Radical Behaviorism and Application
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Summary of Radical Behaviorism and Contributions to Learning/Behavior
Many psychologists emerged in the advent of the nineteenth century, developing theories tailored to understanding human psychology. Amongst the prominent psychologists who attempted to research human behavior was B.F Skinner. In his scholarly inquiry, Skinner employed operant conditioning dimensions to develop the theory of radical behaviorism tailored to understand human behavior. The theory holds that environmental factors primarily influence human behavior. It also proposes that human behavior is triggered by the need to achieve positive reinforcement or avoid the possibility of punishment. Skinner designed the operant principles to delineate personality by asserting that behavior emanates from current perceptions and previous learning. Based on this perspective, an individual’s interaction with the immediate environment yields the incentive for new behavior acquisition. The principal argument in Skinner’s radical behaviorist approach to psychology underscores the value of behavior reinforcement (Cooper et al., 2020). On this premise, Skinner’s theory significantly contributed significantly to learning and behavior.
Skinner suggested that there are negative and positive reinforcement of human behavior. Negative reinforcement entails behavior fortification by circumventing an activity like quitting a job search in order to obtain unemployment benefits and food stamps. On the other hand, positive reinforcement constitutes the fortification of behavior via the injection of an activity like appraising a worker for a task well accomplished. Skinner employed the operant conditioning construct, which directly illuminates the occurrence of behavioral responses, to evaluate human behavior. In this context, learning and experience are the primary forces guiding human behavior (Cooper et al., 2020). Radical behaviorism contributes critical insights that can be applied to assist children to ...