B. F. Skinner Timeline

(March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990)

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904–1990) was an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher best known for developing the theory of operant conditioning. His research on reinforcement and punishment shaped modern behavioral psychology, education, and animal training. He invented the operant conditioning chamber (the 'Skinner Box') and the teaching machine, and authored influential works including 'The Behavior of Organisms' (1938), 'Walden Two' (1948), and 'Beyond Freedom and Dignity' (1971). More Less

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Life and Career

Birth of B. F. Skinner

Mar 20, 1904

Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born on March 20, 1904. He would grow up to become an American psychologist, behaviorist, inventor, and social philosopher whose work profoundly shaped the field of psychology.

Bachelor of Arts in English literature

1926

Skinner received his Bachelor of Arts in English literature in 1926 before turning toward psychology.

Attends Harvard University

1926

After receiving his Bachelor of Arts in English literature in 1926, Skinner attended Harvard University, where he would later conduct influential research and teach for decades.

Receives PhD from Harvard

1931

Skinner received a PhD from Harvard in 1931 and remained there as a researcher for some years, beginning the experimental work that would define his career.

Marries Yvonne "Eve" Blue

1936

In 1936, Skinner married Yvonne "Eve" Blue, beginning a marriage that lasted until his death in 1990.

Joins University of Minnesota faculty

1936

In 1936, Skinner went to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis to teach, continuing to develop his research on operant conditioning.

Image source: B. F. Skinner

Pigeon-guided missile Project Pigeon

1943

During World War II, Skinner trained pigeons through operant conditioning to peck a camera obscura screen showing incoming targets on individual screens, resulting in the missile being guided towards the targeted ship through just the peck coming from the pigeon.

Moves to Indiana University

1945

In 1945, Skinner moved to Indiana University, where he served as chair of the psychology department from 1946 to 1947 before returning to Harvard.

Chairs Indiana psychology department

1946 - 1947

At Indiana University, Skinner chaired the psychology department from 1946 to 1947, an administrative role he held before returning to Harvard as a tenured professor.

Returns to Harvard as tenured professor

1948

In 1948, Skinner returned to Harvard University as a tenured professor, where he was appointed the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, a position he held until his retirement in 1974.

Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard

1948 - 1974

Skinner held the title of Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University from 1948 until his retirement in 1974, based at Harvard from the 1950s to the 90s according to his daughter Debora.

Signs Humanist Manifesto II

1973

In 1973, Skinner was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II, reflecting his secular humanist social philosophy.

Retires from Harvard

1974

Skinner retired from Harvard in 1974 after serving as Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology since 1948. His public exposure had increased in the 1970s, and he remained active even after retirement until his death.

Diagnosed with leukemia

1989

In 1989, Skinner was diagnosed with leukemia, about a year before his death.

Death of B. F. Skinner

Aug 18, 1990

Skinner died on August 18, 1990, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after being diagnosed with leukemia the previous year.

Death of Yvonne Skinner

1997

Yvonne "Eve" Blue, Skinner's wife, died in 1997 and is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Major Works

Publishes The Behavior of Organisms

1938

Skinner's ideas about behaviorism were largely set forth in his first book, The Behavior of Organisms (1938). In it, he defined negative reinforcement as synonymous with punishment, a definition later revised in Science and Human Behavior (1953).

Image source: The Behavior of Organisms

Publishes utopian novel Walden Two

1948

Skinner imagined the application of his behavioral ideas to the design of a human community in his 1948 utopian novel, Walden Two, one of the books for which he is popularly known.

Image source: Walden Two

Publishes Science and Human Behavior

1953

In Science and Human Behavior (1953), Skinner re-defined negative reinforcement, revising the definition he had originally given in The Behavior of Organisms (1938), where it had been synonymous with punishment.

Image source: Human behavior

Publishes Schedules of Reinforcement with Ferster

1957

Using experimental tools, Skinner and Charles Ferster produced Skinner's most influential experimental work, outlined in their 1957 book Schedules of Reinforcement.

Image source: Reinforcement

Publishes Verbal Behavior

1957

Skinner's analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal Behavior, published in 1957 (sometimes cited as 1958), which applied operant conditioning principles to language.

Image source: Verbal Behavior

First edition of Cumulative Record

1959

Cumulative Record: A Selection of Papers was first published in 1959, with subsequent editions appearing in 1961, 1972, and 1999 as Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition.

Publishes The Technology of Teaching

1968

In The Technology of Teaching (1968), Skinner included a chapter on why teachers fail, arguing that teachers have not been given an in-depth understanding of teaching and learning.

Image source: Educational technology

Beyond Freedom and Dignity and Time magazine cover

1971

Skinner is popularly known mainly for his books Walden Two (1948) and Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971), for which he made the cover of Time magazine.

Image source: Beyond Freedom and Dignity

Writes on selection by consequences

1981

Writing in 1981, Skinner pointed out that Darwinian natural selection is, like reinforced behavior, "selection by consequences", linking evolutionary theory with his behavioral analysis.

Controversies and Criticism

"Baby in a Box" article in Ladies Home Journal

Oct 1945

Skinner's article in Ladies Home Journal, titled "Baby in a Box", caught the eye of many readers and contributed to public skepticism about his air crib device, even though reports came back positive that children and parents enjoyed using the crib.

Image source: B. F. Skinner

Noam Chomsky reviews Verbal Behavior

1959

American linguist Noam Chomsky published a highly critical review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior in the linguistics journal Language in 1959, a landmark critique in the cognitive revolution against behaviorism.

Brown and Jenkins autoshaping procedures

1968

Brown and Jenkins observed autoshaping procedures in 1968, a process like which seemed to guide terminal responses that reflected classical rather than operant conditioning, challenging Skinner's adventitious reinforcement explanation.

Staddon and Simmelhag challenge adventitious reinforcement

1971

Staddon and Simmelhag, while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinner's "adventitious reinforcement" explanation for it, arguing instead that terminal responses reflect classical conditioning.

Staddon on schedule-induced polydipsia

1977

Staddon argued in 1977 that the causation of interim activities, such as schedule-induced polydipsia seen with rats, cannot be traced to adventitious reinforcement, and its details remain obscure.

Lauren Slater repeats baby experiment claim

2004

In 2004, therapist Lauren Slater repeated a claim in her book Opening Skinner's Box that Skinner may have used his baby daughter Deborah in some of his experiments. Debora was quoted by the Guardian responding to the claim, saying her father allegedly put her for a few hours a day in a laboratory box.

Temple Grandin alleges inappropriate touching

2005

In her 2005 book Animals in Translation, animal behaviorist Temple Grandin claimed that Skinner attempted to touch her legs without consent during a meeting and that she verbally rebuffed him. She repeated this claim in a 2006 NPR interview and a 2018 interview with the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, though her accounts varied on whether he asked permission first.

Image source: Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin alleges inappropriate touching

Legacy

Twin Oaks Community founded using Walden Two blueprint

1967

In 1967, Kat Kinkade and others founded the Twin Oaks Community in Virginia, using Skinner's utopian novel Walden Two as a blueprint for their intentional community.

Image source: Twin Oaks Community, Virginia

Survey names Skinner most influential psychologist of 20th century

Jun 2002

A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist of the 20th century, cementing his legacy despite ongoing controversies over behaviorism.

Ig Nobel Peace Prize for pigeon-guided missiles

2024

The 2024 Ig Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for experiments to see the feasibility of housing live pigeons inside missiles to guide the flight paths of the missiles, referencing Skinner's wartime Project Pigeon research.

Image source: Ig Nobel Prize

Key Facts

B. F. Skinner was born on March 20, 1904, in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, and originally studied English at Hamilton College before turning to psychology at Harvard University.
He developed the theory of operant conditioning, demonstrating that behavior is shaped by its consequences through reinforcement and punishment.
Skinner invented the operant conditioning chamber, commonly called the 'Skinner Box,' which allowed precise study of animal behavior under controlled conditions.
His 1971 book 'Beyond Freedom and Dignity' argued that free will is an illusion and that human behavior is controlled by environmental factors, sparking significant controversy.
Skinner received the National Medal of Science in 1968 and was named Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association in 1972; he died on August 18, 1990.

Source

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