ABSTRACT
The contributions considered so far are regarded as supporting a ‘cognitive perspective’ in psychology. As was discussed in the first article by Claxton (pp. 279-82) in this section, an alternative perspective comes from the behaviourists. Notable amongst behaviourist psychologists who have considered the implications of their studies for education is B.F. Skinner. Skinner is regarded by many as the greatest living psychologist (Patterson, 1977):
His thesis, presented in Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971), that behaviour is under the control of environmental stimuli, and the proposal that therefore we should create an environment which will shape the kind of person, eliminating ‘freedom’, (which in any case according to Skinner does not exist), has resulted in attacks on him by psychologists and philosophers as well as layman.
The extract by Skinner which follows takes the basic behaviourist principle of ‘reinforcement’ and applies it to the teaching context.
