Bf Skinner Instinct

B.F. Skinner accepted the concept of the unconscious to a significant extent. This can be observed when closely examining the role of instinct in his work, Skinners concept of reinforcement and his use and development of the verbal summator machine. When analyzing these three sources of evidence it can clearly be seen that B.F. Skinner must have believed in the unconscious to a somewhat significant degree, despite considering himself a radical behaviorist. The significant role of instinct in Skinners work is one outlet in which evidence of Skinners acceptance of the unconscious can be found. As a behaviorist, Skinner used the idea of conditioning to develop many ideas and conduct many of his experiments. In conditioning behavior is modified …show more content…
Reinforcement is a stimulus that follows after a response and increases the chances of a response happening again. This falls in line with Thorndike’s law of effect that states that an action followed by a pleasurable consequence will tend to be repeated and that the opposite happens with unpleasant consequences. The two concepts are also very similar to Sigmund Freud’s pleasure principle where a person continues to do what feels good in an effort to fulfill the wants of the unconscious mind. Skinner used these ideas when he developed his skinner box where he used the unconscious and instinctual demands animals, such as rats, to adapt behavior and reinforce the learned behavior. Therefore Skinners exploitation of the animals wants to fulfill unconscious desires to reinforce behavior shows that he had to believe in the unconscious mind to some degree. Although B.F. Skinner had the reputation of being a radical behaviorist it is clear that he agreed in the concept of an unconscious to a somewhat significant degree. Although he did not focus on this topic or outright claim his agreement with the concept publically it is clear when viewing and analyzing the three pieces of evidence that skinner had to at least somewhat agree that an unconscious exists. The role of instinct in his work, Skinners concept of reinforcement and his use of the verbal summator device all support this claim and prove of his agreement to a somewhat significant