Which psychologist is associated with operant conditioning and the Skinner Box?

Which psychologist is associated with operant conditioning and the Skinner Box?

• A. B. F. Skinner
• B. Sigmund Freud
• C. Ivan Pavlov
• D. Jean Piaget

Answer: (A)

Operant conditioning is the idea that behavior is shaped by its consequences. The Skinner Box is a controlled chamber used to study how reinforcement strengthens or weakens a behavior—like a rat learning to press a lever to receive food—because researchers can precisely control and record when reinforcement occurs. This combination—the theory that behavior is guided by its outcomes and the experimental tool to test it—belongs to B. F. Skinner, who developed operant conditioning and used the Skinner Box to explore how reinforcement schedules shape learning. The other names are linked to different theories: Freud with psychoanalysis, Pavlov with classical conditioning, Piaget with stages of cognitive development.

Operant conditioning is the idea that behavior is shaped by its consequences. The Skinner Box is a controlled chamber used to study how reinforcement strengthens or weakens a behavior—like a rat learning to press a lever to receive food—because researchers can precisely control and record when reinforcement occurs. This combination—the theory that behavior is guided by its outcomes and the experimental tool to test it—belongs to B. F. Skinner, who developed operant conditioning and used the Skinner Box to explore how reinforcement schedules shape learning. The other names are linked to different theories: Freud with psychoanalysis, Pavlov with classical conditioning, Piaget with stages of cognitive development.