Skinner believed that behavior can be controlled by: a. its ...

[shofmannx20]

Skinner believed that behavior can be controlled by:
 
  a. its consequences.
  b. social learning.
  c. respondent conditioning.
  d. the reinforcement that precedes the behavior.

Question 2

In the fictional society in Skinner's novel Walden Two:
 
  a. punishment is applied only to children.
  b. neuroses are treated by psychoanalysis.
  c. only group therapy is used to treat neuroses.
  d. life aspects are controlled by positive reinforcement.

[lkanara2]

Answer to Question 1

ANS: A
FEEDBACK: Skinner's fundamental idea is that behavior can be controlled by its consequences, that is, by what follows the behavior. He believed that an animal or a human could be trained to perform virtually any act and that the type of reinforcement that followed the behavior would be responsible for determining it.

Answer to Question 2

ANS: D
FEEDBACK: Skinner projected all of his emotional and intellectual discontent onto the protagonist of a novel, Walden Two, letting the character vent his personal and professional frustrations. It describes a society in which all aspects of life are controlled by positive reinforcement, which is the basic principle of Skinner's system of psychology.