The experiment in which b f skinner raised his daughter in an enclosed temperature controlled crib demonstrates belief that?

Answer 1

First, I'd like to draw attention to the word "raised", whereas it's use seems to infer that the child was in her crib 24 hours of the day. This is not true. The crib environment was invented to reduce the need for binding clothing and bedsheets both of which also got dirty. So the alleviation of these items lessened the amount of laundry, lessened rashes and cradle cap, and lessened the need for constant attention to these details. The child wore diapers and was kept in the crib for short periods throughout the day, like any other child, when the mother needed to concentrate or spend time on things other than the child, and at night when the child slept.

The crib was easily cleanable, had insulated walls on three sides, electrical heating, was safely monitored at a steady, comfortable temperature, had air ventilation with controlled humidity, and a safety glass front panel (where crib bars would normally be) that could be raised and lowered. The crib resembled a large incubator and the child could hear and see her surroundings, while playing or sleeping with only a diaper on.

Second, the crib was not designed for behavior modification of human infants with puzzles introduced and rewards given upon solving the puzzles. No, the crib was not a "Skinner's Box" built to experiment on his infant child. It was a "tender box" or an "air crib", of which, similar cribs were built around the same time by other companies also. These "air cribs" were being bought and used by civilian families for the same purpose as Skinner himself, however, the idea did not take off and although most of these type of cribs went out of production, some types of them are still available for use today.

Therefore, in response to the question, there is no answer because Skinner did not conduct any "experiment" on his daughter by "raising" her in an "air crib".

The "Skinner's Box" was a special cage with a bar or lever mechanism built into the wall of a maze, and when the bar was pushed it would release a food pellet. A rat was placed into the box where it would inadvertently run around the maze. Eventually it would accidentally come into contact with and push the lever mechanism and a pellet would be released. The rat soon realizes the connection between the bar and the pellet and in a short time starts hammering the lever and piling up his food. Pushing the lever is the "operant" and the pellet is the "reinforcer".

Skinner termed it "operant conditioning", meaning that an animal is operating naturally in it's surroundings and encounters "reinforcing stimulus". This "reinforcer" has the ability to increase the "operant" or the behavior occurring just before the "reinforcer". Skinner stated, "The behavior is followed by a consequence, and the nature of the consequence modifies the organisms tendency to repeat the behavior in the future".

The belief demonstrated by Skinner's behavioral experiments "on animals" is answered by a quote from Skinner himself, "An organism behaves as it does because of it's current structure" . "Structure" refers to both, the organism's body and his environment. When using the "Skinner's Box" on animals it demonstrated that "animals" could be trained to modify their innate behavior by use of repetitive trial and reward situations. Change the conditions of the "structure" and the animal will start behaving differently. Skinner didn't approve of 'aversive stimuli' because he believed the conditioning didn't work, so it stands to reason that he wouldn't have used anything aversive in the treatment of his daughter.

Answer 2

Skinner's experiment, known as the "Baby in a Box" study, reflects his behaviorist belief that environmental factors and reinforcement principles shape behavior. By controlling his daughter's environment, Skinner aimed to show how careful manipulation of external influences could produce specific outcomes in behavior. This experiment raised ethical concerns regarding the treatment of his daughter and the extent to which behavior can be controlled through environmental factors.