Abstract

SAMPAIO, Angelo Augusto Silva. Skinner: on science and human behavior. Psicol. cienc. prof. [online]. 2005, vol.25, n.3, pp. 370-383. ISSN 1414-9893.

No one can think about the study of human behavior nowadays without considering the scientific approach to this object: the field of scientific Psychology. This subject is disputed by many theories that diverge on the way they define science and human behavior. B. F. Skinner's approach was very prominent in the 20th century, but still remains misunderstood. Starting from the historical development of his work, the present paper aims to shed some light in aspects related to this author's notions of science and human behavior and highlight transformations that undertook them. Three topics of Skinner's work are analyzed: its initial period (from 1930 to about 1938), the book "Science and Human Behavior", published in1953, and the influences from Biology. Relevant aspects of his theorization about the theme are stressed: the search for functional relations, focus on empirical data, operationism, externalism, behavior multidetermination, experimentalism, prediction and control, ethics.

Keywords : Skinner, B. F.; Behaviorism; Science; Behavior.

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