We do not choose survival as a value, it chooses us.
B. F. SkinnerRead
The way positive reinforcement is carried out is more important than the amount.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Positive reinforcement is about the quality of encouragement rather than the quantity provided.
B. F. Skinner emphasizes that the effectiveness of positive reinforcement lies in how it is implemented rather than just how much is given. This suggests that thoughtful and well-timed encouragement can lead to better learning outcomes and behavioral changes compared to merely overwhelming individuals with rewards.
Themes
Positive ReinforcementLearningBehaviorEncouragementEducation
In practice
Example use cases
In a classroom setting, a teacher could use this quote when discussing behavior management strategies.
More from B. F. Skinner
All quotes βEach of us has interests which conflict the interests of everybody else... 'everybody else' we call 'society'. It's a powerful opponent and it always wins. Oh, here and there an individual prevails for a while and gets what he wants. Sometimes he storms the culture of a society and changes it to his own advantage. But society wins in the long run, for it has the advantage of numbers and of age.
B. F. SkinnerRead
No theory changes what it is a theory about; man remains what he has always been.
B. F. SkinnerRead
I am opposed to the military use of animals. I am also opposed to the military use of men.
B. F. SkinnerRead
The ideal of behaviorism is to eliminate coercion: to apply controls by changing the environment in such a way as to reinforce the kind of behavior that benefits everyone.
B. F. SkinnerRead
Unable to understand how or why the person we see behaves as he does, we attribute his behavior to a person we cannot see, whose behavior we cannot explain either but about whom we are not inclined to ask questions.
B. F. SkinnerRead
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