fei75766_ch16_495-533.indd 499  02/06/20 01:34 PM
Chapter 16    Skinner: Behavioral Analysis499
reluctantly agreed tosupport himfor1yearonthecondition thathewould geta
jobifhiswriting career wasnotsuccessful. Thisunenthusiastic reply wasfollowed 
byamore encouraging letter from Robert Frost, whohadreadsome ofSkinner’s 
writings.
Skinner returned tohisparents’ home inScranton, builtastudy intheattic, and
every morning went towork atwriting. Butnothing happened. Hisefforts wereunpro -
ductive because hehadnothing tosayandnofirmposition onanycurrent issue. This
“Dark Year” exemplified apowerful identity confusion inSkinner’s life,butaswe
discuss laterinthisbiographical sketch, thiswasnothislastidentity crisis. 
Attheendofthisunsuccessful Dark Year (actually 18months), Skinner was
faced withthetaskoflooking foranewcareer. Psychology beckoned. After reading 
some oftheworks ofWatson andPavlov, hebecame determined tobeabehavior -
ist.Henever wavered from thatdecision andthrew himself wholeheartedly behind 
radical behaviorism. Elms (1981, 1994) contended thatsuchtotaldedication toan
extreme ideology isquite typical ofpeople faced withanidentity crisis. 
Although Skinner hadnever taken anundergraduate psychology course, 
Harvard accepted himasagraduate student inpsychology. After hecompleted his
PhDin1931, Skinner received afellowship from theNational Research Council to
continue hislaboratory research atHarvard. Now confident ofhisidentity asabehav -
iorist, hedrew upaplanforhimself, outlining hisgoals forthenext30years. The
planalsoreminded himtoadhere closely tobehavioristic methodology andnotto
“surrender tothephysiology ofthecentral nervous system” (Skinner, 1979, p.115). 
By1960, Skinner hadreached themost important phases oftheplan.
When hisfellowship ended in1933, Skinner wasfaced forthefirsttimewith
thechore ofhunting forapermanent job.Positions werescarce during thisdepres -
sionyearandprospects looked dim.Butsoon hisworries werealleviated. Inthe
spring of1933, Harvard created theSociety ofFellows, aprogram designed topro-
mote creative thinking among young intellectually gifted menattheuniversity. Skin-
nerwasselected asaJunior Fellow andspent thenext3years doing more laboratory 
research.
Attheendofhis3-year termasaJunior Fellow, hewasagain intheposition 
oflooking forajob.Curiously, heknew almost nothing oftraditional academic psy-
chology andwasnotinterested inlearning about it.HehadaPhDinpsychology, 
51/2years ofadditional laboratory research, buthewasillprepared toteach within 
themainstream ofpsychology, having “never evenreadatextinpsychology asa
whole” (Skinner, 1979, p.179).
In1936, Skinner began ateaching andresearch position attheUniversity of
Minnesota, where heremained for9years. Soon aftermoving toMinneapolis and
following ashort anderratic courtship, hemarried Yvonne Blue. TheSkinners had
twodaughters—Julie, bornin1938, andDeborah (Debbie), bornin1944. During 
hisMinnesota years, Skinner published hisfirstbook, The Behavior of Organ isms
(1938), butbeyond that,hewasinvolved withtwoofhismost interesting ventures—the 
pigeon-guided missile andthebaby-tender builtforhissecond daughter, Debbie. Both 
projects brought frustration anddisappointment, emotions thatmayhaveledtoa
second identity crisis. 
Skinner’s Project Pigeon wasaclever attempt tocondition pigeons tomake 
appropriate pecks onkeysthatwould maneuver anexplosive missile intoanenemy Final PDF to printer