fei75766_ch16_495-533.indd 515  02/06/20 01:34 PM
Chapter 16    Skinner: Behavioral Analysis515
Cultural Evolution
Inhislateryears, Skinner (1987a, 1989a) elaborated more fullyontheimportance 
ofculture inshaping human personality. Selection isresponsible forthose cultural 
practices thathavesurvived, justasselection plays akeyroleinhumans’ evolution -
aryhistory andalsowiththecontingencies ofreinforcement. “People donotobserve 
particular practices inorder thatthegroup willbemore likely tosurvive; theyobserve 
them because groups thatinduced theirmembers todososurvived andtransmit -
tedthem” (Skinner, 1987a, p.57).Inother words, humans donotmake acoopera -
tivedecision todowhat isbestforthesociety, butthose societies whose members 
behaved cooperatively tended tosurvive. 
Cultural practices suchastoolmaking andverbal behavior began when anindi-
vidual wasreinforced forusing atooloruttering adistinctive sound. Eventually, acul-
turalpractice evolved thatwasreinforcing tothegroup, although notnecessarily to
theindividual. Both toolmaking andverbal behavior havesurvival value foragroup, 
butfewpeople nowmake tools andevenfewer invent newlanguages.
Theremnants ofculture, likethose ofnatural selection, arenotalladaptive. For
example, thedivision oflabor thatevolved from theIndustrial Revolution hashelped 
society produce more goods, butithasledtowork thatisnolonger directly reinforc -
ing.Another example iswarfare, which inthepreindustrialized world benefited cer-
tainsocieties, butwhich nowhasevolved asathreat tohuman existence. 
Inner States
Although herejected explanations ofbehavior founded onnonobservable hypotheti -
calconstructs, Skinner (1989b) didnotdeny theexistence ofinternal states, such
asfeelings oflove,anxiety, orfear.Internal states canbestudied justasanyother 
behavior, buttheirobservation is,ofcourse, limited. Inapersonal communication of
June13,1983, Skinner wrote, “Ibelieve itispossible totalkabout private events and,
inparticular, toestablish thelimits withwhich wedosoaccurately. Ithink thisbrings 
so-called ‘nonobservables’ within reach.” What, then, istheroleofsuchinner states 
asself-awareness, drives, emotions, andpurpose?
Self-Awareness
Skinner (1974) believed thathumans notonlyhaveconsciousness butarealsoaware 
oftheirconsciousness; theyarenotonlyaware oftheirenvironment butarealso
aware ofthemselves aspartoftheirenvironment; theynotonlyobserve external stim-
ulibutarealsoaware ofthemselves observing thatstimuli.
Behavior isafunction oftheenvironment, andpartofthatenvironment is
within one’s skin.Thisportion oftheuniverse ispeculiarly one’s ownandisthere -
foreprivate. Each person issubjectively aware ofhisorherownthoughts, feelings, 
recollections, andintentions. Self-awareness andprivate events canbeillustrated by
thefollowing example. Aworker reports toafriend, “Iwassofrustrated today that
Ialmost quitmyjob.” What canbemade ofsuchastatement? First, thereport itself 
isverbal behavior and,assuch, canbestudied inthesame wayasother behaviors. 
Second, thestatement thatshewasontheverge ofquitting herjobrefers toanonbe -
havior. Responses never emitted arenotresponses and,ofcourse, havenomeaning Final PDF to printer