fei75766_ch16_495-533.indd 497  02/06/20 01:34 PM
Chapter 16    Skinner: Behavioral Analysis497
ErikErikson (seeChapter 8)believed thatpeople gothrough aseries ofidentity 
crises, orturning points, thatleave them vulnerable tomajor changes inhow
theyseethemselves. Onesuchperson wasFred, amanwhoexperienced atleasttwo
suchcrises, andeachledtosignificant turns inhislife’scourse. Hisfirstidentity cri-
sisoccurred during young adulthood, when, armed withanundergraduate degree in
English, Fredreturned tohisparents’ home hoping toshape hisidentity intheworld 
ofliterature. Hisfather reluctantly agreed toallow Fred1yeartocarve outaniche for
himself asawriter. Hewarned hissonofthenecessity offinding ajob,butheallowed 
Fredtoconvert thethird-floor atticintoastudy. 
Every morning, Fredclimbed thetwoflights ofsteps andbegan hisjobasa
writer. Butnothing happened. After only3months oftrying tobecome acreative 
writer, Fredrealized thatthequality ofhiswork waspoor. Heblamed hisparents, 
theirhome town, andliterature itself forhisfailure toproduce anyworthwhile writ-
ing(Elms, 1981). Hewasted timewithnonproductive activities, sitting inthefamily 
library forlongperiods oftime, remaining “absolutely motionless inakindofcata-
tonic stupor” (Skinner, 1976a, p.287). Nevertheless, hefeltobligated tocontinue 
thecharade ofpursuing aliterary career fortheonefullyearheandhisfather had
agreed on.Fredeventually losthope thathecould make anycontribution tolitera -
ture.Inlateryears, hereferred tothisnonproductive timeashis“Dark Year.” Erik
Erikson would havecalled itatimeofidentity confusion—a timefortrying todiscover 
whohewas,where hewasgoing, andhowhewasgoing togetthere. Theyoung man
experiencing this“Dark Year” wasB.F.Skinner, wholaterbecame oneofthemost 
influential psychologists intheworld butnotuntilheexperienced asecond identity 
crisis, aswediscuss inourbiography ofSkinner.
Overview of Behavioral Analysis
During theearly years ofthe20thcentury while Freud, Jung, andAdler wererely-
ingonclinical practice andbefore Eysenck andCosta andMcCrae wereusing psy-
chometrics tobuild theories ofhuman personality, anapproach called behaviorism 
emerged from laboratory studies ofanimals andhumans. Twooftheearly pioneers 
ofbehaviorism wereE.L.Thorndike andJohn Watson, buttheperson most often 
associated withthebehaviorist position isB.F.Skinner, whose behavioral analysis 
isaclear departure from thehighly speculative psychodynamic theories discussed in
Chapters 2through 8.Skinner minimized speculation andfocused almost entirely on
observable behavior. However, hedidnotclaim thatobservable behavior islimited 
toexternal events. Such private behaviors asthinking, remembering, andanticipat -
ingareallobservable—by theperson experiencing them. Skinner’s strict adherence 
toobservable behavior earned hisapproach thelabel radical behaviorism, adoctrine 
thatavoids allhypothetical constructs, suchasego,traits, drives, needs, hunger, and
soforth.
Inaddition tobeing aradical behaviorist, Skinner canrightfully beregarded 
asadeterminist andanenvironmentalist. Asadeterminist, herejected thenotion 
ofvolition orfreewill.Human behavior doesnotstem from anactofthewill,
butlikeanyobservable phenomenon, itislawfully determined andcanbestudied 
scientifically.Final PDF to printer