Burrhus Frederic Skinner

Biography

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (B.F.Skinner) was born March 20, 1904, in Susquehanna. His father was a lawyer, while his wife was just a typical “housewife”

Skinner was an active, out-going boy who loved the outdoors and building things, and actually enjoyed school. It was known that his life was not without its tragedies considering his brother died at the age of 16 of a cerebral aneurysm.

Burrhus received his BA in English from Hamilton College in upstate New York. He wrote for the school paper. Skinner was an atheist in a school that required daily chapel attendance.

After graduating, he wanted to be a writer. He sent off poetry and short stories. In order to help make him successful, he built a study in his parents’ attic in order to concentrate, however it still didn’t help him.

Eventually, he moved to Greenwich Village in New York City where he resigned himself to writing newspaper articles on labor problems, and lived as a “bohemian.” After this stage in his life, he decided to go back to school at Harvard. He got his masters in psychology in 1930 and his doctorate in 1931, and stayed there to do research until 1936.

Also in that year, he moved to Minneapolis