Skinner Case

Skinner was one of the world's most influential psychologists ever. Born and raised by his mother, a housewife, and his father, a lawyer, in a small town by the name of Susquehanna, Pa. Skinner had a younger brother, who unfortunately passed at the age of 16 due to cerebral aneurism. As a young child, Skinner enjoyed working with his hands. He spent many of his childhood days building things such as sleds, wagons, and a cabin he built with a friend. Some of his inventions or ventures were not always successful, but some of the ones that were successful was his business of selling elderberries door to door, and a flotation system to separate the ripe green berries. When he was old enough to work, he worked in a shoe store. While working there he invented the "green dust," which would help the broom pick up the swept dirt.

Skinner went through all twelve grades and graduated with eight other students. By this time he had developed an interest in art and literature. He did this by drawing in his younger grades and reading Shakespeare. After High School, Skinner attended Hamilton College, a small liberal arts institution. He majored in English Literature and he minored in Romance Languages. It was here that Skinner used his rebellious nature to revolt against the Student Life department. He had refused to attend any mandatory chapel services, physical education classes, and he made a mockery of the institution during the graduation ceremonies. He made a career out of writing there after his graduation. He then attended the Middlebury School of English in Vermont, where he had met Robert Frost and wrote his first official book, Digest of Decisions of the Anthracite Board of Conciliation. This book was about a 1904 coal strike. After he wrote his first book, he felt as if he was not quite satisfied with being a writer so he moved to the career path of a psychologist. This move was mostly geared toward Philosophy, which was evident in his first writing of Treatise Nova Principia Orbis Terrarum. He had very little college psychology background; however, he learned about Pavlov and Loeb through assignment in Bugsy' Morrell's biology class. During his matriculation through high school and even college, Skinner did the bare minimum of what was required, but when he met Fred S. Keller, a behaviorist graduate student, Skinner was influenced to become a hard worker.