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The early years of B.F. Skinner

The Early Years
Burrhus Frederick Skinner was born in 1904 in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania during the progressive era. He grew up during the progressive era when optimism was high in America. Skinner’s father was moderately successful lawyer and his mother stayed at home and instilled in Skinner hard work and a concern for what others might think. Skinner did not worry about what others thought of his behavior, but he did believe in hard work. Skinner only accepted the wisdom of others if there was hard evidence to accompany. His high school principle wrote him a recommendation to New York’s Hamilton College where he attended college from 1922 to 1926. During his stay at Hamilton College Skinner developed a passion for creative writing. He sent some of his writings to poet Robert Frost hoping for recognition. After he graduated from Hamilton he informed his parents that he wanted to take a year off to write. This created problems for Skinner’s parents because he was living at home...

Posted by: Jessica Linton

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